Stranger Suggests: Your Agenda This Week, July 27–August 2

MONDAY 7/27

Black Moth Super Rainbow, Giant Day

(MUSIC) Since 2003, Pittsburgh’s Black Moth Super Rainbow have been creating some of the finest honey-glazed, weird-dream soundtracks in the USA. If you like rock music that sounds as if it’s being filtered through clouds of DMT haze and sung by a wonderstruck waif, BMSR will set your wheelhouse on fire. Back in 2009 in these pages, I wrote, “BMSR’s songs are concise and hooky, but peculiarly out of focus, smeared into a hazier dimension via technology—and a creator—that seems imbued with an otherworldly spirit.” Led by a singular presence named Tobacco, BMSR write uniquely warped and catchy songs—some unbelievably tender, some grotesquely sinister, some absurdly ebullient. Their newest LP, 2025’s aptly titled Soft New Magic Dream, doesn’t disorient like their first three albums did (“Tastebud” is an exception), but it still casts an oneiric spell. (Showbox, 8pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

Dark Room x Streamline Tavern

(FOOD) Dark Room’s chef/owner, Amy Beaumier, is staging a takeover of the kitchen hole at the divey old Streamline, bringing her signature Korean bites with some added Latin ’zazz—and vice versa. Some menu excerpts include mole-glazed popcorn chicken with yuj-scallion aioli (fuck!), birria tteokbokki (fuuuuuuuuck), and kimchi-pimento esquites (Beecher’s cheddar, Kewpie mayo, piquillo peppers, pickled jalapeños, and cilantro served over corn kernels with tortilla chips for scoopin’). Beaumier also famously excels at the art of the glizzy; this one will be loaded up with gochujang refried beans, chorizo, queso fresco, and kimchi salsa and served on a housemade milk-bread bun. There’ll also be a craft cocktail and a wacky Jell-O shot, TBA, and they’ll be selling shots of Rezpiral Mezcal, made by a fair-trade cooperative of small-scale artisanal mezcaleros, for $15 apiece. Beaumier is a frequent collaborator with Streamline’s bar manager, Matt Pachmayr—the impresario behind the wildly creative pop-up No Call No Show—and the cocktail, whatever it is, will very probably go crazy. (Streamline Tavern, 5pm) MEG VAN HUYGEN

TUESDAY 7/28

of Montreal, Sloppy Jane

(MUSIC) I’ve seen of Montreal live three times, and this month, I won’t miss the chance to do it again. The first time I saw them was a whole 20 years ago at Bumbershoot 2006, where Kevin Barnes was surely part of my journey to figuring out just how queer I am. Then again in 2010, when the band was collaborating closely with Janelle Monáe, and they were small enough that they were touring as of Montreal’s opener. And the third time was in 2018 at the Knockdown Center in Bushwick, where someone in a Spiderman costume crowdsurfed and twerked while standing on people’s hands (remember pre-2020?). And my fourth will be at Neumos. Their new album, aethermead, brings it back to their early-2000s era, before any of us knew what a President DJT was, so it’s a perfect time to pack into a club and twerk while standing on people’s hands. This year of our lord 2026 needs more of Montreal. (Neumos, 7pm, 21+) HANNAH MURPHY WINTER

WEDNESDAY 7/29

Public Grains’ Vegetarian Farmer’s Market Sandwich

(FOOD) My summer crush is Public Grains’ vegetarian Farmer’s Market Sandwich, available every Wednesday and Sunday at Wallingford and Ballard Farmers’ Markets, respectively. It is perfection. It starts with freshly baked fermented focaccia that is chewy, bouncy, and tender. They could just give me a hunk of that and send me on my way and I’d be happy. But no, they make it into a sandwich the size of a small child’s head, stuffed with a pile of roasted winter squash, cabbage slaw, and both a gorgonzola crema and garlic aioli that punch you in the mouth simultaneously but in different ways. Boom! Pow! The gorgonzola hits you first—sharp and pungent—and then the garlic comes in, and just as you start to think it’s too much, the sweet earthiness of the roasted vegetables, caramelized to the point that they taste almost like candy, smooths out the edges. (Public Grains) MEGAN SELING

THURSDAY 7/30

Marcos Valle, Fabiano do Nascimento

(MUSIC) Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1943, Marcos Valle is one of those rare musicians who’s remained artistically and physically vital into his 80s. The Brazilian legend popularized bossa nova in the ’60s and then expanded his repertoire to embrace samba, rock, soul, funk, and jazz, making him a towering figure of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira). He’s a suave synthesist of styles, bringing a lovely lightness and danceability to his sophisticated compositions. And unlike with most aging musicians, Valle’s later albums have maintained lofty quality control; check out 2024’s lusciously groovy Túnel Acústico for proof. His last Seattle show a couple of years ago proved that this octogenarian still has energy and creativity to burn. (Neptune Theatre, 8pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

FRIDAY 7/31

Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time

(VISUAL ART) Deep within the Frye, there’s a curious contraption: a delicate, industrial light- and color-casting machine made of yards and yards of 35-mm film spooled around a motorized, powder-coated steel-and-aluminum frame that slowly turns, scattering the soft glow of stage lights through amber film. All of Kang’s work is rooted in photography; it feels birthed in a Wonderland-like darkroom where everything is wondrously oversized and photographic processes have been deconstructed and turned into something totally new. Even her “paintings” are made using darkroom chemicals instead of paint. The pièce de résistance is Molt, an installation made of massive reams of unfixed, photosensitive film draped like scrolls over steel rods and suspended with aircraft cables. They’re beautiful as objects, but even more sublime as archives of material memory, continually color-shifting and image-changing over time—sometimes for years—responding to their environment. (Frye Art Museum) AMANDA MANITACH

SATURDAY 8/1

Flock Fiber Festival

(FESTIVAL) As an obsessive knitter, my favorite weekend of the year is Flock Fiber Festival, which could be considered the Coachella of the Pacific Northwest fiber arts scene. Knitters, crocheters, weavers, and other fiber artists from far and wide congregate at this annual yarn show to caress and coo over gorgeous skeins from a variety of vendors. Attendees can also grow their skills with expert-led classes and connect with fellow fiber lovers at community events. I’m excited to check out the colorful indie dyer Superglō Fiber, the witchy Portland-based shop Ritual Dyes, Bellingham’s yarn-world-famous “sheep-to-skein” spinners Spincycle Yarns, Montana-based producer the Farmer’s Daughter Fibers, pastel-hued Brooklyn brand the Wandering Flock, the cool-girl stitch marker supplier Mabel & Jess, and so much more. Stock up on supplies for some fun, cozy projects to see you through the Seattle fall and winter. (Seattle Convention Center Summit Building, 10am–5pm, all ages) JULIANNE BELL

SUNDAY 8/2

Poppy – Constantly Nowhere Tour

(MUSIC) Moriah Rose Pereira is better known by her stage name and internet persona, Poppy. With a self-described “kawaii Barbie child” aesthetic, she rose to fame making satirical YouTube videos depicting herself as a Stepford Wives-esque character commenting on Internet culture and social media trends. Poppy expanded her reach into the music world with the release of a bubbly, synthy debut record dripping with J-pop and K-pop influences in 2017, but her sound has changed drastically since. Her two latest albums could easily be classified as heavy metal, and she earned a Grammy nom for Best Metal Performance for a collab with hardcore punk band Knocked Loose in 2024. Poppy rips through town supporting her seventh full-length record, Empty Hands, before jetting off to support Evanescence on the European leg of their tour. (Paramount Theatre, 7pm, all ages) SHANNON LUBETICH

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