Seattle Weekly, March 19, 2014

MARCH 19-25, 2014 I VOLUME 39 I NUMBER 12

SEATTLEWEEKLY.COM I FREE

THE $15 EFFECT: MORE FOR CHILD CARE (PAGE 5), LESS FOR TIPS (PAGE 19) | MUSIC: A GAY COUNTRY CLASSIC PAGE 33

The Broken Heart of Chinatown

What the burnt-out husk of the Wah Mee building can tell us about the past, present, and future of Seattle’s International District.

BY ELLIS E. CONKLIN

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SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

inside» March 19–25, 2014 VOLUME 39 | NUMBER 12

» SEATTLEWEEKLY.COM

NUrtUre • your • CallINg is giving me the “Bastyr tools to build a career that balances research and seeing patients.

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Joshua Goldenberg, ND (2013)

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news&comment 5

THE PARENT TRAP

BY NINA SHAPIRO | How will child-

care centers, already cash-squeezed, handle a $15 minimum wage?

5 | SEATTLELAND 7 | SPORTSBALL

9

I.D.ENTITY CRISIS

BY ELLIS E. CONKLIN | The changing

face of a historical neighborhood.

food&drink 19 THE 20% SOLUTION

BY DANIEL PERSON | Speaking of a $15 minimum wage . . . can we then tip less?

19 | FOOD NEWS/TEMP CHECK 20 | THE BAR CODE

arts&culture 23 ATTACK OF THE DRONES!

BY KELTON SEARS | Meet the makers

behind the Seattle Mini Maker Faire.

24 | THE PICK LIST 26 | OPENING NIGHTS | Rope swings

at PNB, man-eating plants at ACT. 27 | PERFORMANCE 28 | VISUAL ARTS

29 FILM

33 MUSIC

A gay pioneer rediscovered.

Plus: Everett gets a festival and a transgender rocker gets visceral.

35 | SEVEN NIGHTS 37 | CD REVIEWS

odds&ends 38 | CLASSIFIEDS

»cover credits

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Degrees Include: • Ayurvedic Sciences • Naturopathic Medicine • Nutrition • Psychology • Herbal Sciences • Midwifery

Editor-in-Chief Mark Baumgarten EDITORIAL Senior Editor Nina Shapiro Food Editor Nicole Sprinkle Arts Editor Brian Miller Entertainment Editor Gwendolyn Elliott Editorial Operations Manager Gavin Borchert Staff Writers Ellis E. Conklin, Matt Driscoll, Kelton Sears Editorial Interns Margery Cercado, Colleen Fontana, Imana Gunawan Contributing Writers Rick Anderson, Sean Axmaker, James Ballinger, Michael Berry, Sara Billups, Steve Elliott, Margaret Friedman, Zach Geballe, Dusty Henry, Megan Hill, Robert Horton, Patrick Hutchison, Sara D. Jones, Seth Kolloen, Sandra Kurtz, Dave Lake, John Longenbaugh, Jessie McKenna, Terra Clarke Olsen, Kevin Phinney, Keegan Prosser, Mark Rahner, Michael Stusser, Jacob Uitti

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OPENING THIS WEEK | Jason Bateman’s orthographic revenge scheme, Jake Gyllenhaal’s double, and Lars von Trier’s raw sex movie.

32 | FILM CALENDAR

Create a Healthier World

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SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

news&comment

The Minimum on Child Care

‘An Error of Constitutional Dimension’

How a $15 wage might have unintended consequences for working parents.

I

BY NINA SHAPIRO

A

sk Jessie Conta whether child-care workers should be paid more, and the answer is, “Of course!” The Greenwood mom, a genetic counselor at Seattle Children’s, has nothing but admiration for the “endless patience, kindness, and love” shown her baby and toddler at the Interlake Child Care & Learning Center. “Hi, Jessie. How was your day?” they’ll say cheerfully at pick-up time, despite being surrounded by kids inevitably melting down, restless to go home. If the roles were reversed, says Conta, she’d “totally be losing it.”

She knows that Interlake teachers’ average wage—between $13 and $14 an hour, according to executive director Carol Goss—means they can’t afford some of the simple things Conta takes for granted.

Yet, when mulling over the powerful Seattle movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, Conta has some concerns. If tuition rose to cover the increase, she’d be in a tight spot. She and her husband, a housing contractor, already pay $2,200 a month—more than $26,000 a year—for child care. That’s more than their mortgage payments—and their baby goes to the center only two days a week. “I’m lucky that I’m home on Fridays and I have parents nearby,” she says. She knows that other parents pay upward of $3,000 a month.

“Some parents pay more for child care than for college,” observes Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, the Isssaquah-based CEO of the national advocacy group Moms Rising. “It’s a crisis”—one fueled by the United States’ position as one of the few wealthy Western countries that lacks substantial public subsidies for child care.

Herein lies a potential unintended consequence of the $15-wage movement. Will it exacerbate the excruciating conundrum faced by all but the richest of working parents?

“That’s a great question,” says David Rolf, president of SEIU 775 and the co-chair of a minimum-wage advisory committee convened by the mayor. “That’s something we’ll have to take a look at.” Rolf points to another City Hall initiative, centered on universal preschool, that might serendipitously help provide a solution. If so, it’s but a partial one.

There is little question that without a change in the way child care is financed, a wage hike will result in higher fees for parents. Consider a survey conducted last year by the Child Care Directors Association of Greater Seattle. An unanimous 100 percent said they had at least some teachers who make less than $15 an hour.

Twenty-five percent of respondents said all their teachers earn less than that.

SEATTLELAND

JOSHUA BESSEX

Goss, of Interlake Child Care, says that if a $15 minimum wage were enacted, she’d have to consider cutting some of the benefits offered her unionized teachers, including health insurance and tuition for community-college classes in early childhood education. Still, she thinks it is likely she would have to raise fees, although she doesn’t know by how much. Recognizing that the Wallingford center serves parents who “are struggling to pay some of the highest bills they’ll ever have,” and who in some cases have put off home ownership to do so, she worries about pricing the center beyond what the market will bear.

The economics of child-care centers are tricky, adds Otto. When rents went up during the housing boom, a number of centers closed, he says.

When the bust came along and rents flattened, parents lost their jobs and took their kids out of child care. More centers closed. Between 2006 and 2013, according to the state Department of Early Learning, Seattle lost 2,600 child-care spots for preschoolers, a 14 percent drop. Hence the waiting lists of more than a year at many centers, making child care not only exorbitantly expensive but also harder than ever to find.

Rolf argues that the potential impact on child

care—as well as on a range of social services, like caring for the mentally ill, that have little extra money for pay raises—should not keep the city from raising the minimum wage. “We’re doing

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

•

parks. Spoiler: It involves taxing homeowners. What has retired Seahawk John Moffitt been up to? Nightclubs, drugs, and fisticuffs, allegedly.

The Seattle Police Department hired longtime Seattle Times reporter Andrew Garber as a Senior Media Advisor. He starts next week.

Given interim-Chief Harry Bailey’s questionable press-conference skills, it’s probably a good thing. Rideshares in Seattle are getting capped.

But does that mean they are dead?

And speaking of dead, the state Department of Transportation is giving the axe to 500 trees along Interstate 5.

•

•

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

Child-care centers are unlike the wealthy fast-food corporations that the minimum-wage movement rails against. They “run pretty lean,” says Johnny Otto, an association board member and executive director of Small Faces Child Development Center in Crown Hill. Most, he says, spend between 85 and 90 percent of their revenue on salaries. If salaries are required to go up, he says there would be only two choices: cutting staff or raising tuition. And state regulations regarding staff/child ratios prevent many centers from cutting staff.

Otto says he and his board do see the benefits of raising the minimum wage. “You’re going to see teachers who stick around longer,” he says.

Given the current low wages, turnover in the industry is so high that he says parents will tell you their kids have had “two, three, four teachers in a single year.”

Plus, Otto predicts that higher wages will attract better-trained teachers, and give those without degrees the means to go back to school.

“It’s going to be great for the quality of preschool and its professionalism,” he says.

But he also recognizes that there would be a cost. Running the numbers, he calculates that Small Faces, which charges $1,255 a month for full-time care, would have to raise its fees by 15 percent. That’s less than other centers would, he says, because the center owns its building and derives extra income from renting out surplus space.

CHARLES WIGGINS

Jessie Conta picks up her kids from child care.

a THE WEEKLY BRIEFING | What’s going on at seattleweekly.com: Mayor Ed Murray has a “sustainable” plan for funding

•

t shaped up as Timothy Dobbs’ perfect crime—relentlessly stalking and threatening to kill a former girlfriend who was left so shaken that, when it came time to prosecute him, she refused to go to court. He could have walked.

That’s a situation many domestic-violence victims face—fight or flight.

BY RICK ANDERSON Most, though, see the advantage of testifying against their abusers. As State Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens said last week, “Those in the best position to protect the survivors of domestic violence are the survivors themselves.”

The 31-year-old Dobbs, however, was convicted and sent to prison without the testimony of his frightened accuser. Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge James Stonier felt there was ample evidence from Longview police and other witnesses to convict Dobbs of six charges, including felony harassment, intimidating a witness, and drive-by shooting.

Which, it turns out, gave Dobbs a second shot at the perfect crime: He appealed, claiming that the absence of his victim—referred to in court as C.R.—was a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him.

It seemed an almost laughable Justice Charles Wiggins: legal ploy. clear, cogent, convincing.

He scares her speechless, then uses her silence to get out of prison?

Yet last week, three Washington State Supreme Court justices agreed with Dobbs.

Though his tormented victim reasonably thought she could have died—“Last days . . . You fucked up and tripped with the wrong brother,” Dobbs told her in a 2009 death-threat note—they felt he deserved a second chance at trial.

They agreed with Dobbs’ appeals attorney, Eric Broman of Seattle, who argued that the trial judge made a “leap of logic” in concluding the victim didn’t appear because she was scared.

“Courts can’t bend over backwards and allow the state to prove something it didn’t prove,” said Broman.

However, a majority of the Supremes felt otherwise. In an important 6-3 decision led by Justice Owens, they concluded that because Dobbs muted his victim by his violent acts, he forfeited his right to confront her. Though he never faced

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 5

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something wrong if the only way to provide these services is by creating an impoverished workforce. If it’s important work, we’re going to have to figure out a way to pay for it.”

Rowe-Finkbeiner expresses a similar point of view. While saying she’s not familiar enough with the local $15-wage effort to take a stand, she stresses: “It’s critically important not to pit child-care workers against parents. We need to have child-care workers make a livable wage, and we need more [public] investments in child care.”

She sees momentum toward that goal, citing, for instance, a Congressional bill that would expand tax credits for child-care costs. But as University of Massachusetts at Amherst sociologist Joya Misra points out, there has been antipathy in this country to creating the kind of broader public system that is common in Europe, where child care is often viewed as essential as K-12 education.

“It’s just such a bizarre situation,” Misra says of the American idea that child care is “just something you’re responsible for,” as if children were “pets” existing for the “pleasure of parents” rather than productive citizens in the making.

This attitude persists, Misra says, despite research abroad showing that affordable, widely available child care “is the solution to so many things,” including high poverty rates, income inequality, and unemployment among women.

To the extent that this issue has been addressed politically, much of the talk has focused on subsidies for high-quality preschool,

framing the debate in terms of education rather than child care. That’s certainly true locally.

“I’m not prepared to talk about child care,” says Tim Burgess, who as chair of Seattle City Council’s education and governance committee is leading the city’s push for universal preschool.

Just back from a tour of publicly subsidized preschools in Boston and New Jersey, he says his focus is on creating a system for 3- and 4-yearolds that will offer “six or six and a half hours” a day of play-based learning designed to enhance kindergarten readiness.

As Rolf suggests, this might nevertheless help families struggling to pay child-care costs.

Burgess says his proposal, expected to go before voters this November in the form of a referendum seeking tax money, would likely be free for families making under 200 percent of the federal poverty line ($47,000 for a family of four) and priced according to a sliding scale for others.

The limited preschool hours would, however, mean that many families would need wraparound care. And it wouldn’t address care at all for children under 3, which at most centers is the most expensive of all.

So there’s more figuring out to do. And one can’t help but wonder when—or if—the city will get around to it. Considering both local and national movements to raise the minimum wage, Misra suggests the time is now. “I honestly don’t believe we can have a conversation about the minimum wage without having a conversation about finding ways to subsidize child care,” she says. “They need to happen at the same time.” E

nshapiro@seattleweekly.com

SATURDAY MARCH 29 AN EVENING WITH

JERRY DOUGLAS

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

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Error of Constitutional Dimension » FROM PAGE 5

randerson@seattleweekly.com

Rick Anderson writes about sex, crime, money, and politics, which tend to be the same thing.

T

he Seahawks have lost eight players since the NFL’s free-agency signing period started last Tuesday. No other NFL team has lost more than five. Basically, it’s been a rummage sale on the Seahawks’ front lawn.

Look—there’s the Patriots’ Bill Belichick. He can’t get back to the Super Bowl unless he stops Peyton Manning like the Seahawks

BY SETH KOLLOEN did, so he’s plucked Brandon Browner out of an old milk crate. No one has the heart to tell Bill that his new $12 million cornerback didn’t play against the Broncos.

The New York teams are here, offering Broadway-star money to Breno Giacomini and O’Brien Schofield, players the Seahawks got at open auditions. And poor Jacksonville, picking Red Bryant and Chris Clemons from the “free to a good home” box.

Meanwhile, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider lounge on the porch, watching the frenzy. They’ve made their major purchase, and at Brandon Browner heads to New England. a bargain price, as Michael Bennett shed lucrative offers the way he does opposing blockers to return to Seattle’s defense.

Contrast the Hawks with the team they strangled 43-8 in the Super Bowl. Denver’s doubled down on the 2014 season, laying out $108 million to sign three veteran players. The Broncos are clearly operating under the nihilistic “championship window” philosophy— after patiently assembling a talented team, this worldview dictates, you are meant to vomit money at free agents until you Michael Bennett win a Super Bowl or stays in Seattle. die trying. It’s like playing blackjack and hitting on 20.

Here’s what usually happens: You patch one hole with cash but another one starts gushing water, and eventually you drown in a flood of bad contracts. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the Seahawks tried it after their Super Bowl loss, committing $178 million to free agents in 2006—including eight years and $62 million to Shaun Alexander.

Pete Carroll’s Seahawks are sticking with the philosophy that got them to the Super Bowl in the first place—staying young, building through the draft, and signing free agents for their value, not out of desperation.

The Seahawks aren’t a dynasty yet, but offseasons like these are what get you there. E

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his accuser, he will remain locked up.

It’s presumably a popular, politically correct decision, one that also cites “common sense” as a basis. But did the high court follow its mandate to reach an unemotional interpretation of case law?

The three dissenters say no. They accuse the majority of making “an error . . . of a constitutional dimension,” as Justice Charles Wiggins, who wrote the dissent, describes it. He and fellow dissenters Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Chief Justice Barbara Madden argue that “the majority overlooks the remarkable dearth of evidence connecting Dobbs’s actions to C.R.’s nonappearance.”

An earlier 2-1 appeals court decision upholding the conviction included a similar dissent, noting that “the record lacks even a scintilla of evidence” to explain why C. R. did not appear for trial.

That’s a key point. The law makes Sixth Amendment exceptions only when it is clearly and cogently shown that the accuser’s failure to appear was caused by the accused. Called the “forfeiture by wrongdoing doctrine,” it allows introduction of an absent witness’s testimony at trial.

To the majority, the “facts show that Dobbs was armed, consistently threatened C.R. if she cooperated with the police, and followed through on these threats by showing up at her house with a gun on multiple occasions, once even shooting at it,” wrote Owens in the majority opinion also signed by Justices Stephen Gonzalez, Mary Fairhurst, James Johnson, Charles Johnson, and Debra Stephens. “Any rational individual would fear testifying against such a person.”

The majority found it “highly probable” that Dobbs caused C.R.’s absence, conceding they lacked direct proof from the victim. “But that is the nature of the forfeiture by wrongdoing doctrine, where witnesses are scared into silence . . . We will not reward [Dobbs] for his success in bringing about that result.”

The Wiggins Three found that argument speculative. It’s “certainly possible” Dobbs frightened the victim into silence, they allow. “It is also quite possible that she had some other motive.” She may have decided she did not want him to be convicted, or had a dislike for law enforcement.

Who knows? The record doesn’t say.

It does show the woman was contacted the night before trial by police and promised to appear, but vanished the next day. There’s no indication she was harmed.

In such situations, a judge “cannot conclude that the evidence of causation is clear, cogent, and convincing” as required, wrote Wiggins. As well, “The majority concludes somewhat implausibly that once behind bars, Dobbs somehow instilled such a fear in C.R. so as to prevent her from testifying at the very trial that would ensure her continued safety . . . ” At the least, felt Wiggins, prosecutors should be required to produce more evidence than was presented in this case.

“To a very significant degree,” says Seattle attorney Leonard Feldman, who analyzed the case for his law firm, “the issue turns on how best to balance the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. That is plainly an issue on which reasonable jurists can (and did) disagree.” E

The Seahawks’ Rummage Sale

7

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

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Its heart broken, most recently by fire and famously by massacre, the International District moves forward amid lingering tensions.

through one of Seattle’s most fragrant and colorfully diverse neighborhoods, with a population of nearly 4,000.

Sometimes Liem will gaze out upon a smattering of seniors practicing tai chi in Hing Hay Park, or breathe in the smells of grilled meat from the Green Leaf, or perhaps fetch a bowl of wonton soup, capped with sprigs of cilantro, at the Fortune Garden. Liem’s Pet Shop, you see, was a fixture on Maynard Alley. It was his life, his social center.

“He’s a lost soul now,” says Anita Woo, whose family owns the 105-year-old building and who rented the space to Liem for just $450 a month. “He wants to come back and open again, but that won’t happen now. Too much damage, and so much loss.”

For Liem, not even 5,000 fish could fend off bad luck.

The Woo family, after repeated consultations with architects and city structural engineers, determined in March that nearly half of the building destroyed in the blaze must be torn down—that is, the entire west wall of the structure facing Maynard Alley: Liem’s home away from home for 35 years.

Early next month, the demolition of the wall and clearing away the debris will begin.

The mystery fire robbed many others as well of their livelihood, at least until demolition and reconstruction are complete. Part-owner Tanya Woo says it will take two months to shore up the west side of the structure, and up to two years for the building to be fully restored. Whatever the case, stresses her brother Timothy Woo, the place his uncle Paul Woo bought more than a half-century ago will remain an integral part of Chinatown.

“We will preserve as much as we can,” Timothy says. “The building is too important not to. It has done good things for this neighborhood, for our community. You know, we never made any money out of the building. It’s been like a family heirloom.”

The Sea Garden restaurant, on the east side of the Wah Mee—famous for its whole crab in ginger sauce—remains shuttered and deemed too dangerous to enter until repairs are made. Same with Palace Décor & Gifts, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and the Yuan Sheng Hang medicinal herb store, whose owner burst into tears and broke a teacup while carrying away as much as she could after being told by the fire department she had 30 minutes to gather her belongings.

Closed too, at least for now, is the famous Mon Hei Bakery.

“When it opened in 1978, the Mon Hei—it means ‘a thousand years of happiness’—it was

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

jin Kwie Liem thought only of his fish.

Forced to flee when the power vanished, black smoke swirling from the roof of the Wah Mee building, the tiny old man, still blessed with a child’s smile, recalls saying to himself, “Oh my God, I just got them, shipped from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan: 5,000 fish, maybe more! Ten thousand dollars!

“Allahku!”

A wise yearly investment, Liem knew, for Chinese families would venture to his crowded little pet shop during the Christmas holiday and carry home in plastic bags the Japanese coy and the comettailed goldfish, in time for the arrival of Chinese New Year the following month.

“They are a sign of prosperity, of plenty,” Liem says, sipping black tea at Duk Li Dim Sum on a cold, rain-soaked morning last month. “It is our custom to keep fish in our homes to send away the bad luck. Some will buy the less expensive fish and release them into the lake. It is a do-good gift, an offering to God.” It was late afternoon, Christmas Eve. Under leaden skies and a weepy rain, the flames flickered atop the long-abandoned top floor of the building at 665 South King Street—the geographic heart of Chinatown. The cause of the fire may never be known, though arson is suspected. Maybe, as some speculate, the building is haunted—the ghosts of Washington’s deadliest-ever massacre still stir in the basement, home to the inglorious Wah Mee Club.

Liem was in his store, at ground level, chatting with customers—many of them older patrons, the ones who remember the frantic squawk of exotic birds after Liem, newly arrived from his homeland of Malaysia, opened the store in 1979. In those early days he sold small boa constrictors and pythons from Thailand, scorpions and African turtles and monkeys—and silky green iguanas that the braver children would let crawl up their skinny arms when brought here on school field trips.

“Sometimes the snakes would get out. The kids would forget to put the lid back and they’d end up on the streets. People very frightened,” recalls the 77-year-old Liem, smiling at the memory. “I did this not to make money. It was my hobby.”

Liem stood alone on the street that dark night as sirens screamed and tired cooks from nearby restaurants, heavy with greasy odors, smoked cigarettes and looked on as water from fire hoses flooded his store, damaging it beyond repair. The electricity gone, Liem’s fish, once skittering bright in a hundred tanks, went belly-up, their heat and oxygen supply lost.

“My heart broke,” Liem says, wiping a cloud of film from his heavy glasses.

Liem lives by himself in Lake City. Since the fire, he comes each day to Chinatown, wandering

JOSHUA BESSEX

D

BY E LLIS E . C O NKLIN

Lost and Found in Chinatown’s Ashes

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 9

LOST & FOUND IN CHINATOWN’S ASHES

sardine and salmon canneries.

The thrilling prospect of unearthing gold brought a wave of Chinese into the neighborhood in the late 1800s. They called America “Gold Mountain,” but they endured simmering resentment and discrimination by white laborers in Seattle when a nationwide depression took hold in 1873.

As local historian L. Kingston Pierce wrote, “ ‘The Chinese must go’ became a rallying cry— one that intensified after passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, forbidding further immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States and denying citizenship rights to those already settled here.”

The Louisa was something of a sanctuary, and in the 1920s and 1930s, Chinatown throbbed with excitement. Paper lanterns and glowing neon hung from the stoops of apartment dwellings.

» FROM PAGE 9

Chinatown’s first bakery,” says Aaron Chan, whose family has run the place from the beginning.” This is where people came for pineapple buns and egg tarts, moon cakes, rice cakes, pound cakes, and sponge rolls, all glistening in rows behind a storefront window.

“It was like Krispy Kreme when it opened.

There were lines around the block,” marvels Chan.

“My grandfather, Hung Fok, ran a pastry school in Hong Kong. One day, Paul Woo came into his school. He was on his honeymoon, and he’d heard about my grandfather. So he tracked him down and implored him to come to Seattle and open a bakery in his building.”

The closing of Mon Hei has been tough on his

wall outside, where it remains today, next to the Sea Garden. It provided, and still does, a public forum for news and messages, especially for seniors who read no English. Since the fire, it languishes behind the cyclone fence that circles the forlorn Wah Mee, the board devoid of anything new save a notice of a January public hearing about the future of Hing Hay Park.

The rooms at the Louisa were small, made of wood and plaster, a communal shower down the narrow hallway on each floor. Men slept on hard cots. Of course there were mah-jongg tables, and at night one might hear, on bustling King Street below, the clack-clack of ivory tiles washing against one another.

“People don’t think of the history and the beauty that was in this building,” muses Anita Woo. “This was a special place. It meant so much to the early immigrants. It is a huge part of the

hotbed of Seattle’s jazz scene. The Northwest Enterprise, a Seattle-based African-American newspaper, penned this about Jackson Street in the early 1930s: “[I]t attracts persons from all sections of the city and numerous migrants who are attracted by the bright lights and allurements.

And there are allurements, if you know where to find them . . . Jackson Street might be called the ‘Poor Man’s Playground.’ Here all races meet on common ground and rub elbows as equals.

Fillipinos [sic], Japanese, Negroes and whites mingle in the same hotels and restaurants and there is an air of comradeship.”

Or as Steve Griggs, a local music writer and member of the Jazz Journalists Association, put it recently, “Asian businesses welcomed the AfricanAmericans, and African-Americans appreciated having access to their restaurants.”

University of Washington history profes-

JOSHUA BESSEX

JOSHUA BESSEX

COURTESY WOO FAMILY

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

KYU HAN

10

parents. “This is their lifeblood. It is all they have ever done. They have no other skills.”

After a lengthy pause, the 30-year-old Chan ruminates, “It was disheartening, I have to say, when after the fire all that the media mentioned was that this was the place of the Wah Mee massacre, and nothing else. There was little or nothing about all the good things that this building has meant for the community.”

It began as a boarding house, built in 1909 by

three Scandinavian men, who named it the Nelson, Tagholm & Jensen Tenement. Later it became the Hudson Hotel, and soon after the Louisa Hotel: 120 rooms for Chinese, Japanese, and thousands of Filipino immigrants—“Alaskeros,” they were called—who would stay in Seattle before being dispatched by labor contractors to work in Alaska’s

Children pitched baseball cards in Canton Alley.

Adults gathered in social clubs, tucked away in basements and backroom parlors, for card games, and feasted on platters of chaswei, sweet barbecued pork, boiled peanuts, black sesame-seed soup, and good-luck oranges for a sweet, long life.

The hotel, with its orange brick facade and windows with cast-stone sills and lintels, boasted a second-floor billiard room where seven twostory bay windows allowed light to stream in.

Rumors persist that a secret casino with a surreptitious passageway may also have been on the second floor. Gorgeous floor-to-ceiling handpainted murals, destroyed in the Christmas Eve fire, depicted comforting scenes from the Chinese homeland.

The Chinese Community Billboard, now a Seattle historic landmark, was plastered to a

“After the fire, all that the media mentioned was that this was the place of the Wah Mee massacre, and nothing else.” history of Chinatown.”

Says Rebecca Frestedt, the city’s historicpreservation coordinator for the Chinatown International District: “This building is not yet a landmark, but it is so much a part of the fabric of the larger historic district.”

As Roosevelt’s New Deal put a few dollars in people’s pockets, Jackson Street, which runs through the neighborhood, emerged as the

COURTESY WOO FAMILY

Above, left to right: Djin Kwie Liem in front of his pet shop; members of the Woo family stand outside the Wah Mee building; Harry Chan, owner of Tai Tung.

Below, left to right: Tim Louis; the fire damage from above.

sor Quintard Taylor, for an article in the Great Depression Washington State Project at UW, said that the Jackson Street clubs “were the only places where well-to-do white businessmen and socialites met black and Asian laborers and maids as social equals.”

Noodles Smith, owner of the Black and Tan, where Duke Ellington played, sensed a thirst for a sophisticated Great Gatsby–like club, and opened the Ubangi inside the Louisa Hotel in the mid-’30s. It was a glamorous joint, awash in potted palms and exquisite African-themed decor.

Music and dance acts flew in from Los Angeles.

Cab Calloway played the Ubangi. Nearby was the Congo Club, the 411 Club, the Blue Rose, the Entertainer’s Club—where pianist Jelly Roll Morton performed—and the Bucket of Blood, a

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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rowdy joint which earned its name after someone was murdered following a police raid.

As historian and writer Paul De Barros, in his book on Seattle’s speakeasies, Jackson Street After Hours, wrote, “Imagine a time when Seattle . . . was full of people walking up and down the sidewalks after midnight. When you buy a newspaper at the corner of 14th and Yesler from a man named Neversleep—at three in the morning.

When limousines pulled up to the 908 Club all night, disgorging celebrities and wealthy women wearing diamonds and furs. When ‘Cabdaddy’ stood in front of the Rocking Chair, ready to hail you a cab—that is, if he knew who you were.”

Of all the gambling joints in Chinatown, none rivaled the Wah Mee Club in terms of sheer elegance. It was one sexy place in its time—and what a run it had. From its earliest years in the 1920s, when it was called the Blue Heaven, through the 1950s, the Wah Mee, secreted away in a spacious basement space in the Louisa Hotel, reeked of delightful decadence.

There was dancing, and boozing at its long, sumptuously curved bar; mah-jongg and pai gow, and stacks of silver dollars on gambling tables beneath dimly lit ornamental lanterns and rich deep carpets. Smoking Lucky Strikes, people of all races partied hard into the night, their waiters clad in white suits and black ties.

“The Wah Mee was host to some of the highest-stakes gambling in Seattle,” notes Todd Matthews, a local journalist who spent a decade researching and writing an e-book about the Wah Mee massacre, which he published in 2011.

“Winners,” he wrote, “went home with tens of thousands of dollars after a single night of gambling. Indeed, gambling was so popular at one point that, according to Jerry F. Schimmel, an authority on coin collecting and author of Chinese-American Tokens From the Pacific Coast, the Wah Mee Club issued its own brass token for gamblers—a 39-millimeter-wide gem with the club’s name written in Chinese characters.”

The place operated illegally, like at least 40 other illicit clubs in the Chinatown area, police estimate. Security was strict and required those entering to pass through a series of doors where private members were “buzzed” in through each door. The conspicuous gambling den was often raided, and in the early 1970s, the Wah Mee, whose English translation is “beautiful China,” fell on hard times—as did the rest of the former hotel.

The March 20, 1970 Ozark Hotel fire at 2038 Westlake Ave. claimed the lives of 21 people. A year later, 12 people were killed at the Seventh Avenue Apartments. Both tragedies led to major city code changes, mandating that every building three stories or less have fire-resistant stairways and door, or a sprinkler alternative.

The new ordinance proved too costly for many Chinatown hotel owners—including building owners Minnie Nelson Harrison and her brother William “Billie” Nelson. They sold the building to Paul Woo, who’d make his nut renting to groundfloor retailers (though for generously low sums) and leaving the top two hotel floors vacant, as they’d been for years—too expensive to repair and abide by the new fire code.

To this day, at least six Chinatown hotels and apartment buildings sit idle, notes Maiko Winkler-Chin, director of the Seattle Chinatown International Preservation and Development Authority—the Eclipse Hotel, the Hip Sin Association Building, the Kong Yick Apartment, and

the Gee How Oak Tin Hotel among them, save for some street-level retail outlets. “It has been a problem for a long time here. It’s a cultural thing; the owners don’t want to take on debt, because they’re not sure whether they’ll recoup their investment,” observes Winkler-Chin.

By the 1980s, the Wah Mee Club had lost all ves-

tiges of its former glory. It was just another cocktail lounge, as Todd Matthews details in his book Wah Mee—a dive bar, really, with old couches, cheap plastic ashtrays, and a map of mainland China tacked to the wall, near a framed portrait of a race horse and a Chinese lunar calendar.

On the night of February 18, 1983, one of the most infamous chapters in Northwest history began to unfold when Kwan Fai “Willie” Mak, a club regular, arrived at the notorious nightclub just before midnight. He’d lost a lot of money gambling and he wanted it back. He brought two friends, Wai-Chiu “Tony” Ng and Benjamin Ng. They managed to get past the guards carrying semi-automatic weapons.

Patrons were ordered to the floor, hogtied, and robbed. Thirteen people were executed. Mak and Benjamin Ng were ultimately sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Tony Ng was charged in the murders, but claimed Mak forced him to participate in the mayhem. The jury found in Ng’s favor and convicted him of robbery. Ng was released by a state parole board last October, after 30 years in prison.

“The Wah Mee,” says Winkler-Chin, “cast a pall over the district for a good while. It was a scary place to go.”

The club’s doors have been padlocked, and no one has entered the gambling parlor since the massacre. It is a tomb now, a time capsule.

Says Tanya Woo, “In respect to the families, we sealed the door after that night. Everything there is untouched, the patrons’ cups, jackets, the doorman’s lunch.”

There are many stories in Chinatown, and many

secrets. No other place in Seattle feels so palpably foreign. So much has changed, and yet so much remains the same: the smells and vibrant colors; the buildings with parapet walls, many of them ornamented with signs in Chinese and Japanese; the historic gate across from Union Station, with upturned eaves and bathed in lucky red to welcome people to old Chinatown.

“There is much tradition here, and we’ve held on to our traditions,” reflects Anita Woo. “The young take care of the old. Yes, we have changed as a community, but we stay together. We always stay together.”

Harry Chan owns the Tai Tung, the district’s oldest Chinese restaurant. On any given day, you’ll catch him at the counter, where behind him menu items written in black magic marker on separate pieces of paper are taped to the walls.

He’s lived all of his 66 years in Chinatown, and sometimes pines for the past. `“A lot of the old people have moved out,” he begins. “There used to be so many social clubs for gambling. Now they go to the casinos. The casino buses stop here and take them away. They get coupons for free buffets.

That hurts business.

“Oh, yes, it used to be so busy. People out at night, drinking and eating. The old people miss that. Everyone knew each other,” Chan continues.

After bringing a huge, steaming plate of chicken chow mein to a couple of construction workers, Chan adds, “But there are good changes here now. You know, we have the pinball museum, a pizza place [World Pizza], and many new young people are coming, too. This is a good thing.”

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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LOST & FOUND IN CHINATOWN’S ASHES » FROM PAGE 12

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“I’m still using Grandma’s cooking recipe for the cookies,” says Louie, 52, whose company turns out 80,000 cookies a day. He’s a popular man in the district, a funny, garrulous sort whom many in the neighborhood call “the unofficial mayor of Chinatown.” Asked who writes the fortunes, Louie replies

a carton of hundreds of thin paper fortunes, he confides, “My dad comes down here every day.

He’s 89, but he wants to keep busy. My mom does too. She comes down and stacks the fortunes and puts them in little boxes.”

“How come they don’t call Ballard the International District?” asks Brien Chow—son of

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Above left: Wah Mee, an e-book by Todd Matthews.

Above right and below: shots of the Wah Mee club shortly after the massacre.

with a wink, “A very wise Chinese guru.”

Louie turns serious now. He’s got something on his mind. “We got some changes going on here. Not good ones. Parking is bad. My suppliers hate it. They get tickets all the time. They tell me, ‘Tim, I can’t afford to come here.’ There’s a lot more street people here now, too. More crime, it seems. [City Councilman] Tom Rasmussen was down here a while ago. People were coming up to him, asking for money.”

Still, Louie is hopeful. He and many others in the community realize the neighborhood will retain its place as a regional hub for Asian/ Pacific Islander culture and commerce. The street cars, light rail, new apartment buildings, and the conversion of old historic buildings into bustling mixed-use developments will lure a new generation of Asian immigrants into the heart of the city.

For now, though, Louie is thinking about his fortune—fortune cookies, in particular. Grabbing

moniker adopted by the city of Seattle in 1998: Chinatown–International District. Some still maintain that that designation was intended to disguise or diminish their historical leadership in the area.

The controversial name evolved slowly.

In essence, the ID, its often-used shorthand moniker, is essentially three boroughs pressed together. Chinatown comprises the blocks around King Street; Little Saigon centers on 12th and Jackson; and Japantown, or Nihonmachi, is in the vicinity of Main Street, anchored by the Panama Hotel—where in a dimly lit basement remain worn steamer trunks, kimonos, and random piles of household belongings, all left behind in April 1942 when Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 shipped thousands of Japanese-Americans from here to Idaho’s Minidoka internment camp.

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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In the early 1900s Nihonmachi had numbered 6,000 residents, but after World War II it never regained its stature, and the area became more diverse. This is one reason that on July 23, 1951, Seattle Mayor William F. Devin decreed a new name for the neighborhood—“International Center”—and praised, according to a Seattle P-I story at the time, “the mix of citizens of Negro, Japanese, Chinese, and Philippine ancestry.”

(According to 2010 census numbers, 35 percent of Chinatown–International District residents are Chinese; 15 percent Vietnamese; 5 percent Filipino; 3.5 percent Japanese; and 2.7 percent Koreans and Asian/Pacific Islanders. The Caucasian population is slightly more than 20 percent; African-American, 15 percent.)

Despite this diversity, the name International District “implies we are one big happy Asian family,” fumes Betty Lau, a longtime teacher at Franklin High School and board member of the Chong Wa Benevolent Association, an organization established in 1915 to present a united voice for Chinese Americans in Washington state.

“Excuse me,” sniffs Chow, “we don’t all look alike. What we want to call it is Chinatown– Japantown–Little Saigon, because that’s what it is.”

“The Chinese here have always felt a slight when they hear it called the International District,” concedes Don Blakeney, who heads the Chinatown–International District Business Improvement Area.

Says Anita Woo: “This is Chinatown. Nothing more.”

“There has always been a tug-of-war here as to what is our cultural identity,” says Ron Chew, former director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, named in honor of Luke, who in 1962 won a seat on the Seattle City Council—at the time the highest elective post held by a ChineseAmerican in the continental U.S. “I think of lot us believe that the happy medium was to call it the Chinatown–International District.”

16

The District has a history of coping with disruption. The 1960s saw the construction of Interstate 5, which sliced through it, many older Asian-owned buildings demolished in its wake.

Then in the ’70s, change came again when the Kingdome was built, then imploded in 2000 to make room for Safeco Field and CenturyLink.

“For a long time, the city never gave a shit about this neighborhood,” says Bob Santos, a Japanese-American who grew up in the NP Hotel in Japantown. “They put a freeway on the east side of us, and then they put the Kingdome on the west side of us. Now we’re surrounded by concrete.

“They wanted to put up a prison at Eighth and Dearborn, and we killed that. Some tried [in 2004] to put in a McDonald’s at Fifth and Jackson and we killed that. Now they got the street car that’s going to run down Jackson, and a spur line on Eighth that’s going to disrupt the neighborhood.”

Santos is not to be trifled with. Eighty years old, crusty, outspoken, and well-respected, he spent many years as executive director of the International District Improvement Association.

Every Tuesday night, karaoke night, he closes down Bush Garden, belting out song after song.

He goes on, “We’ve been fighting a long time to preserve this neighborhood. After the Kingdome, we started building housing so people wouldn’t be displaced. We renovated the Bush

Hotel. We know the old owners don’t want to renovate their buildings, but their children do.”

Santos believes good days are ahead for the International District: the expansion of Hing Hay Park, for one; the rehab and conversion being undertaken by Uwajimaya to remake the Publix Hotel into new market-rate apartments and active street-level retail space; and the $29 million affordable-housing project called Hirabayashi Place—named in honor of civil-rights leader Gordon Hirabayashi, who stood up against mass incarcerations of JapaneseAmericans during WWII—which had a festive ground-breaking at the end of January.

“We have and will continue—Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and so—to retain our identity, our cultural values. We are proud of our heritage,” says Santos. “This used to be a 24-hour neighborhood. We need to get that vitality back again.

This is the International District. That’s what I call it.”

“There’s a passing of the torch going on in the International District,” says Chew, who now leads the International Community Health Services Foundation, a clinic that each year serves 20,000 people speaking 50 different languages.

“It is going to be up to the young here to keep the old Chinese businesses going. I just hope that we’ll be able to retain our cultural uniqueness.

“It’s not about freezing things in time, but about taking some elements of what’s special and making it fresh again.”

The Woos had hoped to get permission from city

inspectors to allow me a peek inside their building, perhaps a glimpse even of the Wah Mee Club. But no luck.

Todd Matthews, though, in an act of pure serendipity, got to see the club with his own eyes.

It was October 2011, and a production crew with Travel Channel’s Hidden City was in town to film a segment on the Wah Mee Club. “They contacted me for an interview, and I met them in Hing Hay Park,” Matthews recalls. “Shortly before we began filming, the host [Chicago crime writer Marcus Sakey] and I walked over to Maynard Alley and the Wah Mee Club.

“Now, the Wah Mee Club has been padlocked and off-limits to the public pretty much since the murders. I had seen photographs of the inside of the Wah Mee Club, both after the murders and in historic photographs from the 1950s, but I had never been inside myself. The doors had always hung slightly ajar, but they were held back by a thick chain and padlock.

“When we turned off King Street and headed down Maynard Alley, we were both surprised to find the club’s sealed double doors wide open.

Standing in the alley, we could look inside and right into the club. There was a lot of junk stored inside the entryway, but we could also clearly see the curvy bar, the bar stools, a few folding tables, the steps leading down to the lower gaming area—everything! The host turned to me and said, ‘That’s pretty rare, isn’t it?’ I was stunned and said, ‘Yes, it is.’ ” The fire all but extinguished the Wah Mee Club. The ceiling collapsed on what was once the bar area, while the wall in the basement under the club has buckled and brick has fallen from the center of the wall.

“It is too dangerous now,” says Timothy Woo. “But we want to bring it back, at least close to the way it was.” He means the building, not the club, for nothing in the nefarious gin mill will be restored or enshrined.

As Tanya Woo explains, “We want the community to move on and focus on the future.” E

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food&drink The Tipping Point

Should a higher minimum wage affect how much you leave?

FoodNews

BY DANIEL PERSON

BY MEGAN HILL

Y

their own conclusion; grumpy dock workers recently told NBC News that they aren’t going to tip at all anymore if the minimum wage goes up to $15 an hour, since that’s almost as much as they make, and certainly they work harder and deserve more than someone running around carrying plates all day. But that logic seemed a little too simplistic for me to go on, so I reached out to a variety of thinkers—etiquette experts and super-smart restaurant workers, mostly—seeking an honest approach to this thorny question: If we’ve been tipping based on the idea that without 20 percent, a waiter would go home with a pauper’s wage, is it OK to consider a lower standard tip if the minimum wage is increased?

In our conversations, we assumed that a tip credit, which allows employers to count tips toward a server’s hourly wage, wouldn’t be instituted—an assumption that could be proven very

Aragona

Will the 20 percent tip become a memory?

wrong when all is said and done at City Hall.

Washington is one of six states that makes no minimum-wage exception for tipped employees, and that’s not by chance. The idea comes up often in Olympia, and is always met with stiff opposition from labor. But some people I spoke privately with feared that the $15-an-hour pro-

“We would not frown on someone going back to 15 percent or maybe a 10 percent tip.” posal is causing cracks labor’s unified front, suggesting that some organizers are willing to agree to a tip credit if it helps them reach the broader holy grail of liberal economic policy. One server said an increased minimum wage with a tipcredit concession could do more harm than good, reasoning that getting a tip credit implemented statewide will become much easier once liberal Seattle commits to it: “Once you have tip credit in Seattle, you’ll have tip credit across the state.”

That would mean a huge net loss for servers outside the Seattle city limits, since they wouldn’t benefit from the $15 wage but would suffer from the tip credit.

But with that enormous caveat out of the way, let’s return to the main question.

Like many other observers of culture and economics, etiquette expert Lizzie Post—greatgreat-granddaughter of that maven of what’s prim and proper, Emily Post—is hoping from

afar that Seattle sets a $15 minimum wage just so she can see what happens. “I’m hesitant to say you shouldn’t tip anymore at all because I’m worried about what might happen to the windows in my car,” she jokes from her office in Vermont.

“But it’s an interesting kind of problem.”

Etiquette, she emphasizes, is all about “watching the pendulum of culture” swing, and in the end it will be up to Seattle in part to determine where the tipping pendulum goes if a $15 minimum wage is set.

Yet there’s no doubt that tips help flesh out a server’s take-home pay (basically regardless of service quality) which she says demands a rethinking of tipping culture if the wage goes up significantly—a very cautious rethinking, but a rethinking nonetheless. “We’re giving that soft green light—a nice greenish-yellow hue to it, a very hipster color—to say we would not frown on someone going back to 15 percent or maybe a 10 percent tip,” Post concluded at the end of our conversation.

Bars and retailers will soon have the ability to fill growlers with hard cider, thanks to a law passed by Washington legislators. Once Governor Jay Inslee signs the bill, you can take your cider to go, just like beer.

The Rhino Room quietly opened last Thursday in the former Velo Bike Shop space on Capitol Hill.

Patrons can sip from single-serving bottles of champagne and canned beer in leather-clad booths.

Ballard’s SAVOUR has announced it is shuttering at the end of March. The specialty food shop and cafe opened four and a half years ago on Market Street. The last day of business depends on how quickly the shelves’ stock—which will be discounted 25 to 50 percent—sells out. E food@seattleweekly.com

Temperature Check FROM NICOLE SPRINKLE, FOOD & DRINK EDITOR AT SEATTLE WEEKLY

Not surprisingly, some servers I spoke with tried

to red-light that sort of reasoning.

Joe Stormer, a server who helped organize the successful $15-an-hour campaign in Seatac, notes that an increase in the hourly wage does not help servers and other tipped restaurant staff as much as it would, say, a janitor, because the typical server doesn’t work solid eight-hour shifts. That’s not on account of a poor work ethic, it’s just the way restaurants work: At mealtimes they’re slammed and servers make a lot of money from tips, and when the customers leave, so does the staff.

When I told Stormer about Post’s very tentative suggestion that a 10 percent tip may become

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Quality condiments (as long as they make sense with the dish).

Overly deconstructed dishes (I don’t want to do all the work for the chef ).

Ancient grains.

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

No doubt many people have already come to

Zagat published a list of the “10 Hottest New Restaurants in Seattle.” Among those making the cut are Roux, Miller’s Guild, Aragona, and Red Cow.

KYU HAN

ou’ve been there. The bill arrives at the table and discussion of the tip commences. Perhaps a smartphone is pulled out of a purse, ready to start crunching figures. One person suggests 15 percent, another 18, then a third—who’s been in the service industry or has a brother who’s a waiter or dated a guy once—lays it down: A server lives off his or her tips, would make minimum wage without them, and doesn’t actually get to keep everything we give. Taxes must be paid; busers, bartenders, and dishwashers must be given their slice through tip-sharing. A 20 percent gratuity is left, and everyone leaves the restaurant still feeling full and tipsy—but also guilt-free.

For every off-hand kvetch about how tipping these days is almost entirely unrelated to service quality—with one popular Seattle blog recently lecturing that you should tip 20 percent even if the waiter spills food on you and gets the orders wrong—there are stacks of economic studies to show that without tips, most waiters literally can’t survive in Seattle, since most waiters make minimum wage. These pages have already carried plenty of stories backing up that assertion (See “Low Wage Nation,” Feb. 19), and this economic reality is making a $15-an-hour minimum wage a very real possibility in the very near future in Seattle.

But getting back to my hypothetical bill situation (which is closely based on an actual dinnertable conversation I had in Pioneer Square last month): If the minimum wage is increased to $15 an hour—a wage that even our elected socialist agrees is enough to get by on—should tipping culture change with it? If the question seems premature, consider that many restaurant owners are already warning that an increased minimum wage will increase food prices; how a higher wage will affect the cost of dining out is in fact very much in the center of the debate.

19

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acceptable again in Seattle if the minimum wage were increased, he did some quick, back-ofthe-envelope math. If we assume (and I think we should) that 20 percent is the going rate now, then what was a $100 night in tips would become $50; meanwhile, a five-hour shift at $6 an hour more would net $30 extra a night, leaving the server $20 in the hole.

“To cut tipping in half would really hurt servers and their families,” he says.

Sarah Fox, a soon-to-be published Seattle historian who also waits tables and runs the blog Overeducated Waitress, says that in the long run, if a living wage becomes standard statewide, she could accept tipping going down.

However, she’s reticent to start talking new percentage points, in part because nothing’s been

Sarah Fox emphasized that raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do, and will help most people working at restaurants.

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passed yet. During the recession, she says, rumors flew that TV personalities were suggesting that to save money, people could start tipping 10 percent when they eat out—and many diners seized the opportunity. “So here we were as servers, already suffering financially because business was down due to the recession, and here are these customers who clearly expected the same standard of service they got for 20 percent yesterday, at 10 percent today,” she says. “Our attitude was, if you are hurting for cash so much that you aren’t going to tip, don’t have that third glass of really expensive craft beer.”

That said, Fox emphasized that if she takes home less because of an increased minimum wage but lower tips, she won’t bat an eye. Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do, she believes, and will help most people working at restaurants, from the dishwashers to the busers.

On that note, I asked both Stormer and Fox whether they expected tip-sharing culture to change given that dishwashers and busers would also be making significantly more per hour.

Both said no. Stormer noted that the busers at restaurants he’s worked at already make more per hour than the servers; tipping them out is about thanking them for a job well done. (Tip pooling is a whole story unto itself, as even relatively high-paid kitchen staff like chefs now often get a share of tips; Mario Batali was even sued in New York City in 2012 for skimming tips to help subsidize his sommeliers’ wages.)

In the end, Fox says, it’s a conversation and an evolution that can and should happen. She only asks that it come slowly and deliberately, rather than as a knee-jerk reaction to some perception of entitlement on the part of waiters.

“If in 20 years, when a living wage is standard across the state, the standard tip is 15 percent or 10 percent, so shall it be,” she says. “In the long run, I fully expect tipping culture to evolve.” E

food@seattleweekly.com

W

ith the start of Sounders season, it’s only natural that we Seattleites start comparing ourselves to our rivals to the south. I recently spent a few days in Portland, and came away with a few thoughts on how their bar scene is both similar to and different from our own.

• Portland is smaller. This means that the restaurant industry, and the bar scene in particular, is smaller. The smaller bartender pool means that basically everyone knows everyone else, which creates a fun, vibrant community that’s constantly examining and critiquing each other. In a lot of ways, Portland’s current state

BY ZACH GEBALLE reminds me of Seattle’s five to 10 years ago, when the craft-cocktail scene was smaller. At Speed Rack (a female bartending competition) a month or so ago, I was shocked at how many people in the Seattle bar scene I didn’t know—a commentary both on me and on how large that scene has grown. Portland isn’t there yet, but that might be a good thing.

• Pretension is still big business. Mustaches and vests abound (as they do in Seattle, of course). Exclusivity and a massive list of whiskeys is part of the core concept at Multnomah Whiskey Library, arguably the hottest spot in Portland right now. To be fair, the service was spot-on, but it’s hard not to feel like 1,000-plus whiskeys is maybe a few too many.

THEBARCODE

• Their distilling scene is smaller, but less encumbered by regulation. Here in Wash-

Like Seattle, except you can drink at strip clubs. ington, the craft distilling law means that to make a “craft spirit,” one must source at least 51 percent of their raw goods from within the state.

While that’s certainly good for Washington grain producers, it does limit experimentation to some extent. Want to make rum? Too bad sugarcane doesn’t grow in our climate. There are ways around it, but Oregon doesn’t have nearly as many hoops to jump through.

• Hotel bars have made a comeback. One of Portland’s most unique bars is the Driftwood Room at the Hotel deLuxe. A true hotel bar with no attached restaurant (though there is one nearby), it serves both as an oasis for weary travelers and as a modern and creative craft-cocktail bar. Similarly, the Imperial at the Hotel Lucia has a contemporary bar that matches any in Portland.

Both are worth checking out.

• Of course, Portland is also known for its beer scene, and for its proximity to the Wil-

lamette Valley. Local beers and wines abound, as they do here. Yet the differing climates put an emphasis on white wines and lighter reds, a definite contrast to Washington’s powerful, concentrated red wines.

Of course we fight like siblings, but it’s no surprise that among American cities, none feel more like Seattle than Portland does. Except you can drink at strip clubs. Score one for PDX! E

thebarcode@seattleweekly.com

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arts&culture Of Drones and Men

DIY inventors, basement hobbyists, and tech enthusiasts converge at the Seattle Mini Maker Faire.

BY KELTON SEARS

M

THEYSHALLWALK.ORG

low pneumatic coils attached to a scuba tank spill from the sides of the suits, which allow quadriplegics to walk, jump, and hoist 155pound dumbbells. A fleet of volunteer engineers and “test pilots,” many with learning disabilities, gather at the warehouse to help develop homeuse and occupational-therapy variants on Reed’s working prototype.

Reed and his DIY colleagues might not match the usual definition of engineers, but they’re exactly the sort of oddball inventors you’ll meet at the Mini Maker Faire. “The system tells you that you can’t do it unless you meet this certain criteria,” Reed says. “But there are people who have talent, and that talent is the criteria.”

Of course there will be drones and robots this

In 1986, when Reed lay paralyzed in his Army

BERLIN

Top left: Reed at last year’s Mini Maker Faire. Top right: Reed demonstrating one of his designs. Bottom right: Lang’s OpenROV is essentially an underwater drone.

Troopers suit. The military doctors were saying he’d never walk again, but a sci-fi exoskeleton could change all that. His physicians allowed him access to Medline, a pre-Internet database of medical research papers, and he begin to study—

Want to build a robot? Get on the Internet, and the instructions are there. and that’s the essential spirit of Maker Faire.

“Japanese and German neurologists had claimed nerve damage was not permanent,” says Reed. “They had proved that nerves actually heal.

American doctors had always claimed that nerve damage was permanent. There was controversy, but I just chose to go with what was most

F EATU RI NG TER R I NUNN THUR | MAR 27 | 7PM

beneficial to believe, which was that I could learn to walk again.” While Captain America might’ve shuddered at trusting the Axis powers’ scientific research, Reed’s approach was much more Iron Man—as the latter movies reflect. (Ironically, the 1997 Starship Troopers film adaptation didn’t feature such suits, but you’ll see them in both RoboCop movies and the recent Elysium.)

Inexplicably, Reed’s hands and toes started working again a month after the accident. By that time, he’d already made a preliminary design for his suit. But he didn’t need it anymore—he learned to walk again without the aid of canes or braces. Reed would create a dozen more exoskeleton suits before enrolling at North Seattle Community College, attending the UW, and founding a nonprofit called They Shall Walk.

Today Reed has a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Georgetown where “mech-suits,” powered by compressed air, lumber around. Yel-

weekend. One of the latter comes from David Lang, who created the OpenROV deep-sea exploration robot in his California garage. He’ll be demonstrating his rover in a pool at EMP, this model following the original idea he and a friend had to explore an underwater cave in the Sierras that supposedly held lost gold from a California Gold Rush–era robbery.

“It’s magic,” says Lang, who is coming to the Mini Maker Faire in part to meet with his new partner The Paul Allen Foundation, which recently gave Lang a grant to put the OpenROV in schools. “It’s just infectious being around so many people who are in love with what they are doing,” he says.

And the Mini Maker Faire isn’t just about tech: Dancers will trigger modulating fractal video projections; robots will draw murals; and sewing enthusiasts will debut their crocheted creations destined for the spotlight at Burning Man. In some ways, the Seattle Mini Maker Faire might end up looking like a scale model of Burning Man—an army of strange people with a lot of excess energy and a fascination with lasers. Just expect a lot more algorithms and a lot less acid. E

ksears@seattleweekly.com

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hospital bed, the Internet hadn’t yet been invented. With nothing else to do, he picked up a copy of Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 sci-fi novel Starship Troopers. The book described mechanical armor suits that enabled soldiers who wore them to lift thousands of pounds and jump on top of buildings. Reed recalls, “I read that, and I thought, ‘You know, if I could build one of those things, program it to walk, and then get in it, I could walk again.’ ” Reed decided he would make his own Starship

OPENROV.COM

TODD GARDINER

onty K. Reed jumped out of an Army airplane in 1986 and broke his back. He hadn’t wanted to jump out of airplanes. He originally wanted to be a research scientist. But research scientists usually don’t have learning disabilities. While Reed is extremely talented in certain areas, he’s a terrible mathematician who can’t spell very well. High-school teachers told him he couldn’t go to college. So he joined the Army and started jumping out of airplanes. He thought it was his only real option, he explained recently by phone.

“After my third year, I did a physics experiment with parachutes and gravity,” Reed jokes.

“Gravity always works, parachutes don’t.”

Twenty years after his accident, the first Maker Faire was held in San Mateo, California. The new movement of “Makers”—DIY craftspeople turning their garages into laboratories and production facilities—would soon be augmented by the Web. Want to build a 3-D printer? Get on the Internet, and the instructions are there. Want to build a robot? Get on the Internet, and the instructions are there.

Now in its third year, the Seattle Mini Maker Faire at the EMP Museum is a licensed offshoot of the 2006 San Mateo original—since expanded to New York, China, the UK, and beyond. The expos celebrate innovation from those without Ph.D.s or conventional academic backing, which means some 70 display booths this weekend will feature homemade biodomes, DIY supercars, and balloon satellites. Reed, last year’s festival prize winner, will be there, showing the sci-fi-inspired creations he dreamed into reality while recovering from his fateful injury.

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arts&culture»

ThisWeek’sPickList WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

The Importance of Being Earnest

This is probably Oscar Wilde’s most successful and most revived comedy, his signature stage work. Drenched in wit and bons mots, the 1895 play adroitly skewers the false fronts and social conventions of what we now deem the late Victorian era. (If anything, in his last stage piece produced before his gay-scandal downfall, Wilde effectively nailed the coffin shut on that era.) Is polite society but a sham? Can mendacity serve a higher purpose? Does the mask reveal the man? Earnest is shot through with all those themes, but it’s also a first-class farce with mistaken identities and masquerades. Yet what audiences know and love about it most, of course, is the Wildean writing—for instance, “In matters of utmost importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.” Victor Pappas directs a Seattle Shakespeare Company cast featuring Quinn Franzen and Connor Toms (as the two scamps who eagerly lie for love) and Hana Lass and Emily Grogan (as the ladies in question), plus Charles Leggett as the perpetually pedantic Canon Chasuble, who approves of everything while understanding nothing.

(Previews begin tonight; opens Friday; runs through April 13.) Center Theatre at Seattle Center, 733-8222, seattleshakespeare.org. $29.

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Phil Klay

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HANNAH DUNPHY

He could’ve done the easy thing, as an ex-Marine who served in Iraq now trying to make it as a fiction writer: patriotic, blood-and-guts combat accounts in which troops bravely battle terrorists only to be undermined by lily-livered liberal politicians back in D.C. Yet Klay, a Dartmouth grad, wasn’t after the market for airport page-turners Klay enlisted in the or appearances Marines in 2005 after graduating Dartmouth. on FOX TV. The first-person stories in Redeployment (Penguin, $26.95) feature a dozen different perspectives on war, with a strong emphasis on its aftermath. Combat may be clear and decisive, but not so the business of coming home and re-establishing a civilian’s life. In “Psychological Operations,” an Egyptian-American college student, back from service, uses his training to mess with the head of an AfricanAmerican girl who’s converted to Islam; it’s part seduction and part confession—trying to trick her into the kill zone, as it were, like the gunmen in Fallujah. In “Unless It’s a Sucking Chest Wound,” a new lawyer, also back from service, is uncomfortable with “the weird pedestal vets are on right now.” Far from Iraq, he muses, “I started feeling more like a Marine out of the Corps than I’d felt while in it.” All his lawschool friends identify him as such, and “If they didn’t know, I’d make sure to slip it into conversations first chance I got.” Even out of uniform, Klay’s characters still seem to have been shaped

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7 p.m. BRIAN MILLER THURSDAY, MARCH 20

Moisture Festival

Entering its second decade, the Moisture Fest comes in two flavors: the family-friendly edition featuring clowns, acrobats, jugglers, and all manner of music; then there’s the late-night program, which emphasizes burlesque, T&A, and double entendres (liquor helps set the mood). In truth, both are good fun; and if you take your kids to a matinee, you may feel like going back later with your friends on a baby-sitter date night. Opening night, your host will be Ron W. Bailey, who’ll preside over an array of talent including the acrobats Duo Rendez-vous, magician Jay Alexander, the vaudeville clowns Kamikaze Fireflies, aerialist Marina Luna, and the comedy stunt performers known as Rootberry. Doc Sprinsock and the SANCApators provide the live music.

The roster of talent changes almost nightly—one reason they call it a variety show. (Other venues include Broadway Performance Hall and Teatro ZinZanni; runs through April 13.) Hale’s Palladium, 4301 N.W. Leary Way, moisturefestival. com. $10–$25. 7:30 p.m. T. BOND

Thuy-Van Vu

There are no humans in Vu’s paintings, save for a single portrait of a nude woman whose face is obscured by a flash of light. It’s an appropriately enigmatic burst of humanity in Vu’s canon—paintings mostly of the fleeting objects we leave in our wake. A quiet rendering of paper lanterns left from a wedding suggest a celebration past, but the image’s yawning emptiness swallows any remnant of joy that might be had.

Vu seems entranced by those vacant moments after the action. Demolished houses often figure in her work—fractured piles of splintered wood and castoff insulation. These places used to be homes, but now they’re scraps. While the hollowness of her paintings can leave you somber, there’s playfulness there too. Her painting Masking Tape From Last Untitled Painting is exactly that: a wadded ball of masking tape. Security Guard’s Book depicts a tattered paperback copy of The Godfather. There’s still hope among these remnants: Worn as that paperback may be, it’s waiting for someone to pick it up and enjoy it again. (Through April 26.) G. Gibson Gallery,

300 S. Washington St. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 587-4033, ggibsongallery.com. Free. Opening reception: 6–8 p.m. KELTON SEARS

Thelma Schoonmaker

As the triple-Oscar-winning longtime editor for Martin Scorsese, Schoonmaker and her pal made the deliberate decision to let The Wolf of Wall Street run long and raggedy, to allow for maximum improvisation and bacchanalia over its three hours. (Think of the McConaughey chestthumping scene, or Leo and the Lambo.) Any good editor—and Schoonmaker is among the best—knows there has to be a balance between effulgence and discipline; sometimes you twist the dial one way (as in Wolf or Mean Streets) or the other (The Departed ). But in two films she’ll

discuss and screen over two nights, Schoonmaker will likely emphasize the Apollonian side of her trade. Tonight, directed by Emeric Pressburger and her late husband Michael Powell, the 1946 A Matter of Life and Death (aka Stairway to Heaven) operates according to celestial scheme, as downed World War II airman David Niven presents his case for living (and a return to Earth) to a heavenly court. Tomorrow, made by the same team in 1950, Gone to Earth is more Dionysian, as a sexy Welsh village girl ( Jennifer Jones) drives men to distraction. In that regard, you could compare her to the temptress in Wolf (Australian actress Margot Robbie) who makes DiCaprio’s Wall Street scoundrel crazy with desire. Sometimes the editing follows the characters. (Schoonmaker will also appear at Scarecrow Video, 2 p.m. Friday.) Seattle Art Museum, 1300

University St., 215-4747, seattlesymphony.org. $19–$122. 7:30 p.m. (Repeats 8 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m.

Sun.) GAVIN BORCHERT

FRIDAY, MARCH 21

Andy Kindler

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. $8–$10. 7:30 p.m. (Repeats Fri.) BRIAN MILLER

Seattle Symphony

For Richard Taruskin, no cow is sacred, the conventional rarely embodies wisdom, and classical-music pieties are just so many piñatas to be gleefully beaten open (there’s usually something more interesting inside). As a steady contributor to The New York Times and The New Republic and an intimidatingly prolific author (the 3,856-page Oxford History of Western Music is the cornerstone of his output), the UC Berkeley music professor is the nearest thing we have to a public intellectual (only The New Yorker’s Alex Ross matches him in reach and impact). Expert in

“Night Butterflies”—a piece as skittish and mercurial as the title suggests: like Messiaen’s birdsong music, but even more brilliantly, icily glittering.

Ludovic Morlot conducts its U.S. premiere, with soloist Tomoko Mukaiyama. Benaroya Hall, 200

Schoonmaker’s Oscars are for The Departed, The Aviator, and Raging Bull.

Russian music, he’s being brought by the Seattle Symphony to give the keynote address (Saturday, 2 p.m.) at this weekend’s symposium “Creative Diaspora: Émigré Composers From the Former USSR.” (See the full lineup at blog.seattle symphony.org.) Surrounding the conference, the SSO plays three Russian works, including a yearold piano concerto by Alexander Raskatov entitled

Nobody likes to be called a veteran in comedy— at least not until after they’re dead. So let’s just say Kindler has been around (doing stand-up, Letterman, Leno, sitcom gigs, Comedy Central specials, etc.). Kindler is very much a part of the industry, but also a surprisingly caustic critic of it, the enemy of hacks everywhere. He’s renowned for his state-of-the-business tirades at Montreal’s annual Just for Laughs festival (held every July, and a great reason to visit that city).

Begun in 1996, these speeches are an occasion to bash Dane Cook, of course, but also to mock his own career fortunes. (“I don’t wanna get too huge. I make sure I’m a renter, to keep myself below the radar, to be the enfant terrible—whatever that means.”) Here, however, Kindler will be delivering jokes in his typically plaintive, nebbishy style; his stage demeanor is that of a nervous Long Island dentist who can’t find his car keys. In one bit, he says he’s too insecure to stay at an extended-stay hotel. In another joke, he wonders why the Real Housewives franchise has a website where viewers can learn more about

the show. Kindler asks, “Is there an area of the Internet where I can go to learn less about the Real Housewives?” We hope he finds it. Laughs

Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E. (Kirkland), 425-823-6306, laughscomedy.com. $15. 8 & 10 p.m. (Repeats Sat.) BRIAN MILLER SATURDAY, MARCH 22

Music of Remembrance

The cultural life encouraged at the Terezín concentration camp near Prague during World War II concealed a hideous irony: It was a vital outlet, even lifeline, for creativity that, however, enabled the Nazis to tout it as a “model ghetto.” (One propaganda documentary about Terezín was titled The Führer Gives the Jews a City.) Among the works performed there was the half-hour children’s opera Brundibár, an allegory about standing up to bullies by composer Hans Krása.

Seattle’s Music of Remembrance rebirthed and, in 2006, recorded the opera (with an English libretto by Tony Kushner), and presents a revival this weekend. As MOR director Mina Miller wrote chillingly in her liner notes to the Naxos CD, “Its casts needed constant replenishing when the child performers were transported to death camps after most shows.” (Krása himself was killed at Auschwitz in 1944.) One who survived was Ela Stein Weissberger, who sang in all 55 Terezín performances; she visits Seattle this weekend as an honored guest of MOR. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center, 365-7770, musicofremembrance.org. $40. 4 p.m. (Also 7 p.m. Sun.) GAVIN BORCHERT E

WILLIAM CORDOVA MACHU PICCHU AFTER DARK EPHEMERAL MONUMENTS Peruvian-born artist William Cordova’s art has footing in many worlds. Bridging past and present with art and cultural history, contemporary art and popular culture, each of his works hold meaning that traverses global geography and personal interest. Hear the artist speak about his monumental installation currently on view, machu picchu after dark (pa’ victoria santa cruz, macario sakay y aaron dixon) 2003-2014.

machu picchu after dark (pa’ victoria santa cruz, macario sakay y aaron dixon), 2003–2014, © William Cordova, photo (detail): Nathaniel Willson.

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

WED, MAR 26 7 PM 1ST AVE & UNION ST

25

arts&culture» Stage

Opening Nights Körbes and Moore in Kiss.

April 14

TINARIWEN

Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

Don’t miss this spellbinding desert rock band from the southern Sahara!

TICKETS From: $29

April 19

ANGELA STERLING

LEROY BELL AND HIS ONLY FRIENDS Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

This passionate singer-songwriter comfortably embraces a wide range of genres.

TICKETS FROM: $30

PLittle Shop of Horrors ACT THEATRE, 700 UNION ST., 292-7676, ACTTHEATRE.ORG. $20–$50.

RUNS TUES.–SUN. ENDS JUNE 15.

PDirector’s Choice MCCAW HALL, 321 MERCER ST. (SEATTLE CENTER), 441-2424, PNB.ORG. $28–$179. 7:30 P.M. THURS.–SAT., 1 P.M. SUN. ENDS MARCH 23.

BRANFORD MARSALIS

Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

Branford Marsalis and his Quartet of musical friends are one of the most innovative jazz ensembles around today.

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

TICKETS From: $54

26

July 7

BOZ SCAGGS THE MEMPHIS TOUR

JU ST AD DE D!

S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium

Scaggs’ trademark sound makes plain his abiding respect for a wide spectrum of American roots music.

TICKETS From: $42

FOR TICKETS:

206.215.4747 Benaroyahall.org

Pacific Northwest Ballet director Peter Boal may have trained and performed at New York City Ballet, but he’s got a curiosity about dance that stretches beyond its neoclassical heritage.

His picks for this year’s Director’s Choice program include Broadway and contemporary influences at either end of the evening, with a pair of postmodern works in the middle.

Susan Stroman’s Broadway-inflected TAKE FIVE . . . More or Less is a sunny opener full of stock characters: a brassy sexpot, a jazzy tap-dancer, flirty women, and snappy men. All go home happy in 5/4 time to the familiar tunes

by David Brubeck and Paul Desmond.

Kaori Nakamura and Angelica Generosa share the pivotal role of the woman in yellow who jump-starts the action; both bring a bright and sharp quality to the movement.

Kiss, an aerial duet by Susan Marshall, provides an eerie contrast to Stroman’s happy-ending world. Barely suspended off the floor by 40-foot ropes, Carla Körbes and James Moore glide in eccentric parabolas, sometimes swinging in tandem, other times just missing the connection. Kiss does indeed include an embrace, but it’s a darker kind of romance than sharing an old-fashioned porch swing. The two reach for each other, only to push away repeatedly. The rigging makes their relationship as much about physics as about emotion.

TRACY MARTIN

May 10 & 11

Just about any dance made to Igor Stravinsky’s iconic Le Sacre du Printemps would be a tour de force. Even if you don’t follow the original scenario about ritual sacrifice, just working with his ever-shifting time signatures and eccentric accents would qualify for the title. In the case of Molissa Fenley’s grueling State of Darkness, it is indeed a triumph just to dance through to the end. Fenley has created a ritualized journey for a solo performer that is both an endurance test and a meditation. Matthew Renko made a very able debut in the part opening weekend, but Jonathan Porretta, who’s danced the role before, shows the depth of his experience. He makes the stage seem small.

The program closes with a premiere: Alejandro Cerrudo’s Memory Glow is a slippery and twisty ensemble work reminiscent of Jiří Kylián, who’s been such an influence on European contemporary dance. Cerrudo seems to have lubricated the air inside McCaw Hall.

Ten dancers shift in and out of relationships as they slide across the stage on stocking feet. (At one moment, Raphaël Bouchard surfs halfway across the stage to arrive with a flourish, rather like Tom Cruise in Risky Business.) Partner work resembles an advanced class in knottying, with limbs folding and twining, only to have it all slither apart in the end. We’re left with a memory of wild activity, retreating into darkness. SANDRA KURTZ

Small wonder that a show as guileless and tuneful as their 1982 Little Shop of Horrors would launch the careers of composer Alan Menken and his lyricist partner, the late Howard Ashman. It’s simple, it’s overstuffed with hummable melodies, and it toys affectionately with two of America’s enduring infatuations: cheesy monster movies and jukebox pop.

Appropriately, this co-production of ACT and the 5th Avenue cranks the fun dial up to 11 with a string of spectacular performances.

These include the Spectoresque Greek chorus

of Ronnette, Chiffon, and Crystal (Nicole Rashida Prothro, Alexandria Henderson, and Naomi Morgan, respectively); floral-shop owner Mr. Mushnik ( Jeff Steitzer, long my favorite Scrooge in ACT’s A Christmas Carol ); and his star-crossed lovebird employees, Audrey and Seymour ( Jessica Skerritt and Joshua Carter).

For such a small show, the oft-produced Little Shop has done much for both theater and film. After their smash hit moved to Broadway, Menken and Ashman helped relaunch Disney’s moribund animation division with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

Since Ashman’s 1991 death from AIDS complications, Menken has continued to enliven the art form with Enchanted and Tangled.

It’s easy to see why Ashman and Menken’s work has stood the test of time: They make story and song interdependent. Every song in Little Shop—the tale of a man-eating plant come to conquer Earth by devouring every last man, woman, and child—either advances character or plot. Often they do both. Here, director Bill Berry lets all his cast members cut loose, and none shrink from the opportunity. During both solo and ensemble tunes (arranged and conducted by R.J. Tancioco), there’s a palpable glee in watching confident performers nail each number with sharpshooter precision. Their voices blending with fearsome beauty, the girlgroup trio rips the roof off with the title number. (Having seen the Off-Broadway original production, it’s interesting to hear what shows like American Idol have wrought. It’s no longer acceptable to merely sing a song—every phrase now requires performers to demonstrate their most acrobatic chops. Little Shop ain’t so little any more.)

Parents thinking of taking their kids to see the chipper ending that delighted moviegoers in ’86 might want to reconsider. In this stage version, it’s the plant, rather than the players, who has the final word. For everyone else, Little Shop is a savory treat that reminds us that we’re all somewhere on the food chain.

KEVIN PHINNEY E

stage@seattleweekly.com

Seymour (Carter) versus the man-eating Audrey II.

arts&culture» Performance TOWN HALL

B Y G AV I N B O R C H E R T

Stage OPENINGS & EVENTS

ARCHIPELAGO eSe Teatro presents a reading of Caridad

Svich’s latest. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 292-7676, eseteatro.org. $10. 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 21.

CHECKOFF IN THE SUN A dying woman’s friends gather one last time in Leonard D. Goodisman’s comedy. Eclectic Theater, 1214 10th Ave., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets. com. $12–$25. Opens March 20. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 p.m.

Sun. Ends April 19.

CIRCA The Australian contemporary circus group pushes the boundaries between circus and dance. Meany Hall, UW campus, 543-4880, uwworldseries.org. $10–$46. 8 p.m.

Sat., March 22, 2 p.m. Sun., March 23.

THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE WET and ACT partner to read Andrew Hinderaker’s dark-comic porn expose, Dirty.

ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 292-7676, acttheatre.org. $5–$10. 7 p.m. Tues., March 25.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 24.

ANDY KINDLER SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 25.

KNOTTY WORDS This “evening of inappropriate poetry and prose” includes performances by Litsa Dremousis, Cole Hornaday, and many others. Lucid, 5241 University Way N.E., seattlepublictheater.org. Free. 7 p.m. Fri., March 21.

MOISTURE FESTIVAL SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 24.

THE RAINY CITY COMIC CON CAPER! A priceless comic book is stolen and geek icons are the suspects in the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Theatre Group’s show. Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, 1729 Harvard Ave., 285-2282. $10–$20. 7 p.m. Fri., March 21–Sat., March 22.

ROYAL BLOOD The premiere of Sonya Schneider’s play about a dysfunctional family and their illusions. West of Lenin, 203 N. 36th St., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets. com. $20–$25. Preview March 20, opens March 21. 8 p.m.

Thurs.–Sun. Ends April 4.

THE SUIT A restaging of Peter Brook’s adaptation of the South African apartheid tale. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. Opens March 19. Runs Tues.– Sun.; see seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends April 6.

THE TUTOR This new musical by Andrew Gerle and Maryrose Wood has a New York writer trying to balance difficult teen clients with his blocked novel. Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, 425-392-2202. Preview March 19, opens March 20. Runs Wed.–Sun. plus some Tues.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends April 27. (Then runs May 2–25 in Everett.)

UNCLE VANYA “Disillusionment, environmental decay, unrequited love, and deferred dreams.” Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs, 2336 15th Ave. S., 800-8383006. $15–$22. Opens March 21. Runs Thurs.–Sun. plus Wed., April 2; see akropolisperformancelab.com for exact schedule. Ends April 5.

• • •

CURRENT RUNS

BLACK VENGEANCE Othello as a punk opera, created

Send events to stage@seattleweekly.com, dance@seattleweekly.com, or classical@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings. = Recommended

•

•

•

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET: DIRECTOR’S CHOICE SEE REVIEW, PAGE 26.

ANNA CONNER + CO The premiere of choreographer

Conner’s “dark and delicately violent” Luna. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., 800-838-3006, annaconner andco.com. $15. 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 21–Sun., March 23.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET: PINOCCHIO The annual performance by PNB students—one act, ideal for families. McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 441-2424, pnb.org. $25–$68. 3:30 p.m. Sat., March 22.

YAVANIKA Joyce Paul Siamak’s dance-theater work, derived from Indian classical dance. Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave., Kirkland, 425-8939900, arpanarts.org. $25. 8 p.m. Sat., March 22.

12 MINUTES MAX Local talent in all disciplines in OTB’s spring omnibus. Washington Hall, 153 14th Ave., onthe boards.org. $8. 7 p.m. Sun., March 23–Mon., March 24.

Classical, Etc.

• RICHARD GOODE A pianist’s pianist: not quite a house-

hold name, but revered by his colleagues. He’ll play Debussy and more. Meany Hall, UW campus, 543-4880, uwworldseries.org. $46–$51. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 20.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 25.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY “Celebrate Asia” includes a new work by UW composer Richard Karpen; Julia Tai conducts. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., 215-4747, seattle symphony.org. $19–$76. 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 21.

BACH SUITE MARATHON Cellists celebrate J.S.’s 329th with his six suites. Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, 7500 Greenwood Ave. N. Free. 10 a.m. Sat., March 22.

MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 25.

SEATTLE CHORAL COMPANY Music from Norway: lots of Grieg, of course, plus folk music and Hardanger fiddle tunes. Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1245 Tenth Ave. E., 800-838-3006, seattlechoralcompany.org. $25.

8 p.m. Sat., March 22.

JOHN TESKE The score for his new ensemble piece, topographies, is metaphorically akin to cartography.

Chapel Performance Space, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., johnteskemusic.com. $5–$15. 8 p.m. Sat., March 22.

SPENCER HOVESKELAND Contemporary music for bass.

Brechemin Auditorium, School of Music, UW campus, 6858384, music.washington.edu. $15. 2 p.m. Sun., March 23.

MOSTLY NORDIC CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES Violin and piano music from Sweden. Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 N.W. 67th St., 789-5707, nordicmuseum.org. $22–$27 ($47–$55 w/smorgasbord). 4 p.m. Sun., March 23.

SALISH SEA EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL Music from the court of Louis XIV, from a recently discovered manuscript.

Christ Episcopal Church, 4548 Brooklyn Ave., 633-1611, salishseafestival.org. $5–$20. 7:30 p.m. Tues., March 25.

SCIENCE

ARTS & CULTURE

COMMUNITY

(3/19) Warren Berger ‘Beautiful Questions’ on the Road to Innovation

@seattleweekly

(3/20) Rebecca Goldstein The 21st Century Plato (3/21) Global Rhythms: Harp-O-Rama feat. Máire Ní Chathasaigh (3/22) What’s Next for First Hill?

A Community Conversation

•

Dance

CIVICS

(3/22) The Future of King County Transportation: Why Your Vote Matters (3/23) King-Snohomish County Regional Spelling Bee (3/24) WA State TB Action Coalition: World TB Day 2014 (3/25) World Water Week: Chris Jordan The Plight of the Albatross Chief Sealth International High School

Opens Friday!

(3/25) Craig Nelson with Kathleen Flenniken A World Filled with Radiation (3/25) William Easterly Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Mar. 19–Apr. 13, 2014

www.seattleshakespeare.org

CIVICS Bauer, SCIENCEJosh ARTSFattal, & CULTURE (3/26) Shane andCOMMUNITY Sarah Shourd WWW.TOWNHALLSEATTLE.ORG with Mark Wright A Memoir of Iranian Imprisonment TOWN HALL

(3/27) Systems Biology and Cancers Big Data to Personalized Treatment (3/28) Hipnotic Productions: A Celebration of Tribal Belly Dance (3/28) Melissa Clarke Taking Charge of Healthcare (3/29) SBO presents Bach Cantatas for Lent & Easter with Kevin Mallon (3/30) Short Stories Live Northwest Spotlight

• • •

• • •

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

by Nathaniel Porter. The Ballard Underground, 2220 N.W. Market St., 800-838-3006, ghostlighttheatricals.org. $12–$15. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends March 22.

THE BOY AT THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING A bored 12-year-old meets his doppelgänger—in space! Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-0807. $15–$36. Runs Thurs.–Sun., see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends April 6.

THE ELEPHANT MAN In Bernard Pomerance’s drama, young doctor Frederick Treves (Brian Lange) discovers the debilitatingly disfigured Joseph Merrick (Matthew Gilbert) in a London freak show and saves him by providing a permanent home at his hospital. Sans prosthetics, the script demands that Gilbert portray misshapen Merrick through physicality alone, which he does. The essence of The Elephant Man is appearances, and the more stripped-down and actor-focused it is, the more mind-blowing. ALYSSA DYKSTERHOUSE Inscape, 815 Seattle Blvd. S., 800-838-3006, seattlestageright.org. $15–$20. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. & Mon. Ends March 22.

GIRL YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE A frustrated playwright has a wheelchair-bound lesbian stand in for him—and watches interest in “her” work skyrocket—in Bixby Elliot’s satire of the arts biz. Theater Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com. $15–$20. 8 p.m.

Thurs.–Sat. plus Mon., March 24. Ends April 5.

JULIUS CAESAR Robert Downing’s solo version of Shakespeare’s political tragedy. Ark Lodge, 4816 Rainier

Ave. S., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com. $5. 7 p.m.

Mon. Ends March 31.

THE KENTUCKY CYCLE Robert Schenkkan’s multipart story of three families over two centuries. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, 842-8569, bainbridgeperformingarts.org. $19–$27. Part 1: 7:30 p.m. Fri., 2 p.m. Sat. Part 2: 7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends March 30.

THE LION KING A smash for Disney, thanks largely to the vision of director Julie Taymor, the tunes of Elton John and Tim Rice, and the onstage menagerie—wonderfully realized by the costumes, part actor, part puppet. BRIAN MILLER The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849. $85–$135. Runs Tues.–Sun.; see stgpresents.org for exact schedule. Ends April 6.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS SEE REVIEW, PAGE 26.

ODYSSEO The dancing horse show from traveling circus troupe Cavalia. Marymoor Park, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway N.E., Redmond. $34.50–$149.50 ($154.50–$229.50 w/dinner). Runs Tues.–Sun.; see cavalia.net for exact schedule. Re-re-extended through April 6.

PRETTY FIRE Charlayne Woodard’s solo show about motherhood. Isaac Studio Theatre, 208 N. 85th St., 781-9707, taproottheatre.org. $15–$25. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat. Ends March 22.

THIRD At an elite New England college, Professor Laurie Jameson (a well-cast Marty Mukhalian) preaches radical interpretations of King Lear ; her student Woodson Bull III (smartly played by Mark Tyler Miller) posits an alternative theory in an essay. However, because he wrestles and aims to become a sports agent, she deems him incapable of having written it—a plagiarist, in other words. Wendy Wasserstein’s 2005 dramedy is a witty midlife reckoning for an ego-blinded pedant, and Mukhalian gives Jameson some depth—pompous, clumsy, fragile, lost, and ridiculous. MARGARET FRIEDMAN ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0339, artswest.org. $45. 7:30 p.m. Wed.– Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends March 22.

See seattleweekly.com for more Current Runs.

27

GOOD BOOKSTORES A Reader’s Guide

SPOTLIGHT ON

SPOTLIGHT ON

Eco Elements

Ravenna Third Place Books I Love Dick

I Am Malala

by Malala Yousafzai

by Chris Kraus

(picked by Ami Tian)

At the age of 11, Malala Yousafzai, while coming home from school, was shot in the head by the Taliban. After her miraculous recovery, she has fought for the right of girls' education in a country that prizes sons.

Her peaceful protest has taken her from Northern Pakistan to the United Nations, becoming the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is a remarkable story that encompasses Malala and her parents' tale of love and bravery and will surely make you believe that one person can be the change and make a difference in the world.

Staff Picks from Eco Elements

Staff Picks at Ravenna Third Place Books

Letting Everything Become Your Teacher

by Jon Cabat-Zinn Assertiveness for Earth Angels

by Doreen Virtue Five Levels of Attachment ~ Toltic Wisdom for the Modern World

by D. Miguel Ruin Jr. Dali Lama's Cat & The Art of Purring

by David Michie Inspired and Unstoppable

by Tama Kieves

Gilgi by Irmgard Keun

LARGEST SELECTION OF METAPHYSICAL BOOKS IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

MIND • BODY • SPIRIT • EARTH

28

Phenomenal. This true novel (or novelistic memoir?)chronicles Kraus' infatuation with the eponymous dick in a story of obsession, intellect and art that, despite its expansiveness, is woven with confidence and purpose. A bold, vulnerable and forceful achievement. If you can handle it, this book will change your life.

(picked by Katherine)

Come see Ada’s new home at 425 15th Ave E Seattle, WA

adasbooks.com

THE ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY CELEBRATING

BEST PSYCHIC READINGS DAILY!

www.elliottbaybook.com

Live Music Friday & Saturday Nights Lake Forest Park Towne Center 206-366-3333 www.thirdplacebooks.com

Welcome to Mamoko by Alexandra Mizielinska & David Mizielinski (picked by Patti)

The Two Hotel Francforts

by David Leavitt (picked by Michael) At The Bottom of Everything

by Ben Dolnick (picked by Mark)

NANCY HORAN

Shop from 250,000 titles and find a complete list of author events & sign up for our blog at:

Good Books, Great Events, Free Parking

(picked by Erin)

JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL LUNCHEON WITH

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Want to be a World Book Night book giver on April 23, 2014, in support of literacy and community?

It’s Shakespeare’s birthday and 25,000 volunteers will go out on one day and give a half million specially-printed paperbacks to light or non-readers across America. Apply to be a book giver! Go to www.us.worldbooknight.org, read up on the guidelines and list of books, and then apply!

AUTHOR OF UNDER THE WIDE AND STARRY SKY

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a&c» Visual Arts B Y K E LT O N S E A R S

Openings & Events CLAY? V This fifth annual celebration of ceramics

features local artists like Andrea Clark, Jocelyn Reid, and Petra Bittl. Nearly two dozen clay-throwers are represented in the juried show. Opening reception, 6-8:30 p.m. Friday. Call for ongoing hours. Kirkland Arts Center, 620 Market St., 425-822-7161, kirklandartscenter.org, March 21-May 17.

INSCAPE ARTS OPEN STUDIOS Here’s your chance to meet the resident artists at Inscape (aka the old INS Building on what used to be called Airport Way). Over 50 painters, artisans, sculptors, bicycle makers, jewelry fabricators, photographers, and craft makers will be opening their doors. Live music and food also make this a very family-friendly event.

Located just south of Uwajimaya and the ID, near the foot of Dearborn Street, Inscape is the largest such artist enclave in the city, and it’s well worth your visit.

Inscape, 815 Seattle Blvd. S., 257-3022, inscapearts. org, Sun., March 23, 12-6 p.m.

UNTITLED WOMAN Nine local female photographers share their work. They are Eleanor Petry, Megumi Arai, Elizabeth Rudge, Josie Simonet, Fiona Pepe, Lauren Max, Colette Yasi, Carmen Daneshmandi, and Jessica Carter. Opening reception Thurs., 7-10 p.m. Lovecitylove, 1430 Summit Ave., lovecitylove.us.

Continues through Sunday.

THUY-VAN VU SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 24.

CARLETTA CARRINGTON WILSON She gives a talk and poetry reading in connection with her ongoing show Unchain My Heart, a collaboration with Yuko Ishii. Call for regular hours. ArtXchange, 512 First Ave. S., 839-0377, artxchange.org, Sat., March 22, 2-4 p.m.; Through March 29.

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Museums

AT YOUR SERVICE Ariel Brice, Gésine Hackenberg,

Molly Hatch, Giselle Hicks, Garth Johnson, Niki Johnson, Sue Johnson, Emily Loehle, Caroline Slotte, and Amelia Toelke mess with crockery and other tokens of the domestic table. Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org, $8-$10, Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Through Sept. 21.

KATINKA BOCK The German artist plays with notions of use, physical decay, and the demarcation of space (including the Henry’s own walls) in her show A and I. Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E., 543-2280, henryart.org, $6-$10, Thurs., Fri., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Weds., Sat., Sun., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Continues through May 4.

LATOYA RUBY FRAZIER Born in the declining Rust Belt town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Frazier’s images have mostly been black-and-white studies of her kin, lending dignity to loved ones struggling with underemployment, disease, and fractured families. Her Born by a River comprises two sections and eras. In the hallway leading to the Knight/Lawrence Gallery, we see about two dozen black-and-white images of her family, often with Frazier posing among them. Look at us, Frazier is saying; this is how we live. The main gallery contains seven large color aerial views of Braddock, taken last year from a helicopter hovering over The Bottom, the flood-prone, polluted neighborhood where Frazier was raised. There’s a startling micro/macro effect as we pull up high to these impersonal views.

Frazier’s family, and others like it, disappear. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org, $12.50-$19.50, Thurs., 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Weds., Fri.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through June 22.

A FULLER VIEW Founding director Richard Fuller is honored with selections from SAAM’s permanent collection. The show includes 150 lovely objects from China, Japan, and Korea—including the famous gold Crows screen. Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St. (Volunteer Park), 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org, $5-$7, Weds., Fri.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Through April 13.

MIRÓ: THE EXPERIENCE OF SEEING This traveling show, which originated at Madrid’s Museum Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, offers 50-odd paintings and sculptures created during the last two decades of his life—Joan Miró in autumn, in other words. As artists age and slow down, they often learn how to do more with less. It takes fewer gestures, less paint, and more suggestion for Miró to hint at the natural forms of birds, women, and stars. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum. Through May 26.

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arts&culture» Film At left, Chang and Smit-McPhee as avid birders

SCREEN MEDIA FILMS

Opening ThisWeek Bad Words OPENS FRI., MARCH 21 AT MERIDIAN, LINCOLN SQUARE, AND ALDERWOOD 16. RATED R. 88 MINUTES.

A Birder’s Guide to Everything OPENS FRI., MARCH 21 AT SUNDANCE CINEMAS. RATED PG-13. 86 MINUTES.

If you took all the gore and necromancy out of a Stephen King story, you might get something like this small, sensitively observed teen adventure tale, where the only death is that of a wounded duck, its neck discreetly snapped out of camera’s view.

(There are no sex or drugs, only a chaste first kiss.)

Fifteen-year-old David (Kodi Smit-McPhee,

Enemy OPENS FRI., MARCH 21 AT SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN AND SUNDANCE. RATED R. 90 MINUTES.

Even before his life starts getting weird, Adam Bell is messed up. A schlumpy Toronto history professor who drones on about totalitarian societies, Adam walks with a crabbed, defeated gait; his lovemaking with girlfriend Mary (Mélanie Laurent) is as perfunctory as his lecturing style.

Maybe this explains why he comes down with a severe case of heebie-jeebies upon discovering his exact physical double in the form of a bit player in a minor movie. At least something is happening in Adam’s life. The actor’s name is Anthony Clair, he lives in town, and he’s a much more aggressive guy than Adam. They both have beards, and they are both played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Enemy gives Gyllenhaal a dramatic workout, and he is up to the challenge. As the guy who

PThe Great Flood

SHOWTIMES

MARCH 21 - 27

THE BIG SLEEP

Friday- TUESDAY @ 7:00PM / SAT@ 3:00PM

SWINGERS

Friday- WEDNESDAY @ 9:30PM

THE ROOM

THURSDAY @ 8:00PM

A film by Bill Morrison Music by Bill Frisell

THE GREAT FLOOD

“A striking experiment in music and moviemaking.” New York Times

RUNS FRI., MARCH 21–THURS., MARCH 27 AT GRAND ILLUSION. NOT RATED. 80 MINUTES.

This is a very specialized sort of documentary, where two narrow lines of interest cross. If you appreciate the degraded-found-footage aesthetic of director Bill Morrison (Decasia), and if you like the melancholy twang of Seattle jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, The Great Flood will impress you as a sad, sweeping chapter of American history. If on the other hand you prefer your docs personal and Ken Burns–clear, stay away.

The 1927 flooding of the Mississippi was a contributory catastrophe to the Great Depression.

But forget about the politics, economics, or workings of the levees. Only a few intertitles announce the facts and themes here. One million people were displaced, many of them poor black sharecroppers who would leave the Jim Crow South. (That trend would accelerate after World War II.) Among Morrison’s fragments, we see tents and livestock like dark pixel dots on the broken levees, filmed from the air (then still a novelty). A couple clings to each other atop a house drifting with the river. Troops deploy sandbags and march with their rifles (Katrina, anyone?). A man plays a salvaged piano to entertain other refugees, but all we hear is Frisell’s score, which is arranged in movements—Sharecroppers, Politicians, Migration, etc.

Throughout, the moldering film stock encroaches on the frame like the river chewing at its banks. In a way, Morrison suggests, history and memory are no less subject to erosion. The flood has already faded from living memory, and this poetic recollection shows us the same process of decay. BRIAN MILLER

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LY. C O M / S I G N U P D ININGW W W. S E AT T L E W EWE KEEK LY

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

FI L M FILM NEWSLETTER The inside scoop on upcoming films and the latest reviews.

M SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

Jason Bateman cussin’ out a 10-year-old and terrorizing the other tween participants in a national spelling bee ought to be more fun than it is. Bateman’s also the director of Bad Words (written by Andrew Dodge), and he brings a suitably curdled approach to the misanthropic material, which is rather too familiar. (Bad Teacher comes to mind, as do Bad Santa, Bad Grandpa, and The Bad News Bears—all better Bads than this.) Guy Trilby is an angry 40-year-old proofreader with a secret. Why has he gamed the rules of the bee to compete against kids? He’s not saying, not even to his sponsoring website’s womanon-the-ground, journalist Jenny (Kathryn Hahn, fiercely funny but in need of a real role).

Bateman the actor can play surly asshole in his sleep, and Bateman the director never pushes him out of that comfort zone. The hostile behavior—and later, inappropriate mentoring—Guy directs at his precocious rival Chaitanya (Rohan Chand), dubbed “Slumdog,” is never less than predictable. And Guy’s secret, I’m sorry, is easy to guess. As he rudely and relentlessly crushes his competitors at bee after bee, even spelling “floccinaucinihilipilification” correctly (look it up), Bad Words becomes tiresomely repetitive—unlike the cleverly repetitive Groundhog Day. Old pros like Allison Janney and Philip Baker Hall are deployed to routine effect; like Bateman, they’re coasting here. The movie toggles between caustic and cute, but there’s never any doubt where it’s headed. How do you spell “obvious”? Oh, wait, I just did. BRIAN MILLER

Viggo’s son in The Road ) and his two best pals are avid ornithologists with their own school birdwatching club. Which is another way of stating the obvious: They’re outcasts, virgins, and nerds.

Into their company, however, comes photographer Ellen (Katie Chang, possessing a Danesian assurance and transparency). David thinks he’s spotted an extinct duck, so the four pile into a “borrowed” VW and drive to a Connecticut lake, where they hope to make history. (The disputed reemergence of the ivory-billed woodpecker is the obvious inspiration for this gentle story, directed and co-written by Rob Meyer.)

David’s mother, seen in flashback, has died of cancer. His father (the ursine James Le Gros) is about to remarry, perhaps the real reason for David’s flight before the wedding weekend.

And David’s ornithologist mentor (Ben Kingsley) is a grouchy, one-legged Ahab figure who warns, “Do not confuse me with a role model.”

Problem is, David really hasn’t got any template for his future self besides birding, medieval catapult building, and Latin club. (When the teens need to conference in secret, they huddle like Ovid—in dorkus unum.)

Three generations ago, this would’ve been a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew adventure. For boomers (now parents and even grandparents), it’ll read like Disney—only Disney isn’t making such simple, low-margin pictures anymore, free of special effects or hit songs. Birder’s Guide is an indiefilm anomaly in today’s marketplace: predictable, pleasing, and more than a little passé—virtually extinct, in other words, like that odd, elusive duck. BRIAN MILLER

played Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal has experience operating in parallel lives, and he proves deft at navigating this film’s grim, enigmatic strategy.

Based on José Saramago’s 2002 Portuguese novel The Double, adapted by Javier Gullón, Enemy aims for the paranoid, closed-system intensity of vintage Roman Polanski. Toronto’s skies have a tarnished-gold sickliness, and the brutalist design of the buildings at Adam’s college fit the vague sense of a dystopian world in which the apocalypse seems to have passed by without anybody noticing. We infer there’s something out of whack here even before we happen to notice a giant spider looming over the city—surely that’s a vision from a character’s nightmare, but whose?

Director Denis Villeneuve made the preposterously plotted Incendies and the evocative but overwrought Prisoners (in which Gyllenhaal gave a busy performance), and he’s scaled down his scope considerably here. To good effect. From its mysterious opening scene at some sort of highclass sex club (why is that naked lady squashing a tarantula?), Enemy creates a creepy-crawly sense of dread. Sunlight looks poisoned, and even the pregnancy of Anthony’s wife Helen (Sarah Gadon) feels slightly sinister. At a certain point Villeneuve needs to deliver on all this well-managed buildup, and Enemy admittedly stumbles in that department—the meeting of Adam and Anthony is somehow easier than it should be, and plot twists come according to formula. However, its abrupt final sequence should have cultmovie mavens chattering online for some time.

Its sheer brazenness is a refreshing thumb in the eye to a film world in which just about everything needs to be explained. ROBERT HORTON

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arts&culture» Film » FROM PAGE 29 In Bloom RUNS FRI., MARCH 21–THURS., MARCH 27 AT NORTHWEST FILM FORUM. NOT RATED. 102 MINUTES.

Current events in Crimea find a faint echo in this coming-of-age film set in 1992 Georgia.

That country, newly loosed from the USSR, is engaged in a tussle with Russia over the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Yet news bulletins of the conflict register only dimly with the shy, bookish 14-year-old Eka (Lika Babluani). Her father’s in jail for unspecified reasons, and she spends most of her time with BFF Natia (Mariam Bokeria)—taller, a touch more worldly, and already attracting plenty of male attention.

Inspired by the youth of writer/co-director Nana Ekvtimishvili, In Bloom is a portrait of place as well as adolescence. Eka’s and Natia’s family problems and boy problems are well familiar; the crumbling fabric and social customs of Tbilisi are a different matter. Decades of corruption and neglect are written not just in the city, but on the lined faces of the girls’ elders. Pushing and shoving at a breadline show an ingrained meanness among the citizenry. Teen thugs routinely harass Eka on the street (they only ogle the more intimidating Natia, who finally gives Eka a pistol for protection). When the two girls ride a rickety old tram up to a hilltop park, you seriously worry that its rusty cables will snap.

Whatever their youthful promise, in other words, the future doesn’t look too promising for these teens (nor for Georgia itself ). Sexism is rampant here. Women find their freedom only in all-female conclaves (including one lovely scene where a dozen girls burst into song). And the pre-Soviet practice of kidnapping (and raping) one’s bride hasn’t gone away.

Natia’s beauty gives her a bit of power, but no real choice between the two guys fighting over her. Not so grim as, say, current Romanian cinema, lacking much overt drama, In Bloom strikes a mostly melancholy, pessimistic tone.

Eka may briefly cast off her inhibitions to dance at a wedding, but it’ll be back to the breadline in the morning—and, years later, probably to the passport office. BRIAN MILLER OPENS FRI., MARCH 21 AT HARVARD EXIT. NOT RATED. 110 MINUTES.

Lars von Trier’s biggest trick has been convincing the world he is not serious. The Danish filmmaker adopts such a puckish public demeanor, and is given to such willful outrageousness (whimsically comparing himself to Hitler at a Cannes press conference was a particular lulu), that he has turned himself into a brand-name oddball just this side of David Lynch. Superficially, his movies create the same kind of taboo-breaking impression: radical looks at sexuality, politics, and violence (Breaking the Waves and Antichrist among them), culminating in a remarkable portrait of depression and the end of the world (Melancholia). By titling his new project Nymphomaniac, and letting it be known that this four-hour, two-part picture includes marquee names and unsimulated sex, von Trier is acting

Two Lives OPENS FRI., MARCH 21 AT VARSITY. NOT RATED. 99 MINUTES.

This Norwegian Cold War melodrama means well; it has aspirations, but they just make you think back to The Lives of Others or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Barbara—period espionage films that were so much richer and deeper. The woman we meet in 1990 as Katrine ( Juliane Köhler) is married to a submarine commander; her college-age daughter just had a baby; and her widowed mother (Liv Ullmann!) lives on a nearby farm on the picturesque coast. Katrine speaks fluent German. It emerges that her mother had a fling with an officer among the German occupiers during World War II; then infant Katrine was forcibly removed to the Heimatland and placed in an orphanage. She escaped from East Germany to the West in 1969, and now the Berlin Wall has fallen—so everyone ought to be happy, right? Of course not.

Two Lives reveals after 20 minutes that Katrine is/was an East German spy. Her identity may be a sham, but her happy family is not. This is a promising conceit for director Georg Mass to explore, but his movie never gets beyond the obvious. (“I can’t go on lying!” Katrine wails.)

Meanwhile, her nefarious old spymasters are still seeking to control her, and a lawsuit about the stolen Lebensborn kids of Norway is bringing new evidence to light. Grainy flashbacks further complicate Katrine’s identity, and these snippets suggest how for movies, at least, living the lie can be more entertaining than exposing the truth.

BRIAN MILLER E

film@seattleweekly.com

t r i e r

WORTH TALKING ABOUT.

AN OBSESSIVE, VIOLENT, AND AT TIMES REMARKABLY ECCENTRIC SEX EPIC THAT IS OFTEN BRILLIANT AND NEVER SIMPLE-MINDED OR DULL.” – David Denby, THE NEW YORKER

“A

FEROCIOUSLY ENTERTAINING

MAGNUM OPUS. A SHAPE-SHIFTING, CARNAL AND INTELLECTUAL THRILL RIDE OF A MOVIE.” – Scott Foundas, VARIETY

“CONSIDER SEDUCED.”

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.com

In Select Theaters Friday, March 21

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Everywhere March 28 SEATTLE WEEKLY

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I

up again. There goes that old devil Lars, fanning the flames as always.

And then Nymphomaniac: Vol. I begins.

Within a few minutes, there is little doubt about the filmmaker’s seriousness. Not that the film is without a playful side; droll Danish humor is abundant. But this is a real journey, recounted to us by a woman named Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who is discovered, beaten up, in an alley.

Her rescuer, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), listens intently to her account of a life in thrall to sex, but he also interjects his own spin on things; to his mind, Joe’s stories can be seen through a variety of fishing metaphors. She is no mere slave to her libido, however—this story is about how Joe frames sexuality, uses it (to borrow a phrase from Pat Benatar) like a weapon, studies it, or succumbs to it. Her parents (Christian Slater and Connie Nielsen in flashback) are in the mix, as is the rough-edged fellow (Shia LaBeouf ) who keeps appearing in her life. Stacy Martin plays Joe as a young woman, in an impressive film debut. The bits of explicit sex are handled by unnamed body doubles, or prosthetic devices, or . . . well, let’s leave some things to the magic of the movies.

The biggest problem with Vol. I is that it is clearly only part of a bigger film. The end note is well-chosen and creates an emotional cliffhanger, but we’re just halfway there. Thus it’s hard to say whether von Trier has solved Joe’s story—and Seligman’s curious place in it—because there’s no resolution at all. Joe describes herself as a sinner, but is von Trier really going to take that at face value? Tune in for the next exciting chapter, opening hereabouts on April 4. ROBERT HORTON

l a r s v o n “A PROVOCATION

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arts&culture» Film SE AT TLE 4500 9TH AVE. NE • 206-633-0059

BY BRIAN MILLER

Local & Repertory • THE BIG SLEEP Could Howard Hawks’ 1946 detective

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thriller be the greatest Hollywood movie ever made?

Quite possibly so. “You don’t like to be rated,” says Lauren Bacall’s coltish Vivian Sternwood to Humphrey Bogart’s private dick in a leisurely scene about halfway through, twirling her unlit cigarette like a horsewhip.

“You like to get out in front, open up a lead, take a little breather in the back stretch—and then come home free.” Likewise, Hawks allows his mystery to unfold at its own pace, and even to remain playfully unresolved.

What does it matter who killed Owen Taylor when there’s all this endearing repartee swirling around, not just between Bogie and Bacall, but between the detective and a gorgeously brainy bookseller, a winsome cab driver, a thumb-sucking nymphet, a justly sour gangster’s moll, and a diminutive gumshoe (Elisha Cook Jr.)—as well as between Hawks and the viewer.

(NR) ROB NELSON Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684, central-cinema.com, $6-$8, March 21-26, 7 p.m.; Sat., March 22, 3 p.m.

DOCBRUNCH Michel Gondry’s recent documentary Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? consists of a conversation with Chomsky, almost entirely animated with Gondry’s line drawings and collages. Chomsky is famed as a pioneering linguist and far-left political critic; Gondry engages all that with his crayoned doo-dads and oddly haunting cut-out pictures illustrating some of Chomsky’s basic ideas. A skeptic might note that for someone who espouses the importance of doubting and questioning, Chomsky’s responses to Gondry’s questions tend to be sweeping and peremptory, cutting off their interlocutor when he offers some resistance.

And that’s too bad, because one of the intriguing things about the movie is Gondry’s presence: a warm, inquisitive, thickly accented personality that seems to bring out some intriguing admissions from Chomsky. The movie could use more of that. (NR) ROBERT HORTON SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., 3249996, siff.net, $6-$11, Sun., March 23, 2 p.m.

FILM COURT Local Jeopardy champ (and occasional SW contributor) Ken Jennings will serve as prosecutor in the matter of whether the 1994 Forrest Gump deserved its Oscar (over Pulp Fiction, among other competitors). Douglas Willott will defend Gump.

Central Cinema, $10-$12, Thu., March 20, 8 p.m.

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HARRY SMITH: EARLY ABSTRACTIONS AND THE ANIMATION OF BODILY RHYTHM Several titles by

the late avant-garde artist (1923-1991) will be screened, with scholarly remarks by Rani Singh, director of the Smith archives, and live music for one screening by local musician Lori Goldston. (NR) Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 829-7863, nwfilmforum.org, $6-$8, Sat., March 22, 8 p.m.

MASTERFUL SUSPENSE RESTORED This weekend mini-festival features a trio of disparate titles, all screened from new digital restorations. They are Orson Welles’ 1947 The Lady From Shanghai, William Friedkin’s 1977 Sorcerer (the weakest of the three, a remake of The Wages of Fear), and Werner Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre. See siff.net for schedule.

(NR) SIFF Cinema Uptown, $6-$11, March 21-23.

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

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April 24 th 7:30-10pm /

6pm VIP early entrance

PACIFIC WONDERS: NONTHEATRICAL FILMS FROM THE NORTHWEST Vintage titles will include

the 1968 “city symphony” Comin’ Home Baby and 1981’s In Partnership With Time, about historic preservation. (NR) Northwest Film Forum, $6-$11, Thu., March 20, 9 p.m.

RED RENEWAL: SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST SPRING

Newly elected city council member Kshama Sawant has brought socialism back to the national spotlight.

Now there’s an entire film retrospective that will program titles (some still pending) looking back to our 1999 WTO protests, the great strike of 1919, and other touchstones of the left. Screening at 8 p.m. Friday is The Land Beyond the Rainbow, made in 1991 by a filmmaker raised in East Germany as a survey on the collapse of his old country and socialism in general. See nwfilmforum.org for complicated ongoing schedule.

(NR) Northwest Film Forum, $6-$11, Through May 1.

THELMA SCHOONMAKER SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 25.

THE SELFISH GIANT Playing as part of SIFF’s Recent Raves! series, The Selfish Giant is a UK-set drama that takes its title (if not actual story material) from an Oscar Wilde story. The two boys we follow are on their own all day, having been suspended at school for bad

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Send events to film@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings = Recommended

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behavior. Arbor (Connor Chapman) can be hyperactive and destructive when he’s not on his medication; collecting crap metal gives him a focus for his demon-like energy. His slow, docile buddy Swifty (Shaun Thomas) tags along and keeps Arbor settled down. Swifty has a similarly empathetic bond with animals, which leads the scrap-dealer (Sean Gilder) to see him as a driver for cart-racing his horse in local road races. Without money, Arbor and Swifty are without worth, so they’ll do anything to make some. Clio Barnard’s film is situated in a grim West Yorkshire town called Bradford, where she previously shot a documentary. The subtitles are entirely necessary. Whether she’s honoring those thick accents, finding the proper pitch for the boys’ tussling friendship, or pausing for eerie shots of the town’s nuclear towers shrouded in fog, Barnard rarely sets a foot wrong. The outcome of the story is not difficult to predict, but Barnard is more interested in place and character than in surprising plot twists.

(NR) R.H. SIFF Cinema Uptown, $6-$11, Mon., March 24, 6:45 p.m.

THE SPROCKET SOCIETY’S SATURDAY SECRET MATINEES The 1949 serial Batman & Robin will be

screened in weekly installments. March’s surprise features will have a B-movie monster theme. (NR) Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 523-3935, grandillusioncinema.org, $5-$8 individual, $35-$56 pass, Saturdays, 2 p.m. Through March 29.

SWINGERS Director Doug Liman, writer/co-star Jon Favreau, and Vince Vaughn had their breakthrough with this enjoyable 1996 rom-com about the perils of dating in L.A. (R) Central Cinema, $6-$11, March 21-26, 9:30 p.m.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME This 1992 prologue to David Lynch’s two-season TV enigma didn’t exactly resolve every unanswered question from the series, but it surely helped foster Seattle’s thriving Twin Peaks cult (which extends, of course, all the way to North Bend, where part of the show was shot). Yakima’s Kyle MacLachlan, Kiefer Sutherland, and Chris Isaak are the FBI investigators who essentially prepare the ground for the “Who killed Laura Palmer?” conundrum that follows. Party begins at 7 p.m., followed by 8 p.m. screening. (R) Ark Lodge, 4816 Rainier Ave. S., 721-3156, arklodgecinemas.com, $11, Tue., March 25.

WATER ON THE TABLE Director Liz Marshall will be on hand to discuss her eco-documentary profile of activist and “water-warrior” Maude Barlow. (NR) Northwest Film Forum, $6-$11, Sun., March 23, 6 p.m.

Ongoing

• AMERICAN HUSTLE The latest concoction from

David O. Russell is full of big roundhouse swings and juicy performances: It’s a fictionalized take on the Abscam scandal of the late 1970s, in which the FBI teamed with a second-rate con man (here called Irving Rosenfeld, played by Christian Bale) in a wacko sting operation involving a bogus Arab sheik and bribes to U.S. congressmen. Along with the FBI coercing him into its scheme, Irving is caught between his hottie moll Sydney (Amy Adams) and neglected wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence). Even more complicated for Irving is that one of the targets of the undercover operation, a genially corrupt yet idealistic Jersey politico (Jeremy Renner), turns out to be a soulmate. Equally unhappy is the presiding FBI agent (Bradley Cooper, his permed hair and his sexual urge equally curled in maddening knots), who’s developed a crush on Sydney that is driving him insane. (R) R.H. Big Picture, Sundance DALLAS BUYERS CLUB Making a straight white Texas homophobe the hero of a film about the ’80s AIDS crisis doesn’t seem right. It’s inappropriate, exceptional, possibly even crass. All those qualities are reflected in Matthew McConaughey’s ornery, emaciated portrayal of Ron Woodroof, a rodeo rider and rough liver who contracted HIV in 1985. Fond of strippers, regularly swigging from his pocket flask, doing lines of coke when he can afford them, betting on the bulls he rides, Ron has tons of Texas-sized character. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the unruly Dallas Buyers Club goes easy on the sinner-to-saint conversion story. McConaughey and the filmmakers know that once Ron gets religion, so to speak, their tale risks tedium. As Ron desperately bribes and steals a path to off-label meds, his allies and adversaries do read like fictional composites. Best among them is the transvestite Rayon, who becomes Ron’s right-hand woman (Jared Leto). They’re both fellow gamblers who delight in beating the house. (R) BRIAN MILLER Sundance THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL By the time of its 1968 framing story, the Grand Budapest Hotel has been robbed of its gingerbread design by a Soviet (or some similarly aesthetically challenged) occupier—the first of many comments on the importance of style in Wes

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Anderson’s latest film. A writer (Jude Law) gets the hotel’s story from its mysterious owner, Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham, a lovely presence). Zero takes us back between world wars, when he (played now

by Tony Revolori) began as a bellhop at the elegant establishment located in the mythical European country of Zubrowka. Dominating this place is the worldly Monsieur Gustave, the fussy hotel manager (Ralph Fiennes, in absolutely glorious form). The death of one of M. Gustave’s elderly ladyfriends (Tilda Swinton) leads to a wildly convoluted tale of a missing painting, resentful heirs, a prison break, and murder. Also on hand are Anderson veterans Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson—all are in service to a project so steeped in Anderson’s velvet-trimmed bric-a-brac we might not notice how rare a movie like this is: a comedy that doesn’t depend on a star turn or a high concept, but is a throwback to the sophisticated (but slapstickfriendly) work of Ernst Lubitsch and other such classical directors. (R) R.H. Guild 45th, Pacific Place, Lincoln Square, Big Picture THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscarwinning account of an aging playboy journalist in Rome casts its eye back to La Dolce Vita (also about a playboy journalist in Rome). Yet this movie looks even further back, from the capsized Costa Concordia to the ruins and reproachful marble statues of antiquity.

“I feel old,” says Jep (the sublime Toni Servillo) soon after the debauch of his 65th birthday party. He’s been coasting on the success of his first and only novel, 40 years prior, content with his goal to be king of Rome’s high life. Jep is a dandy with thinning hair brushed back and a girdle beneath his silk shirt. False appearances are all that count, but it takes intelligence to deceive. Servillo makes Jep both suave and somber, a guy living parallel lives in hectic ballrooms and in his head. His wry glances are both mocking and wincing, appropriate for a movie that’s simultaneously bursting with life and regret. (NR) B.R.M. Sundance HER Spike Jonze’s unlikely romance is set in a smooth, efficient near-future Los Angeles. There are no poor people, no upsetting stories on the news. Technology works perfectly. Everyone ought to be happy, and that’s the problem for mopey Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix).

Gradually it emerges that he’ separated from his wife (Rooney Mara), but won’t sign the divorce papers.

Impulsively deciding to upgrade his phone and home PC, Theodore opts for the new OS1 ( “It’s not just an operating system, it’s a consciousness”). He chooses a female voice (Scarlett Johansson’s) called Samantha, which soon takes over his life. In this ingenious and unexpectedly touching story, both humans and programs worry about being alone. And both yearn to connect across the digital divide between sentience and software. (R) B.R.M. Sundance NON-STOP Neesploitation. The Full Neeson. Release the Neeson. After Bronson and Eastwood, is there any more satisfying expression of cranky white codgerhood than the resurgent Liam Neeson? His latest, aka Neeson on a Plane, is a hokey but effective thriller encapsulated by our hero’s throwaway line: “I hate flying.” And yet flying is what this alcoholic federal air marshal does for a job. Bill Marks is a familiar distillation of Neeson’s prior roles in The Grey, Taken, and Unknown—a mournful pessimist who only bothers with life out of habit, loyalty, or revenge. Who’s sending him text messages on a London-bound flight, threatening to kill a passenger every 20 minutes for a ransom of $150 million? The plot mechanics don’t really add up, but the constant indignity and annoyance of post-9/11 air travel are what rings true here. Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, and recent Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o are also on board. (PG-13) B.R.M. Kirkland Parkplace, Bainbridge, Meridian, Thornton Place, Cinebarre, others PARTICLE FEVER If nothing else, this documentary confirms something you’ve probably always suspected: Really brilliant physicists are almost exactly as nerdy as the average science-fiction geek. Director Mark Levinson was probably wise to focus on the personalities working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), that huge project near Geneva. Their quirkiness allows a human portal into the science behind this massive underground laboratory, which after 20 years of effort went live in 2008 and confirmed important results just last year. We are guided in this journey by a batch of physicists, from esteemed veterans in the field to the puppy-dog enthusiasm of Monica Dunford, who treats the word “data” the way the average person might describe a Powerball jackpot. All of them are pretty much unified in their anxiety over the outcome of the LHC’s evidence. Levinson does a good job explaining the basis of this stuff, although one wants to know a little more about why it all matters. (NR) R.H. Harvard Exit

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arts&culture» Music

Country Pride

The first gay-themed country record, 1973’s Lavender Country, gets a much-deserved reissue.

BY DAVE LAKE

I

n 1973, a feminist disc jockey at KRABFM 107.7 (now known as The End) had her broadcasting license revoked by the FCC. Her offense? Playing a track called “Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears” by a Seattle band called Lavender Country. The band was the brainchild of songwriter Patrick Haggerty, and the album—also known as Lavender Country—was to become widely recognized as the first gay-themed country LP ever released.

The DJ, Shan Ottey, hoped that playing it would help advance the cause of gay rights.

Instead, it left Ottey without a broadcasting license and Lavender Country without an audience. The record was lost to the dustbin of history for the greater part of the next 40 years.

The album run was limited to 1,000 copies and released by Gay Community Social Services of Seattle—not a record label, mind you, but a community-outreach organization. Yet despite its limited release and lack of initial impact, the album did find a small number of devotees through the years, mostly music historians who recognized its significance as an anachronistic artifact and an early, important gay-themed musical work (it was eventually archived in the Country Music Hall of Fame).

In the early ’70s, few musicians had the courage to discuss homosexuality so defiantly—and with so much wit—and even fewer in country music, which Haggerty had liked from an early age. The son of a Port Angeles farmer, Haggerty loved Patsy Cline and Hank Williams; when he merged his love of music with his passion

as a gay country singer. As he writes in the album’s liner notes, “Lavender Country wasn’t gonna feed us.” He raised two children with two different women whom he was close to, and eventually met his husband and partner of 27 years. Working full-time for two decades in Seattle as an activist for both gay and non-gay causes, particularly with the black community (his husband is black), Haggerty even ran for office twice, once for Seattle City Council and once for state representative—both times, he is sure to point out, as an independent.

Haggerty said the call from the label was totally unexpected. “The culture has really shifted,” he says. “It’s a statement about how far we’ve come.”

named Will Lexington, but Chris Carmack, the actor who plays him, told Out magazine, “I don’t think executives would give Will the time of day. That’s a damn shame, but in country music there’s a stigma that’s insurmountable.”

Shane McAnally, one of country music’s most successful songwriters, has a different take. He has penned hit singles for artists and bands from Lady Antebellum to Reba McEntire, and told The New York Times that his career didn’t take off until he came out. “When I stopped hiding who I am, I started writing hits. Nashville is a boys’ club of redneck conservative ideas,” he said. “But they’re ready to embrace gay people.”

If ever there were a candidate for Nashville to embrace, it’d be recent YouTube sensation Steve Grand, whose “All-American Boy” has racked up nearly three million views. The video finds Grand pining for a straight guy who locks eyes with him while hanging out with his girlfriend. But despite the video’s success, Grand has yet to sign with a Nashville label, opting instead to raise money for his debut album on Kickstarter. He easily reached his goal.

But Nashville has yet to sign an openly gay country artist, standing shamefully next to the NFL as one of the most behind-the-times organizations in American popular culture.

With gay University of Missouri football star Michael Sam poised to go pro in the upcoming NFL draft, Nashville will be under added pressure to address what some believe to be deepseated homophobia.

Chely Wright, a million-selling country artist, came out as gay in 2007, a dozen years after being named the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist. As a result, Wright has said, her sales halved.

The ABC nighttime soap Nashville has a story line involving a closeted country singer Haggerty performing at Seattle Gay Pride in 2000.

Haggerty, now 70, agrees there’s still work

COURTESY OF THE ARTSIT

for gay rights, Lavender Country seemed an obvious byproduct. The result is a brave and powerful manifesto, a country album with a punk-rock message: “I’m gay, so fuck you.”

It wasn’t until the Internet made onceobsolete objects available to anyone with a broadband connection that Lavender Country’s message could finally be heard by a much wider audience. After discovering a song on YouTube and tracking down a vintage copy on eBay, the folks at Carrboro, N.C., label Paradise of Bachelors, which specializes in re-releasing under-recognized American music, decided the album was worth a reissue. The “new” record officially drops this week.

Haggerty, however, has long since disbanded his group and given up on a career

music@seattleweekly.com

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

Lavender Country “is a brave and powerful manifesto, a country album with a punk-rock message: ‘I’m gay, so fuck you.’ ”

to be done. “Country music is not NASCAR and rednecks,” he says. “The base of people who listen to country music and the stereotype of who country music belongs to needs to be blown out. Nashville needs to get over that shit.”

Yet despite not being embraced by the country-music establishment, Haggerty says he’s grateful to have finally found an audience for Lavender Country, even a limited one, so many years later. “It is like somebody is finally listening to me,” he says. “The people in the gay movement at the time understood what it was about, but nobody else did. The very idea of gay country was so outlandish that people couldn’t listen to it. People couldn’t handle it.”

Whether Nashville recognizes it or not, the listeners are there now, and the reissue stands to take full advantage of the spotlight.

The package comes with a 32-page booklet written by Haggerty and will be available as a digital download, on CD, and—for the first time since 1973—on vinyl. His reassembled group will also play a few gigs to celebrate the release, including an appearance at this year’s Seattle Pride, which Haggerty has played a handful of times.

And though he isn’t playing “Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears” regularly these days, Haggerty is still active in music; for a dozen years, he’s been playing upward of 100 shows a year on the senior circuit in Kitsap and Pierce counties. The pay isn’t great, but the satisfaction is, “singing old songs to old people.” And thanks to renewed interest in an old album, Haggerty isn’t finished with the stage just yet. E

33

W W W. S E AT T L E W E E K LY. C O M / S I G N U P

www.facebook.com/takewarningpresents twitter @takewarningsea

tickets @ ticketfly.com

Tuesday april 1sT @ el Corazon

mainstage

dinner & show

LA DISPUTE

pianos BeCome The TeeTh, mansions

all ages (bar w/ id) - 7:00 pm Tuesday april 8Th @ Vera projeCT

WED/MARCH 19 • 7:30PM AN EVENING WITH

D I Ncole I NG paula

W EEK LY

MUSIC

E VE NTAVALANCHE SI AM THE PR O M O diamond youTh, TurnoVer, disTriCT

all ages - 7:00 pm

FRI/MARCH 21 • 8PM

massy ferguson w/ sassparilla

*2nd show added!*

Friday april 11Th @ The sunseT

CHELSEA PERETTI

SUN/MARCH 23 • 7:30PM

carrie rodriguez w/ honey noble

F IL M

TUE/MARCH 25 • 8PM - STG PRESENTS

wanting w/ dawen wang WED/MARCH 26 • 7:30PM

trace bundy w/ sungha jung THU/MARCH 27 • 7:30PM

cahalen and eli

MUSIC NEWSLETTER

HAPPY HOUR

The inside scoop on upcoming shows

and the latest reviews.

21+ onlY - 10 pm

AR T S AND E NT E R TAI NM U&C: 4/11 chelsea peretti (earlY show sold oUt) @ the sUnset, 4/15 the grahams @ the sUnset, 4/17 onward etc @ the kraken, 4/19 consider me dead @ Vera project, 5/10 doe eYe @ high diVe, 5/20 architects @ el corazon, 5/30 man oVerboard @ chop sUeY, 7/11 sheer terror @ chop sUeY

El Corazon www.elcorazonseattle.com

109 Eastlake Ave East • Seattle, WA 98109 Booking and Info: 206.262.0482

THURSDAY, MARCH 20

SATURDAY, MARCH 22

FRI/MARCH 28 • 8PM

DIRTY SIDEWALKS with Shady Elders, brotherinferior

The Spirit Caravan Afterparty featuring live music from:

Lounge Show. Doors at 8 / Show at 8:30PM 21+. $6 ADV / $8 DOS

FRIDAY, MARCH 21

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

(oF Brooklyn nine-nine)

w/ john reischman and greg spatz

ian mcferon w/ mozo

34

- ameriCan Treasure

next • 3/29 pat rothfuss and paul & storm • 3/30 zucchero • 3/31 meklit hadero • 4/1 battlefield band • 4/2 tommy castro • 4/3 tyrone wells • 4/4 left hand smoke • 4/5 joe ely w/ david ramirez • 4/6 stanley jordan • 4/7 little bill 75th birthday tribute show • 4/8 susy sun w/ naomi wachira and whitney lyman • 4/10 cedric watson and sidi toure • 4/11 v. contreras • 4/13 andy daly • 4/14 & 4/15 slow music w/ the humans • 4/16 - 19 through the looking glass: the burlesque alice in wonderland

JAR OF FLIES (THE ULTIMATE ALICE

IN CHAINS EXPERIENCE) with Outshined (The

Premier Tribute to Soundgarden & Temple Of The Dog) and Stoic F.B. Doors at 8 / Show at 9PM

21+. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

FRIDAY, MARCH 21

DENNIS IS DEAD with The Lion In Winter, Hidden History, As Kingdoms Divide, and Losing Daylight

happy hour every day • 3/19 kareem kandi • 3/20 joy mills band • 3/21 ranger and the “re-arrangers” / fan fiction • 3/22 closed for a private event until 8pm - joe doria trio at 9pm • 3/23 kasata sound • 3/24 crossrhythm session • 3/25 singer-songwriter showcase featuring: maiah manser, brenda xu and whitney monge • 3/26 pickled okra TO ENSURE THE BEST EXPERIENCE · PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY DOORS OPEN 1.5 HOURS PRIOR TO FIRST SHOW · ALL-AGES (BEFORE 9:30PM)

thetripledoor.net

216 UNION STREET, SEATTLE · 206.838.4333

Lounge Show. Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

SATURDAY, MARCH 22

SPIRIT CARAVAN

with Pilgrim, MOS Generator, Curse Of The North and Ape Machine Doors at 7 / Show at 8PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $15 ADV / $17 DOS

WITCHBURN Music begins immediately after the

conclusion of The Spirit Caravan Show in the main Showroom. Lougne Show. 21+ FREE

SUNDAY, MARCH 23

NO BUFFER with The Tentacles, Sundaes On Monday, and Nuclear Salt Doors at 7:30/ Show at 8PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

SUNDAY, MARCH 23

KOLDUN with Red Sea, Pyramid Lake, Rainy Day Devils, plus guests Lounge Show. Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

MONDAY, MARCH 24 KISW (99.9 FM) Metal Shop & El Corazon Present:

EAST OF THE WALL

with Diamond Plate, Great Falls, Golgothan Sunrise, and Spacebag. Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM ALL

AGES/BAR W/ID. $12 ADV / $15 DOS

JUST ANNOUNCED 4/4 DEAD MEADOW 5/4 FU MANCHU 6/7 NICE PETER (EPIC RAP BATTLES OF HISTORY) 6/15 SCHOOL OF ROCK PERFORMS IRON MAIDEN 6/17 THE MENZINGERS UP & COMING 3/25 ANIMALS AS LEADERS 3/26 TOADIES / SUPERSUCKERS 3/27 LOUNGE OLIVER TROLLEY 3/28 LOUNGE FALL CITY FALL 3/29 ROCKARAOKE 3/30 THE LACS / MOONSHINE BANDITS 3/31 LOUNGE ADDED DYLAN JAKOBSEN 4/1 LA DISPUTE 4/2 LOUNGE FROM INDIAN LAKES 4/3 GREEN JELLY 4/4 LOUNGE POKE DA SQUID 4/5 BLACK N’ BLUE 4/5 LOUNGE MOTION 4/6 MOURNING MARKET 4/6 LOUNGE THE VIRUS 4/7 AUGUST BURNS RED 4/9 THE CREEPSHOW 4/11 MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE 4/12 PANCAKES & BOOZE ART SHOW 4/13 OFF! Tickets now available at cascadetickets.com - No per order fees for online purchases. Our on-site Box Office is open 1pm-5pm weekdays in our office and all nights we are open in the club - $2 service charge per ticket Charge by Phone at 1.800.514.3849. Online at www.cascadetickets.com - Tickets are subject to service charge

The EL CORAZON VIP PROGRAM: see details at www.elcorazon.com/vip.html and for an application email us at info@elcorazonseattle.com

arts&culture» Music

SevenNights E D I T E D B Y G W E N D O LY N E L L I O T T

Wednesday, March 19 THIS WILL DESTROY YOU has turned instrumental

rock into an art form. Whether gradually inducing euphoria with layered guitars (“The Mighty Rio Grande”) or pulverizing you with ominous, cacophonous walls of sound (“Little Smoke”), this quartet makes each track an exhaustive, cleansing experience. They are working on a follow-up to 2011’s Tunnel Blanket. With Silent Land, Time Machine.

Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, thebarboza.com.

8 p.m. $12. 21 and over. BRIAN PALMER The Greatest Generation, the fourth LP from THE WONDER YEARS, was the band’s first to crack the Billboard Top 20, simultaneously earning it the best reviews of its career. PunkNews.org called it “a powerful, personal, and creative masterpiece.” Now off the festival circuit, the band will play a full-length set not possible on Warped Tour. With Defeater, Real Friends, Citizen, Modern Baseball. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E., 262-0482. elcorazon.com. 6:30 p.m. $16.50 adv./$20 DOS. DAVE LAKE When THE SOUNDS made landfall in the United States in 2003, it was clear that the Swedish synth-pop band was aping Blondie, yet no one seemed to care. After all, this was the throwback era of the Strokes and the Hives, and few were going to deny the warm, nostalgic embrace of the familiar so soon after 9/11. Yet the Sounds remained defiantly au courant. Their debut Send events to music@seattleweekly.com.

See seattleweekly.com for full listings.

album featured a breakout hit that declared “We’re not living in America, but we’re not sorry,” and was released mere days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq officially concluded the world’s post-traumatic love affair with us. For many music fans who actually were living in America, it was a wishful anthem to which you could dance your ass off. Over 10 years and five albums, the band has continued to do its Blondie thing while writing some of the best hooks to come out of Scandinavian pop. The latest, Weekend, is not its best; but the band deserves an audience for old times’ sake at the very least. With Blondfire, Strange Talk. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, neumos.com. 7 p.m. $20 adv.

All ages. MARK S. BAUMGARTEN PAPER BIRD is not afraid to change with the times. This Colorado septet’s Americana, bluegrass, and folk foundation was augmented on 2013’s Rooms by the addition of pop and rock sensibilities to their arsenal. It is hard not to get caught up in the excitement when this band gets going. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 7893599, tractortavern.com. 8 p.m. $10. All ages. BP PAULA “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” COLE wrote one of the most depressing songs of the ’90s, and continues to mine the darker side of life in Raven, independently released last year. The Triple Door, 216 Union St., 838-4333, thetripledoor.net. 7:30 p.m. $30–$40.

GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

Thursday, March 20

NTw.RlitYtlereMdhUenS.coICm LIVE COUww THURS MARCH 20TH

BUCKAROOSTERS 9PM - $3 COVER

FRI MARCH 21ST & SAT MARCH 22ND

KNUT BELL & THE BLUE COLLARS 9PM - $5 COVER

SUN MARCH 23RD

AARON CRAWFORD 9PM - $3 COVER 4PM OPEN MIC ACOUSTIC JAM W/ BODACIOUS BILLY TUES MARCH 25TH

ROY KAY TRIO 9PM - NO COVER

New Jersey’s RAILROAD EARTH describes itself as “an amplified string band with drums,” but that doesn’t do justice to how seamlessly it blends styles, meshing bluegrass with Celtic, classical, country, and a whole lot more. With The Deadly Gentlemen. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 682-1414, stgpresents.org/neptune.

8 p.m. $26 adv./$28 DOS. DL

MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY

KARAOKE WITH DJ FORREST GUMP 9:00PM • NO COVER

FREE COUNTRY DANCE LESSONS WITH OUR HOST MARY ANN

in This Bring T And ge n o p Cou Tizer e p p A one 2 oFF! For 1/

AT 8PM; SUN, MON, TUES

HAPPY HOUR 9AM-NOON & 4-7 PM • MON-FRI

WELL DRINKS & DOMESTIC BOTTLED BEER $2 DINNER: 5-10PM EVERYDAY BREAKFAST & LUNCH: SAT 8AM-2PM / SUN 9AM-2PM

Fisherman’s Village Music Fest Announcement Party

7115 WOODLAWN AVENUE NE 522-1168

Thursday, March 20

W

city they consider a hidden gem. “We are bringing people into a city that they’ve probably never stepped foot in,” Graham says.

Tickets are on sale at thefishermansvillage.com, and the complete festival lineup will be announced tonight at an announcement party featuring performances by The Grizzled Mighty, Fly Moon Royalty, and Everett-based act Fauna Shade.

Graham hopes the kick-off party will also shed some light on what folks can expect at the festival. “We’re not playing around in Everett,” he says. “It’s going to be a really great weekend, and a kick-ass time.” Also with Rabia Shaheen Qazi and Chris Cheveyo of Rose Windows, Benjamin Verdoes. Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, thebarboza.com. 8 p.m. $10. 21 and over. KEEGAN PROSSER

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

FISHERMAN’S FEST POST

hen R.C. Crowther and Steven Graham first started hosting shows as part of the Everett Music Initiative two years ago, the experience wasn’t quite what they expected.

“Everyone was sitting down,” Crowther says.

That’s when the pair started showing up two hours early to remove the tables and chairs. Now the crowd has no choice but to dance.

“We noticed that Everett does not get the touring musicians,” says Crowther of why he and Graham started the initiative. “There really is no local community for local bands, no way for local bands to get out and break into other cities.”

Two years and several shows later, the pair have announced the first Fisherman’s Village Music Festival, Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17 in downtown Everett. The fest, to be held in four venues within a six-block area, will feature more than 60 bands, including Santa Barbara–based Gardens & Villas and local favorites the Moondoggies and Rose Windows.

Both Crowther and Graham admit that hosting a festival in Everett was the goal from the beginning. Their vision is for Fisherman’s Village to become the Northwest version of New York City’s CMJ, an annual citywide platform for upand-coming bands.

The initial response has been overwhelmingly positive. Crowther and Graham have already secured a partner in local radio station KEXP and a festival host in legendary DJ Marco Collins, and are discussing adding an additional stage or two.

Beyond that, they’re just excited to showcase a

35

arts&culture» Music

2033 6th Avenue (206) 441-9729 jazzalley.com

BRIAN CULBERTSON - LONG NIGHT OUT 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR THUR, MAR 20 - SUN, MAR 23 Contemporary jazz, R&B and funk trailblazer touring in support of his new release Another Long Night Out

JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BAND ENSEMBLES MON, MAR 24TH

The next generation of jazz giants!

JOHN NÉMETH AND THE BO-KEYS FEATURING PERCY WIGGINS TUES, MAR 25 - THURS, MAR 27

Join us in the Trophy Room for Happy Hour: Thursday Bartender Special 8-Close Fridays: 5-8pm RESERVE THE TROPHY ROOM FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT!

Blues singer and harpist, with Memphis classic soulsters the Bo-Keys

REBIRTH BRASS BAND FRI, MAR 28 - SUN, MAR 30

Grammy-winning heavy funk institution!

LYDIA PENSE AND COLD BLOOD TUES, APR 1 - WED, APR 2

Legendary original R&B horn band that exemplifies the East Bay Grease melding of funk and rock with blues and jazz elements

all ages | free parking full schedule at jazzalley.com

COCKTAILS • TASTY HOT DOGS • LOTSA PINBALL

2222 2ND AVENUE • SEATTLE

206-441-5449

TRAVIS SHINN

JAZZ ALLEY IS A SUPPER CLUB

Of Mice and Men

RA SCION & VOX MOD RA Scion’s The Sickle & the

Sword was one of our favorite releases last year, which made it even more of a bummer when word got out that Rodney Hazard, the man behind the album’s production, was suing the local rapper on an alleged breach of contract. Not to be deterred, RA flipped Hazard the bird and remixed the album with a new collaborator—Seattle’s acid-loving electro-wizard Vox Mod. The result, Sharper Tool; Bigger Weapon, sets RA’s metaphysical musings to Vox Mod’s astral sci-fi soundscapes, making for some of the most high-minded hiphop you’ll hear out of Seattle this year. Some chakras will likely get realigned at tonight’s release show. With Gran Rapids, Imprints, Marcus Medeiros. Neumos.

8 p.m. $10. 21 and over. KELTON SEARS

Friday, March 21

Portland’s BLACKWITCH PUDDING comprises three wizards (Space Wizard, Lizard Wizard, Wizard Wizard), who dress in sparkly robes and tights and have a song titled “Super Sluts From Outer Space.” As silly as this sounds, the riffs these stoner-rock warlocks churn out are anything but. Its 2013 debut record, Taste the Pudding, is loaded with deadly serious fuzzed-out guitar, with an added sense of humor in the lyrics.

With Serial Hawk, Grenades, LB! The Highline, 210 Broadway E., 328-7837, highlineseattle.com. 9 p.m. $7 adv. 21 and over. JAMES BALLINGER AN EVENING WITH MIKE GORDON The Phish bassist tours behind his fourth solo album, Overstep. The Neptune. 9 p.m. $25. GE A Canadian singer/songwriter with South African roots, SAM ROBERTS has, to type, always been pleasantly conflicted, his songs sweetly melodic while maintaining some heady lyrical content. His band’s latest, Lo-Fantasy, kicks the conflict up a notch, delivering hefty messages over a sound that has evolved into buoyant, danceable rock verging on disco, complete with walking bass line and staccato guitar riffage. With Western Haunts. Tractor Tavern. 9 p.m. $15. 21 and over. MSB

SEATTLE WEEKLY • MARCH 19 — 25, 2014

Saturday, March 22

36

Local black-metal outfit A GOD OR AN OTHER’s first full-length, last year’s Towers of Silence, pushed the boundaries of traditional black metal and added elements of doom, post-rock, and other genres to the mix.

Blast beats still remain, but lush soundscapes break up the monotony and are more than welcome. With Winter in the Blood, Mongrel Gods, Un. 2-Bit Saloon, 4818 17th Ave. N.W., 708-6917, the2bitsaloon.com. 9 p.m. $6. 21 and over. JB If any album could prep listeners for the sunny days of spring, it’s Galore, the vibrant debut from Sub Pop signees THUMPERS. The London-based alt-pop duo—Marcus Pepperell and John Hamson Jr., who were two-thirds of indie-rock trio Pull Tiger Tail—has created a truly joyous record, including the bouncy “Unkinder (A Tougher Love)” and the sing-along-ready “Sound of Screams.” With Pattern Is Movement, Yellow Ostrich. Barboza. 7 p.m. $12 adv. 21 and over.

AZARIA C. PODPLESKY LEO KOTTKE The veteran guitarist mixes music and recollections from his long, distinguished career.

Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., 215-4800, seattle symphony.org/benaroya. 8 p.m. $41–$51. SW DANIEL ROSSEN, of Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles, released his debut solo EP, Silent Hour/Golden Mile, back in 2012, but this marks his first solo tour, and he’s not holding anything back. Audience members can expect songs from Silent Hour, which features an interesting blend of indie rock and chamber pop; tunes from

DOE’s In Ear Park; and likely some unreleased material.

With William Tyler. Neumos. 8 p.m. $17. 21 and over. ACP Punk-rock quartet SKATERS wants to make it clear that it hearts N.Y. For one thing, the band named its debut album Manhattan. Then there’s album-opener “One of Us,” which features audio of an announcement from a subway car heading to the city, and “To Be Young in NYC,” which chronicles the daily life of a 20-something.

With Team Spirit, Black Whales. Tractor Tavern. 9 p.m. $10. 21 and over. ACP

Sunday, March 23

It is rare for a band to combine dance, rock, bhangra, Celtic, and world music, but that is exactly what DELHI 2 DUBLIN does. 2012’s Turn Up the Stereo shows the band is evolving on the lyrical front, infusing its music with socially conscious and politically charged content. With Parlo, DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618, thecrocodile. com. 8 p.m. $15 adv. 21 and over. BP ZZ TOP Can these graybeards still twirl their guitars? Who cares, as long as they crank out hits like “Legs,” “Pearl Necklace,” and “Cheap Sunglasses.” With Tim Montana and the Shrednecks. The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., 6821414, stgpresents.org/moore. 7 p.m. $55–$85. GE SAINTSENECA Not only is this Columbus, Ohio, quartet fun to look at, what with their eclectic acoustic instrumentation and lead singer Zac Little’s Yosemite Sam mustache, but they are a delight to listen to, riding the edge between old weird Appalachian Americana and melodic indie pop. It takes a lot of talent to break out of a small Midwestern DIY scene, but the band has the potential, and has found an audience with heavy hitters like Mike Mogis, who produced the band’s second album, Dark Arc, which will be released by Anti- on April 1. With Vikesh Kapoor, Courtney Marie Andrews. Tractor Tavern. 8 p.m. $10 adv. 21 and over. MSB

Monday, March 24

On January’s Restoring Force, California metalcore quintet OF MICE & MEN has found a middle ground, both lyrically and musically, between the light and dark sides of its personality. Its mix of screams and clean vocals (from Austin Carlile and Aaron Pauley, respectively) and crunching guitar riffs are still there, but there’s a sense of balance to the album that makes it even more engaging. With Bring Me the Horizon, Issues, letlive. Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave. S., 652-0444, showboxonline.com.

8 p.m. SOLD OUT. All ages. ACP LORDE The teenage sensation from New Zealand is joined

by Lo-Fang. WaMu Theater, 1000 Occidental Ave. S., 3817555, ticketmaster.com. $44 and up. 8 p.m. SW “I am full of light! I am filled with joy! I am full of hope!”

PERFECT PUSSY frontwoman Meredith Graves screams like a child being strangled on “I,” the first track on the N.Y. punk outfit’s I Have Lost All Desire For Feeling.

It’s the only line you can actually hear her sing on the white-hot EP, a fantastic record whose charm is indebted largely to the ridiculous amount of distorted compression on every track, making for a blown-out punk wonderland that thrashes so hard you’ll get whiplash. Tonight is the band’s Seattle debut, part of the group’s tour in support of its upcoming debut LP, Say Yes to Love. With Future Fridays. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372, thevera project.org. 7:30 p.m. $8–$9. All ages. KS

Tuesday, March 25

ANIMALS AS LEADERS serve instrumental progressive-

metal shredding, aided by leader Tosin Abasi’s fondness for eight-string guitars (let’s see your average guitar

Against Me!

Tuesday, March 25

N

early two years after coming out as transgender, Against Me! founder Laura Jane Grace has some shit to say. The singer addresses the topic bluntly and viscerally on her band’s new album Transgender Dysphoria Blues.

On the title track she drops lines like “You want them to see you like they see every other girl/ They just see a faggot/They hold their breath not to catch the sick.” It’s not pleasant imagery, but she has no intention of holding back.

“I was just trying to write as unguarded and from-the-heart as I could,” Grace recently told Seattle Weekly in an e-mail. The new album does take a sharp turn in that direction, filled with stories from when Grace lived under the name Tom Gabel. On “Drinking With the Jocks,” the vocalist appears to be calling out the objectification of women in stereotypical frat-boy culture. She sings about “laughing at the faggots” and looking at “all the bitches” and wanting to “fuck them all”; the twist comes in as she screams “All of my life/Wishing I was one of them.” It’s one of the most horrific and moving recollections of what it must be like to experience gender dysphoria.

The songs are just as hard-hitting as anything from the band’s old records, like Reinventing Axl Rose, but with the pop-punk energy of its most recent hits, like 2011’s “I Was a Teenage Anarchist.” The driving bass line on “Osama Bin Laden as the Crucified Christ” harkens back to Fugazi, while the melody in “Black Me Out” could be a stand-in on an All American Rejects

album. What makes Transgender Dysphoria Blues particularly compelling, however, is the music’s accessibility next to the raw tenacity of its narrative.

“I’m not trying to represent anyone’s perspective but my own,” Grace says. “I can’t speak for anyone else’s experiences.”

For his part, drummer Atom Willard says there was never any “I’m going to sing about this specific thing now” talk within the band.

Grace’s announcement didn’t cause much fuss. The music was the important driving force through it all, and the melodies took primary focus within the group.

“We’re all pretty much on the same page with everything, especially when it comes to music,” Willard says. “Laura’s idea to do the record as a concept was the only thing that was really talked about, and it was like, ‘OK, cool.’ ” Crowd response has been equally supportive, he says. The band’s dynamic hasn’t changed much, except for its set lists; and despite the anguish and brutality of Grace’s lyrics, her story is one of love and self-worth.

These days it’s a welcome message—one aptly reiterated on the track “True Trans Rebel” with the endlessly quotable lyric “God bless your transsexual heart.”

“I think people should know that trans people are real and beautiful and strong and inspiring and deserving of respect,” Grace says. “I’m happy to advocate that perspective.” With Laura Stevenson, Cheap Girls. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.com/ neptune. 8 p.m. $18 adv./$20 DOS. All ages.

DUSTY HENRY

fret; the Ben Kweller–produced Runaround still features the ukulele accompaniment that made Wild Child’s 2010 debut, Pillow Talk, so charming. With Robert Ellis, Mike Giacolino. Tractor Tavern. 8 p.m. $10. 21 and over. ACP WANTING Born Wanting Qu, this Vancouver-based singer/songwriter was inspired by the music of Sarah McLaughlin and Dido; through her dogged efforts, she is now their labelmate. With Dawen Wang.The Triple Door.

8 p.m. $25. GE ASTRONAUTALIS is an odd talent in the world of hiphop, an artist whose music is largely reminiscent of David Bowie’s and Isaac Brock’s. It’s fitting, then, that the wandering MC, known to the taxman as Andy Bothwell, has found a home in the Twin Cities, where supremely talented oddball rappers are embraced and celebrated. But it is too damn cold there, which is why he is touring the West on this, his Escape the Vortex Tour. With Playdough. Vera Project. 7:30 p.m. $13 adv.

All ages. MSB

1303 NE 45TH ST

Lyla Foy, Mirrors the Sky (out now, Sub Pop, lylafoy.com) After she wrote the minimal, melodydriven “No Secrets,” originally released under the stage name WALL, praise from the likes of BBC Radio and Pitchfork inspired London-based singersongwriter Lyla Foy to drop the moniker and continue writing. Sky is her self-produced debut, and kicks off with “Honeymoon,” the first taste of her multifaceted voice. As the vocalist alternates between low whisper-singing and a crystal-clear, angelic tone, she creates an ethereal backdrop for bandmates Dan Bell (guitar, keyboards), Oli Deakin (bass, keyboards), and Andy Goodall (drums). “Rumour” has a rootsy, more grounded sound, while “Someday” plays up a slightly darker mood. Lyrically, Foy focuses on romance and the drama that is often part of the package, and the album’s charming lo-fi quality fits with its low-key vibe. Carefully crafted and dreamy, the album is the epitome of a lazy Sunday—you know, those languid, leisurely days of lounging around alone or with close friends or loved ones, throwing cares to the wind and saving to-do lists for another time. Songs like the synthy “I Only” and “Feather Tongue” are perfect examples, and a clear indication of how far she can take her wide-ranging pop sound. AZARIA C. PODPLESKY Raz Simone, Cognitive Dissonance (out now, Black Umbrella, razsimone.com) Perhaps it’s the weather, but there’s always a sense of familiarity when a local musician creates work that’s dark and gloomy. The latest release by Raz Simone (his real first name is Solomon) is no exception, and takes a heavy, honest look into his life. Poetic and personal, the album details Simone’s experiences dealing drugs, taking care of his family, and his reflections on society and himself. Opener “They Speak” is a freestyle joint recorded at 3 a.m. and faint strings can be heard in the background while the rapper’s rhymes flow naturally. His cadence is hypnotizing and smooth as he asks philosophical questions like “How do we fly/Why do we lie/Where do us bad people go when we die/Heaven or hell/Is it a lie/ Or should I pray just in case they were right?” He delves more into religion and politics on his tracks “Natural Resources” and “Bow Down,” sampling a Kanye West rant about classism “as the cousin of racism” in the former. In “Hometown,” he samples Adele’s somber “Hometown Glory,” adding electronic elements like synths and 808 drums.

Overall, Dissonance is an album of contemplation, one that can be enjoyed for Simone’s sincerity, lyrical prowess, varied track productions, and raw emotion. All of which perfectly complement the looming, moody overtone of Seattle music—not to mention the weather. MARGERY CERCADO

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RYAN RUSSELL

hero do that). The band’s third LP, The Joy of Motion, is out this week, its first for major indie Sumerian. With After the Burial, Navene-K, CHON, Numbers. El Corazon.

7 p.m. $17 adv./$20 DOS. DL The first of JOHN RODERICK’s every-other-Tuesday residencies at the Rendezvous sold out. This will be his second. His concept for the hour-long shindig is “some storytelling, some bullshitting, some new music, and some surprise guests.” JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., 441-5823, jewelboxtheater.com. SOLD OUT. 6 p.m. DL WIDESPREAD PANIC This Southern-rock jam band continues to draw stoners and music geeks alike. The Moore. $32.50–$42.50. 7:30 p.m. SW As The Runaround, the second album from Austin-based indie-folk septet WILD CHILD, grew, so too did the band (it was once a duo). With the addition of keyboards, banjo, percussion, bass, and cello, the group creates a fuller, though still dreamy, sound. And don’t

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