MEET ME IN THE CHAMBER: We don't need to sell the symphony fans on chamber music, but maybe you rock and rollers could use a little primer. Catch six chamber ensembles at Town Hall tonight, and get your chamber music in 15-minute doses. It's like tapas, but with violins. 8 p.m. // Town Hall // Free LOCAL AUTHOR BLOWOUT: TNT sports writer Dave Boling has written a novel. Go Dave! Guernica is set during the......

There's a whole cavalcade of delicately dear boys in town tonight. Head to the Triple Door for pretentious Juilliard grad/Philip Glass collaborator Nico Muhly who composes and plays experimental classical works. He's part of the 802 Tour, along with Sam Amidon and Doveman, who recently covered the Footloose soundtrack non-ironically and in its entirety. It's actually his touching and bittersweet tribute to a childhood friend's half-sister. For reals. Stream the whole thing at Doveman's website.......

It's a relaxing evening at Chop Suey, Earlimart has draped Christmas lights on their gear, and we sip our gin and tonic as midnight approaches. Aaron Espinoza thanks the crowd at Chop Suey several times, though "crowd" may be stretching it--as usual at an Earlimart show in Seattle, a ragtag band of resistance fighters has showed. They sway in semi-darkness, drowning in a rumbling drone, to gently sung, lush pop that promises "it's a deathtrap,......

GIRLS WITH STRONG GASTROCS: The Pacific Northwest Highland Games are up in Enumclaw this weekend! Have you ever seen a troupe of Highland dancers, or examined any of their calves? Those ladies have serious plantar flexion skillz. And the National Highland Dance Competition's not all that's going down. We're talking pub piping, Scottish sing-alongs, a full-blown ceilidgh (it's more than just a barn dance!) and of course the field games! Seattlest's Scottish blood thrills to......

Road trip! The seventh annual What the Heck Fest is taking place all weekend at venues in Anacortes. Mt. Eerie is but one of the many bands set to perform. If you're staying here in town, tonight loud-ass two-piece Middle Class Rut plays King Cobra, along with Burning Brides.......

Philly rapper Freeway at Chop Suey on Saturday: gruff, powerful, in control. Prodigious beard. His set was a pleasure to behold, with thick, thumping, meaty beats over which his growl sounded just right. Such sparkly bling, too! Our only complaints are that he cut off "It's Over" way too early and there were a couple too many a capellas, but the man can keep filthily perfect time and impresses regardless of the beat behind him.......

ARTISTS X-ING, WITH CAMERAS: A motley crew of photographers are gathering down at the Market tonight to explore the area through their camera lenses for the evening. They're meeting at that brass pig by the fish throwers (could this event get any more Seattle?) and will be snapping photos around the Market, downtown, Pioneer Square, the waterfront, and more. It's open to anyone who wants to join in the spirit of discovery and photography. 6......

BOMBS BURSTING, ETC: Happy Independence Day! Grill up some zucchini, down a beer or three, and enjoy your day off. Ivars is doing their exploding chemicals thing after sunset, so if you're into that, sedate your dogs/chickens/goldfish and enjoy the 23 minute show over Elliott Bay. Or wherever: check here and here for your options. 10 p.m. // Your Roof // Free(dom) GANGSTA RAP—SERIOUSLY: Get your gangsta self to Chop Suey on Saturday for Crooked......

Liz Phair's musical legacy packed Chop Suey last night, as Seattle's indie rock scene turned out to wish Three Imaginary Girls a happy sixth birthday, and Phair's Exile in Guyville a happy fifteenth. In truth, the affair had an insider-ish feel, with a large number of people we recognize from the local music industry, due both to TIG's status as the local Pitchfork and to Exile's status as a cult album. The six bands/artists who......

When Liz Phair released Exile in Guyville back in 1993, music was, well, pretty much where it is now: A boys' playground of aggressive, booze- and drug-addled hyper-aggressive music, a scene that women fit into either by imitating the boys or by settling for the marginal spaces reserved for women, whether that was soul-searching singer-songwriter strumming an acoustic guitar, or tramped-out pop vixen delivering sugary three-minute radio singles. Into this toxic mix of misogyny, Liz......

Last Friday, before X-Ray Press took the stage at Chop Suey, we ran into an acquaintance who described them as "math rock, circa 1994." After their set, another friend described them as "intellectual" musicians. Both are fair assessments: we wouldn't credit it as "original," but "skillful"? Hell yeah. Jumping between jerky time signatures, with a jagged, frequently dissonant guitar opposite thundering bass-lines and fuzzy keyboard melodies, X-Ray Press got down old-skool Don Cab-style. And then......

A very rock 'n' roll Chuck Mung, swathed in two vests (one furry, one with red, white and blue sequins) and a kilt, won the Seattle regionals for the Cuervo Black US Air Guitar Championships at Chop Suey last night! We could tell at his performance in Round 1 that there was something special about this one, a skillful edge that set him apart from his (admittedly crazy) competition. The night wrapped up by......

The word on the Web is that another Seattle venue has been sold. The club on the auction block this time? Chop Suey, apparently sold to a yet-to-be-named Japanese company. Hannah Levin and Reverb were the first to report the story after Miss Levin ran into Chop Suey's booker Pete Greenberg on a Ballard bike ride last night. Greenberg, who was also the booker at the dearly beloved and departed Crocodile, must be feeling......

It's going down tonight. Contestants are carb-loading, judges are wrapping up their pre-competition detox diets, and the crowd--frankly, the crowd was born ready for the Seattle regionals of 2008's Cuervo Black US Air Guitar Championship tour! This is the first year that Seattle (home of Jimi, for God's sake!) gets to compete, and we have not a shadow of a doubt that local Air Guitar artists have more than enough attitude and commitment to the......

GET A HAIRCUT, GET A REAL JOB: If you're among the throngs getting laid off thanks to this booming economy we're having, try skipping the liquid breakfast today. Roll out of bed early and get on down to Seattle Center with a stack of resumes. The Northwest Career Fair kicks off this morning at 11 and, with any luck, there should be at least something for which you're qualified. They're hiring for just about everything—from......

It's a great weekend for hiphop, Seattle! On Saturday, Grynch is headlining a show with D.Black, XPerience, Khingz, and the hilarious Sonny Bonoho at Chop Suey. It's a well-balanced bill full of funny, talented performers who draw big crowds on their own steam, so on a line-up together--well, Chop Suey will be alive and on fire Saturday night! On Sunday night, Dyme Def officially releases their crazy-good new mixtape, 3 Bad Brothaaas, at Nectar. Naturally,......

MORE THAN CLOWNS: Two college friends who shared a love of making balloon animals blow the balloon world wide open with their film TWISTED: A Balloonamentary. This documentary shows how eight balloon twisters' lives have been changed by balloon animals. The opening night screening includes a balloon twisting workshop (get that dog you always wanted). Bonus: the film is at Central Cinema, so you can kick it with a beer and a pizza while......

These New Puritans hail from the UK, and despite having a strong album in Beat Pyramid, they've managed to avoid being burdened by the usual praise of the UK press, leaving Seattlest much more receptive to their post-punk wares when the CD finally reached our desk. It seems these days every other band is post-something, so tossing those descriptions out the window, what makes These New Puritans stand out is the overwhelming urgency evident on......

It may not feel like summer in Seattle, but tomorrow afternoon is The End's Summer Camp II at Marymoor Park. It's a mix of the good (Nada Surf, MGMT), the bad (Flogging Molly, Pennywise), and the emo-ey (Armor for Sleep). Meanwhile, all weekend long Noise for the Needy marches on, raising money for Urban Rest Stop. Come tomorrow night, it's Matt and Kim, YACHT, and local band Feral Children at Neumo's. Here's a clip of......

For a brief moment last night, it was summer in Seattle. Inside the sold-out Ting Tings show at Chop Suey, it was hot and humid. The house was packed with young people drinking, dancing, and carousing. The music was pounding, and the gays were in full effect—all the trademark signs of summer. And then, about half an hour later, it was over. Anni Rossi kicked off the show with an abbreviated twenty-minute opening set.......

FULL PUPPET NUDITY: You might have noticed that big banner on the side of the Paramount advertising puppet cleavage Avenue Q. Well, tonight is opening night, so if you haven't gotten your tickets for this ever-so-brief run of the Tony Award-winning show, now's your time. Seattlest will be there tonight for the kick-off, but then it's up to you to get out and see those puppets sing and swear all over the place. June 10-22......

Stairwell Sisters have joined the slowly growing community of all-girl old-timey bands, and recently released their third album, Get Off Your Money. They do much better when they tackle the traditional fiddle tunes, but their originals do the genre plenty of justice. They’ll be joined at the Tractor tonight by local old-timey heroes the Tallboys. The Seattle branch of the famed Paul Green School of Rock opened in January. Now, the inaugural class of talented......

OPERATION BRIGHT PINK FLAMINGO: If you were at Myrtle Edwards Park last weekend, you may have noticed a city-approved flock of plastic flamingos hanging out on the lawns. Lest you prematurely begin the spiral into "WTF, can't we just have normal public art," let us inform you that the flamingos were only visiting to remind everyone that real Chilean flamingos are available as of tomorrow to gawk at over in the Woodland Park Zoo.......

Last night's show at Chop Suey was solid. Sure, they threw an extra band on the bill (meaning that it was doors 8, show 8:30), but both Ra Ra Riot and The Little Ones delivered with tight sets. And yet, there was something troubling in the air. What was it? Two words: Nag Champa. We have discussed this before: venues burning incense at a show is a no-no. Look, our seasonal allergies have been......

As we have mentioned approximately nine million times before, Ra Ra Riot is a band you must see live. The Syracuse-based sextet has guitars, a cello, a violin, and energy to spare. Their music manages to be both uplifting and catchy, and their high-minded brand of articulate, orchestral pop always goes over well. Once again (as with every time we've seen 'em), they're an opening band on the bill, which makes things a little......

Tonight, the dynamic duo of Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes is sold out, so you've got a few completely different options: at El Corazon, Apocalyptica, a Finnish cello quartet who love Metallica or the Fool's Gold label showcase at the War Room, featuring label founder/turntablist extraordinaire A-Trak. Here he is in 1997, when he was just a scrawny badass fifteen-year-old world championship wunderkind:......

We're excited about three hiphop(ish) shows this weekend: RJD2 at Chop Suey, Lucky I Am at Nectar, and Willie Will's album release party at Chop Suey. RJD2's got groove practically oozing from his pores. This producer, multi-instrument musician and singer came up in Columbus and was signed to DefJux as a hiphop artist. His recent albums take a turn away from typical hiphop sampling and his early focus on electronic sounds towards more of an......

Lo-fi indie pop band Say Hi used to be known as Say Hi to Your Mom. It also used to based in Brooklyn and now it's found in Seattle. Regardless, the man behind the band is Eric Elbogen, who records the songs at home, playing all the instruments, providing most of the vocals (except for the occasional guest artist), and even mixing the tracks his own damn self. His last album (pre-name change), Impeccable......

Clearly we are big fans of The Cribs. The Brit-rock trio put out a great album last year, Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, featuring the barreling title track (above). The band is a family affair--twins Ryan and Gary Jarman on guitar, bass, and vocals and baby brother Ross on drums--with the result being a sharp (and often sexy) mix of post-punk and edgy, precise pop. But for all that they've got going for them,......

As previously mentioned, tonight's Wig Bash at the High Dive, as well as the second, final, and sold-out performance of Nada Surf at the Showbox. Also sold out: Springsteen at Key Arena Saturday. But never fear, there's still other options out there, like Golem at Nectar tomorrow night. We don't know much about them, but we've heard that the six-piece klezmer band play "Eastern European drinking songs" and that they're "fun as hell." That's enough......