September 20, Wednesday
Season of Sacrifice Reading Seattle’s Bharti Kirchner has written a ton of great novels that you should check out. Tonight, though, she’s debuting something new: the first book in a mystery series starring a Seattle private investigator named Maya Mallick. In Season of Sacrifice, she investigates the self-immolation death of a prominent scientist. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave., 624-6600, elliottbay book.com . Free. All ages. 7 p.m. PAUL CONSTANT
Downtown Boys Punk, at its best, is supposed to challenge hegemony, which is why it’s a little disconcerting that so many punk bands seem content to write songs about how pizza and beer are good. If you’re looking for punk that truly stands for something circa 2017, look no further than new Sub Pop signees Downtown Boys—the proudly feminist, Latinx, anti-capitalist shredders railing against the dehumanizing politics of our day, complete with amazing sax skronk and bilingual screaming. The Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., thevera project.org. $10 adv. All ages. 7 p.m. KELTON SEARS
September 21, Thursday
Grab Back Comics Reading Grab Back Comics started as a website collecting comics stories about sexual assault and harassment. Now it’s been collected in a beautiful print anthology. Tonight, the anthology’s editor, Erma Blood, appears with local cartoonists Amy Camber, Gillian Rhodes, Robin Elan, Tatiana Gill, and Tess LeBlanc. Third Place Books Seward Park, 5041 Wilson Ave. S., 474-2200, thirdplacebooks.com. Free. All ages. 7 p.m. PC
Greg Brown has ridden his gruff voice and Midwestern poetry into a status as folk-music royalty. He’ll be 70 in 2019, and isn’t releasing much new music these days. But his shows are said to continue to be transcendent affairs of raconteuring and music-making. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W. 789-3599, tractortavern.com. $40. 21 and over. 8 p.m. DANIEL PERSON
Kremfest Without fail, Kremwerk has consistently hosted some of the most adventurous bookings in the city. The club’s first official festival, Kremfest, is keeping up the momentum with a smorgasbord of outré electronic talent from around the world, including the trippy techno of Paris’ Voiski, vaporwave forerunner Vektroid, Yolanda Be Cool’s Australian disco, and countless more. Being unfamiliar with the acts on a festival lineup can be a turn-off, but with Kremwerk, and now Kremfest, it’s a bonus—you’re guaranteed to discover legitimately exciting new artists. Kremwerk, 1809 Minor Ave., kremwerk.com. $10–$35. 21 and over. Through Sun., Sept. 24. KS
Burlesco DiVino: Wine in Rome Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann are back, with a fantastical mashup of the swinging ’60s in Rome and classical bacchanalia. The work is full of their signature fun: a script packed with double entendres and choreography that shows some things and suggests everything. It’s Federico Fellini meets Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. With tassels. The Triple Door, 216 Union St., 838-4333, thetripledoor.net. $35–$50. 7:30 p.m. Through Sat., Sept. 23. SANDRA KURTZ
September 22, Friday
Over the Top This one is a little different: The Washington National Park’s Discovery Group hosts a boozy dinner in which scientific experts discuss projects they’re running in Washington national parks. At the end of the night, one project will be funded by pooling everyone’s admission fee in a kind of American Idol for science. Georgetown Ballroom, 5623 Airport Way S., 762-4999. wnpf.org. $25. All ages. 5:30 p.m. PC
Local Sightings For 20 years, Local Sightings has served as the region’s biggest, brightest outlet for locally produced independent films. This year, in honor of the momentous anniversary, the festival is bigger than ever, featuring 75 films—27 of which are world premieres, and 40 percent of which were produced by women. On top of that, expect live talk shows, Sacred Harp singing, and even some virtual reality. Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., nwfilmforum.org. $125–$200 full pass, individual screening tickets available. All ages. Through Sat., Sept. 30. KS
September 23, Saturday
Gansango From Benin to Seattle, Etienne Cakpo has been performing the traditional dances of West Africa for more than 30 years. With “Africa Remix” he brings those works into a contemporary context, mixing them with newer dance styles from a pan-African perspective, joined by his daughter Niyafath, and an ensemble of musicians and dancers in a program that stretches across cultures. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 104 17th Ave. S., 684-4757, gansango.com. $17–$20. 7:30 p.m. Also 3 p.m. Sun. SK
Stas THEE Boss On her debut solo record S’WOMEN, KEXP Street Sounds host Stas THEE Boss took an unusual songwriting route. She wrote the aqueous, loopy beats while in a number of different romantic relationships, but wrote the biting, sarcastic lyrics post-breakup. The layers add up to something dynamic, complex, and beguilingly contradictory. The Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., theveraproject.org. $8–$10. All ages. 7:30 p.m. KS
Pains of Being Pure at Heart The Pains’ new album, Echo of Pleasure, is being billed as the band’s grown-up album: Front man Kip Berman is married now and has a kid. That may true, but the new record is still soaked in the teenage longing and melancholy that made us fall in love with this band in the first place. Tractor Tavern. 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599, tractortavern.com. $16. 21 and over. 9 p.m. DP
September 24, Sunday
Poetry in Conversation: The Lice Seattle poet Bill Carty presents a special book-club-type discussion about The Lice, a seminal 20th-century American poetry collection by W.S. Merwyn. (The book has been republished by Port Townsend publisher Copper Canyon Press this year.) Come and talk about poetry with a poet. If you disagree, feel free to argue. Poetry will survive the scrutiny. Open Books, 2414 N. 45th St., 633-0811, openpoetrybooks.com. Free. All ages. 4 p.m. PC
September 25, Monday
Dinner at the Center of the Earth Reading You might remember Nathan Englander’s debut collection of short fiction, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, for its beautiful sweaty cover. His new novel looks at a controversial subject, the conflict between Palestine and Israel, through the experiences of a disparate group of people including a prisoner and a waitress. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. All ages. 7 p.m. PC
Aerial Ruin A perfect of evening of doom and gloom to usher in the fall. Serpentent and Aerial Ruin hold down the gloom end of things with baneful acoustic performances, like bards at a Viking funeral. Heavy hitters Un bring the doom, alongside the fiendish Foie Gras, which has been steadily putting out creepy releases for years. I can already smell the dying leaves. The Highline, 210 Broadway E., highlineseattle.com. $10. 21 and over. 9 p.m. MEAGAN ANGUS
September 26, Tuesday
Bad Kansas Reading Author Becky Mandelbaum recently moved to the Pacific Northwest, but before she did, she published her first collection of short fiction. It won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, which is no fucking joke. Tonight she’ll be interviewed by great American author Pam Houston. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave., 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. All ages. 7 p.m. PC
