The Lavender Rights Project's Jaelynn Scott has never held public office. If elected, she would be the first openly trans person in the Washington State Legislature. She is running on crisis care; her focus is on housing instability, homelessness, healthcare access, ICE abductions, and trans rights. by Micah Yip

After nearly seven years as executive director of the Black trans feminist organization Lavender Rights Project,  Scott is running for 37th District, Position 2, to represent the Central District, Columbia City, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach and Renton.

There’s no incumbent, or so it seems, and Scott may just benefit from a game of musical seats. When Sen. Rebecca Saldaña announced her run for King County Council, 37th District Rep. Chipalo Street told the Washington State Standard that he’d run for the Senate seat she’s leaving behind, which would leave his seat open. 

Scott has never held public office. If elected, she would be the first openly trans person in the Washington State Legislature. She is running on crisis care; her focus is on housing instability, homelessness, healthcare access, ICE abductions, and trans rights. She’s invested in helping the state’s vulnerable, like trans people and immigrants, with holistic solutions.

Local progressives believe she can get the job done. Sen. Saldaña, Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, and City Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster have endorsed Scott. She’s full of ideas, but what about follow-through? 

“There’s a lot on the line,” Scott says. “Everything in this race is holding the hopes and wishes and dreams of a lot of people who are struggling and suffering…Everything I do in the legislature will be absolutely critical because of the crisis that we’re facing as a country.”

The Lavender Rights Project operates permanent supportive housing in partnership with Chief Seattle Club, so Scott’s’s a big fan. The future of these programs has already been tenuous this year, because the feds have repeatedly threatened to pull huge chunks of its funding, but she believes partnerships and a hypothetical heap of public money from progressive taxation our state doesn’t yet have could scale up this model, which provides mental health, addiction and disability support for the recently homeless. 

“My approach would be, throw everything at it,” Scott says. “Let’s get our taxation where it needs to be and then face the challenges so we can get revenue as quick as possible.” 

Scott couldn’t say if surveillance tools like CCTV and automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) make the community safe, but she thinks they’re risky for the immigrants and transgender people being targeted by the federal government.

If she had her way, she’d turn them off. But in the interest of harm reduction, she supports a bill to limit data retention to 21 days, State Senate Bill 6002. Even so, a seven-day cap would be much better, she says, which is the limit ACLU-WA recommends.

“Until we know that it’s secure, let’s just pause [surveillance across the state] to keep the sanctuary that we want this place to be,” Scott says. “That is our goal and that means protecting us from federal intrusion.”

Scott wants ICE out, but she’s not sure how to do that.

“I want to spend these next months sitting in front of, not lobbyists, not legislators, not candidates who have great ideas—I want to actually sit in front of communities who are on the ground protecting folks and find out what are the policy recommendations that they have,” Scott says. (She followed up after the interview to say the legislature should revisit anti-ICE bills that failed last session, like House Bill 2641, which would’ve barred Washington law enforcement from hiring anyone who became an ICE officer after January 20, 2025.)

Scott’s focus wasn’t on new legislation to protect trans rights, but on strengthening the social safety net. Trans people are disproportionately poor, and are often discriminated against at work. 

Protecting them means expanding access to housing and health care, and finding state resources to bypass the federal government as it tries to restrict Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care and abortion. (Sounds good, but that last one is a tall order.) 

“There’s a lot of fear and anxiety about rights being pulled back, but especially when I talk to communities of color, trans communities of color, immigrant communities, it always goes back to those three priorities,” Scott says. 

She really wants universal healthcare (who doesn’t?), and supports Whole Washington’s Washington Health Trust, a proposal to create a publicly funded, statewide universal healthcare system. But she didn’t know how to make it a reality.

I once found myself sitting at a bar beside Toody Cole and told her that she was my all-time favorite bassist, to which she blushed and said, “Thank you, I’m trying really hard, and I practice a lot.” A telling response from a humble punk veteran who is far too cool to play it cool. Over the past five decades, Toody and her dearly departed husband, Fred, have kept Portland's music scene alive with their bands—Dead Moon, the Rats, Pierced Arrows, and several others—self-recording and self-releasing music in their self-built Clackamas County home. While it’s easy to take one look at Dead Moon’s drippy font and iconic skull logo and assume that their music is raucous, dark, and speedy, you might be surprised to find the tenderness that runs beneath, exemplified on vulnerable, slow-paced tracks like “Where Did I Go Wrong” and “It’s O.K..” At the center of Toody and Fred’s projects has always been love: love for the community, love of music, and love for one another. Even in one of their most pissed-off songs, 1994’s “Poor Born,” Fred sings lovingly, “I’ve got a woman who still makes me crazy with the shake of her nightgown.” I caught up with Toody Cole over the phone ahead of her show at the Tractor Tavern with bandmates Kelly Halliburton and Christopher March (of Jenny Don’t and the Spurs).


 

I emailed you for this interview through the contact on the Dead Moon website. Do you run the site, merch, and press inquiries on your own?
Yeah, baby, I’m still DIY all the way! It has pretty much always been my gig. And, shit, I turned 77 in December. I'm retired now, and while it's great to kick back, I'm still used to being busy. So, it’s just something to do, and it doesn't take up that much of my time. It's cool because I can do whatever I want or not do anything at all, depending on how I feel.

I was listening to an interview you gave in 2019, and you said, “I’ve always had it in my head ‘70 years old, and I’m done.'” I assume you changed your mind?
I'm as vain as anybody. I just thought that I would look too old, and I didn’t want to get on stage. But at some point, I got past that and just went, “What the hell!” and got back on stage. The more I look at old pictures, the more I go, “Fuck, I look great!” But the coolest thing is that it still feels just the same to get up on stage. It's not easy to do anymore—it takes a lot of work and prep time to make it happen.

What got you back into playing shows?
When I lost Andrew [Loomis, Dead Moon's drummer, who passed away in 2016] and Fred, followed by the pandemic, wildfire evacuations, and a huge ice storm, I looked up at the sky and thought, God, what next? It was like a domino effect. But, in 2023, Eric Isaacson (who runs Mississippi Records and reissues the Dead Moon LPs) had a 20th-anniversary party for the shop and asked if I would perform. I had the idea to do a retrospective of songs written by Fred from all the bands we had been in together. I figured it would just be a one-off. But I guess the set came off really, really well. I'm not used to this whole social media thing—I don't check it out, I don't do it, I don't post it, you know, whatever. But that's like all anybody does right now. So, as soon as videos from the show got posted, I got a flood of messages saying, “Oh my god, you're back playing again?” and offering gigs. 

After that, I did a few local shows and got together with Kelly Halliburton and Christopher March from Jenny Don’t and the Spurs. It just fell together. At this point, Jenny takes care of all the bookings and detailed work for the band. I just resigned myself to booking a bunch of shows this year. This might be the last time I want to do it, I don't know.

How does it feel to play Dead Moon songs with different musicians, without Andrew and Fred?
Well, I'm not a songwriter—Fred wrote all the songs. I wish I had that talent. I really respect it. To me, his lyrics are amazing and timeless. People still love to hear his stuff, so I'm just doing the best that I can. It's not as good as the two of us together, that's for sure! One of my good friends said, “Man, know what I really miss? You and Fred’s harmonies together.” That's what I miss, too. It's just something that can't be duplicated, and thank God for that. It was the special ingredient.

What advice would you give to couples who want to create art together?
There are a lot of people who can and a lot of people who can't. I think one of the reasons that it worked so well for us was the fact that I wasn't a songwriter—there was no competition on that particular artistic level. Fred was pretty much the only reason I ended up playing music. He talked me into it, showed me how to play bass, and it just kind of grew from there. I got bit by the bug. I ended up loving being on stage. For me, it was more about performing in front of people and feeling that vibe, rather than getting satisfaction from writing a great song. We were both really good at different things. 

We were an incredibly great partnership. I did all the paperwork and 90-percent of the business for the band: taking care of booking, hotels, flights, tour managing, and dealing with the money. Because of that, Fred got royalties from his songs. He never would have gone through that on his own. Some people are just too artistic to worry about money. So, anyway, we had everything handled between the two of us. That's why that worked. It was a really unique situation. 

What was your first time on stage like?
My first show was with the Rats in 1977 or ’78, just doing punk-rock stuff. Fred had just started playing electric guitar on stage—before that, he was on lead vocals with the Weeds and the Lollipop Shoppe. I had only been playing bass for a couple of weeks, and our drummer was this kid who had never played drums before. [laughs] One night, while we were rehearsing together and having a drink, Fred said, “Oh, by the way, I got us a gig—we're playing a house party on Friday.” I was like, “What!? I can't do that, no way!” And he goes, “No, it'll be fine. Get a couple of beers in you, and you'll be great.” That was my first gig. It was in somebody's little teeny bar or front room or whatever, in front of about five-10 people. 

Were there any musicians whom you were looking up to or emulating at the time?
Oh yeah. Greg Sage, man, the Wipers! A lot of my bass-playing style was influenced greatly by Dave Koupal, the bass player of the Wipers. 

Between the Rats and Dead Moon, you released a solo single of Brenda Lee’s “Coming on Strong” and “Rather Be Your Lover,” written by Fred. How did that single come about?
Well, that happened because Fred was playing with his country group, the Western Front, at that time. We had broken up the Rats, and I got to a point where my kids weren't quite grown yet. My younger son was around 12/13, and he guilt-tripped me about going out of town and not being around. So I told Fred, “I'm done.” He ended up kind of messing around with country music and got the Western Front together. I would sing with those guys off and on. And that's how the Toody single happened. I love singing country, but it's not as exciting to play on stage, which is one of the reasons we left it behind and started Dead Moon. 

I know that Fred was heavily inspired by seeing the Ramones to start the Rats. Was there a similar event that inspired the start of Dead Moon?
Fred wanted to go back to his roots and play rock and roll again. You know, real rock and roll, like the stuff he was doing with the Weeds and the Lollipop Shoppe. We got started by playing covers and a few of his older songs. Fred quickly got inspired and wrote so much incredible material in the first three years. From there, we got picked up locally, just from the reputation of our previous bands. The Wipers had started touring in Europe, and Hans Kesteloo (who ended up signing us to his label Music Maniac Records in Germany) hounded Greg Sage, saying, “You're living in Portland, right? Do you know Fred Cole?” So that's how that connection happened. It's just so weird. Everything seemed fated. It just fell into place. 

I love that Dead Moon has some really pissed-off songs followed by some really sweet, tender songs, like the first album, when “Out on a Wire” goes into Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Was that intentional?
Fred was always looking for material for me to sing before he started writing songs with me in mind to do the lead vocals. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” just kind of happened. At some point, we started playing it live, and I don't know, maybe we used it because we needed filler on the album. For whatever reason, my version of that song just caught on. Everybody loves hearing it. 

Mixing the hard and the hopeful, the light and the dark, and that girly vocal thing, added a whole new dimension to Dead Moon. It’s what Fred used to call a roller coaster—he'd make setlists based on it—He liked to hit the audience hard at the beginning and the end. In the middle, we would build it up, and then bring it back down into a ballad or something slow, or start all over again. He totally learned it from watching punk-rock bands. You know, when everything's BAM! BAM! BAM! in your face, the effect wears off. Fred was an amazingly multifaceted individual, and he felt everything—you can tell just by the way he carried off his vocals. Every feeling was equally important to him. 

See Toody Cole with Semisoft and DJ Kurt Bloch at the Tractor Tavern on Mar 6 at 8:30 pm.

The Stranger's Morning News Roundup. by Hannah Murphy Winter

Operation Epic Fury: We’re in our third day of war with Iran. On Saturday morning, in three strikes over the course of about a minute, the US and Israeli militaries killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation’s supreme leader of almost 37 years, and more than 40 senior leaders in his government. Another missile strike hit an Iranian girls’ elementary school, killing 160 people. Trump has called for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down arms and “receive full immunity or face certain death.”

This could become a sprawling regional war in the Middle East. In retaliation, Iran has already fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel, and launched missile attacks on US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Hezbollah then launched missiles at Israel in retaliation for the death of the Ayatollah, and as of this morning, Israel has also bombed the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, where there’s a Hezbollah stronghold.

Friendly Fire: In all of this chaos, three US fighter jets were accidentally shot out of the sky over Kuwait. All six crew members safely ejected from the planes.

In Trump’s video address to the public, he announced the Ayatollah’s death, saying that he had the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands. “We will continue until all of our objectives are achieved,” he said, but never clarified what those objectives were. Simply: “We have very strong objectives.” He also said that three American service members died in the attacks. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” he said. “That’s the way it is.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth acknowledged a fourth American death this morning. “America will avenge their deaths,” Trump said in the video.

Hegseth did articulate the broad strokes of the war’s objectives this morning: “Destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons. We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly, and unapologetically,” he said in a press conference. He told reporters that it wouldn’t happen “overnight,” but didn’t say how long he expected the operation to last. And in an interview with CNN, Trump said that the “big wave” is yet to come.

“They Started It”: Both Trump and Hegseth have tried to present this as unavoidable, despite reports that there was no risk of a preemptive strike from Iran. In his video message, Trump said that the US-Israeli operation is a "righteous mission,” and the “duty and burden of a free people.” He said that Iran had been “waging war against civilization itself.” In a Pentagon press conference, Hegseth said, “We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.”

Meanwhile: Congress is starting the debate of whether or not Trump has the power to launch this war about three days too late. The power to declare war does technically lie exclusively with Congress, but they’re not likely to scrounge up the two-thirds vote they’d need to overcome a presidential veto.

Stateside, a gunman in Austin, Texas, walked into a bar early on Sunday morning with a pistol and a rifle, wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah.” He killed two people and wounded 14. Police killed the shooter on the scene, and the FBI is investigating the shooting as a possible act of terrorism.

In Seattle, hundreds of anti-war protesters showed up at Pike Place Market on Sunday, while a caravan of about 300 cars on I-5 demonstrated in support of the attacks.

Weather: Amid all of this insanity, the universe is giving us a little taste of spring today. Highs around 58, clear skies. Get into the sunshine, if only for your mental health.

If You’re Not One for the Sun: Perhaps a total lunar eclipse instead? Early Tuesday morning, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., the moon will fully fall behind  Earth’s shadow, turning it blood red. It won’t happen again until New Year’s Eve 2028.

Something a Little Lighter: According to Playboy, experts in the field, the Winter Olympics were especially horny this year. “Set against the operatic mountains of Italy, homeland of Romeo and Juliet and centuries of Catholic repression, the steam emitted from the 2026 Winter Olympics came early,” they wrote. There was “penisgate.” USA Hockey Captain Hilary Knight got engaged at the games. Plus, every viewer was looking for a hint of Heated Rivalry this year. “The Olympic Village distributed 10,000 condoms to athletes, a well-known protective measure as our foremost athletes collaborate with their international counterparts. Within three days, they were gone—a record-breaking feat. With nearly 3,000 athletes in attendance, that’s roughly three protected encounters per competitor.”

Speaking of Olympians: The Seattle Torrent played their first game since the Olympics on Friday at Climate Pledge. The arena sold out for the first time for a PWHL game, but two of their Olympic stars—Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka—were both out with injuries from the games. Knight, the team’s captain and Olympic record holder, will be out for at least three weeks. The team still held their own for most of the game, but lost in the third period when the Toronto Sceptres shot two goals into an empty net from the other side of the ice. It wouldn’t be Seattle sports without a little heartbreak.

If you, like me, are still riding the high of Team USA’s impeccable women’s hockey vibes, may I recommend Saturday’s SNL monologue with Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie, and members of both the men’s and women’s hockey teams? Torrent Captain Hilary Knight takes a stab at Trump, saying they included the boys “to be fair,” and Storrie tells the men’s hockey players (who insist they haven’t watched the Gay Hockey Show) that Ilya only gets his teeth knocked out “metaphorically.”

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Amazon Who? The tech giant isn’t Seattle’s Number One Employer anymore. They reached their peak in 2020, with 60,000 employees, but after a few rounds of huge layoffs, they now employ fewer than 50,000 Seattleites.

Big Win for the Little Guys: In a push from a group of 13 progressives, the Washington State House Finance Committee stripped a tax break that would have benefited big businesses from the latest version of the Millionaires Tax. It could claw back $550 million—more than the governor’s proposed cuts to education and child care. Don’t you care about the kids, Bob?

A Song for Your Monday: A little Discovery Zone while you try to shake all this off and start the day.

The best culture and community events happening this month. by Nathalie Graham

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

Mar 5–8

Nerds run the city the first week of March. They, bedecked in cosplay, are the mayor now. Their first conquest: the Convention Center. Emerald City Comic Con is the place to be if you like sci-fi, fantasy, or popular Renaissance faire acts like Jacques ze Whipper. If you head to ECCC this year, you could be in the same room as Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Fallout) or the one woman who was in Heated Rivalry. You’ll also get to see Hayden Christensen from everyone’s least favorite Star Wars movies and renowned authors like Matt Dinniman, who wrote the electric Dungeon Crawler Carl, or Chuck Tingle, who writes “tinglers” like Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt. Something for everybody! Don’t forget to wear deodorant! (Seattle Convention Center, all ages) NATHALIE GRAHAM

Mar 28

Celebrate Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, almost a month late but near the Space Needle. Entry is free, registration is mandatory, colors are not free, and you can’t bring your own colors. This palette is regulated. We’re celebrating the eternal love of Radha and Krishna, the end of winter, and the arrival of spring, not your favorite shade. I would not recommend the festival to crowd-a-phobes. Last year’s Holi celebration drew 10,000 people. (Mural Amphitheatre Seattle Center, 11 am, all ages, free) VIVIAN McCALL

Mar 20

The clocks are forward. The birds are chirping. The rabbits are going to start fucking any second. The daffodils have burst forth from the earth, buttery and hopeful. Spring has sprung. The only way to celebrate is to venture down to Pike Place Market on March 20. The roof of the market turns yellow, lined with the happy flowers. Underneath the blooms tossing their heads in a spritely dance (Wordsworth, anyone?), you’ll be able to participate in the market’s annual Daffodil Day. Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., the market just gives away bundles of flowers. You’ll need to be quick, though—the free daffodils go quickly. If worse comes to worst, you may need to prepare for daffodil battle. Stems can poke an eye out. (Pike Place Market, 11 am–2 pm, free) NATHALIE GRAHAM

Riding Together: 135 Years of Cycling in Seattle Through Apr 26, Museum of History & Industry

Stitch and Bitch Mar 4 (every first Wednesday), Push/Pull, 6 pm, free

Northwest Record Show Mar 8, Seattle Center Armory, 10 am–5 pm, all ages

Free Play Open House Vinyl Night Mar 10, Northwest Pinball Collective, 8 pm, all ages

Pi Day Dash Mar 14, Green Lake Community Center, 8 am, all ages

Cultivating Your Best Crop of Tomatoes Mar 14, NE Seattle Tool Library, 1 pm

Irish Festival Mar 14–15, Seattle Center Armory, all ages, free

The Gothic Market Mar 14–15, Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, noon, all ages

Block Printing Workshop Mar 27 (every last Friday), Push/Pull, noon

Sneaker Con Seattle Mar 28, Seattle Convention Center, noon, all ages

Spelling Bee 2026 Mar 29, Town Hall, 1 pm, all ages, free

The best food & drink events happening this month. by Grace Madigan

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

MAR 7

The Chinatown–International District Business Improvement Area’s annual Lunar New Year party returns this year, and so does its signature food walk. While the list of which restaurants will be participating wasn’t out before our publication date, you can count on neighborhood staples like Dim Sum King and Kau Kau BBQ to be included. The best part of the food walk? Too many choices. Last year, there were more than 40 businesses. Each one will offer $6 specials ranging from snacks like wings to drinks like boba. One time, I went with a friend and created a whole spreadsheet so we could maximize our time, stomachs, and money spent. Once you’re stuffed from all the food, you can head over to Hing Hay Park, where there will be a main stage with dragon and lion dance performances. And, hey, if you’ve got some of that lucky money to spend after feasting your way through the neighborhood, there will also be arts and crafts vendors. (Hing Hay Park, 11 am–5 pm, all ages, free) GRACE MADIGAN

MAR 9

Everything that the No Call No Show pop-up—themed craft cocktails and snacks concocted by a group of fine-dining creative weirdos—does is fucking elite, and this one’ll be no exception. Chef Mutsuko Soma, who owns award-winning Kamonegi, is hosting this month’s NCNS next door at Hannyatou, her foggy-windowed tavern straight out of a Miyazaki film. Your bartenders tonight are Murray Stenson’s prodigal protégé and NCNS impresario Matt Pachmayr (Le Coin, Streamline Tavern) and the mononymous Quan from the exquisite Sake Noire popup. (And soon-to-be Hillman City bar!) Fresh off a trip to Mexico, Quan and Soma came home inspired by “street tacos, endless hot sauces, ceviches, and late-night micheladas.” So they’re doing a Hannyatou x Three Amigos! shtick this month! Featured bites include Japanese curry nachos and wagyu taco rice—that’s Okinawan-style ground beef on rice with crushed Doritos—while the drink list includes a horchata-clarified milk punch with sōchū and chocolate, a jalapeño–yuzu gin martini, and a pickled strawberry old-fashioned made with yellow Chartreuse and tropical-fruity Nuestra Soledad Ejutla mezcal. To quote the film: I like these guys. They are funny guys. (Hannyatou, 21+) MEG VAN HUYGEN

MAR 19

FareStart Seattle provides culinary on-the-job training to individuals facing barriers to employment and a unique dining experience all in one. Twice a month on Guest Chef Night, the FareStart students prepare a three-course meal served by volunteers, and March 19 will feature a dinner made in collaboration with local chefs Matt Lewis and Dre Neeley. Chef Matt Lewis is best known for his food truck, Where Ya At Matt, slinging Southern soul food reflective of his roots in New Orleans. Chef Dre Neeley of Vashon Island’s much-celebrated Gravy is likewise recognized for his Southern-inspired American fare and use of locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. Students in the program receive 12 weeks of culinary training, including food safety, recipe planning, and food prep, and Guest Chef Night will be a celebration of their work and a further opportunity to learn from established local chefs who have been through every stage of the industry. All proceeds from Guest Chef Night directly support the FareStart job training programs. (FareStart Restaurant, 5–9 pm) DYLAN BUECHE

MAR 31

Sohla and Ham El-Waylly are one of the most charming, talented, down-to-earth chef couples around, and I regularly tune in for their dispatches from the kitchen on YouTube. Their laid-back approach has a way of making cooking seem fun and effortless, which is why I’m so excited for Ham’s debut cookbook, Hello, Home Cooking: Do-Able Dishes for Every Day. The book encourages home cooks to experiment and promises nostalgic, out-of-the-box comfort dishes with international flavors and a “can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on-it heart-warming quality,” such as Bolivian cheesy rice, onion-smothered pot roast, and a version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch made out of pita. Ham will drop by Book Larder to discuss the book with Ahmed Suliman, the James Beard–nominated chef of Cafe Suliman. (Book Larder, 6:30 pm) JULIANNE BELL

Tacoma Beer Week Through Mar 8, various locations across Tacoma

Crumb Bakery Tour Through Mar 30, various locations

Soup Club Mar 7 (every first Sunday), Book Larder, 11 am

2nd Annual Seattle Sister Cities’ Soup Sampling Mar 8, National Nordic Museum, 2 pm, all ages

Decorative Pie Class with Natalie Popkave Mar 14, Pastry Project, 3 pm

My Dinner with SAM: Preeti Agarwal Mar 12, Seattle Asian Art Museum, 6:30 pm

Taste Washington Mar 21–22, various locations

Author Talk: Ella Quittner Mar 12, Book Larder, 6:30 pm

Author Talk: Sana Javeri Kadri and Asha Loupy Mar 17, Book Larder, 6:30 pm

Celebrate Women’s Month with Freeland Spirits Mar 17, Barrel Thief, 6 pm, 21+

The best film events and screenings happening in March. by Julianne Bell

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

MAR 1–15

Todd Haynes’s Safe is a horror movie cloaked in pastel colors, plastic tarps, and unsettling silence. Julianne Moore, the master of tension and nuance, plays Los Angeles housewife Carol White, who comes down with a debilitating illness that doctors cannot diagnose. After becoming self-convinced that the illness is caused by extreme environmental allergies, White flees to a retreat in New Mexico led by a New Age guru. Perhaps the most fascinating element of this film is the numerous ways it can be interpreted: a critique of suffocating suburban life, an allegory for the queer experience, a metaphor for the AIDS crisis, or a commentary on self-help culture—the more time that passes since its release, the richer the text gets. Don’t miss the chance to see it on the big screen this month to celebrate its 30th anniversary. (Northwest Film Forum, times vary) AUDREY VANN

MAR 20–29

A24’s kinky gay “dom-com” Pillion, adapted from the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, is one of my most highly anticipated films of 2026. English filmmaker Harry Lighton’s feature directorial debut follows the meek, guileless Colin (Harry Melling), whose life is turned upside down when he hooks up with gorgeous biker Ray (certified sexy freak Alexander Skarsgård) in an alley. Soon, Colin is initiated into the intriguing world of gay biker culture and BDSM and finds an unexpected sense of purpose and agency in his role as submissive. It’s a hot, funny, and surprisingly sweet meditation on sex and power—Secretary for the leather boys. Read our full review here. (Northwest Film Forum, times vary) JULIANNE BELL

APR 1

Martin Scorsese has made countless iconic films about the Big Apple in different time periods, from Wall Street in the late ’80s (The Wolf of Wall Street) and decaying post-Vietnam New York City (Taxi Driver), to the city’s swanky jazz clubs of the 1940s (New York, New York). So naturally, he was the man for the job when it came to adapting fellow New Yorker Edith Wharton’s 1920 novel The Age of Innocence. Set in Gilded Age Manhattan, the story follows a messy love triangle between a young lawyer, his fiancée, and his fiancée’s newly separated cousin. This movie has everything: Winona Ryder, staggering period accuracy, decadent feasts, sweeping cinematography, and plenty of yearning glances. This is part of SIFF’s Martin Scorsese: Maestro of Cinema series, showing a different film by the director every Wednesday evening through the end of April. (SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7:30 pm) AUDREY VANN

The Hawks and the Sparrows Mar 2–5, the Beacon, times vary

Scorsese - Taxi Driver: 50th Anniversary Mar 4, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7:30 pm

The Bride! Opens Mar 5, wide release

Truth to Fiction: The Librarians Mar 5, NW Film Forum, 7 pm

The Room Mar 5, Central Cinema, 5 pm

A Poet Opens Mar 6, SIFF Film Center

Days and Nights in the Forest Opens Mar 6, SIFF Cinema Uptown

Dial M for Murder Mar 6–11, Central Cinema

The Big Lebowski Mar 6–11, Central Cinema

HUMP! Film Fest Through Mar 7, On the Boards

Collide-O-Scope Mar 9, Clock-Out Lounge, 7 pm

Scorsese: Raging Bull Mar 11, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7:30 pm

Retro Night: Mean Girls Mar 11, Majestic Bay

Numbskull Revolution Mar 11–12, Northwest Film Forum

The Ugly Stepsister Mar 11–12, SIFF Film Center, 7:15 pm

Werckmeister Harmonies Opens Mar 13, SIFF Film Center

Learning to Be Naked Screening with live burlesque from Mx. Pucks A’Plenty Mar 14, Central Cinema, 4 pm

Emerald City Irish Film Festival Mar 14–15, Pacific Science Center PACCAR IMAX theater

The 13th Annual On Cinema Oscar Special Mar 15, the Beacon

Raised by TV Oscars Viewing Party Mar 15, Clock-Out Lounge, all ages, free

Scorsese: The King of Comedy Mar 18, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7:30 pm

Project Hail Mary Mar 19, wide release

Tow Opens Mar 20, SIFF Cinema Uptown

He Never Dies: The Films of Kalil Haddad Mar 20–29, NW Film Forum

The Cutoff Presented by Aravaipa Running Mar 21, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 1 pm

Scorsese: Goodfellas (4K Restoration) Mar 25, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7:30 pm

National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY 2026) Mar 26–29, SIFF venues, times vary

Stand by Me: The Film and Its Stars 40 Years Later with Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, and Corey Feldman Mar 28, Paramount Theatre, 7:30 pm, all ages

The best theater, dance, and comedy events happening this month. by Nathalie Graham

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

MAR 19–APR 19

Mary Jane is by no means a new play. Amy Herzog wrote and premiered it at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 2017; that same year, Carrie Coon (who you at least know from the most recent season of White Lotus or The Gilded Age or Fargo) won an Obie for playing the title character at the New York Theatre Workshop; then in 2024, Rachel McAdams made her Broadway debut as that same lead. And based on the critical reaction to every staging so far, I’m certain of one thing: This compact, 95-minute play is guaranteed to break your heart. Herzog’s story is semi-autobiographical, about the impossible reality of parenting a chronically ill 2-year-old who wasn’t expected to live past his first week. But don’t mistake it for a tragic Lifetime movie. Instead, it captures what it is to be suspended, frozen in a state of crisis, but the play still promises humor, clarity, and humanity. Whether you’ve seen it staged already or not, catch it this time. (Bagley Wright Theater, times vary)  HANNAH MURPHY WINTER

MAR 26–28

Amy O’Neal is back home again. After spending two decades dancing and curating in Seattle, she took a few years off in LA, but she’s settled back into the Pacific Northwest, and at On the Boards. When O’Neal was a finalist for a Stranger Genius Award back in 2013, Jen Graves and Brendan Kiley wrote that “delicate, wide-eyed girls with mouths that never open are about the only thing you will never find in Amy O’Neal’s dances.” And it’s a solid bet that you won’t find them in her newest play, either. She describes her return to On the Boards as a “ritual of femme power and connection” that “interrogates fear for the Feminine in patriarchal culture.” The piece combines the energy of nightclub and theater through five femme dancers, and includes original music from WD4D, Shabazz Palaces, Natasha Kmeto, and Moderat. (On the Boards, 8 pm) HANNAH MURPHY WINTER

MAR 26–28 AND APR 2–4

Longtime Seattle choreographer and dancer Heather Kravas has put together a contemporary dance series in late March through early April. RoCoCoCoCo has four movements—all take place in the black box theater at 12th Avenue Arts, all feature a different combination of dancers, and all will be accompanied by two pianists playing on two upright pianos that are bound together. You can see these dances—which are described like a DIY folk dance—unspool over four evenings, or if you haven’t rotted the fuck out of your attention span, you can opt for the marathon version and watch 4.5 hours of dance in one evening and see everything all at once. Whatever you choose, RoCoCoCo will be an experience you shouldn’t miss. (12th Avenue Arts, times vary) NATHALIE GRAHAM

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Through Mar 8, Union Arts Center, times vary

The Bonnies Mar 4–7, 12th Avenue Arts, 7:30 pm

I Will Miss You When You’re Gone Mar 5–21, Theatre off Jackson, times vary

Spike Einbinder & Honey Pluton Mar 10, Clock-Out Lounge, 8:30 pm, 21+

Benny Feldman Mar 11, Fremont Abbey, 8 pm

Joketellers Union with Emmett Montgomery and Brett Hamil Mar 11, Clock-Out Lounge, 8:30 pm, 21+

Morgan Jay Mar 13, Paramount Theatre, 7 pm, all ages

Tina Friml Mar 13–14, Laughs Comedy Club, times vary, 21+

Pacific Northwest Ballet Presents: Firebird Mar 13–22, McCaw Hall, times vary

Ain’t Misbehavin’ Mar 18–Apr 25, Taproot Theatre, times vary

Samantha Bee Mar 19, Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Moisture Festival 2026 Mar 19–Apr 12, Broadway Performance Hall, times vary

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Mar 20–22, Paramount Theatre, times vary, all ages

Hurricane Diane Mar 20–Apr 12, Seattle Public Theater, times vary

Wife of Headless Man Investigates Her Own Disappearance Mar 27–Apr 11, Annex Theatre, times vary

Grand Kyiv Ballet: Swan Lake Mar 29, Moore Theatre, 4 pm, all ages

Brandon Wardell Apr 3, Crocodile, 7 pm, 21+

Walden Apr 9–May 3, ArtsWest, times vary

The Stranger’s Undisputable Champions of Comedy Apr 4, Washington Hall, 7:30 pm, 21+

Appropriate Apr 9–May 10, Bagley Wright Theater, times vary

Pacific Northwest Ballet Presents: Giselle Apr 10–19, McCaw Hall, times vary, all ages

Jet City Improv at ArtsWest: An Improvised Musical Apr 19, ArtsWest, 7:30 pm

Margaret Cho Apr 19, Moore Theatre, 7 pm, all ages

Jonathan Van Ness Apr 24, Moore Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Seattle Opera: Carmen May 2–17, McCaw Hall, times vary (See preview, pg. 43)

Jesus Christ Superstar May 2–17, 5th Avenue Theatre, times vary

Feat: Velocity Bash 2026 May 6, Washington Hall, 6 pm

Fauxnique: How Do I Look? May 7–9, On the Boards, 8 pm

Barefoot in the Park May 13–June 20, Taproot Theatre, times vary

Pacific Northwest Ballet Presents: All Lang May 29–June 7, McCaw Hall, times vary

NW New Works 2026 June 4–6, On the Boards, 7 pm

Disappearance at the Rocky Mountain Leatherdyke Snowpicnic June 5–20, Annex Theatre, times vary

The Play That Goes Wrong June 11–28, Bagley Wright Theater, times vary

The best talks and readings happening in March. by Julianne Bell

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

MAR 9

In his 2005 novel Godlike, punk pioneer Richard Hell reimagines the tumultuous relationship between 19th-century French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine in 1970s New York. Hell’s adaptation follows esteemed poet Paul Vaughn, a married 27-year-old New Yorker, and a newly transplanted teenage poet, R.T. Wode, as they embark on a messy affair full of acid trips, crashed parties, and unrequited love. The book is getting a snazzy rerelease from NYRB (the Criterion Collection of the book world), and Hell will be there in the flesh to discuss the book and maybe even sign a few (if we’re lucky). (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free) AUDREY VANN

MAR 13

Scott Broker’s first novel, The Disappointment, starts where so many stories do: a man trying to sneak his mother’s ashes into his suitcase without his husband noticing. The book is described as a surrealist vacation through this couple’s desperate, disconnected trip to the Oregon Coast. And no one could be better to interview him than Seattle’s own Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (who recently released Terry Dactyl, if you somehow haven’t gotten your hands on it yet). The conversation promises to be brilliant, funny, and very, very queer. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free) HANNAH MURPHY WINTER

MAR 30

With books like The Only Good Indians, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and I Was a Teenage Slasher, Stephen Graham Jones has established himself as one of the most thrilling and urgent voices in horror right now. His latest release is the critically acclaimed historical horror novel The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, which tells the story of a Blackfeet Indian vampire named Good Stab who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation, searching for vengeance. Jones will discuss his chilling oeuvre with local horror expert Sadie Hartmann, aka “Mother Horror,” co-owner of the horror fiction subscription company Night Worms and a Bram Stoker Award–nominated editor. (Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm) JULIANNE BELL

James McBride Mar 3, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm

Norma Wong Mar 4, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

The Moth StorySLAM Mar 5, Fremont Abbey, 8 pm

Olivia Waite: Nobody’s Baby Mar 10, Charlie’s Queer Books, 7 pm

Lit Lounge: A Prose & Poetry Salon with Jodi-Ann Burey, Minda Honey, Deesha Philyaw, Mitchell S. Jackson, and DJ Twilight Mar 13, Royal Room, 8 pm

Kate Schatz with Molly Wizenberg Mar 16, Third Place Books Ravenna, 7 pm, free

Darcy Michael with Jeremy Baer Mar 18, Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm

Lauren Westerfield with Erin Langner and Katie Lee Ellison Mar 19, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

Bob Crawford with John Roderick Mar 19, Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm

The Moth StorySLAM Mar 20, St. Mark’s Cathedral, 8 pm

Tayari Jones with Ijeoma Oluo Mar 23, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

Ibram X. Kendi Mar 23, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm

Sasha taqwšblu LaPointe with Katie Campbell Mar 23, Seattle Public Library Central Branch,
6:30 pm, free

Jane Hirshfield Mar 24, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

Sydney Langford: Someone to Daydream About Mar 28, Charlie’s Queer Books, 6:30 pm

Rebecca Brown with Christopher Frizzelle Mar 28, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

Ashley McGirt with Marcus Harrison Green Apr 1, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

Lindy West Apr 3, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm

The best art shows and events happening in March. by Amanda Manitach

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

MAR 5–APR 25

This spring marks the 60th anniversary of Foster/White, one of Pioneer Square’s longest-standing fine art galleries. To mark the occasion, they’re bringing out a little bit of everything: works by some 55 represented artists, installed salon-style throughout the space. Alongside work by local legends such as Alden Mason and artists associated with the Northwest School, Foster/White’s roster spans a wide range of contemporary practices—from George Rodriguez’s ponderous ornamental ceramics and Ilana Zweschi’s algorithmic dances on canvas, to Eric Louie’s sheening metallic landscapes, and Casey McGlynn’s rough-hewn, punk poems gushing color. Word has it there will be cake on First Thursday. (Foster/White) AMANDA MANITACH

MAR 5–AUG 2

Featuring over 150 works, the SAM’s newest exhibit chronicles a rapidly changing 20th-century Seattle as told by artists who questioned the environmental and social impacts of industrialization through the visual language of social realism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism. Among these artists were the Northwest School’s Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Guy Anderson, and Morris Graves. I am most excited to see works from the unsung painter and Seattle-via-New York City transplant Yvonne Twining Humber, known for incorporating touches of Impressionism into her vibrant cityscapes. (Seattle Art Museum) AUDREY VANN

OPENS MAR 13

The appetite for figurative work has grown ravenous over the past decade, eclipsing nearly all else (I jest—but bring back the conceptual weirdos and prankster-philosophers, please). That said, Let There Be Light is poised to be a blockbuster exhibition of figuration, curated by local artist-célèbre Anthony White. White’s own practice—steeped in fetishized beauty and objects of desire—draws from art-historical figurative traditions, often staging languorous odalisques refracted through a male-on-male gaze. Featuring work by 20 artists from Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, and Seattle, this exhibition pushes figuration into the murkier terrain of the abject—a place where beauty melds with grotesquerie and the absurd. (Cannonball Arts) AMANDA MANITACH

MAR 14–OCT 25

The soft sculptures of Eric-Paul Riege aren’t quiet objects—their presence inscribed in space is monolithic and monumental, and when brought to life through movement, they become instruments of sound. Riege, who is Diné, has built a practice of collaging and reworking elements drawn from Navajo weaving and jewelry-making traditions, ultimately constructing large-scale, hanging installations that sway, ripple, and jingle when touched. For this exhibit—his largest solo show to date—Riege researched collections of Navajo artifacts held by Brown University’s Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology and the University of Washington’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. What emerged is an immersive environment that envelops the viewer while quietly unsettling institutional narratives of Indigenous culture. (Henry Art Gallery) AMANDA MANITACH

MAR 19

Unpoetry, organized by Eric M. Acosta, is not your everyday open mic night; defying tidy description, it descends from a lineage of happenings and communal experiments where performance, poetry, and visual art collide. This year marks Unpoetry’s fourth anniversary and its third season collaborating with the Frye Art Museum, activating the galleries through ekphrastic intervention. This evening’s performances draw inspiration from works on view by Priscilla Dobler Dzul and Camille Trautman, and while the particulars are still gestating (there are rumors of a wall of CRT televisions, live video augmentation, and immersive soundscape performance), the lineup features multidisciplinary artist Arabella, composer Eddie Mospan, poet Caleb Thomson, and interdisciplinary collective Til the Teeth. The after-party is down the street at the Hideout. Where else in this city will you find ekphrastic-themed drinks and NA uncocktails? (Frye Art Museum) AMANDA MANITACH

New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics, and Place Through Mar 8, National Nordic Museum

Susan Meiselas: Crossings Through Mar 22, Photographic Center Northwest, free

Tininha Silva: It’s Not What I See, It’s How I Sea Through Mar 25, J. Rinehart Gallery

Gala Bent: A Woman Awash Through Mar 25, J. Rinehart Gallery

Future Forward: crisscross Through Mar 29, Mini Mart City Park

The One-Two Punch: 100 Years of Robert Colescott Through Mar 29, Tacoma Art Museum

Indira Allegra: The Book of Zero Through Apr 4, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, free

Boren Banner Series: Camille Trautman Through Apr 12, Frye Art Museum, free

Priscilla Dobler Dzul: Water Carries the Stories of Our Stars Through Apr 19, Frye Art Museum, free

Project NW: Ralph Pugay Through May 17, Tacoma Art Museum

Haunted Through June 7, Tacoma Art Museum

Jonathan Lasker: Drawings and Studies Through Sept 27, Frye Art Museum, free

A Room for Animal Intelligence Through Jan 2027, Seattle Art Museum

Ten Thousand Things Through Spring 2027, Wing Luke Museum

Ivy Jacobsen: Into the Wild Mar 5–28, Patricia Rovzar Gallery

Fred Holcomb: Fast Forest Mar 5–28, Harris/Harvey Gallery

Service/Symbiosis Mar 5–Apr 18, Actualize AiR and SOIL

Aimee Lee: Tethered Opens Mar 6, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Crafting Futures: Emerging Artists Invitational Opens Mar 6, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

George & David Lewis: Deeply Rooted Opens Mar 6, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Interwoven Narratives Opens Mar 9, M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery, free

Tethered: An Artist Talk with Aimee Lee Mar 14, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, 3 pm 

Any Body: An Exploration of the Body in Abstract and Figurative Art Mar 19–May 2, Magnuson Park Gallery

Water Ways: Healing the Circle of Water and Life Opens Mar 26, Schack Art Center, free

Bootsy Holler with KEXP DJ Troy Nelson Mar 30, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free

Kiliii Yüyan: Guardians of Life: Indigenous Science, Indigenous Wisdom and Restoring the Planet Apr 1, Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm

Pioneer Square Artwalk Every first Thursday

Capitol Hill Art Walk Every second Thursday

Georgetown Art Attack! Every second Saturday

Chris Kallmyer: Song Cycle Ongoing, Seattle Art Museum

Gossip: Between Us Ongoing, Tacoma Art Museum

Legacy: Highlights from the Permanent Collection Ongoing, Tacoma Art Museum

Qiu Zhijie: Map of the History of Science and Technology Ongoing, Olympic Sculpture Park, free

Ash-Glazed Ceramics from Korea and Japan Ongoing, Seattle Art Museum

The best concerts and dance nights happening in March. by Julianne Bell

Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

MAR 6

I once found myself sitting at a bar beside PNW legend Toody Cole and told her that she was my all-time favorite bassist, to which she blushed and said, “Thank you, I’m trying really hard, and I practice a lot.” A telling response from a humble punk veteran who is far too cool to play it cool. Over the past five decades, Toody and her dearly departed husband, Fred, have kept Portland’s music scene alive with their bands—Dead Moon, the Weeds, the Rats, Pierced Arrows, and several others—self-recording and self-releasing music in their self-built Clackamas County home. Can we get this woman a key to the city of Portland already!? Toody will be joined by her band, Kelly Halliburton and Christopher March (of Jenny Don’t and the Spurs), for a retrospective of material from her aforementioned projects. Fingers crossed that she plays one of her solo deep cuts, “Coming On Strong” or “Rather Be Your Lover.” Tacoma-based psych rock trio Semisoft and DJ Kurt Bloch (the Fastbacks, Young Fresh Fellows, Filthy Friends) will open. (Tractor Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

MAR 6

With their classic 1995 debut album, Fast Stories... from Kid Coma, Seattle’s Truly peaked just as gr*nge was heading to the morgue. Guitarist/vocalist Robert Roth, ex-Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and former Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel had released two Sub Pop EPs that foreshadowed the brilliance to come. On Fast Stories..., a concept album about a comatose youth “reliving a past summer of grandeur,” the songs have the eerie glow of a codeine dream. Similar to fellow Seattleites Love Battery, Truly possess a keen grasp of triumphant psych-rock guitar tones and vocal extenuation. A blurred majesty prevails here and on 1997’s Feeling You Up, and Roth’s unhinged snarl and tuneful moan are Cobain’s equal. At their best, Truly’s songs display a cinematic sweep that’s absolutely transcendent while simultaneously seeming nonchalant. It’s a feat that few can pull off. Welcome this return by our (relatively) unsung local heroes. (Baba Yaga, 8 pm, 21+) DAVE SEGAL

MAR 6

The Reflections series has become a nexus of challenging, chill music and retina-rippling light shows in nontraditional venues. The latest match-up features ex-Emeralds synth sorcerer Steve Hauschildt and Canadian composer Kara-Lis Coverdale. The former is a studious builder of majestic arpeggios and icily pretty melodies. His huge catalog abounds with twinkling tunes that will surely sound stunning bouncing off stained glass. The latter is a PhD-level sound scientist who excels in melodically complex, long-form excursions and concise, timbrally exciting abstractions. Last year, Coverdale peaked with Changes in Air, a sonorous drone-athon par excellence. Before she entered the heady world of electronic music, Coverdale began working at age 13 as an organist and music director at many Canadian churches, where she also put in time as a choir conductor. A cavernous Capitol Hill church should be an ideal setting for her. (Seattle First Baptist, 7 pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

MAR 7

When former Smith Westerns guitarist Max Kakacek and departed Unknown Mortal Orchestra touring drummer Julien Ehrlich formed Whitney and released their acclaimed 2016 debut, Light upon the Lake, they revealed a rare, enviable dynamic that was both raw and comforting. Ehrlich’s Sunday-morning armchair poetry felt like effortless reflections; his falsetto should have been required to register as an electric blanket. Kakacek’s alternating pedal steel and bendy ’70s guitar licks melted into the warm lo-fi recording like a grilled cheese on a motel room radiator. Plus, Ehrlich sang from behind the kit, which was cool. Though the Chicago duo has made the occasionally questionable choice to veer into overly produced cutesy funk (2022’s Spark), they were able to reclaim much of their country soul and tavern piano charm with last fall’s Small Talk. The band doesn’t hit as many high notes as it once did (so to speak), but they still have enough lightning in the bottle to warm a stage for an evening. (Showbox, 8:30 pm, all ages) TODD HAMM

MAR 10

Portland-born all-female metal band Blackwater Holylight contrast their shimmering harmonies with sludgy, psychedelic instrumentals, creating a product that is haunting, beautiful, cathartic, and scary all at once. Their new album, Not Here Not Gone, features some of their most approachable songs yet. Take “Heavy, Why?” for example, which is reminiscent of 2010s rock bands like the Dum Dum Girls and Broken Water. I don’t listen to very much metal, but I find myself revisiting this band every time I’m in a dark, hostile mood (which these days is often). Consider this evening of metal your gateway into the genre, with opening sets from the shoegaze-inspired SOM and sludge metal punk trio MUÑECA. (Neumos, 7 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

MAR 10

Indigo De Souza’s music has always dealt with different kinds of death; her layered vocals revel in the ownership of personal missteps that echo as communal failings and social death. Last summer’s Precipice is no different in tone, from the consistently awesome skeletons-with-boobs album artwork to the edge-of-existence conceit. A main marker of evolution has been the embrace of electronic pop production over the crunchy Lucy Dacus–esque guitar ballads of albums past, which she has confirmed to be a purposeful choice, even excitedly. To this, I cannot give a more heartfelt endorsement, to the contrary of Pitchfork’s Robins-Somerville review. Even the album’s most Taylor Swift–ian of tracks are dark as fuck, and I can’t imagine a better, more worthy philosophical mindfuck to jam the pop algorithms. (Showbox, 8 pm, all ages) TODD HAMM

MAR 11

The Daptone label’s most out-there act, saxophonist/flautist/bass clarinetist Cochemea creates humid, psychedelic roots music that vibrates in its own lane. Before the Yaqui/Yoeme artist went solo, he played sax for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and worked with Quincy Jones, Amy Winehouse, Archie Shepp, and others. However, Cochemea’s own recordings skew more toward Budos Band and Antibalas, of whose touring bands he was a member. On his 2010 debut LP, The Electric Sound of Johnny Arrow, Cochemea fused spiritual jazz, funk, and boogaloo into gripping sonic panoramas. His next three albums broadened the palette to include cumbia, Moroccan gnawa, blues, and his ancestral Indigenous music. Tangy percussive timbres—Asian Indian and Latin American drums figure heavily—combined with Cochemea’s electrified sax and chants from his tribe result in songs that sound at once ancient and otherworldly. This show promises, if only briefly, a primal trip out of our national political nightmare. (Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+) DAVE SEGAL

MAR 12

If a Washington rainforest started a band, it would sound something like Mt Fog—Carolyn B.’s playful whispers are like a sprite luring you into a mossy forest. The percussion, like raindrops plopping into a mushroom. And the electronics, like a ray of light shimmering through the trees. The Seattle-based trio whimsically marries the vocal stylings of Kate Bush, Björk, and Siouxsie Sioux with sparse electronics, evocative of CAN and Mort Garson. They will celebrate the release of their new album, Every Stone Is Green, which they describe as a “Gothic tale (in the Brontë sisters’ sense) about finding happiness, which is human-ness.” They will be joined by the psychedelic instrumental band iroiro and music journalist/DJ Martin Douglas. (Tractor Tavern, 8 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

MAR 14

It’s 2026, and we need Peaches’s sexually transgressive electroclash hip-hop more than ever. Luckily, the noted feminist musician, director, and performance artist is back with her first album in over 10 years, No Lube So Rude. “When the world is friction, lube isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity,” Peaches writes. “It’s how you turn that friction into pleasure, into power, into pride.” The icon’s seventh album does just as it’s advertised by acting as a relieving salve for these dark times, slickening the constant thrust of dystopian news with empowering, funny, and celebratory tracks for the dance floor like “Fuck How You Wanna Fuck” and “Not in Your Mouth None of Your Business.” She will support the album alongside electropop trio Pixel Grip. (Showbox, 8:30 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

MAR 16

If you can’t get enough of Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo, I hope you’re also listening to Conan Gray—he shares their songwriter and producer, the pop Midas hitmaker Dan Nigro (previously the lead vocalist in the indie rock band As Tall as Lions). Gray’s latest album, Wishbone, traces the rise and disastrous fall of a star-crossed gay teen romance with irresistible ‘90s panache, channeling Beck on the biting “Romeo” and the Cranberries on the tender “Care.” The standout “Vodka Cranberry” is a devastating torch song that showcases Gray’s soaring vocals and simply begs to be belted while drunk at karaoke. Gray has been donning chic pajamas and sailor-inspired outfits for the tour, so wear a comfy sleepwear set or dress to the nautical nines! (Climate Pledge Arena, 8 pm, all ages) JULIANNE BELL

MAR 19

Since spurting onto the scene in 2011 with Don’t Hold Back, a quirky nine tracks of tinny drum-machine lounge and 16-bit love songs, Australian multi-instrumentalist Ben Waples has developed his Donny Benét character into something of cult star on the Italo disco-referential/fetishized ’80s synth funk circuit. Benét has certainly captured the hearts of many with a presentation that is gleefully tongue-in-cheek, but there is no punch line per se. Suffice to say, the shtick is thicc, but as a classically trained jazz musician, Benét knows how to work it. Last month saw the release of Il Basso, the chronological follow-up to 2024’s Infinite Desires, though he has clarified it is a spiritual descendant of his 2022 single, “Le Piano” with a bass (as in his four-string) emphasis. Though his music is typically adorned with his sultry tenor crooning or softcore raps about consensual loving, Basso is entirely instrumental, but it still has all the pulsing, boxy four-on-the-floor to get you going. (Crocodile, 8 pm, 21+) TODD HAMM

MAR 26

An instrumental improv trio whose name hints at their music’s effects, THC.XLR filter elements of drone, krautrock, jazz, and dub into hazed and glazed sonic vistas. Their drummer, Madi Levine, has created some of Seattle’s deepest techno of the last decade under the name IVVY, but this new project is a much looser and more exploratory experience. The lineup’s rounded out by Erik Sanchez (Richie Dagger’s Crime) on synth/sampler and Rob Hanlon (Sketch Artist) on sax, piano, and electronics. Their live sets are continuous, spontaneous streams of creativity that demand and reward long attention spans. On their newest track, “beside you,” THC.XLR detour into watery, Talk Talk–style songcraft. Very cool. Erin Jorgensen is that rarest of beings on the local scene: a singer/composer who plays five-octave marimbas. With soft, caressing vocals à la Young Marble Giants/Weekend singer Alison Statton’s, Jorgensen creates intimate art pop that perfumes the air with enchanting melodies and the marimba’s wondrous timbres. Hear “Man of Steel” from 2018’s Little Hex for proof. (Black Lodge, 7 pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

MAR 26

The newish Champagne Bubblebath feature the cream of Seattle’s robust funk scene: four members of Afrobeat-inflected funkateers Polyrhythmics, plus Hendrixian guitar virtuoso Jimmy James of True Loves and Parlor Greens. Bandleader Grant Schroff is the Ziggy Modeliste of the Pacific Northwest—a drummer whose impeccable feel and powerful, precise funkiness have moved more asses over the last decade than Sound Transit. This show celebrates the release of Champagne Bubblebath’s debut album, Mixtape: Volume One. The band says it was “[o]riginally conceived as a throwback beat-tape of minimalist garage-funk grooves,” and the 10 songs here reflect deep immersion in history’s most effective, subtlest groove science and the world-class chops to infuse soul into every bar. The band’s slinky, head-nodding instrumentals are ripe for another generation of hip-hop producers to sample. Clearly, these old-school funk disciples still have many vital sonic lessons to impart. (Hidden Hall, 8 pm, 21+) DAVE SEGAL

MAR 28

Indie-pop group Grrrl Gang’s members—vocalist/guitarist Angeeta Sentana, bassist/vocalist Akbar Rumandung, and guitarist/vocalist Edo Alventa—met at college in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2016 and decided to form a band. Their blend of pop hooks and irrepressible punk spirit garnered international attention and praise from the likes of legendary critic Robert Christgau. In 2023, they released their debut studio album, Spunky!, which fully embraces their riot-grrrl influences and which NME called “an instant ticket to the sort of basement show where sweat rolls down the walls.” If you’re into bands like Potty Mouth and the Linda Lindas, you won’t want to pass up the chance to catch their gritty, infectious energy at the Clock-Out. (Clock-Out Lounge, 9 pm, 21+) JULIANNE BELL

MAR 31

I was introduced to North Carolina–born singer-songwriter Eliza McLamb via her podcast Binchtopia, but quickly became enamored of her incisive writing on her newsletter Words from Eliza and her introspective, clever indie pop. (McLamb recently stepped away from Binchtopia to pursue music full-time.) Last October, she released her sophomore album, Good Story, which explores her urges to self-narrativize and the stories she tells herself and others. “An effective narrative, I came to realize, is a reserve with limited returns,” she writes on Substack. “But I still love to work the magic—I love knowing that a bad time can be a good story, that experience without meaning is only missing a few narrative beats. I love the limits of the story, agency that was once out of reach returning through the act of creation and recreation.” (Neumos, 7 pm, all ages) JULIANNE BELL

MAR 31

Paragons of musical understatement and elusiveness, England’s Tara Clerkin Trio weave magical spells with piano, clarinet, drums, synth, and looped samples. Lovely, dreamy melodies tumble out with a nonchalant artfulness while Clerkin sings in a feathery deadpan. Touchstones include the ECM label’s chamber jazz, Virginia Astley’s delicate, poignant songcraft, Pram’s oneiric, accidental dub, and the wee-hours-in-the-cathredal atmospheres of Talk Talk circa Laughing Stock. However, deviations do occur, such as on their 2021 In Spring EP: the hauntological trip-hop of “Night Steps” lollops between Portishead and Seefeel, which is... holy shit! The ridiculously charming “Marble Walls” would be a chart-topper in Utopia. I had the good fortune to catch Tara Clerkin Trio in Detroit in 2025, and it mesmerized me like no other performance from that terrible year. They truly got the special sauce, so clear your schedule and get your head right for this show. (Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+) DAVE SEGAL

Gogol Bordello Mar 4, Showbox, 8 pm, 21+

Tortoise, Spacemoth Mar 5, Neptune, 8 pm, all ages

KenTheMan Mar 5, Neumos, 7 pm, all ages

St. Vincent Mar 5, Town Hall Seattle, 8 pm, all ages

Marble, Love So Deep, Plash Mar 6, Sunset Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Listening Session: Fleetwood Mac, Rumours Mar 6, Shibuya Hi-Fi, 6 pm

Where’s Beth, Bryan John Appleby, Don Piano Mar 6, Add-a-Ball, 9 pm, 21+

The Briefs, the Drowns, the Coolers Mar 7, Clock-Out Lounge, 9 pm, 21+

Sam Greenfield Mar 7, Baba Yaga, 8 pm, all ages

Brittany Davis, Ellie Grace Mar 7, Royal Room, 7:30 pm, all ages until 10 pm

Matt Pryor, Small Uncle, Carl Christensen Mar 7, Sunset Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Sunny War, the Local Strangers Mar 8, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

The Wayne Horvitz Ensemble Mar 9, the Royal Room, 7:30 and 8:30 pm, all ages until 10 pm

Dining Dead, Glass Egg, Reverse Death Mar 11, Tractor Tavern, 7:30 pm, 21+

Listening Session: Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman Mar 12, Shibuya Hi-Fi, 5 pm

Yung Kai Mar 12, Neumos, 7 pm, all ages

Diminished Men, Corespondents, Von Wildenhaus Mar 12, Add-a-Ball, 8 pm, 21+

Oldies Dance Party with DJs Shannon Shaw, Swain, and Ganj Mar 13, Clock-Out Lounge, 9 pm, 21+

Bill Frisell’s 75th Celebration featuring Luke Bergman and Tim Angulo Mar 13, Moore Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Shrek Rave Mar 14, Crocodile, 10 pm, 21+

The Hoot Hoots, Rat Queen Mar 14, Add-a-Ball, 9 pm, 21+

Redveil, Chenayder Mar 14, Neumos, 8 pm, all ages

Bog Ore, Kinski, Toxic Thrust Mar 14, Clock-Out Lounge, 9 pm, 21+

Aimee Mann, Jonathan Coulton Mar 15, Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Ruthie Foster Quartet Mar 17–18, Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, all ages

Anthers, My Pet Fossil, Slugfeast, Miscomings Mar 19, Add-a-Ball, 8 pm, 21+

Band of Horses Mar 19, Vera Project, 7 pm, all ages

Dirty Three Mar 21, Neumos, 7 pm, 21+

Tune-Yards, Kassa Overall Mar 22, Neumos, 7 pm, 21+

Drug Church, White Reaper, Spy, Death Lens Mar 23, Neumos, 6 pm, all ages

Liz Cooper Mar 25, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Mclusky, Ekko Astral Mar 26, Crocodile, 8 pm, 21+

Marissa Nadler Mar 26, Tractor Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Listening Session: Frank Ocean, Channel Orange Mar 27, Shibuya Hi-Fi, 7:30 pm

Skullcrusher Mar 30, Barboza, 7 pm, 21+

L.A. Witch, DAIISTAR, Buckets Apr 1, Neumos, 6:30 pm, 21+

Spoon Benders, Semisoft Apr 1, Baba Yaga, 8 pm, 21+

Hockey Teeth, Poached, Zailee Haze Apr 2, Hidden Hall, 7:30 pm, 21+

Prism Bitch, Byland, Melanie Radford Apr 2, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

FKA twigs, Brutalismus 3000 Apr 2, WAMU Theater, 8 pm, all ages

Jeff Tweedy, Macie Stewart Apr 2, Moore Theatre, 7:30 pm, all ages

Sex Mex, Sux, Taste Testors Apr 3, Clock-Out Lounge, 9 pm, 21+

Witch Ripper, Dust Moth, Izthmi Apr 3, Sunset Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Tomo Nakayama, Maita, Plash Apr 3, Tractor Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Father John Misty Apr 3–4, Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Raye Apr 3, WAMU Theater, 8 pm, all ages

Cass McCombs, Hand Habits Apr 4, Tractor Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Ratboys, villagerrr Apr 7, Neumos, 7 pm, 21+

Fishbone Apr 11, Crocodile, 6 pm, 21+

Weedeater, Conan, Telekinetic Apr 12, Crocodile, 7 pm, 21+

Ari Lennox Apr 12, WAMU Theater, 8 pm, all ages

PinkPantheress Apr 14, WAMU Theater, 8 pm, all ages

Throwing Muses Apr 15, Crocodile, 8 pm, 21+

Midpak, BendreTheGiant, Super Mother Apr 17, Add-a-Ball, 9 pm, 21+

Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman May 3, Paramount Theatre, 7:30 pm, all ages

Northwest Terror Fest VIII May 7–9, Neumos, 21+

Florence + the Machine May 12, Climate Pledge Arena, 7:30 pm, all ages

The Last Dinner Party May 22–23, Showbox SoDo, 8 pm, all ages

Capitol Hill Block Party Aug 7–9, Capitol Hill

Iron & Wine Oct 13, 5th Avenue Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Just when it seemed like winter would never end, March is swooping in with cherry blossoms and Daylight Saving Time. Whether you want to make up for all the time you've spent huddled under a blanket by spending time outdoors or you want to celebrate the holidays this month brings (including Women's History Month, St. Patrick's Day, and Holi), your options are plentiful. Below, we've compiled the biggest comedy shows, concerts, food events, and other great things to do, from Emerald City Comic Con to Taste Washington and from Miguel's CAOS Tour to Speaking of Seattle: Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights.

Morgan Jay: Goofy Guy Tour
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or are just in saner corners of the algorithm), you’ve surely come across at least one “WHAT'S YOUR NAME BRO???” video. With autotune crowdwork now Morgan Jay’s claim to fame, it's easy to forget that deep down, he’s just a goofy guy. And his new tour is a chance to catch the LA-based performer truly in his prime. If you're only familiar with his short-form comedy, you’re in for a treat with this Friday the 13th headlining set. Be ready for wild setups, off-the-cuff musical bits, and beautifully timed pauses from the once familiar face on Wild ’N Out, Comedy Central, and NBC. TL;DR? Jay has tapped into an awkwardness that few comedians (or humans) could turn into an art form, and it should absolutely be experienced. LANGSTON THOMAS
Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Fri Mar 13)

Ahead of her upcoming PNW tour dates, I caught up with Esther Rose to hear all about her collection of vintage leather clothing. If you missed out on tickets to her sold-out show at the Sunset Tavern on March 3, fear not! You can still catch Esther Rose in Bellingham at the Shakedown the day after. by Audrey Vann

I first discovered Esther Rose in 2017 when she released her debut, This Time Last Night, an intimate country/folk album that feels like she’s playing for you around a campfire. Now on her fifth studio album, Want, the New Orleans native defies the expectations of what an Esther Rose album can be with bold indie rock arrangements and fuzzed-out guitars. As it’s depicted on the album’s cover, with a Rose in a gauzy white cotton dress beside a Rose in a black pleather catsuit, the album balances hard and soft, juxtaposing songs like the Liz Phair–esque track “Ketamine” with the stripped-down piano ballad “Color Wheel.” The album also includes “Scars,” a duet with Seattle-based troubadour Dean Johnson (no surprise, it’s absolutely beautiful). Ahead of her upcoming PNW tour dates, I caught up with Rose to hear all about her collection of "vintage leather clothin in all shapes." 

If you missed out on tickets to her sold-out show at the Sunset Tavern on March 3, fear not! You can still catch Esther Rose in Bellingham at the Shakedown the day after.

What was the first item you acquired in this collection? 
When I was 28, I was gifted a hand-me-down cowboy jacket by a record label executive. It was mint 1950s red suede with fringe and patches. I thought it was kinda hideous, but it fit, so the first time I wore it was as a joke. But something sacred happened that night... an energetic switch turned ON. I became a believer in the power of vintage leather. I'm less interested in new leather, even if it's ethically and sustainably sourced, because I like the randomness of finding a one-of-a-kind item. It has to choose you.

What is your favorite thing in your collection?
My high-waist motorcycle pants are perfect for tour. They always look stage-ready, and I never wash them—slightly gross yet very convenient.

Tell me about an item you'd like to add to your collection or a new collection you'd like to start. 
I would welcome a leather skirt or dress.

This week's music news. by Audrey Vann

The 2026 Capitol Hill Block Party lineup is here. This year’s lineup dives back into the pop sphere with gems like MUNA, Magdalena Bay, Wet Leg, and Parcels, plus DJ sets from Trixie Mattel and Tinashe. The festival will once again be 21+ in an effort, according to Daydream State, to “[optimize] the footprint across the Pike/Pine corridor to deliver an elevated fan experience while supporting neighborhood flow and local businesses,” aka hopefully avoid Chappell Roan–sized crowds. (I was there, and I was afraid for my life—can someone please make commemorative shirts that say “I Survived Chappell Roan at CHBP 2024?”)

The ZooTunes lineup has also dropped, and it’s really good this year. Highlights include Pavement, the Breeders (with Team Dresch!), and Belle and Sebastian, celebrating the 30th anniversary of If You’re Feeling Sinister with Quasi. See the full lineup over on the ZooTunes website.

Pioneering French electronic musician Éliane Radigue has died at 94. Known for reinventing the synthesizer through “meditative and feedback-drenched sonic explorations” (the Guardian), Radigue released over two dozen albums in her lifetime that pushed the boundaries of what music can be. The best way I could describe her sound is like holding your ear up to a seashell (which there happens to be a beautiful image of her doing). Her 1986 ambient composition, Jetsun Mila, remains one of my favorite things to listen to while I write.

RIP Willie Colón and Lil Poppa. On Saturday, family confirmed that pioneering salsa trombonist Willie Colón died at the age of 75. Along with his 40-plus-album discography, he was also known for musical partnerships with artists ranging from Celia Cruz to David Byrne. Jacksonville rapper Lil Poppa died by suicide on Thursday at 25. The young artist began making music at 7 years old, writing religious raps for his church before pivoting to secular music, which led to his breakthrough single “Purple Hearts” at just 18.

LEAVE LIZA ALONE! While promoting her new memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, legend, icon, and my president Liza Minnelli has claimed that the Academy “inexplicably ordered” her to sit in a wheelchair at her 2022 Oscars appearance with Lady Gaga. She told Variety, “I was told it was because of my age, and for safety reasons, because I might slip out of the director’s chair, which was bullshit. I will not be treated this way, I said. I was heartbroken. I was much lower down than I would have been in the director’s chair. Now I couldn’t easily read the teleprompter above me.”

Bad Bunny represents the USA better than the president, survey finds. A recent poll, conducted by Yahoo! and YouGov after the Super Bowl, found that more Americans feel better represented by the Puerto Rican star than the president. What is surprising is that slightly more participants identified themselves as Republicans than Democrats.

Did you watch Alysa Liu’s free skate!? I have watched it at least 15 times with tears streaming down my face. The 20-year-old team USA figure skater won a gold medal with her joyful performance to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park.”

In light of the Epstein files, should Bill Gates' name be on a building at University of Washington? by Marcus Harrison Green

There's a specific kind of lie that powerful men tell when the walls start closing in: the minimizing lie, the "it wasn't what it looked like" lie, the "I was barely there" lie. Bill Gates tried that last one earlier this month, insisting his relationship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was limited to dinners.

"It's factually true that I was only at dinners," Gates said. He claimed he "never met any women." The Epstein Files just proved otherwise—young women were present, and there are photos. According to some, no amount of philanthropic goodwill should erase that.

But in Seattle, philanthropic goodwill has erased a lot. A name on a building is a command: suspend memory, smooth the sharp edges, turn biography into infrastructure, and controversy into cornerstone. It dares you to forget that the name above the door still belongs to someone who breathes, errs, and benefits from the power that placed it there.

For years at the University of Washington, the Gates name has been exactly that: civic wallpaper. It crowns the Bill and Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science and Engineering in large letters, like a title for the simple story this city tells itself. Local boy becomes tech titan, tech titan becomes global humanitarian, city becomes beneficiary. Clean. Uncomplicated. Unquestioned. In the wake of the Epstein files, one 22-year-old journalism student couldn't let that story go unchallenged.

Last week, UW student Jaya Parsons published an op-ed in The Daily, the university's student newspaper, calling for Gates' name to be removed from campus buildings. The headline was unambiguous—Bill Gates is in the Epstein files. UW should take his name off its buildings in response—and the message pointed.

Gates' repeated appearances in the files, coupled with his admitted meetings with Epstein after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor, were "more than enough to make anyone uncomfortable to see Gates' name on their way to class." Parsons walked by the Bill and Melinda Gates Center everyday.

The column landed like a match in dry grass because it named something that has been hovering at the edge of Seattle's civic life for years: the quiet bargain institutions make when a benefactor becomes too big to criticize.

"I definitely did not expect as many people to see it as people did," Parsons told me over Zoom.

Classmates and professors thanked her for saying what they had been thinking, a surprise.

"I hadn’t really heard people talk about it," she said. "So I wanted to at least let people know that this is something that could be happening and maybe we should pay attention to it."

UW did not respond to her two requests for comment. 

She wasn't expecting demolition orders, just acknowledgement. "I mostly just wanted to hear why these buildings are named after him, and what we think about seeing his name every day."

The university didn’t respond to The Stranger either. 

Silence, in moments like this, becomes its own posture.

Gates has not been accused of criminal conduct by any of Epstein's victims. But his explanations have shifted, narrowed, and widened again under pressure. Gates has buckled, if only a little. This week, in a town hall with Gates Foundation staff, he called his relationship with Epstein a "huge mistake," and apologized to employees for bringing foundation executives into contact with Epstein. But still he insisted "I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit."

The problem is not that Gates has been charged with a crime. It’s that new disclosures are overtaking his lies: meetings around the globe, flights on Epstein's plane, the presence of young women at gatherings, and evolving acknowledgments about the scope of their contact. What was once framed as peripheral now appears more sustained, like a relationship between two fabulously wealthy men. What was described as trivial now reads as misjudged at best. 

"If these buildings around campus were called the 'Jeffrey Epstein Library,'" Parsons wrote in The Daily, "they'd have hopefully been changed long ago."

But we treat proximity to harm differently when the proximity comes with billions attached. Money is like duct tape over the mouth. 

As of 2017, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had awarded UW more than 250 grants totaling nearly $1.25 billion. This philanthropy has been woven so deeply into the institution's financial and research infrastructure that the prospect of removing Gates' name is not simply a reputational concern. It is a reckoning with dependency.

It is easier to leave the letters in place when Trump is a threat to higher education funding and the university has already faced layoffs tied to budget shortfalls. Staying in the good graces of a “good billionaire” is security.

Tim Schwab, author of The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire, has long argued that Gates’ philanthropy has discouraged scrutiny. 

If this were only a matter of reputation, it would be confined to op-eds and campus debates. But the Gates Foundation is not merely a personal vehicle for his generosity; it is an $86 billion institution operating under a tax-advantaged status that effectively subsidizes its power with public dollars. That scale alone raises regulatory questions, precisely because philanthropy, as currently structured, enjoys massive public subsidy with comparatively minimal democratic oversight. But they’re not actually above scrutiny, legal or otherwise.

So the question becomes: does anyone actually have the authority to hold it accountable? When I asked Washington Attorney General Nick Brown's office, Deputy Communications Director Mike Faulk responded bluntly:

“We don’t speculate about our decision-making regarding any potential investigatory matters… If the question is just whether we have the authority to investigate nonprofits and charities, the answer is yes, state law does give us that kind of authority.”

At UW, naming decisions sit with the Board of Regents, and policy allows for reconsideration in certain circumstances. Parsons doesn’t believe they’ll do anything.

But she rejects the idea that raising the question is trivial or performative. "I think there's nothing wrong with caring about something like this. That's not some waste of time."

For her, the point is not immediate victory; it is civic muscle. Universities are places where people are supposed to question power, not rehearse deference to it. Even if the name never comes down, she argues, asking why it’s there, and whether it still reflects the institution’s values, is exactly the kind of scrutiny higher education claims to teach.

Let’s set the record straight on Mr. Kettle's claims. by Micah Yip

Councilmember Bob Kettle wanted to dispel “misconceptions” about Seattle’s surveillance program. Ahead of Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting, which he chairs, Kettle issued a press release arguing that tools like CCTV cameras, automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) and the Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) are an effective crime deterrent that doesn’t jeopardize vulnerable populations as severely as has been reported. 

In his release, he argued that the “implementation of ALPR, CCTV and RTCC technology in Seattle is not a choice between public safety and personal privacy—it is a smart and responsive commitment to both.” His argument was a bizarre combination of misdirects (claiming we’re safe because we don’t use Flock-brand cameras for our license plate readers), irrelevant details (assuring Seattleites that cops aren’t watching all of the cameras at all times) and anecdotal evidence (arguing that CCTV cameras reduce crime, based on vibes).

This stunt comes amid public outcry against surveillance technology. Community members and advocacy groups worry that surveillance data can leave marginalized communities vulnerable to federal tracking. And their concerns aren’t theoretical—in Washington state and across the country, federal authorities have accessed local surveillance data, raising questions about how much protections local guardrails actually provide. 

So let’s set the record straight on his four claims. 

1. Deterring Violent Crime

When we talk about CCTV cameras, researchers most commonly cite a 40-year systematic review by CUNY that found no evidence that CCTV cameras reduce violent crime. But in his press release, Kettle wanted his constituents to focus on another line in the study, which said the results support the use of cameras to deter (non-violent) crime. “It can help address property crime and has always been intended to help with a variety of crimes beyond violent crime,” he wrote.”

However, at the Tuesday press conference, Kettle doubled down on the idea that the program could still deter violent crime. He gave an example of a recent shooting at Second Avenue and James Street. Using surveillance footage, police were able to quickly identify and apprehend a suspect, said Kettle. 

You may notice that that’s an example of footage used in solving a crime, not deterring it. 

But according to Kettle’s logic, being able to rapidly identify and arrest suspects prevents future crimes by removing repeat offenders from the streets. “If somebody is so blatant to shoot someone in the back of the head, they may have done some other crimes,” he said.

When asked again what evidence Kettle has that Seattle’s CCTV deters violent crime before it happens, Kettle acknowledged the city hasn’t yet completed its formal evaluation, which is currently in progress by the University of Pennsylvania. But he still doubled down on his argument that the cameras are a deterrent, because if bad actors know they’re being watched, their operations will be disrupted and delayed, allowing local authorities more time to investigate and apprehend. What evidence does Kettle have of that? “I believe it to be true based on anecdotal,” he said.

1. But It’s Not Flock!

He’s right. Seattle doesn’t contract with Flock, the notoriously fed-friendly tech vendor. But we do have our own automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), provided by a surveillance company called Axon. And according to Tee Sannon, ACLU of Washington’s technology policy program director, there are no laws in Washington state that govern ALPRs.

The State Senate is currently considering Senate Bill 6002, which would regulate how jurisdictions in Washington handle ALPR data. It would create a 21 day retention period, meaning after 21 days, the data would be deleted, unless it had been pulled within that time frame for an investigation. The 21-day-retention schedule isn’t much of a reform, as jurisdictions in Washington generally stick to a 30 day time limit. Seattle’s is much longer—the Seattle Police Department keeps ALPR data for 90 days. “Thirty days is a very long time to keep basically a database of almost entirely [data of] people that are not associated with wrongdoing,” Sannon says.

ACLU-WA (and Kettle) both support the bill.

1. Surveillance Data Isn’t Safe From the Feds

In his press release, Kettle specifically focused on the argument that surveillance data might be insecure because it’s stored out-of-state, and therefore outside of Washington’s protective laws. “DHS has no access to SPD data regarding civil matters (such as immigration) unless the federal government subpoenas footage from the vendor. SPD owns this data, regardless of where it is stored,” he wrote. 

Requiring a subpoena doesn’t eliminate the potential for federal access—it formalizes it. He also pointed to the guardrail added by Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, which triggers a 60-day shutdown of the CCTV program if the feds subpoena any data—which still allows data to get into their grubby hands before it’s paused. 

“Is it perfect? Probably not,” Kettle said at his press conference. “I’m not making that claim that we’re 100 percent intact.”

Translation: Our surveillance data isn’t safe.

1. Seattle Police Officers aren’t constantly monitoring cameras at the RTCC.

His final note in his press release ensured Seattleites that there isn’t a desk monkey watching your every move through the city’s CCTV program. No one thinks they are. Thanks, Bob.

The weekend starts now. There's no time to waste, so dive in with our cheap and easy guide, pointing you to events from the Shunpike Storefronts & Artist Residencies Grand Opening to the Official Seattle Sounders FC Watch Party with Sammy the Orca and from the Travessias Brazilian Film Festival to the 50th Annual Kalevala Lecture. For more, check out our top picks of the week.

So You Do Drag?! Kremwerk's Premiere Drag/Burlesque Competition
Oh, you do drag? Don’t be shy! Prove it at Kremwerk’s So You Do Drag?! It’s a new one-off competition dedicated to spotlighting the next generation of Seattle drag and burlesque performers. And not just by putting them on stage, but by giving Seattle’s rising stars a chance to prove “WHO they are and WHY they deserve stardom” in front of established icons like Clara Voyance and Pupusa. For this inaugural event, contestants Kimme Kash, Lizzie McHigher, and Nadia Nuff will strut, lip sync, and seduce their way through performances designed to show audiences exactly what they’ve got tucked deep down inside. Don’t overthink showing up, it’s gonna be a great time. LANGSTON THOMAS
(Cherry Nightclub, Downtown, $15)

by Nathalie Graham

Another Bad Budget: The forecast for the city of Seattle's budget is grim. The analysts have looked into their cursed crystal ball and given Seattle its fortune (or, lack thereof): We'll be dealing with a $140 million deficit this year. Damn, those soothsaying nerds! In response, Mayor Katie Wilson asked city departments to prepare for the worst and issue plans for shaving off between 5 and 10 percent of their budgets. That's not a guarantee anything will happen—Bruce Harrell did the same thing last year before he pulled enough money out of a hat (read: the JumpStart Seattle tax's coffers) to balance the budget.

All of this was expected. For the last couple of years, the city's budget has been similarly cratered. A pandemic and a fascist president will do that to a liberal city. And, Harrell didn't do anything to find new revenue, he just pickpocketed the JumpStart tax to solve the problem in front of him. It will be very interesting to see if Wilson, who helped create the JumpStart tax to primarily fund the creation of affordable housing, will do what every other mayor has done and raid JumpStart to keep the city afloat.

Speaking of Forecasts: It'll be borderline pleasant in Seattle today. There will be sun. It will still be chilly, though. Don't plan a beach day just yet.

Spritzgibbon: House Majority Leader Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon apparently tied one on before Wednesday evening’s House Appropriations Committee meeting where legislators were passing the supplemental operating budget. Fitzgibbon's speech was “slurred and halting” and an unnamed Republican said Fitzgibbon appeared to be sleeping during parts of the night-time meeting. Fitzgibbon has apologized for having a little tipple before his important job. "Being impaired in that situation was harmful to my work and to my co-workers," he said in an apology.

Gig Harbor Stabbing: On Tuesday, a 32-year-old man stabbed and killed his mother and three of her neighbors outside her suburban home near Gig Harbor. According to KING 5, he lived in his younger sister's garage and suffered from bipolar disorder. His sister said he stopped taking his medication three days before the attack. His mother filed a protection order against her son in 2020 that lasted through 2022. In 2025, she petitioned for another one, which a court granted, but failed to serve him  with the order. Therefore, it was not enforceable. The police didn't respond quickly because the order wasn't in effect.

Hey, Cut That Out: Someone shot a harbor seal in the face in Quilcene Bay near Hood Canal. Apparently, this is the second harbor seal that's been shot in the face in a matter of months. The law enforcement arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating. Yeah, I am also surprised to hear there's a cop division in NOAA.

Good News: Capitol Hill's Seven Hills Park has been freed from prison. The Bruce Harrell administration locked up the park—and three other small parks across the city—six months ago to stop homeless people from camping there.

A Touch of TB: Someone at Rainier Beach High School was diagnosed with tuberculosis. According to Public Health, around 130 people in connection with RBHS may have been exposed to the airborne disease and will need to be tested. While this is serious, TB takes "repeated and prolonged exposure" to really spread. Tuberculosis remains the leading infectious cause of death around the world. But in wealthy countries, the risk and prevalence is low. Except, TB has been making a resurgence in the US.

War: Pakistan and Afghanistan are at war. Pakistan has bombed Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, and both countries claim to have inflicted substantial losses on the other.

I Did Not Have Sex-Offender Relations With That Man: In a closed-door deposition with members of Congress in Chappaqua, New York, former President Bill Clinton is testifying in the House’s Epstein investigation. A former sitting president has never been compelled to testify to Congress before. Hillary Clinton sat with lawmakers for her deposition yesterday.

I’m Just Chillin’ in Chappaqua: Hillary spent more than six hours with the House Oversight Committee. In a short press conference afterward, she told reporters she wished the proceedings had been public and that her attorneys have asked for transcripts and video to be available as soon as possible.

But Where Will We Watch It? Probably not on any of Warner Bros. Discovery’s subsidiaries. Netflix walked away from a deal to buy the company after David Ellison’s Paramount launched a hostile takeover. The deal may, in the words of WBD’s CEO David Zaslav, create “tremendous value for shareholders,” but it’s also putting a tremendous media empire in Ellison’s flag-waving, Trump-loving hands. It’s an antitrust nightmare, Democrats say.

Big Brother Burger: Burger King is testing new Open AI-powered headsets to assist employees and track if they’re saying “please” and “thank you.” Data on restaurant operations is shared with “Patty,” an AI that will speak to employees through their headsets. Patty can tell them if a drink machine is low on Diet Coke, or when a customer reports a bathroom disaster. Employees can ask Patty for instructions or ask it to remove out-of-stock items from the store’s digital menus. It sounds like torture.

Trump Staffer Runs X Account Johnny MAGA: By day, Garrett Wade is a rapid response manager for the Trump administration. Also by day, he runs a massive X account devoted to kissing his bosses’ feet. Wade tweets as Johnny MAGA and helps run the White House account that boosts Johnny MAGAs tweets. And when he tweets as Johnny MAGA, he tweets things like how great the administration is. OR how it was obvious Trump didn’t watch the entire video showing the Obamas as apes. If Trump had, he would’ve posted the entire thing. “It was a masterpiece,” wrote Johnny MAGA.

Do you need to get something off your chest? by Anonymous

Dear ICE and CBP Agents,

Resign. Quit. Retire. Think about it. If you quit now, you can at least say you got out when the shit got crazy. If you continue to work for ICE or CBP, however, you will fuck yourself over in multiple ways.

You are probably not very bright, so I’ll try to make this simple: Nobody likes you.  

Nobody.

At all.

Forever.

No real employers will want to hire you in the future if they see ICE or CBP on your resume. No one will be your friend. No one will fuck you. Your food will be spit on, or worse. If you have children, they will hate you. You will be subject to mockery, ridicule, and loathing forever. And you hopefully will get criminally prosecuted.

But if you resign now, there is a glimmer of hope. You can say that you got out when you realized that ICE and CBP are Nazis. You can say, “I’m one of the good ones who did what was right when my country depended on it.” Sure, it was significantly later than any rational, sane person would come to the same realization, but at least you got to the right place eventually.

If you resign, you will still be a douchebag, but you won’t be a fascist douchebag. And regular, non-fascist douchebags are incrementally better. They are far more likely to get a job and get paid. Or laid.

But if you stay? After the shootings? The beatings? The tear gas? The intimidation of protesters and observers? The detainment of 5-year-olds? The Nazi coats?

If you stay, you’re a Dick with a capital D for the rest of your sorry, lonely, pathetic life. So grow a pair of balls and resign already. Get a real job. Ice Out.

Do you need to get something off your chest? Submit an I, Anonymous and we'll illustrate it! Send your unsigned rant, love letter, confession, or accusation to ianonymous@thestranger.com. Please remember to change the names of the innocent and the guilty.

Start making summer plans: The 2026 BECU ZooTunes concert series will bring acts including Courtney Barnett, Suki Waterhouse, and Pavement to Woodland Park Zoo’s meadow. Seattle-formed alt-rock band Queens Of The Stone Age return to their old stomping grounds on the Catacombs Tour. Plus, Emmy Award-winning actress and comedian Ali Wong brings her brash humor to McCaw Hall. Read on for details on those and other newly announced events, plus some news you can use.

MUSIC

A.J. Croce Presents Croce Plays Croce
Moore Theatre (Wed Sept 30)

BECU ZooTunes
Woodland Park Zoo (June 4–Aug 20)

Blitzen Trapper - Two Nights
Tractor Tavern (June 5–6)

Defying popular, negative perceptions of BDSM—especially gay BDSM—Colin’s submissive role transforms him into a more assertive person, free to pursue his desires on his own non-negotiable terms and proudly advertise his “aptitude for devotion.” by Julianne Bell

In Harry Lighton’s debut feature based on Adam Mars-Jones' 2020 novel Box Hill, the life of a sheltered twenty something named Colin (Harry Melling, Harry Potter) is forever changed the moment biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård, The Northman, Infinity Pool) unzips his leather pants in a dark alley on Christmas Day, freeing a massive, pierced, dangling cock.

The two quickly enter into an all-consuming, 24/7 dominant/submissive relationship. Colin follows Ray’s rules, becomes his devoted pet. But when the relationship begins to unravel, the power dynamics are not to blame. Like any other relationship, it’s bad communication. Apart from all the kinky sex, Pillion is almost family friendly and it is easily one of my favorite queer films of the last several years.

Defying popular, negative perceptions of BDSM—especially gay BDSM—Colin’s submissive role transforms him into a more assertive person, free to pursue his desires on his own non-negotiable terms and proudly advertise his “aptitude for devotion.”

It’s interesting to see Melling, best-known for playing Harry Potter’s greedy, idiotic cousin Dudley Dursley, as the sensitive object of Skarsgård’s cold affection. Though the characters share a similar background (doting parents, an upbringing in the southeast London suburbs), Melling is no longer the butt of an eight-movie-long fat joke but a character with agency, allowed to explore his sexuality and to be considered desirable. Unlike Dudley, Melling tugs heartstrings as the naïve Colin, who you can’t help but want to hug. His face is an open book; his puppy eyes widen in simultaneous fear and delight. 

With Melling’s Colin as a guileless vehicle, BDSM is shown as sweet rather than debased. The sex scenes aren’t soft-focused, porny fantasies, but genuine and even endearingly awkward, like when Colin and Ray grapple in spandex to Tiffany’s version of “I Think We’re Alone Now.” (The scene was the first that Melling and Skarsgård shot together, so the awkwardness might be authentic.) In Pillion, tenderness is found in birthday orgies and beautifully shot late-night, windblown motorcycle rides showing freedom can be found in submission. 

BDSM in Hollywood is often played for laughs and scares, or portrayed as exotic and perverse, as in the case of Fifty Shades of Grey. Lighton cited Secretary and The Duke of Burgundy as films he had in mind while making Pillion, but went for a more relatable route. “I always wanted Pillion to have enough of a foot in realism, that you weren’t, as a viewer, able to distance yourself from the character in the way I think that I personally do in those films, by dint of the tone,” he told Letterboxd. 

Pillion doesn’t exploit gayness either, or make sexuality the friction in these men’s lives. Colin’s parents are enthusiastically supportive of his queerness, but just want to see their son treated right outside the bedroom. In that way, they’re a stand-in for viewers who might not know boot-blacking from anal beads, but can read the conventional love story between the lines of this unconventional relationship.

I’d bet a reasonably open-minded family could watch it together. Alexander Skarsgård could do it: He watched it with his dad Stellan Skarsgård (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Dune) at Telluride Film Festival. As Stellan succinctly put it, “I have no problem seeing him do BDSM, that’s not a problem. If he acts badly, I have big problems.”

The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Micah Yip

US Speedboat Boat Shot By Cuba: A shootout between a Florida-registered speedboat and a Cuban border patrol vessel left six people dead and four injured. The Cuban government accused the heavily-armed “Cuban residents of the United States” in the speedboat of trying to infiltrate the island for “terrorist purposes.” They were carrying guns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, and camouflage, the Cuban government said.

Gatesgate: At an internal Gates Foundation town hall Tuesday, Bill Gates apologized to staff for endangering the foundation with his yearslong connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates acknowledged first meeting Epstein in 2011 to raise money for global health, three years after the financier was convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates continued to see the financier until 2014. Gates also admitted to two affairs, which Epstein tried to use as leverage over him, he said. Gates never got his money for global health.

Will They, Won’t They: Normally, Super Bowl winners are invited to the White House. But Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said the team hasn’t gotten an invite, though he expects one. The White House has indicated they will invite the Seahawks. But will the team accept? Macdonald wouldn’t commit, but a league source told the Seattle Times the team was initially inclined to accept. The Super Bowl was weeks ago.

Murder Charge in Capitol Hill Shooting: Daniel John Carlee, 41, was charged with murder for allegedly shooting 38-year-old Solomon Thompson in Friday night’s Capitol Hill shooting. King County prosecutors said Carlee instigated the fight. Before shooting Thompson, he told a witness, “I’m going to shoot him.”

Another Teen Shooting: Police arrested two teens with a handgun  after a shooting in Mount Baker that put Franklin High School on lockdown. As a precaution, students at John Muir Elementary sheltered-in-place. Police are still looking for two more suspects.

Temu Sesame Street: A 27-year-old man in Ohio has been dubbed “Oscar the Grouch” after a sanitation worker found him hiding from police in a trash can. It was caught on tape. Now, I’m no fan of surveillance, but…this was entertaining.

Weather: Partly sunny with a high near 51 and a chance of on and off rain. Wind gusts will be as high as 25 miles per hour. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 42 and a 30 percent chance of rain.

What Are the House and Senate Doing with Our Money? The Seattle Times compiled key takeaways from the state Senate and House budget proposals, including how lawmakers are accounting for the not-yet-passed millionaires’ tax, how they’ll use Climate Commitment Act money, what’ll happen with House’s proposal to eliminate occupational, speech and physical therapy coverage and instead provide a limited, one-time rate boost for certain long-term care facilities, and more. 

Jeff Galloway: Galloway, the 1972 U.S. Olympic runner who inspired amateurs and pros alike with his “run-walk-run” strategy, died yesterday from a hemorrhagic stroke. He was 80.

Nobody Likes Newsom: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is offending everybody. He’s on a book tour right now—another effort to cast off his reputation as a liberal elitist to position himself as the Democratic frontrunner in 2028. But he’s just pissing everyone off. Conservatives accused Newsom of suggesting that Black people weren’t smart while talking to the Black mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens. Liberals are mad about Newsom’s CNN interview, where he said Democrats should be “more culturally normal” and stop spending “a disproportionate amount of time on pronouns, identity.”

LA Superintendent Investigation: The FBI raided the home of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and the district’s headquarters. A source told the Associated Press that the warrants were served as part of an “ongoing investigation.” The district hasn’t provided further information, but said it is cooperating with the investigation.

Bummer: A state bill to lower the legal driving limit from 0.08 blood alcohol content to 0.05 blood alcohol content died in the House yesterday. The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Lovick, would’ve been a good idea, given that drunk driving kills people.

The Sea Slug Animation Festival is making clear what was true its first year: only art made by passionate craftspeople is allowed. AI hacks, please dispose of your slop in the nearest trash can. by Chase Hutchinson

The Sea Slug Animation Festival is making clear what was true its first year: only art made by passionate craftspeople is allowed. AI hacks, please dispose of your slop in the nearest trash can.

This line in the sand is a matter of self-preservation. AI is an “existential threat” to animators. Though there is much uncertainty about what its impact will be in the future, the Animation Guild — a union that represents more than 5,000 artists, writers, technicians and production workers—estimate that 29 percent of jobs will be “disrupted,” whether through layoffs, loss of work, or other impacts. DreamWorks founder Jeffrey Katzenberg pessimistically predicts up to 90 percent of animation jobs could be cut. While the festival won’t save the animation industry on its own, Sea Slug is doing its part to push back against this technological nightmare.

“Sea Slug remains a platform for artists who are creating art themselves to show their independent work,” co-founder Hannah Baek said, noting all the “awesome analog-made animation” screening during this weekend’s (Feb. 27 through Mar. 1) festival at the SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave N). 

Baek and co-founder Rhys Iliakis run the festival together. They started it last year with the guiding philosophy of spotlighting animation in all its forms and providing a space for local PNW animators to connect about their work.

They’ve curated the festival’s second run with equal care, showcasing a variety of shorts and features that consist of animation on celluloid, hand-drawn with pencil, copper relief carving, oil on glass, pinscreen, collage, and stop motion with paper/puppets/clay, as well as 2D and 3D digital animation. The festival has also gained additional support since last year in the form of a grant from 4Culture. On top of that, they’ve got a new fiscal sponsor in Shunpike. This has allowed them to reach non-profit status and accept donations—if anyone feels like supporting humans in their fight for art against slop. Thus, with all that and the programming to support another day, they’ve expanded the festival in year two.

The highlights this year range from a rare restoration screening to inventive shorts that all use a variety of techniques. Specifically, there is Son of the White Mare, a masterful 1981 Hungarian film about a divine white mare who gives birth to three heroes that must go on a quest to save the universe. There is also the outstanding Oscar-shortlisted short The Night Boots, which is made entirely via the meticulous process of pinscreen animation, an animation style that makes use of a screen filled with movable pins. Then, there is the mesmerizing Weeds, which is animated by painting on glass. To close it out, there is the spectacularly silly film No Room, a short set in a wacky world where cars have legs for wheels. 

The closer is then a mystery film and—without giving anything away on what it is—it’s one that absolutely rips in a way AI could never. Just like the rest of the festival. 

Sea Slug Animation Festival takes place Feb. 27-Mar. 1 at the SIFF Cinema Uptown. Tickets are available at https://seasluganimation.com/

Correction: The festival ends March 1, not March 3. We regret the error.

The bill to lower the legal blood alcohol content limit died in the House, even in spite of The Stranger's flawed-science experiment last summer. by Nathalie Graham

Congrats  you lushes, winos, drunkards, sots, and tipplers. A bill to lower the legal driving limit from a 0.08 percent blood alcohol limit to a 0.05 blood alcohol limit (BAC) has failed for the fourth year in a row. Despite passing the Senate, it floundered in the House Committee on Community Safety. 

It’s not such a wild idea, even if the only US state with a 0.05 percent BAC limit is buttoned-up, prudish Utah. From a global point of view, we’re way outside the norm—eighty four of the world’s countries have a 0.05 BAC limit or lower. The unholy union of Big Alcohol and Big Automobile in the US of A has kept reform efforts in check across the country, driving something we like to call vehicular manslaughter. In 2023, Washington saw 800 driving deaths—a 30-year high. Over half of those deaths were linked to impaired driving. 

Sure, we at The Stranger are known to partake in potent potables. We can put ’em away just like the rest of you. Yet, after a bit of science last summer, we were radicalized. The bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. John Lovick, a former state trooper who’s been advocating for years to lower the BAC, is right.

In an experiment, we combined alcohol and Mario Kart to see how drinking impaired our driving without tearing up these streets. Most of us came away shocked at just how drunk we felt with a BAC at 0.05, let alone 0.08 percent. We were also shocked at how bad we were at Mario Kart. Except Vivian, who got drunker than anyone. Oh, how the mighty fall.

The experiment had flaws, like how it wasn't real science. Or how Charles Mudede, who does not have a license and has never driven, could not comprehend how to use a Nintendo 64 controller. His BAC also mysteriously dipped down toward the end of the test. Regardless, it was enough to assure us that a 0.05 percent BAC was plenty drunk.

There’s always next year, Sen. Lovick!

The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Megan Seling

Last night, Trump delivered the State of the Union, in which he spoke for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Thankfully, Stranger editor Hannah Murphy Winter watched the whole thing and is here to summarize:

Unsurprisingly, Trump’s State of the Union wasn’t a speech, it was a show. Like Bob Barker telling contestants to “come on down!” he trotted people through Congress like props: the Team USA men’s hockey team, military vets, victims of violence that he claims was done by undocumented immigrants. The Republican side of the chamber were a willing studio audience. They repeatedly broke into chants of “U-S-A,” stood up and cheered when he told them to, and made sure to make a clear contrast between them and the Democrats, so Trump could tisk and tut at how shameful it was that Democrats didn’t back his common sense agenda. 

But did he say anything? The SOTU is usually used to unveil important new agendas from the executive, but the speech itself was extremely light on actual policy. He stared down the Supreme Court justices at the front and told them he’d be using his presidential power to restore his tariff program. He called Venezuela our “new friend and partner” after bombing them and capturing their president. He celebrated the “end of DEI in America.” He claimed that we were a “dead country” before he took over, and once again claimed that this should be his third term in office. All things we’ve heard before, and all things that shouldn’t feel normal on a national stage. (Or any stage, really.)

Clap Backs: A lot of Dems boycotted the speech, and at least one walked out in the middle of it, but there were a few that stayed to protest. Rep. Al Green was kicked out of the chamber for holding a sign that read “Black People Aren’t Apes!” And Rep. Ilhan Omar appeared to actually get a rise out of him for shouting “you have killed Americans” over and over again while he talked about immigration enforcement. 

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Now, the rest of the news! I don’t know why I excitedly put an exclamation point there. It’s not like it’s good news. 

My Hockey State of the Union: As a long-time hockey fan who has struggled to remain a hockey fan in the face of, you know, the NHL consistently being full of misogynistic bootlickers, I had some thoughts about the current state of the sport. TLDR: Men bad, women good.

Amazon’s Moving Out: In May, Amazon will vacate the seven-story, 251,000-square-foot building on Terry Avenue that it has occupied since 2014. Good! Maybe there will finally be room on the 8 during rush hour! But don’t assume it’s due to staff shortage after the company laid off 2,300 Washington employees in October and another 2,200 in January. Amazon is still building new offices out in Bellevue.

Nurses Are Moving Out, Too: Hundreds of nurses are leaving the US to work in Canada, citing Trump’s politics as an impetus, according to NPR. Last year, the Trump Administration said it would reclassify nursing as a nonprofessional degree. This isn’t gonna help our national healthcare worker shortage.

CARE Says Cops Don’t Care: Yesterday, Amy Barden, the head of Seattle’s Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE), said that the contract the City signed with the police officers’ union is getting in the way of her team helping people in need. According to the Seattle Times, “Alison Holcomb, Mayor Katie Wilson’s chief public safety adviser, said they’re consulting with the city attorney’s office on how to interpret the contract.”

Will Ferguson Get His Ferries? The Washington State Ferry system is in a bad way. Boats are old and broken and in dire need of updates. But the new transportation spending proposal doesn’t include the $1 billion Gov. Bob Ferguson wants to borrow to modernize the fleet. I have an idea of how to solve this, actually. I can’t be the only one who would watch the fuck out of a Below Deck-style reality show centered around the ferries, right? Think of the drama! Someone call Andy Cohen. 

Oh, Thank Goodness: Sure, the Mexican army just killed one of the country's most notorious cartel leaders, and the cartel has retaliated by going on a violent rampage with more than 70 attacks reported across more 20 states, including at least 60 incidents of arson, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino has “complete confidence” the country can host World Cup games in June. “We are convinced that everything will turn out for the best.” Tell that to the more than 70 people who’ve died. 

More Epstein Files Fallout: Former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland is reportedly in critical condition after attempting suicide. Two weeks ago, Jagland was charged with “aggravated corruption” after the latest batch of Epstein files. He denied all charges.

Cute Palette Cleanser: The New York Times’ Vows section profiled Eleisa Rossel Aparicio and Thomas Lucas Wolter, the couple who got for real married during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show. They look so happy! 

Cottage Palette Cleanser: The Heated Rivalry “cottage” will be available to rent via Airbnb starting March 3. But that couch looks uncomfortable, tbh.

If You Care: This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees are Phil Collins, Lauryn Hill, Mariah Carey, Oasis, Pink, the Black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Melissa Etheridge, Billy Idol, INXS, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, New Edition, Sade, Shakira, Luther Vandross, and the Wu-Tang Clan. Cool, I guess! I mean, it’s a list of very good artists! But I do not give a shit about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sorry, Cleveland. 

And now, I will use that news as an opportunity to post one of the greatest songs and music videos of all time. 

But you should also watch his performance of the song at Live Aid in 1985. That cringe he does when he hits that wrong key in front of 160,000 people? He’s such a relatable dork, I love him so much.