WEDNESDAY 9/18Â Â
Suns Out Ones Out: A Queer Sick Pay Fund Fundraiser
(PERFORMANCE) The Queer Sick Pay Fund, founded by Betty Wetter and Shane Donohue and Elby Brosch of the Drama Tops, is a safety net for Seattle's queer nightlife performers, and they're hosting a fundraiser and auction on September 18 at the Clock-Out Lounge. Performers include Bosco, Fox Whitney + Will Courtney, Moscato Sky, and Betty Wetter. Donohue describes their target donor as “double income no child gay people.” So anyone frequently booking a Queer/Bar booth, consider this your call to action. “Our goal is $100,000,” Wetter says. “I’ll take two if they’ve got it.” Read the full story about qSPF here. (Clock-Out Lounge, 4864 Beacon Ave S, 8:30 pm, $30-$400) JAVI BERKMAN
THURSDAY 9/19Â Â
(HUMP!) Dan Savage's pioneering erotic film fest premiered an all-new lineup of sexy films featuring all genders and orientations earlier this year. Since 2005, HUMP! has brought inclusive, creative, and kinky films to the big screen—and since this year's fest features not one but two feature-length lineups, you can scope out the sex-positive fest yet again for a tantalizing treat. Part two includes 25 brand-spanking-new feasts for your eyeballs, including "smokin' hot paranormal encounters, a mind-bending space carnival, spine-tingling ASMR, [and] all the thermal eye candy you can eat." It's worth a venture outside of your sex dungeon, but you can still wear the latex catsuit. (On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, through October 5, $25, 21+) LINDSAY COSTELLO
FRIDAY 9/20Â Â
Local Sightings Film Festival 2024
Punderneath it All screens as part of Local Sightings Friday, September 20 at 7 pm.
(FILM) Back in 2015, Stranger senior staff writer Charles Mudede wrote, "What is this city becoming? What have we lost in the rush and thrust of all these new developments? To whom does this growing city belong? The brilliant Local Sightings Film Festival will show films that reveal the answers to these questions, through features, shorts, and animation that are born here or hereabouts. There's much to see and much to talk about." The premise of the hybrid festival hasn't changed much since then—Local Sightings returns for its 27th anniversary this year, offering up another round of curated screenings and transforming the city into a hub for indie filmmakers who forgo New York or LA for the Pacific Northwest's endearing eccentricity. The always-great, hyperlocal film festival also offers opportunities for regional filmmakers, emotional storytellers, and documentarians to meet at the festival's events. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, through September 29, $60–$150) LINDSAY COSTELLO
SATURDAY 9/21Â Â
(MUSIC) R-Day is quintessential Seattle: it’s quirky, it’s fun, there’s live music, and of course, the Rainier will be flowing. The annual free, 21-plus celebration commemorates the moment when Rainier Beer’s iconic R was restored to its place atop the Old Rainier Brewery in Georgetown. In addition to a herd of Wild Rainiers, wacky merchandise, eclectic art, and more, expect explosive live performances. Check out the hazy grooves of LA band Allah-Las, the fierce ’70s rock-kissed punk of Sheer Mag, and Seattle rock band Monsterwatch. [Editor's note: Afterward, you may have time to jet over to the Showbox to catch Pretty Girls Make Graves.] (Georgetown, 4 pm, free, 21+) SHANNON LUBETICH
SUNDAY 9/22Â Â
(MUSIC) Former Mercury writer Chris Stamm wrote: "Xiu Xiu has been waging a war against passive listening for close to 20+ years. It’s possible to have mixed feelings about the band’s difficult discography, but real-time exposure to their music is an either/or affair: You’re either giving Jamie Stewart & Co. your full attention or you’re not. Xiu Xiu isn’t here to soundtrack your life. They’re here to stop you in your tracks." The experimental project will stop by for an all-ages show in support of their wordy forthcoming album, 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, which appears to be their most accessible to date if the glossy noise-pop single "Common Loon" is indicative of what's to come. (Vera Project, 305 Harrison St, 7 pm, $24.72, all ages) AUDREY VANN
MONDAY 9/23Â Â
Mouthwater Festival: A Disabled Dance Festival
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(PERFORMANCE) Envisioned as the "beginning of an arts hub by and centering Black and Indigenous disabled artists to present, collaborate, and get uplifted for their crafts," the Mouthwater Festival espouses values we can get behind, anticapitalism and antifascism among them. The fest brings together artists with disabilities from across the country for solidarity, community-building, and over a dozen artsy events. I'm looking forward to Vanessa Hernández Cruz's experimental piece Soul Seeker and the Mouthwater Cabaret, featuring performances by India Harville, Saira Barbaric, Mx. Pucks A’Plenty, and others. (Various locations, through Oct 13, $15-$80) LINDSAY COSTELLO
TUESDAY 9/24Â Â
(MUSIC) On their new album Forever, Charly Bliss have shed what was left of their indie rock exoskeleton and taken flight as a polished pop band. Opening track “Tragic” could be a Taylor Swift song if it weren’t for the whirligig guitars, and “Back There Now” is as fun and boppable as anything Charli XCX released during her Sucker/“Boom Clap” era. In fact, track for track, the band seems to invite comparisons to some of today’s most beloved pop girlies. Do I miss the days when CB would recklessly blast through crispity, crunchity upbeat rock songs where vocalist Eva Hendricks would scream between lyrics about jumping so high on the trampoline that you pee your pants? Sure. But the band has always known the power of some well-placed punk patina, and I’m guessing they still will when they play the Crocodile in September. (The Crocodile, 2505 First Ave, 8 pm, $22, all ages) MEGAN SELING
