Stranger Suggests: Your Agenda This Week, September 7–September 13

MONDAY 9/7

(MUSIC) For Seattleites, Death Cab for Cutie needs no introduction. Frontman Ben Gibbard started the indie rock band nearly three decades ago while attending Western Washington University. Since then, they’ve released 11 studio albums and won the adoration of listeners all over the world thanks to their catchy and emotional tracks. This weekend, the group headlines Bumbershoot before taking off on a European tour in support of their recent release, I Built You a Tower. But before they do, they’re stopping by KEXP to perform for some of their earliest supporters. I recommend getting to the venue early, grabbing a drink from Caffe Vita, enjoying the on-air DJ’s tunes, and staking out a spot in line for the free event before the Labor Day crowd catches up! I’m expecting the in-studio performance to feel like the Pacific Northwest homecoming version of Death Cab’s recent Tiny Desk concert. (KEXP, 11 am, free, all ages) SHANNON LUBETICH

TUESDAY 9/8

Race the 8 (and Lose?)

(COMMUNITY) Last year, in an attempt to highlight the absurdity of King County Metro’s 8 bus line, the grassroots volunteer group Fix the L8 hosted an event called “Race the L8.” Participants successfully proved that several alternate modes of transportation, such as walking, leap-frogging, cha-cha-sliding, conga lining, and hopscotching, were all faster than the perpetually tardy bus. Now that Mayor Wilson has installed bus-only lanes on Denny Way, they’re testing it again to see if—gasp—the 8 can actually beat the racers this time. Wilson, a Route 8 bus driver, and Fix the L8 leads will deliver brief remarks, followed by a race along the southern sidewalk of Denny/Stewart and a happy hour at the Pine Box. (Denny and Dexter, 5 pm, free) JULIANNE BELL

WEDNESDAY 9/9

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

(FILM) There’s nothing else I can say about Dolly Parton that hasn’t already been said, written, or shouted from the rooftops in the past week. But rather than grieve, it seems most are choosing to celebrate her storied life and career, and that includes the folks at the Northwest Film Forum. This Friday, they’ll pay tribute with a screening of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), starring Parton as Miss Mona, the proprietor of a Texas brothel threatened by a crusading TV personality, with Burt Reynolds playing the sheriff (and love interest). It’s a big, boisterous musical that’s about as fittingly Dolly as a memorial screening could get. Plus, NWFF is turning it into a proper celebration, with a special pre-show kicking things off at 7 pm. (Northwest Film Forum, 7:30 pm) LANGSTON THOMAS

THURSDAY 9/10

Meghan Thréinfhir: Spacetime Gothic

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(VISUAL ART) Meghan Thréinfhir’s sculptural and conceptual work does a lot of heavy lifting, blending cosmic physics, computing, and witchcraft. For more than a decade, she’s been working with the bog—yes, actual, wet, earthy bog—to create sonic electrical installations and other mind-bending sculptures that allow us to enter a space where ancient planetary physics and contemporary technology coexist. For her solo exhibit at Steve Gilbert Studio, SPACETIME GOTHIC, Thréinfhir presents work about black holes and the accretion discs that form around their perimeter, imagining the orbiting material as a ghostly sort of library at the edge of the void—a place where matter may be lost but information is never destroyed. (Steve Gilbert Studio, free, all ages) AMANDA MANITACH

FRIDAY 9/11

Anthony Jeselnik: Wrath of Man

(PERFORMANCE) There are few comedians you could identify from delivery and voice alone quite as quickly as Anthony Jeselnik. His slow, deliberate cadence practically announces that something terrible is about to come out of his mouth. And, more often than not, it does. Jeselnik has spent the past 25 years perfecting his particular brand of dark humor, from breakout appearances roasting Charlie Sheen and Donald Trump to specials like Thoughts and Prayers, Fire in the Maternity Ward, and 2024’s Bones and All. Granted, Jeselnik’s sense of dark humor isn’t for everyone… But a room full of cynical Seattleites? That’s essentially his target demographic. (Moore Theatre, 7:30 pm, all ages) LANGSTON THOMAS

SATURDAY 9/12

The Stranger’s 2026 Genius Awards

(PERFORMANCE) The Genius Awards is a ceremony where we give six big-ass checks to Geniuses of Film, Food, Literature, Music, Performance, and Visual Art! There will be drag (the event is hosted by Miss Texas 1988 and Lady GuGu), there will be DJs (past Genius Award-winner Erik Blood is in town; La Mala Noche closes the evening with a basement dance party 10–11 p.m.), there will be trophies (handmade by local art wizard Mary Anne Carter). Past Genius Award winners Shabazz Palaces will headline; their lead single “Ahh World (I Won The Alpha Bet)” off their excellent upcoming album, It’s a Style Sport, says to “put your money where your mouth is”—our thoughts exactly. A party, a ceremony, a show, all in the name of CELEBRATING ART. What more could you want for 10 bucks? Speaking of style, do you have a special or weird thing in your closet that you never get to bust out? Now is the time! Personally, I’m aiming for something between an opulent magician and Miss Scarlet from the 1985 Clue movie. (Moore Theatre, 6:30 pm, all ages) EMILY NOKES

SUNDAY 9/13

The Little Foxes

(FILM) I’m a simple woman: If a film stars Bette Davis, I’ll watch it. That’s how I came to find out about The Little Foxes, the 1941 drama based on Southern leftist playwright Lillian Hellman’s 1939 play of the same name (which the Intiman Theatre staged last fall). Davis plays the ambitious, ruthless ice queen Regina Hubbard Giddens, who goes head to head with her morally bankrupt brothers and principled husband in her quest for wealth. As one Letterboxd reviewer put it, it’s “basically old-timey Succession,” complete with its own Cousin Greg. Rick Burin of The Guardian called it a “visually astounding leftwing polemic that climaxes with the best horror sequence of its decade” and referred to Giddens as “a psychopath who presages the next 79 years of rapacious capitalism.” No one plays a complete psycho bitch better than Davis. (Beacon Cinema, 6 pm) JULIANNE BELL

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