Tonight:
San Francisco band Or, the Whale may be the primary upholders of contemporary beard culture. They’re named after the greatest bearded novel in literary history. Their florid steel guitars and strong female harmonies make their music some of the prettiest indie country going. They do a perfectly sleepwalking and almost un-ironic cover of Britney Spears’ Toxic. They even wear matching flannel (although that might be a joke).
Seattle’s The Maldives are opening (the bands are touring together right now). Two seven-piece rock and roll bands getting crunchy together on the stage of the Tractor Tavern. After-work beers don’t get much more solid than that.
With Weinland, tonight at the Tractor Tavern (5213 Ballard Ave NW), at 9 pm. Tickets are $10. 21+.
See all of tonight’s picks here.
Tomorrow:
KUOW Weekday host Steve Scher is interviewing Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton tomorrow night at the Seattle’s Central Library about his nine weeks of reporting in Afghanistan.
In October and November of last year, just as the U.S. was sinking back into the increasingly messy war in Afghanistan, the Seattle Times sent reporter Hal Bernton there to follow a battalion of troops from Ft. Lewis into the war zone (before that, in 2003 and 2004, he was posting dispatches for the Seattle Times from Iraq).
Bernton accompanied the battalion as they wheeled into Afghanistan in Stryker vehicles. His coverage, mostly compiled in dispatches on his Times blog, was as high quality as it gets.
Thursday evening at The Central Library (1000 Fourth Ave) at 7 pm. Free.
Tomorrow’s Full Calendar:
The Hugo House presents Cheap Beer and Prose, a spin-off of its Cheap Wine and Poetry series. Local literary star Stacey Levine reads with Jonathan Evison, Bret Fetzer, and Janna Cawrse, and there’s beer for $1 a can. Tomorrow at the Hugo House (1634 11th Ave) at 7 pm. Free.
The Seattle Planning Commission, which makes policy recommendations to the City Council on land use decisions, is holding a meeting tomorrow to approve a plan on transit communities and discuss updates to the multifamily development code. There will also be a public comment session. Thursday at 3 pm, at Seattle City Hall Boards and Commissions Room, L-280 (600 Fourth Avenue).
Brother and sister combo Tess Henley and Carson Henley play pretty, piano-driven Sunday-night-soul music. It’s Thursday, but that’s ok. With the Jake Marsh Band and the JB Quartet, at the High Dive (513 North 36th Street) at 9 pm. Tickets are $6 advance, $8 at the door.
The City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment is meeting tomorrow to discuss a proposed change in the major institution master plan for Children’s Hospital—the hospital has been arguing with community groups since 2007 over the size of its proposed expansion. The COBE is currently in the midst of reviewing the hospital’s expansion plans. Tomorrow at 2 pm at Seattle City Hall, Second Floor (600 Fourth Avenue).
