by Julianne Bell MONDAY 3/23   Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe with Katie Campbell Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe will discuss her 2024 essay collection Thunder Song at Central Library on Monday, March 23. (BOOKS) Author, poet, and artist Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe, who is from the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribe, weaves together her heritage and themes of trauma, ancestry, and colonialism with her unique personal interests, ranging from punk music to Twin Peaks. Her acclaimed 2022 memoir Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk received the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award. I flew through both her dreamy, haunting 2023 poetry collection Rose Quartz and her incisive 2024 essay collection Thunder Song. My favorite parts of the latter included LaPointe's journey toward embracing the salmon of her culture as a vegan punk and her description of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival as a "petal-made flag of settler colonial triumph," both things that have lodged in my mind permanently. LaPointe will discuss Thunder Song with KUOW’s Katie Campbell at the Seattle Central Library. (Central Library, 6:30–8 pm, free with RSVP) JULIANNE BELL TUESDAY 3/24   Mary Jane (THEATER) 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 WEDNESDAY 3/25   Plate of Nations (FOOD) The US doesn’t exist in a vacuum. That’s especially true when it comes to our food, because beyond burgers and barbecue, so many of the flavors we enjoy come from cultures across the globe. Plate of Nations is a celebration of exactly that. This three-week, neighborhood-wide dining event spotlights the immigrant-owned restaurants that define the Rainier Valley’s food scene. More than 50 independently owned spots along Martin Luther King Jr. Way roll out special menus and deals, offering everything from Vietnamese and Mexican to East African cuisine and beyond. It’s a perfect excuse to try something new while supporting local businesses in one go. (Various locations) LANGSTON THOMAS THURSDAY 3/26   Champagne Bubblebath, Midpak, DJ Moohah (MUSIC) 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 FRIDAY 3/27   Amy O’Neal: Again, There Is No Other (The Remix) Amy O'Neal's performance Again, There Is No Other (The Remix) is a  “ritual of femme power and connection." ERIN O'REILLY (PERFORMANCE) 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 SATURDAY 3/28   Grrrl Gang Don't miss the Indonesian indie pop trio Grrrl Gang at Clock-Out Lounge on Saturday, March 28. TINY STUDIO (MUSIC) 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 SUNDAY 3/29   Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest View works like Drift No. 2 by "Seattle Surrealist" Malcolm M. Roberts at SAM's 'Beyond Mysticism' exhibit. SCOTT LEEN (VISUAL ART) 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, 10 am–5 pm) AUDREY VANN ...read more read less