Happy Holidays! I’m taking next week off to celebrate the holidays with my family. I’ll publish one last 2018 list on December 31.
Happening This Week
Mon., Wed.-Sun. 12/17-24
The Dina Martina Christmas Show
$32-47.00
ACT Theatre (Downtown )
“Famed holiday train wreck of a show . . . a truly wondrous and surreal blend of questionable song, unnecessary dance, overburdened costumes, and side-splitting video.”
#HauteSeattle
Tues. 12/18 5:00 pm
Mambo Cocktail Hour
No cover
Triple Door Musiquarium (Downtown)
“Traditional rhythms of Cuba and South America are given flight with jazz arrangements and sensibility. The songs breathe with a deep lyricism, inviting the audience into a rich and unpredictable musical landscape, where cha-cha-cha, vals, and swing meet like old friends on the dance floor.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Thurs. 12/20 7:00 pm
Fresh Ground Stories
Free
Roy Street Coffee (Capitol Hill)
“This month’s theme is ‘Aha-Stories of revelations, epiphanies.’ Bring a true 8-minute or less story about a time when you realized something about yourself of your life.”
#SEATalks
Fri. 12/21 8:00 pm
Moth StorySLAM
$10.00
St. Mark’s – Skinner Hall (Capitol Hill)
“JOY: Prepare a five-minute story about an experience that brought you utter delight, or a time you were able to provide it for somebody else. Glee, euphoria, eureka. . .a random act of kindness, a brand new car with a ribbon on it or a compassionate ear and a hot cup of soup for a hungry soul.”
#SEATalks
Sat. 12/22 4:00-9:30 pm
Seattle Secular Solstice
Donation
Factory Luxe (SoDo)
“Join us to celebrate humanity’s accomplishments, reflect on our past, and consider the future with food, light, song, and camaraderie.”
#Community
Sat. 12/22 6:00 pm
Feast of the Winter Solstice
$20-75.00
“a fabulous location” (Fremont)
“The Feast of the Winter Solstice is a spectacular annual gathering for the Fremont Arts Council community. We gather on the longest night of the year to reflect on the past, and to craft our dreams for the future with the returning sunlight.”
#Community
Sat. 12/22 7:00 pm
La Casita
$10.00
Seamonster Lounge (Wallingford)
“Kick off your holiday weekend on the good foot! La Casita will be bringing big beat mambos, guajiras, cha cha chas, rumbas, and maybe a bolero or two. Come out out and enjoy the sabor!”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Next Week
Mon. 12/24
The Dina Martina Christmas Show
$32-47.00
ACT Theatre (Downtown )
“Famed holiday train wreck of a show . . . a truly wondrous and surreal blend of questionable song, unnecessary dance, overburdened costumes, and side-splitting video.”
#HauteSeattle
Fri.-Sun. 12/28-30
Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band
$36.50
Jazz Alley (Downtown)
“Conguero Poncho Sanchez stirs up a fiery stew of straight-ahead jazz, gritty soul music, and infectious melodies and rhythms from a variety of Latin American and South American sources.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Sat. 12/29 10:00 am
DIY User Group for Bloggers
Free
Wallingford Community Senior Center (Wallingford)
“This is a new WordPress Meetup for those who are DIY (do-it-yourselfers). You may be a beginner, you may be an experienced blogger, you may maintain your own site that someone else created for you.”
#WordPress
Noteworthy Upcoming Events
Lots of good stuff coming up this winter and spring. This collection highlights some of the cruel scheduling conflicts that arise in Seattle. For example, I haven’t missed an Ignite Seattle in about seven years, but I already had tickets for Habib Koite and Bassekou Kouyate when the Ignite date was announced, so I’ll miss my favorite community speaking event this time. Luckily Antibalas is here for two nights, so I’ll be able to catch their Friday show that same week.
Sun. 1/13/19 8:00 pm
Dakh Daughters with DJ Darek Mazzone
$23-28.00
Nectar Lounge (Fremont)
“Seven actresses take musical instruments into their hands in order to create a life-affirming performance about love, freedom and beauty which at the end of the day – will save the world.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Thurs. 2/28/19 6:30 & 9:00 pm
Habib Koite and Bassekou Kouyate
$32-40.00
Triple Door (Downtown)
“Modern troubadour Habib Koité and ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate exemplify responsibility and shared experience associated with the historical, cultural, and unifying properties of Malian music.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Thurs. 2/28/19 7:30 pm
Ignite Seattle
$5-15.00
Egyptian Theater (Capitol Hill)
“An evening of fast-paced talks on a wide range of interesting, inspiring, and challenging topics. The simple premise: Enlighten us, but make it quick.”
#Community
Thurs.-Fri. 2/28-3/1/19 8:00 pm
Antibalas 20 Year Anniversary Tour
$25-45.00
Nectar Lounge (Fremont)
“Antibalas (Spanish for ‘bulletproof’) is an American, Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri’s Harlem River Drive Orchestra.” Link above goes to a page where you can get a ticket for both nights. One-night tickets available for the the Thurs. and Friday shows.
#SeattleWorldBeat
Mon. 3/18/19 7:30 pm
Pedrito Martinez Group
$15-20.00
Town Hall (First Hill)
“The Pedrito Martinez Group is a powerhouse arrangement of performers steeped in Afro-Cuban musical traditions.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Thurs. 3/21/19 8:00 pm
Fatoumata Diawara
$22.00 as season ticket holder; general sales not yet open
Neptune Theater (U District)
“Boldly experimental yet respectful of her roots . . . Fatoumata Diawara is the voice of young African womanhood – proud of her heritage but with a vision that looks confidently to the future and a message that is universal.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Thurs. 3/28/19 8:00 pm
Bombino
$25.00
Crocodile (Belltown)
“Bombino is known as being emblematic of the next generation of Tuareg, a new voice of the Sahara and Sahel, fusing traditional Berber rhythms with the energy of rock and roll and songs about peace.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Fri. 3/29/19 7:30 pm
Lorraine Klaasen
$15-20.00
Town Hall (First Hill)
“Lorraine’s performances showcase her stunning vocal prowess and versatility, and she is known for singing in the Tsonga, Sotho, isiZulu, and Xhosa languages of South Africa as well as English and French.”
#SeattleWorldBeat
Tues. 4/2/19 7:30 pm
Zakir Hussain Masters of Percussion
$41.50 – $50.00, as a part of a season subscription; general sales not yet open
Moore Theater (Downtown)
“An international phenomenon and one of the greatest musicians of our time. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have established him as a national treasure in his own country, India, and as one of India’s reigning cultural ambassadors.”
#SeattleWorldBeat