WEDNESDAY 7/3
Hecklevision: Independence Day
(FILM) I remember it like it was yesterday. It's 2002, and my bedraggled social studies teacher, clearly imperiled by the prospect of having to instruct the class for one more second, squeaks a TV/VCR on a wheeled cart to the front of the classroom. We wait with bated breath. On the screen? Will Smith. The film? Independence Day. I spend the next 56 minutes in pure rapture as Smith joins forces with Jeff Goldblum to fight off fuck-face aliens in the name of America. The film is two-and-a-half hours long, so we're forced to watch it in installments over three days. I spend each of those days maniacally filling my mom in on Independence Day after school, like a soap opera fan after several espressos. I am 11 and I am free. Point is, you should watch Independence Day in honor of the Fourth of July (and ME)! Who cares if we all hate America now? That's not the point. Plus, this Hecklevision screening will let you broadcast your hot takes straight to the screen. (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, 7 pm, $14) LINDSAY COSTELLO
THURSDAY 7/4
Confirm Your Voter Registration Information
(AMERICA) However you choose to spend today—screaming, gorging on Swedish barbecue, crying, oohing and ahhing at fireworks, dancing at the ball with Jack Nicholson, or watching "Cooking With Beagles" videos until your brain is numb—please, please, PLEASE make time for one very important task: Confirm that your voter registration information is up-to-date. Did you move? Did you change your name? Have you just never bothered to register to vote because it can feel meaningless to be one tiny sandbag against the unrelenting shit tsunami that threatens to wipe democracy off the face of the earth day after day? No judgment! Just do it now. Today. It will only take a second. Happy Fourth. MEGAN SELING
FRIDAY 7/5
(MUSIC) The peak recordings by French jazz-fusion group Cortex have been a gold mine of samples for many savvy hip-hop producers over the decades. You can hear their rich, sensuous sounds in tracks by MF DOOM/Madlib, Flying Lotus, Tyler, the Creator, and many other luminaries. And no other Cortex album has been as fecund a source than their 1975 debut, Troupeau Blue, the focus of this Jazz Is Dead tour. That record, plus 1977's Vol 2 and 1978's Pourquoi, flaunt elegantly funky grooves, beguiling vocals, lustrous textures, and a soulful feel that a blind listening test might lead you to believe derived from African-American ringers of that era. Founded by pianist Alain Mion and drummer Alain Gandolfi, Cortex long have remained a mystery to Americans. Nearly 50 years after their peak era, the band—now a quintet featuring Mion and vocalist Virginie Hombel—finally get to enjoy the reverence discerning listeners have harbored for them. It should be a momentous night for both artist and audience. (Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, 7 pm, $65, all ages) DAVE SEGAL
SATURDAY 7/6
Missy Elliott with Ciara, Busta Rhymes, and Timbaland
(MUSIC) I simply cannot convey my level of enthusiasm about this show in just a few sentences. The icon, the myth, the legend Missy Elliott will embark on her first-ever headlining tour. That's right, the queen of rap has opened for Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Madonna, and Jay-Z, but never headlined—which can't compute in my Missy-loving brain. The first time I saw Missy Elliott was in 2002 when the music video for "Work It" dropped. In the video, Missy sports a sideways angora pageboy hat, which I proceeded to copy through my next three years of elementary school. As Ms. Jackson once said, "[Missy is] always ahead of the curve," and truer words have never been spoken. Between her feminist, queer, body-positive, and sex-positive lyrics and fearless creativity, the music industry still hasn't caught up to her 1997 debut Supa Dupa Fly. Go, get ur freak on at her OUT OF THIS WORLD tour featuring frequent collaborators Ciara, Busta Rhymes, and Timbaland. (Climate Pledge Arena, 305 Harrison St, 7 pm, all ages, tickets started at $44 at press time) AUDREY VANN
SUNDAY 7/7
Your Last Chance to See Anida Yoeu Ali: Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence
(VISUAL ART) Tacoma-based artist Anida Yoeu Ali's solo debut at the Seattle Art Museum—the museum's first solo exhibition of a Cambodian American artist—blends elements of performance, religious aesthetics, and mythical heroines to disrupt notions of otherness, "transcend the ordinary," and reflect on her upbringing as a Cham-Muslim refugee who migrated from Cambodia. In Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence, two site-specific performances by Ali—The Buddhist Bugand The Red Chador— are explored through transformative "artifacts," including garments worn by the artist and others during the performances. While Ali completed the performance portion in May and June, it's still very much worth your time to see that big orange worm suit stretched through the Seattle Asian Art Museum, as well as the videos, photographs, and other installation art that's part of the exhibit. It closes Sunday, so hurry. (Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E Prospect St, free-$17.99, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
MONDAY 7/8
Collide-O-Scope & Vanishing Seattle - The Return
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(HISTORY) Collide-O-Scope has been melting brains with freaky found footage and expertly curated ephemera for over a decade. This mish-mash of music, oddities, and pop culture obscurity is well suited to the weirdo in all of us—plus, attendees have the chance to win sick prizes throughout the night. The show is the brilliant brainchild of Shane Wahlund and Michael Anderson, aka The Stranger's video wizards, and they'll team up with Vanishing Seattle's Cynthia Brothers for this collab, which will present a "special concoction of vintage video, freaky film, and found-footage fun in celebration of the Seattle you once knew." (Here-After at the Crocodile, 2505 First Ave, July 8 and July 9, 8 pm, $15) LINDSAY COSTELLO
TUESDAY 7/9
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(VISUAL ART) Artist, musician, and filmmaker Clyde Petersen designed his latest solo show at J. Rinehart Gallery to be more approachable than your traditional gallery exhibit. Instead of protecting perfect original prints behind glass, several pieces in Naïve Melody were printed in limited runs of 20, 40, 50, or more, and they’re all hanging on the walls, ready to be taken home that very day. Though they're fully on display, flipping through the hanging posters feels intimate, not unlike peeking at pages of private journals. The collection of song lyrics, poems, sketches, and memories lays bare a path to who Petersen is today. For example, the piece "1993" (which was excerpted in our recent Queer Issue) is a letter to his younger self that recalls the moments that helped him find, define, and embrace his queerness, from buying a used copy of Lesbian Poetry, an Anthology at Open Books to surviving the mosh pit at a sweaty Sleater-Kinney show. As you examine these artifacts, you'll start to think about your own roadmap and what you might display if ever tasked to define yourself for all to see. (J. Rinehart Gallery, 319 Third Ave S, Tues-Sat 10 am-5 pm through July 24, free) MEGAN SELING