You say goodbye, and I say hello: This week, we bid a fond farewell to several Seattle institutions—the Teen Dance Ordinance, a much-loved local club employee’s appendix (and medical bills), a long-running Brit-pop night—and say howdy-ho to a new, improved Consolidated Works. In the first category, freedom fighters and boogy-butts of all ages are invited to come dance a happy jig on the grave of the TDO at Sit & Spin Sept. 3. Speakers and performers include DJs Senor Pepe (Joe Newton from Gas Huffer) and Plan B (James van Leuven of Automaton), Krist Novoselic, friendly council members Nick Licata and Richard Conlin, and all kinds of secret surprise bands. The back room will feature a full bar for the 21-plussers, with the front reserved for the footloose and fermented-drink free. Con Works, meanwhile, is itching to get back on the all-ages action, but first they need some help; in other words, if you build it, they will come. The arts collective will be providing a volunteer orientation on Thursday, Aug. 29, and then holding work parties—where eager (unpaid) beavers will come to hang sheetrock, paint, set up seats, and generally look busy in that plucky and adorable “let’s put on a show!” way—each Saturday and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., up until the building’s Sept. 13 opening date. Go to www.conworks.org or call 381-3218 for more info if you too believe you have plucky and adorable potential. Also on Aug. 29, of course, is the big old Mudhoney/Nebula show and benefit for recently un-appendixed Showbox employee Jonna McCurry (see cover story, p. 24). In order to raise additional cash for her medical bills, the Box will also be auctioning off a number of rock star-anointed objects, including a Nirvana Nevermind gold record donated by man-about-town Novoselic, a

guitar signed by an as-yet- unnamed musician, silk-screened posters and more. . . . Parklife, alas—formerly of the Baltic Room, then Chop Suey—is turning in its shaggy hairdo and skinny pants for good. Get your final dose next Wednesday, Sept. 4—hell, make it a whole theme night and go see 24 Hour Party People before you go. . . . It looks like the much- beleaguered Nirvana greatest hits set may make it out alive after all—and by the end of this year (Oct. 22, according to Universal’s latest release schedule). Though it will have to compete with the release of Kurt’s unexpurgated diaries, recently sold to the highest bidder, the likely inclusion of the now-legendary unreleased track “You Know You’re Right” should make it quite the hot potato. Speaking of the set’s likely content, Novoselic recently told Billboard.com: “All your assumptions would be safe. Unless [you think] it’s gonna be this freaky, like, experimental noise record, no. It’s all safe. And that way the band wins, the estate wins, the fans win, everybody wins, so it’s goodwill.” As for the arrival date, he adds, “They [Universal Music Group] got that motherf***er on a rail, they’re talking fourth quarter here.” . . . Fitzgerald (goddamn right we went to college!) once famously said there were no second acts in American lives, but obviously, F. Scott never met Nada Surf. The band who sailed into one-hit-wonderdom with 1996’s “Popular” and were subsequently dropped from their major label are now back with what certain jaded industry people are actually calling a great album. But who will release it, you ask? None other than our own hometown boys at Barsuk Records (home to Death Cab for Cutie, as well as the Long Winters, the Prom, John Vanderslice, and more). And who did Barsuk beat out for the privilege? East Coast biggie Astralwerks (Air, Beta Band, Beth Orton). Barsuk head Josh Rosenfeld admits he was “not a big fan,” but after

receiving a copy of the record—which he describes as more mellow and contemplative, like Belle & Sebastian and even, yes, Death Cab—he was impressed enough to invite the band aboard. Plans call for a release sometime early next year. . . . After news of the Breeders’ Kim ‘n Kelly Deal making a guest appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we weren’t so surprised to hear that the Go-Gos are also on the TV beat, having just recorded the theme song to the soon-to-debut WB show Do Over—a.k.a. “the ultimate wish- fulfillment comedy!” Many Go-Gos fans may beg to differ, having already had their ultimate wish granted when Belinda Carlisle posed nude last year for a (freakily airbrushed) Playboy spread. . . . Eccentric rock couple No. 493: Guns ‘n Roses have—following last week’s headline appearance at the Leeds festival in England—asked (via Axl Rose’s special request) Weezer to open for their London show, and the band has accepted. Oh, what we wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall at the Rivers/Axl meet-and-greet. . . . Speaking of London, those British theater folks have shown they have quite the appreciation for Method acting. They’re currently in talks with Courtney Love to have the actress/ singer/professional plaintiff star in Shakespeare’s classic play MacBeth this fall, as, of course, Lady MacBeth—one of the most famous harridans in the history of literature. Love will have to recover quickly from a recent alleged eye and face lift if she wants to tread those fancy boards. . . . And in our final Brit bit, the land that brought us American Idol (known as Pop Idol there) is now looking to steal a good idea right back—Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon and his brood are reportedly front-runners for an upcoming Osbournes– inspired rock-star “reality” series. . . . In case you’re just not getting enough White Stripes news from us (and we work our fingers

to the bone for you!), know that next month’s issue of Spin will feature Jack and Meg on the cover with our all-time favorite rock-star accessory—a tricked-out little monkey (R.I.P., Bubbles).

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