SW This Summer

VAN GOGH TO MONDRIAN

Sat., May 29–Sun., Sept. 12. Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St., 206-625-8900.

Every summer needs a blockbuster art show; King Tut got that tradition rolling around here back in 1978. This time, SAM turns to some of the biggest names in painting: Van Gogh (never out of fashion), Picasso (just coming off his impressive $104 million showing at Sotheby's earlier this month), and Mondrian (possibly overexposed, but still with cachet). Eighty works by these and other masters will be on loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands, home to the collection of art patron Helene Kröller-Müller, who amassed the largest private holdings of Van Gogh's works. According to SAM, many of these pieces have rarely been seen in this country. Bids, however, will not be accepted. MARK D. FEFER

FREMONT OUTDOOR CINEMA

Sat., June 26–Sat., Aug. 28. North 35th Street and Phinney Avenue North. $5. Info: 206-781-4230 and www.outdoorcinema.com/seattle.

Raiders of the Lost Ark inaugurates the annual Saturday-night carnival of open-air filmgoing. There's not an ounce of stuffiness to Steven Spielberg's 1981 cliffhanger (co-written by George Lucas), a hugely entertaining B-movie homage, with Harrison Ford at his most relaxed and confident. Other family-friendly titles in the 10-week series include Casablanca, Grease, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Finding Nemo. As in past years, expect comedy, contests, and sundry preshow activities while lawn chairs are set up and dusk falls. Bring your own food, but no booze. (There will be a separate Friday-night series at a different Fremont location screening more adult fare like Deliverance and Crash; details are still pending.) BRIAN MILLER

EVERGREEN STATE FAIR

Thurs., Aug. 26–Mon., Sept. 6. Kids 5 and under are free; $4 youths 6–15; $6 seniors (62+); $8 adults. Fairgrounds, Monroe, 425-388-3200, www.evergreenfair.org.

It's entirely unnecessary to wear a smirk and a trucker hat in order to enjoy this fair. Approach it without kitsch and you'll still have a great time. The dog shows and apple pie contests and chili taste-offs are a hoot. And the pig race is already making fun of itself, sparing you the trouble. Plus there's a rodeo, rides, funnel cakes, concerts, and the most expertly run parking field you've ever encountered. If uncynical entertainment is what you're after, this annual fair is well worth the drive. M.D.F.

LIZA MINNELLI

7 p.m. Fri., Aug. 20. $55. Pier 62/63, www.summernights.org.

Oh, Liza, are you sure you want to haul it back up on an outdoor stage in the middle of August? Really?! 'Cause, look, you have nothing to prove in my book, honey. The pathetic bleating of that horrible eunuch you made the mistake of marrying does not change the fact that you are LIZA—the same gal who vamped through Cabaret, the same voice that's knocked "New York, New York" off the back wall of innumerable concert halls, the same daughter who, unlike certain sisters she could probably mention, has never whored her mother's name to make her own. David Gest? Please—that nefarious leech probably had brunch plans with Ann Miller right up until she called it a day. You're better than that, and you don't owe anybody anything. That last Broadway comeback of yours was stunning according to Rex Reed, so why push it? You've braved harsher criticism than anyone with your generous talents should ever have to face; those bland little replicants squalling frigidly through pop tunes on American Idol can kiss your ass. I mean, go grab a peaceful retirement, and screw the bastards who can't understand that growing up with Dorothy might tend to leave a girl feeling like a house had been dropped on her psyche. No? OK, I'll be there in the audience with fingers crossed, and, hey, maybe Seattle's where you'll find the respect you deserve—it is the Emerald City, after all. STEVE WIECKING

LOLLAPALOOZA 2004

Wed., July 14–Thurs., July 15. Price TBA. White River Amphitheatre, Auburn, 206-628-0888.

The decreasing relevance of North America's longest-running rock package tour forced a late-'90s shutdown, followed by several years of silence and, finally, a tepidly reviewed run last year. So, it's no laughing matter that this year's version of Lollapalooza not only lasts two days, but also features a powerhouse lineup. To wit: Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and the Von Bondies on the mainstage the first day; String Cheese Incident, the Flaming Lips, Basement Jaxx, Wilco, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Gomez, and the Polyphonic Spree headlining the second. Another stage will feature Broken Social Scene, the Walkmen, Wolf Eyes, Danger Mouse, the Datsuns, and Sparta on the first day; and the Thrills, the Fire Theft, the Coup, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Elbow, and Wheat on the second. Do we love all of these bands? Of course not. But there's so much for a rock fan to adore here that all objections are essentially rendered moot by the sheer firepower of the thing. Not to mention that any excuse to see Sonic Youth play outdoors, the band's surprising natural habitat, is an excuse worth heeding. MICHAELANGELO MATOS