CLASSICAL, ETC.
No one planned this week as a choral festival, but it ended up as one. I count seven concerts, including Friday’s by groundbreaking avant-vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth and a Saturday visit from the also-groundbreaking, in a very different way, Beijing Queer Chorus. Established top-drawer local ensembles like Seattle Pro Musica and the Medieval Women’s Choir also perform, and St. Mark’s Cathedral’s Compline Choir will sing in honor of the unveiling of a new textile work, Josh Faught’s Sanctuary, which pays homage to longtime St. Mark’s music director Peter Hallock, Seattle gay history, and Belinda Carlisle. See the calendar for complete info.
VISUAL ARTS
It’s difficult to show your unvarnished truth to the world. Even among friends and family members there’s often something presentational—slight variations of our identities that slowly morph into various characters we play. Melissa Kagerer amplifies her internal cast of characters in The Museum of the Irrational Self, a vibrant and colorful collection of self-portraits. Her own imagined personas highlight internal insecurities and oddities via brace-faced awkwardness, bubble-wrap suffocation, alien gum sweetness, and honey-drenched headshots. The Mount Analogue space also boasts props from the photos, so patrons can selfie their own personas into existence. SETH SOMMERFELD Mount Analogue, mount-analogue.com. Ends March 25.
MUSIC
As the unlikely winner of last year’s Sound Off! competition, Jason McCue, between bigger, louder acts, mesmerized a crowd of teenagers and music-industry know-it-alls with a simple set of conversely earnest and acerbic acoustic ballads that landed him somewhere between Phil Ochs and Sondre Lerche. It was, in a word, transcendent. Now McCue heads to Washington Hall to celebrate the release of Pangaea, the album he made with part of his prize package, an otherworldly collection of songs burnished with his wit and grit. Would we know about McCue without Sound Off? I don’t know. I don’t want to know. MARK BAUMGARTEN Washington Hall, jasonmccue1.bandcamp.com. $9. 7 p.m. Fri., March 9.
The unlikely combo of the best pop star on the planet and the top rap duo going seems like something pulled from the best fever dream ever. In 2017, Lorde proved that the isolated teen perfection of Pure Heroine wasn’t a fluke with the brilliantly messy and buzzed party that is Melodrama. Her performance at Bumbershoot last year also showcased how far she’s come as a performer since her endearingly twitchy, gothy roots. That said, it won’t be easy to follow the all-bangers all-night chaos that is Run the Jewels live. Nobody in the game can match Killer Mike and El-P’s blend of ferocity, goofy banter, social voice, and insane energy. Hopefully, this fever holds. SS KeyArena, keyarena.com. $40–$100. 7 p.m. Fri., March 9.
SAVE THE DATE
Hannibal Buress The Neptune, April 11
Speedy Ortiz The Vera Project, June 13
Lucious (Acoustic) The Moore, September 12
Childish Gambino KeyArena, September 29
