SPECIAL EVENT

Aug 2–4
Seafair
Feel the need? The need for…well, you know. Get an adrenaline rush at Genesee Park courtesy Seafair Weekend’s Boeing Air Show, Albert Lee Appliance Cup hydroplane races, Graham Trucking Cup Formula 1 Prop boat races, and the gnarly tricks on display during the Hyperlite Wakeboard Experience. Whiplash for everyone! Genesee Park, from $30.

CONCERTS

Aug 2, 9, 16 & 23
Concerts at the Mural
Variety has always been KEXP’s greatest strength, and the radio-station-sponsored Concerts at the Mural offer an eclectic mix of free local music. There’s an evening of Americana and roots with Rose Windows (Aug 2), a melodic rock lineup with Cloud Cult and Deep Sea Diver (Aug 9), a noisy alt-rock showcase headlined by Mudhoney (Aug 16), and a Decibel Festival night for electronic music lovers (Aug 23). Shows start at 5:30; beer/wine garden opens at 4:30. Mural Amphitheatre, Seattle Center, free.

Aug 2
Out to Lunch Concerts: LeRoy Bell 
Seattle’s LeRoy Bell hit the national stage covering famous people’s songs as an X Factor contestant in 2011—but the longtime R&B/blues songwriter has penned hits for the likes of Elton John and Gladys Knight. Now he’s focused on trying to write hits for himself, and this Friday, he plays a free Out to Lunch concert from noon–1:30. Harbor Steps, free.

Aug 4
Pink Martini
Lead singer China Forbes has fully recovered from her 2011 vocal surgery—in fact, she says her voice is better than ever. That’s great news for fans of Portland’s little orchestra, back for more pop and jazz covers. Marymoor Park, $45–$75.

FILM

Aug 2
Metropolis (screening and performance)
Seattle experimental music collective GRID, directed by Jen Gilleran, provides an original live score for all those nefarious robots in Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent sci-fi film, Metropolis. Henry Art Gallery, $10.

Aug 3
MOHAI Movies in the Park: Singles
In conjunction with its exhibit Celluloid Seattle, the Museum of History and Industry will screen a free outdoor movie the first four weekends of August. Cameron Crowe's grunge-era Singles, which helped define Generation X malise (and featured members of Pearl Jam as the fictional band Citizen Dick), kicks off the series. Lake Union Park, free, screening starts at dusk.

Thru Aug 24
Fremont Outdoor Movies
In addition to screenings of Risky Business (Aug 2) and The Avengers (Aug 10), Fremont Outdoor Movies’ summer lineup includes a Stay Classy party centered around the absurd humor of Anchorman (Aug 17) and the Alamo Drafthouse’s somehow even more absurd sing-along presentation of R. Kelly’s music soap opera—or hip hopera—Trapped in the Closet (Aug 3). As always, a Big Lebowski–themed Dude Fest (Aug 24), complete with white Russians (the drink, not Putin) closes out the month. 3501 Phinney Ave N, $5–$12.

OUT OF TOWN

Aug 2–4
Pickathon
Road trip, anyone? Pickathon, Oregon’s three-day roots music festival, delivers Feist, Sharon Van Etten, and Seattle’s Shabazz Palaces to a farm just outside Portland. Pendarvis Farm, Oregon, $130–$260.

SPORTING LIFE

Aug 3
Seattle Sounders FC v. FC Dallas
The Sounders face a tough challenge when they host FC Dallas, the best club in MLS through the early months of the season; at least they're on their home turf. CenturyLink Field, $29–$98.

THEATER

Thru Aug 11
Gruesome Playground Injuries
We've been hearing good things about this Rajiv Joseph drama, about a pair of school-age friends whom we meet at age 8, and follow through age 38, as they endure life's injuries (internal and external) and their scars. Staged by gutsy new theater company Azeotrope and "artfully directed" by local Desdemona Chiang, says The Stranger. Azeotrope at the Little Theatre, $25.

EAT & DRINK

Aug 4
Bluegrass, Beer, and Brats
Ballard’s Populuxe Brewing is bringing together three of the greatest B words known to mankind: bluegrass (provided by the Shed Boys), beer (courtesy of Populuxe) and brats (grilled on the spot). Each $20 suggested donation benefits Community Lunch, which serves free, nutritious meals to low-income and homeless people in Capitol Hill. 

VISUAL ART

Thru Aug 17
SuttonBeresCuller: Three Way
When John Sutton, Ben Beres, and Zac Culler began their creative collaboration more than a decade ago, their dynamic blend of installation and performance art was ignited by the questions “Why does art have to be an object? Why can’t it be an experience?” The show, Three Way, their debut with Seattle’s preeminent commercial gallery, has the answer written all over it: so you have something to sell. Greg Kucera Gallery.