Gorgeous Gorge

After a failed attempt to expand to two weekends in 2014, Sasquatch! Music Festival returns once again as a four-day Memorial Day weekend blowout. Modest Mouse, Kendrick Lamar, and Robert Plant headline the action with plenty of lesser-known gems (Angel Olsen, Will Butler, Courtney Barnett) scattered throughout the loaded lineup of Gorge goodness.
May 22–25  ◆  Gorge Amphitheatre, sasquatchfestival.com

Anything But Sketchy

In his large-scale graphite drawings, Ethan Murrow manages to ground the surreal. His latest exhibition, Jurassic, showcases the artist’s photographic eye, which helps frame his meticulously detailed scenes in a way that imbues them with a sweeping, almost cinematic sense of place.
Thru June 4  ◆  Winston Wächter, winstonwachter.com

Pilobolus 

Modern dance can sometimes get caught up in its own seriousness, but acclaimed Connecticut dance company Pilobolus never loses sight of the medium’s playfulness. The group makes its eighth UW World Series appearance with a five-piece program that includes dancers on rising columns, dancers bicycling, a journey out of Hades, cyborg-themed movements, and an OK Go collaboration. 
May 14–16  ◆  Meany Hall, pilobolus.com

The Future is Now

Seattle’s own violin virtuoso Simone Porter made her professional debut with the Seattle Symphony in 2006. She was 10. Now 18, she’s already been labeled a star by the Los Angeles Times and is ready to floor audiences with her passionate playing. Don’t miss the globe-trotting Porter as she returns home to perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 5 with the Seattle Symphony. 
May 28–31  ◆  Benaroya Hall, seattlesymphony.org
 

“I think the reason Jesus is so popular, just on a celebrity level, is that he died at the peak of his career.”

—Marc Maron

The comedian’s brand of cynical introspection has made his WTF podcast a smash hit and garnered him his own self-titled IFC series, Maron. 
May 8  ◆  Neptune Theatre, wtfpod.com

Mister Misery

Elliott Smith was the poet laureate of sad Northwest indie outcasts. With a guitar and his beautifully hushed and delicate voice, the Portland-based singer-songwriter crafted perfect odes to love and sorrow on albums like Either/Or and XO, before eventually garnering national acclaim and an Oscar nomination as the musical soul of Good Will Hunting. The documentary Heaven Adores You finally captures Smith’s story via interviews, a wealth of personal photos and footage from friends, and previously unheard Smith recordings. While his suicide in 2003 still haunts the musical community, the film serves as an emotional tribute to the lasting brilliance he achieved in his all-too-brief life.
May 15–21  ◆  Northwest Film Forum, nwfilmforum.org