Erik Blood has transformed himself into a legit frontman.
  • Brian O’Shea
  • Erik Blood has transformed himself into a legit frontman.

ERIK BLOOD
Fri Jan 30 at 9 pm at Lo-Fi
Erik Blood's most recent album was the lauded Touch Screens, a pornography-addled rock/pop gem that was as fascinating for its subject matter as it was for witnessing Blood transform himself into a legit frontman. He’s since released volume one of Canons, a collection of mostly instrumental works fusing ambient, experimental electronics, and shoegaze into explanation-defying, sumptuous, and subtle grooves. He'll perform with Bod, Grey Waves, and OCNotes.


The Bridge Project gives four new (or newish) artists the opportunity to bring in-studio work to full performance.
  • The Bridge Project gives four new (or newish) artists the opportunity to bring in-studio work to full performance.

THE BRIDGE PROJECT 2015
Fri Jan 30 at 8 pm at Velocity Dance Center
The Bridge Project is one of Velocity Dance Center's great gifts to the city—a four-week residency allowing four new (or newish) artists free rehearsal space and a crew of auditioned dancers to develop new work. The "bridge" part of the name refers to the opportunity to bring in-studio work to full performance, but also to the new relationships artists develop with each other during the process. You want to find the next important dancer or choreographer (or musician or designer or filmmaker) in this town? That person might be here.


Leatherdaddy: from math-prog breakdownts to straightforward psych rock.
  • Leatherdaddy: from math-prog breakdownts to straightforward psych rock.

LEATHERDADDY
Fri Jan 30 at 8:30 pm at Hollow Earth Radio
Certain expectations are raised in one’s head when first listening to a band calling itself Leatherdaddy. Dark, surreptitious, vaguely profane expectations. And indeed, the four gents making up the group have no trouble soundtracking the more sinister aspects of life, beginning their Plague House EP with a torrent of pummeling, down-tuned riffage. But they’re also more than capable of changing gears, from bewitching math-prog breakdowns to relatively straightforward psych rock. They may hate the comparison, but they remind one at times of Tool’s protean take on epic metal, a sort of kitchen-sink approach to bad vibrations that suits these young lads well.


The bespectacled Berlin tech/house dude is on his first North American tour.
  • The bespectacled Berlin tech/house dude is on his first North American tour.

MAREK HEMMANN, NORDIC SOUL, AND PEZZNER
Fri Jan 30 at 10 pm at Re-bar
Pro tip: When a bald, bespectacled Berlin techno/house dude comes through Seattle, you should probably go see him perform. Case in point is Marek Hemmann, who’s in town tonight on his first North American tour. Recording for the highly respected Freude am Tanzen label, Hemmann makes coolheaded tracks that pump and chug with efficient minimalist brio, often spicing up his cuts with lush synth melodies that spiral upward with restrained glee. Support comes from two of Seattle’s most accomplished and versatile veterans of 4/4-oriented electronic music, Pezzner and Nordic Soul.


Michael Shermer is the executive director of the Skeptics Society.
  • David Patton
  • Michael Shermer is the executive director of the Skeptics Society.

MICHAEL SHERMER
Fri Jan 30 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall
The founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, executive director of the Skeptics Society, and columnist for Scientific American will read from his new book, The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom.







See all of today's top picks in The Stranger's Things to Do calendar. Planning ahead? Here are the top events...

ON SATURDAY...

A huge nerd living the nerd dream.
  • A huge nerd living the nerd dream.

PATTON OSWALT: OFF THE PAGE
Sat Jan 31 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall
Patton Oswalt is not just one of the smartest, funniest comedians in the business, he’s also a huge nerd who’s living the nerd dream, from scoring guest roles on superhero TV shows to ad-libbing awesome fan-fiction rants on Parks and Recreation. (He also filmed the world’s most awkward sex scene with Charlize Theron.) Tonight, Seattle Arts & Lectures brings Oswalt to town to discuss his newest book, Silver Screen Fiend, a biography of the pre-fame Oswalt, back in the days when he’d obsessively watch movies and fail at stand-up routines.


See all of Saturday's top picks in The Stranger's Things to Do calendar.


ON SUNDAY...

Go Hawks!
  • Go Hawks!

THE SUPER BOWL (DUH)
Only the Grinch dry-fisting Ebenezer Scrooge while Nurse Ratched watches could deny the drama of the 2014–15 Seahawks, or the value of a global spectacle erupting in your backyard. Watch the game or don’t—a full list of Super Bowl parties can be found right here. Just try to go 24 hours without using the word “sportsball,” will you please? I hate sports, too, but you’re blowing my high.


See all of Sunday's top picks in The Stranger's Things to Do calendar.