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.

BLACK MUSIC SUMMIT 2015: "A MOTOWN IN SEATTLE?"
Sat Jan 31 at 11 am–6 pm at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute
Musicians, artists, promoters, venues, media, educators, community organizers and others gather to discuss the legacy and future of black music in the Central District and Seattle.

LIFELONG'S GAY BINGO
Sat Jan 31 at 5 pm at Fremont Studios
This Bingo Night promises "all of the glitz, glamor and gaiety of the Rocky Horror Picture Show!" and features drag performances and cocktails in addition to all the bingo action.

BILL FRISELL
Sat Jan 31 at 9 pm at Showbox at the Market
The name of this show is “Guitar in the Space Age!” I’ll bet your best plectrum that there’s nobody in this region better equipped to explore this concept than Bill Frisell. A tasteful master of many styles, Frisell, for this tour, focuses on the guitar-centric songs that inspired him as a young boy growing up during a time of optimism rooted in JFK’s space program. So we’ll get a string of goose-bump-raisers like Link Wray’s “Rumble,” the Chantays’ “Pipeline,” Joe Meek/the Tornados’ “Telstar,” Speedy West’s “Reflections from the Moon,” and the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You.” You can count on Frisell to frame these classics with minimal but fanciful ice-cool filigree.

HELMS ALEE, MARRIAGES, AND GRENADES
Sat Jan 31 at 8 pm at Neumos
One would hope that hometown heroes Helms Alee need no introduction at this point. The trio have brandished their blend of thudding tumult and spacious guitar pop across three superb albums and a smattering of EPs and split releases over the course of the last eight years. Their tourmates might be less familiar to Seattleites, though. Like their compatriots in Helms Alee, Marriages shift between sultry, melodic, softly stated passages and roaring crescendos. But while Helms Alee use their peaks to hammer and bludgeon audiences, Marriages build their songs into cosmic spirals of arpeggios and echo trails. Show up early to have your legs torn out from underneath you by Grenades. The angular metallurgist quartet is certainly the least subtle band on the bill, but also the most vicious.

See all of Saturday's top picks in The Stranger's Things to Do calendar. Looking for something to do tomorrow?

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.