The Frames have been an influential rock band for a very long time, as a matter of fact this is the 20th year that the band has been together. They're based out of Dublin, Ireland and so tend to be overshadowed by their musical big brother U2. They've made a solid name for themselves in Europe as well as North America despite that fact. However, you may not have heard The Frames so much as you've heard Glen Hansard or perhaps his side project The Swell Season. Glen was one of two main characters (but basically playing himself in personality and charm) in the movie Once. It was an independent film that found international fame due to it's heart and beauty both visually and musically; if you haven't seen it, we highly recommend you watch it over the long weekend. The other lead in the film was Marketa Irglova, a singer/songwriter from the Czech Republic (also basically playing herself in personality and charm). Out of that film came an amazing group called The Swell Season. All the music in the film was written and performed by the duo and was so successful they decided to pursue it as a band. After a couple years they decided it was time to move on, and thankfully Glen fell back to working with The Frames (though, most of them were helping out with the backing instrumentation in The Swell Season anyway). more ›

HIPHOP THEATRE: Described as a "hip-hop renaissance man," Marc Bamuthi Joseph brings his hiphop theater multimedia production, the break/s, to Seattle (runs through July 12). David Schmader seems to like it, and after reading more about it, we can totally understand why. Joseph, a dancer, award-winning poet, and educator, makes what is described as a "mixtape for the stage" with turntables and djs, visual imagery, dance, and spoken word (story and poetry) from personal interviews and documentary footage. 7:30 p.m. // ACT Theatre, 700 Union Street// Tickets: $10/ $15 (students w/ ID), $37.50/ $50 (adults) more ›

The Lace Makers of Glenmara is one of those novels that you can bet on becoming a big film in the future. We can see it already, and are practically putting money on who would star. Let's see, we need a starring actress who is pretty but not beautiful; petite, not tall; with a lively wit to make up for anything lacking...and a leading man who is tall dark and handsome with an Irish accent. The movie just seems like a no-brainer. more ›

SO HUNGRY: Head to the Northwest Film Forum for Steve McQueen (not to be confused with Steve McQueen) and his first feature Hunger (not to be confused with The Hunger). Instead of sexy vampires, the film's about the true-life hunger strike undertaken by jailed members of the Irish Republican Army, who just wanted to be treated as political prisoners rather than common criminals. While the politics of the film--does it glorify terrorists?--are debatable, McQueen's skills as a director are not; he's got a fine eye and a commendable patience with the camera. There's not much talking in the film, which leaves plenty of time for surprisingly lovely images (see the lonely inmate making friends with the fly in his cell), except for one virtuoso seventeen-minute single-take conversation/debate between a prisoner and a priest, which could've used subtitles, as we don't speak Leprechaun. Hunger runs through Thursday. more ›