MEET ME IN THE CHAMBER: We don't need to sell the symphony fans on chamber music, but maybe you rock and rollers could use a little primer. Catch six chamber ensembles at Town Hall tonight, and get your chamber music in 15-minute doses. It's like tapas, but with violins. 8 p.m. // Town Hall // Free LOCAL AUTHOR BLOWOUT: TNT sports writer Dave Boling has written a novel. Go Dave! Guernica is set during the......

IN A WU TANG WAY: Not being of the hip-hop persuasion ourselves, Seattlest asked our resident hip-hop guru Katelyn how relevant it may be to people that Gza of Wu Tang Clan fame is playing at Neumo's tonight. She basically said it was relevant "in a Wu Tang way." We don't know what that means, but if you do, then Neumo's is your place to be. 8 p.m. doors // Neumo's // $20 YOUR BRAIN......

ACROBATS AT THE MALL: We understand that, when the Southcenter mall opened up a couple weeks ago, there were some aerialists and acrobats there to provide some fanfare. Apparently, Pacific Place got all jealous, because they'll be welcoming aerialists, diablo artists and comediennes from Teatro ZinZanni Thursdays through Sundays for the rest of the month. Head to the mall tonight to get a free show! 6 p.m. // Pacific Place // Free MORE CIRCUS STUFF:......

DRINK WITH CHRIS GREGOIRE: Drinking Liberally gathers each Tuesday to talk politics and drink alcohol. Tonight, they'll be joined by unafraid-to-call-herself-a-Democrat Chris Gregoire, who will no doubt be drinking for the votes of all those in attendance. 8 p.m. // Montlake Ale House // Price of whatever you're drinking SPEAKING OF GETTING SHIT DONE: Elliott Bay Books hosts their Global Issues and Ethics Book Club tonight, where they'll be discussing Paul Hawken's Blessed Unrest: How......

FREE BUSH: Get your mind out of the gutter. We're talking about Gavin Rossdale. He's in town today to put on a free show at everyone's favorite new venue Showbox SODO. Get there early, because we imagine there'll be a line for blocks to get into this thing. We hope he does some solo acoustic versions of all the Bush classics. 8:30 p.m. doors; 9:30 p.m. show // Showbox SoDo // Free! SHOW US WHAT......

HOW MANY BOYS, HOW MANY GIRLS: A Chorus Line opens at the Paramount tonight. It's being sold on the TV commercials as the best Broadway musical EVAR, and we'd have to agree. Seattlest will be the one singing along with every single word (and dancing along with every bit of choreography in our seat). This is the show, at least in part, responsible for our life-long love affair with music and dance. You've got a......

"HISTORY IS ABOUT TO CRACK OPEN": Angels in America may be one of the most moving plays we've ever seen, and it's being reprised in Seattle for the second weekend in a row, before ending its run next week. The performance of the play's first part, "Millenium Approaches," is being performed by Absurd Reality Theatre at the Bagley Wright, in the small theater. May we suggest you head out to the theater and catch a......

WHAT A WICKED GAME YOU PLAY: There's some pretty good national names hitting town tonight. But, since Emmylou Harris is sold out at the Zoo, perhaps you'll enjoy the warbling sounds of Chris Isaak at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. Tickets for that are still on sale. 7 p.m. // Chateau Ste. Michelle // $45-69 THE SLAVES' WAR: Local author Andrew Ward will be reading from his latest compelling historical account of what some of......

HIPPIES UNITE: Innovative guitarist/singer/songwriter Keller Williams is a mainstay on the jamfolk scene and, much like Yonder Mountain Stringband (also on the bill tonight), is responsible for inspiring throngs of hippies to bounce and twirl. We've never caught him live, but we understand he puts on quite the show. He'll be at Marymoor tonight, blowing some minds. 7 p.m. // Marymoor Park // $29.50 IT TOOK A LOT OF MONEY TO START MY HEART: If......

ART FORUM: Art critic Rachel Kushner has written a novel, Telex From Cuba. It starts out like a painting, which only makes sense, considering. You can read the first chapter, or just head to Elliott Bay tonight and let her read it to you. 7:30 p.m. // Elliott Bay Books // Free YOU'RE SUCH A TEASE: Wanna get your burlesque on, but don't know how to get started? Join the Open Tease tonight at the......

BAND OF BROTHER AUTHORS: Elliott Bay Books is hosting a reading tonight by brother authors Leif and Lin Enger. According to the listing, "Both are home-state Minnesotans, both still live there, and both have the land of 10,000 lakes as the setting for their new books." 7:30 p.m. // Elliott Bay Books // Free GIRLS SINGING NIGHT: From Tucson, Ariz., Courtney Robbins' music calls to mind Erin McKeown and Eilen Jewell. If you're looking for......

NPR IN DA HOUSE: Seattlest was kind of surprised to hear that tickets are still available for NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me live show at the Paramount tonight. We've never personally been to a live radio show before, but we do love the N to the PR, and we're guessing this'll be well worth your time. In case you don't mack on the NPR, it's the silly quiz show that takes a humorous look......

SCIENCE WITH A TWIST: We've always had fun at the Pacific Science Center's monthly events for adults. If you enjoy science and drinking, you can't get much better than this. This month's event is focused around their new exhibit, Speed, and a drink they're calling the "Turbo Charger." Win tickets to the new Batman movie, watch a speed-themed movie on the IMAX screen, and eat and drink to your heart's content. 6 p.m. Happy Hour,......

FROSH LIT: Desperately hip? Unsuccessful Seattle literary type desperate to bask in the glow of the real thing? Wanna kvetch about how much you hate the stuck-up Ivy League boys over at n+1? Well, tonight's your chance: Ed Park, one of the founding editors of McSweeneys tagalong The Believer, is in town pitching his debut novel, Personal Days. It's a book about a bunch of Manhattan office workers, delving deep into the rich inner lives......

SALMAN RUSHDIE: He'll be hitting Town Hall tonight to read from his latest effort, The Enchantress of Florence. According to the press release, it sounds like it's one of those quasi-fictional tales pitting opposites against each other (and, possibly, in the process, showing how opposites attract?). Tickets are available at University Bookstore for $5 a pop, or you can just buy a copy of the novel and use that as your entry. 7:30 p.m.......

FULL PUPPET NUDITY: You might have noticed that big banner on the side of the Paramount advertising puppet cleavage Avenue Q. Well, tonight is opening night, so if you haven't gotten your tickets for this ever-so-brief run of the Tony Award-winning show, now's your time. Seattlest will be there tonight for the kick-off, but then it's up to you to get out and see those puppets sing and swear all over the place. June 10-22......

TALK ABOUT YOUR HEALTH: Founder of Bastyr University and chief science officer for Metagenetics, Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., thinks we should be focusing on "biochemical individuality derived from genetic and environmental differences." Seems practical enough. He'll be speaking on the matter tonight and, if you're interested in the ongoing debate about how to fix our healthcare system, you should check out his talk, entitled Healthcare Reform 2008: Creating a True Health Care System. 7:30 p.m. //......

FREE BALLARD DAY: It's been over a century, but maybe today's the day that Ballard will finally secede from the city. Stranger things have happened. Anyway, in celebration of Free Ballard Day, the fine folks at Archie McPhee will be giving a free gift to anyone who enters their store saying the secret word: "lutefisk." They'd also like you to know that you'll get a free gift if you spend more than $25. So go......

TEENY BOPPER EXPRESS: Disney's High School Musical opens at the Paramount tonight, so maybe steer clear of the teenagers downtown. If you have your own teenager, maybe it's a good night to set them free with their friends so they can go sing along and goo-goo-ga-ga over the cute boys and dreaminess of this sensational teenfest. 7:30 p.m. // Paramount Theater // $20-67 plus fees WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Seattlest made it to the Seattle Storm's opening......

READING: We love to eat fish, but have been struggling with the morality of it since A) we don't eat other meat and B) we know commercial fishing is often environmentally unsound. In our research to discover if any fish is okay for a tree-hugging, animal anthropomorphizer to eat, we found Taras Grescoe and his book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood which Salon says tells readers to ask the......

LIVE MUSIC: If you're looking to start your weekend a day early, why not head to the Showbox Downtown for Minus the Bear. Fresh off the hottness of Coachella, the band's back in town to rock you hard. 8 p.m. // Showbox Downtown // $17.50 adv, $20 dos // all ages ART & WINE: Personally, we can think of no better pairing than art and wine, when it comes to nights out. The Frye will......

CINCO DE MAYO: We may not have a ton of great tacquerias in town, but our local Mexican joints do a fine job with their margaritas. Our favorite is out in Ballard—La Carta de Oaxaca. Also worthy are Jalisco's various locations and, of course, Mama's Mexican Kitchen in Belltown. Or take it one step further and head to Tacos Guaymas in Greenlake to catch Pedrito Vargas y su Grupo Ashe. 4 p.m. // Tacos......

BOOKS: Local author (from Anacortes) William Dietrich will be making the rounds of local book stores, starting tonight at University Book Store. He'll be reading from his recent book, The Rosetta Key. The book sounds a little stressful, but full of Indiana Jones-style adventure. 7 p.m. // University Book Store // Free IN BALLARD: Pufferfish is probably one of Seattle's most awesome, little-known folk-rock bands. We're talking guys with shakers on their ankles dancing......

Honestly. Why aren't more book readings held in bars? Bookstores are antiseptic places where talking loudly is verboten--when an author does it at a reading, it feels impolite. In a bar, though, attempts to command attention are commonplace and usually welcome. And let's not forget the fact that pretty much everything is better when you have a drink in your hand--and when you know that, worst case, you can head to the video poker machine.......

We're not fools -- a lot of you will miss this, purposefully, because you don't care about rail-riding hobo culture. But that is your loss. When he was still under 40, the New Yorker called William T. Vollman "one of the twenty best writers in America under 40." He's been to Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Seattle. He's in town tonight to talk about his voluntary hobo-age, chronicled in Riding Toward Everywhere. We read an excerpt of......

We left it up to Jami Attenberg to pick a spot in a not-so-crowded Bauhaus Coffeehouse this morning, and somehow she managed to find the cavelike area behind and below everything that goes on in a not-so-crowded coffeehouse. Overtired, pre-caffeinated and maybe a little bit getting sick, Attenberg seemed comfortable in the cave. An interview she did with Metblogs on her last book tour indicated that Bauhaus is one of her favorite Seattle haunts,......