All the Live Art I Witnessed in 2017
I consume a lot of culture in various forms, but one that I don’t normally track online is live art.
What is live art? Well, in my world, it is anything that is performed, experienced, or interacted with solely in a live setting. It can be a play, a concert, or a museum exhibition. It can be a comedy show, a lecture, or a podcast taping. It doesn’t really matter, so long as it is happening in front of me, and I am there to see it in the moment.
This list will not be as extensive as some of my others, mostly because these things cost money and time, in a way the other culture consumables do not, but I still managed to engage with more than a fair share of live art over the course of 12 months. It is a list which I will organize in chronological order, and categorize thusly:
music
play
COMEDY
visual art
lecture/reading/other
January
1/13 Eric Bachman — Kathy Lindenmeyer’s House
1/21 Hamilton Leithauser — Tractor Tavern
1/29 Ira Glass — Benaroya Hall
February
2/24 Hot Tuna — Benaroya Hall
2/24 Dawes — The Showbox
2/24 Electric Guest — The Crocodile
March
3/5 Jens Lekman — Neumos
3/18 Japandroids with Craig Finn — Neptune Theatre
3/22 Genre Bender — Langston
3/24 PATTON OSWALT — Paramount Theatre
3/24 Strfkr — The Crocodile
3/27 Alison Crutchfield — The Vera Project
3/28 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever — Barboza
April
4/8 Radiohead — Key Arena
May
5/9 An American in Paris — Paramount Theatre
5/12 The Long Winters — Axis 1/Upstream
5/12 Charlie Hunter Trio — 88 Keys/Upstream
5/13 Karl Blau — J&M/Upstream
5/14 U2 — Century Link Field
5/20 Bring It On — Shorecrest High School
5/22 Michael Kiwanuka — The Showbox
5/24 KUOW News Quiz — Neptune Theatre
June
6/8 John Mellencamp — Marymoor Park
6/16 The Autumn Defense — Eaux Claires
6/16 Julieta Venegas — Eaux Claires
6/16 Mountain Man Eaux Claires
6/16 Tweedy — Eaux Claires
6/16 Bon Iver Presents John Prine & The American Songbook — Eaux Claires
6/16 Sylvan Esso — Eaux Claires
6/16 The Staves — Eaux Claires
6/16 Chance the Rapper — Eaux Claires
6/17 Big Red Machine — Eaux Claires
6/17 Danny Brown — Eaux Claires
6/17 Feist — Eaux Claires
6/17 Perfume Genius — Eaux Claires
6/18 Velvet Negroni — The Lismore
6/18 Mouse on Mars — The Lismore
July
7/14 Kusama: Infinity Mirrors — Seattle Art Museum
7/24 Waxahatchee — Neptune Theatre
7/26 Bully — The Sunset
7/28 Ryan Adams — Paramount Theatre
August
8/19 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers — Safeco Field
8/25 Beck — Marymoor Park
September
9/2 Cataldo — Bumbershoot
9/2 Junius Meyvant — Bumbershoot
9/2 Conor Oberst — Bumbershoot
9/2 The Roots — Bumbershoot
9/4 Thundercat — The Showbox
9/26 Sheer Mag — Chop Suey
9/27 Janet Jackson — Key Arena
9/30 Sturgill Simpson — Marymoor Park
October
10/4 Pride & Prejudice — Seattle Rep
10/5 Feist — Neptune Theatre
10/7 Band Crush: Will Jordan & Andrew Joslyn — Piranha Shop
10/15 Arcade Fire — Key Arena
10/21 Yumi Zouma — Barboza
10/22 Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile — The Showbox
10/28 Alvvays with Jay Som — The Showbox
November
11/10 Elbow — The Showbox
11/12 Curtis Harding — The Sunset
11/16 James and the Giant Peach — Shorecrest High School
11/29 Bill Murray and Friends — Benaroya Hall
December
12/9 Band Crush: Cataldo & Ruler — Piranha Shop
12/12 JOHN MULANEY — Paramount Theatre