Staff Picks
From nearly sold-out arena rock shows to hometown favorites, these are the top Seattle concerts in the coming weeks.
MJ Lenderman & the Wind
Indie rock’s new big thing, MJ Lenderman is the Southern-twanged slacker rock poet the rock world didn’t know it needed until last year’s “Manning Fireworks” smacked ‘em upside the head like an errant guitar neck. The buzz that the North Carolina singer/songwriter/guitar shredder had been building the past few years officially boiled over thanks to his witty observational lyrics and melodious solos embedded into fuzzy and emotionally hefty rock tunes that move with a porch-swing breeziness. Those who missed out on tickets for Lenderman’s February Neptune date are in luck: He’ll be back Sept. 18 to play the larger Moore Theatre.
8 p.m. Feb. 22; Neptune Theatre, 1303 N.E. 45th St., Seattle; sold out
Sonic Guild Grant Celebration
Five years since its inception, Sonic Guild Seattle has established itself as a vital nonprofit providing financial aid to local musicians to help them afford to live and make art in an increasingly unaffordable city. This year, Sonic Guild is set to distribute a total of $100,000 in grants to 10 artists, feted during this grant-awarding ceremony/fundraiser concert. Grant recipients slated to perform include darkwave synth-punks Dark Chisme, hip-hop standouts Oblé Reed and Marshall Law Band, veteran rockers The Moondoggies and more.
7:30 p.m. Feb. 22; Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle; $75; tripledoor.net
Translinear Light: The Music of Alice Coltrane
Beyond Philadelphia sax phenom Immanuel Wilkins coming back to town (Feb. 28, Triple Door), the last week of February is a good one for jazz gigs. High on my list, Ravi Coltrane — the son of jazz legends John and Alice Coltrane — lands in Seattle on a limited West Coast run celebrating the work of his mother with a first-rate band featuring new-school harpist Brandee Younger.
7:30 p.m. Feb. 26; Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle; tickets start at $39.50; stgpresents.org
Deftones
A few nights before arriving in Seattle, these NorCal nu metal survivors kick off a 2025 arena tour in Portland, where frontman and adopted Northwesterner Chino Moreno now resides. With their first new album in five years reportedly in the can and limited tickets remaining, Deftones’ local date is shaping up to be the most anticipated arena rock show of the first quarter, bolstered by support from prog rock heroes The Mars Volta. Fleshwater opens.
7 p.m. Feb. 27; Climate Pledge Arena, 334 First Ave. N., Seattle; tickets start at $59.50; climatepledgearena.com
Freakout Weekender
The psych-rocking squad behind Freakout Festival returns to take over the Crocodile complex for its annual spring fling, the Freakout Weekender. This year’s always reliable and eclectic lineup is led by Colombian psych-funk groovers BALTHVS and Portland garage rockers Spoon Benders, alongside Norwegian instrumentalists Orions Belte and Cali pop punks SWMRS — no longer featuring Joey Armstrong (son of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong), who left the band after sexual misconduct allegations. Also on board: Nirvana-worshipping Vancouverites The Jins, cumbia artist Amantes del Futuro, jazz fusion drummer Daniel Villarreal and more.
7 p.m. March 1-2; Crocodile, 2505 First Ave., Seattle; $35-$55 single-day general admission, two-day passes start at $72.50; 21-and-older; the-freakout.com
Tyler, the Creator
One of hip-hop’s most inventive stars, Tyler, the Creator has officially entered his grown-man era, after confidently pushing the boundaries of his artistry and playing with personas on 2019’s “Igor” and tackling more mature themes on his subsequent albums, including October’s “Chromakopia.” This spring, rap’s David Bowie returns to Seattle — a city the 33-year-old has expressed a great affinity for — with two shows at Climate Pledge Arena. With Lil Yachty and Paris Texas.
7:30 p.m. March 2-3; Climate Pledge Arena, 334 First Ave. N., Seattle; sold out
Jerry Cantrell
Since Alice in Chains released their last Grammy-nominated album in 2018, Jerry Cantrell has been busy scratching his solo itch with impressive results. With his second solo album since 2021, the Seattle rock great leaned into his heavy side on last year’s brutally titled “I Want Blood.” Stuffed with Cantrell’s trademark hauntingly heavy melodies and ditch-digging grooves, the AIC co-founder’s fourth solo offering is a more than worthy entry into the hard rock all-timer’s estimable catalog. Cantrell caps a winter tour with a sold-out homecoming show, the way the rock gods intended.
8 p.m. March 9; Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle; sold out
Kelsea Ballerini
Country-pop star Kelsea Ballerini seemed to enjoy stepping onto the small screen this fall, making her acting debut on ABC series “Doctor Odyssey.” Back at her real job, the crossover-savvy singer is up for a country Grammy for her Noah Kahan collab “Cowboys Cry Too,” the biggest tune off Ballerini’s new album, “Patterns.” U.K. pop singer-songwriter Maisie Peters and MaRynn Taylor open.
7 p.m. March 13; Climate Pledge Arena, 334 First Ave. N., Seattle; tickets start at $51; climatepledgearena.com
Seattle release parties
On the hometown tip, new release season gets off with a bang as three Washington artists toast new albums with upcoming Seattle shows.
First up, Seattle indie rock faves Deep Sea Diver celebrate their dazzling Sub Pop debut, “Billboard Heart,” with a week of local listening events and album signings, highlighted by a release night in-store performance at Easy Street Records. (7 p.m. Feb. 28; free; easystreetonline.com)
Back in January, esteemed trumpeter and community galvanizer Thomas Marriott of the Seattle Jazz Fellowship released his latest collection, “Screen Time,” recorded with his Grammy-nominated pianist pal Orrin Evans, Robert Hurst (bass) and Mark Whitfield Jr. (drums). The talented quartet hits Seattle jazz’s big room, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, for two shows March 4-5. (7:30 p.m.; $31.40; jazzalley.com)
Producer and singer-songwriter Fish Narc is writing a new chapter in Olympia’s storied DIY lineage, blending the emo-rap aesthetics of his cult-favorite GothBoiClique collective (featuring the late Lil Peep) with mellifluously scruffy indie rock the Pacific Northwest is typically more closely associated with. This month Fish Narc released “Frog Song,” his second album with fabled Oly label K Records, and swings through Seattle for a March 6 date at Madame Lou’s. (8:30 p.m.; $20; 21-plus; thecrocodile.com)
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