Music / Nightlife

Death Cab For Cutie has announced it will play a surprise show at the Crocodile at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan 20. Tickets are $35 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, via ticketfly.com. Doors are at 6:30 p.m. and opening will be Seattle band More

Grammy-nominated Eric Church, whose album “The Outsiders” was country music’s top-selling album in 2014, will perform April 15 at KeyArena. Tickets, which cost $25-$59.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 16 via Ticketmaster.com.

After months of “hey, who’s gonna buy Chop Suey?,” it looks like something is going on with the Capitol Hill nightspot. The Capitol Hill Blog and the club’s Facebook page report a “Another One Bites the Dust” closeout/blowout on Jan. 18, featuring Tacocat, Wimps, Kithkin, Sashay and more. (The first 250 tickets went…

Bette Midler will perform June 1, 20015 at KeyArena.

Bette Midler will perform June 1, 2015 at KeyArena. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 and are available at the KeyArena Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone toll free at 800-745-3000.

Comedian Rory Scovel will perform a one-night stand at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22 at the JewelBox Theater (Rendezvous Restaurant & Bar). Tickets are $15 and available via Brownpapertickets.com. Scovel is a master at improv and his off-the-cuff observations at Bumbershoot left audiences roaring…

The crowd photographs giant streams of confetti released from the main stage on the last day of the Capitol Hill Block Party Sunday, July 28, 2013. (Courtesy of the Seattle Times)

The lineup for the 2014 Capitol Hill Block Party features A$AP Rocky, Spoon, Chromeo, Matt and Kim, The War on Drugs, ODESZA, Sol, A$AP Ferg, Beat Connection, Star Slinger, Budos Band, Tanlines, XXYYXX, Angel Olsen, Poolside, Cymbals and Shy Girls.

The music and arts festival runs July 25-27 and takes place in a six-block area of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood with two outdoor stages as well as music and events happening in the clubs, bars and restaurants within the gates.

Discounted three-day passes are available today through Friday for $99 and are available at the Capitol Hill Block Party website.

Three-day passes are $125 in advance, individual day passes are $50 in advance and $60 day of and at the door.

Iska Dhaaf, ‘Even the Sun Will Burn’ (Brick Lane)

Seattle, like every city, is full of bands that, for whatever reason, can’t parlay local buzz into something greater. For every Macklemore, there are myriad Mad Rads and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Bands.

This Tuesday, those two groups’ core members — singer-guitarist Nathan Quiroga and drummer Benjamin Verdoes, respectively — return with “Even the Sun Will Burn,” their debut as Iska Dhaaf — Somali for “let it go.”

Comedian Billy Anderson will host a two-day talent showcase at 8 p.m. on Sunday and Monday at Jai Thai on Broadway for comedians seeking a chance to perform at the Washington Comedy Festival. Each night 16 local comedians will perform five minutes of material for…

The Spits headline Chop Suey Friday. Photo by Kealan Shilling.

If your New Year’s Eve disappointed — or you’re looking to continue partying into the weekend — consider The Spits and Wimps at Chop Suey for your Friday entertainment.

Characterized by an oddball sense of humor and an appetite for substance-fueled hijinks, the Seattle-via-Michigan foursome, led by brothers Sean and Erin Wood, has been an underground favorite since the 1990s, releasing a half-dozen albums’ worth of mutant New Wave noise-punk — like a synth-driven Ramones, or perhaps a distorted Devo.

Comedian Zoltan Kaszas, winner of the 34th Annual Seattle International Comedy Competition (photo by Peter Greyy).

Before winning the the 34th Annual Seattle International Comedy Competition, Zoltan Kaszas was an injured wannabe professional wrestler performing in a converted warehouse doubling as a comedy club.

Now, the 26-year-old from San Marcos, Calif. is meeting with an agent and a talent coordinator for Fox Television.

On stage Kaszas, who once coached a youth soccer team, uses observational humor and anecdotal jokes from his personal life to get laughs.

“I wouldn’t have signed up to coach if they had told me that all their games are on Saturday mornings at 7,” he said. “I like to drink. I’m not teaching these kids anything except what a whiskey hangover smells like.”

Kaszas spoke over the phone to us about his big win and the plans he has for the future.

How long have you been performing?

I’ve been doing stand up for 7 years now. I was 19 when I got started. Doing comedy wasn’t my original dream. I wanted to be a professional wrestler, but I have bad shoulders. I was going to get surgery and I was like well I have to do something while I’m in a cast for six months. I always loved stand up and I was always the one cracking jokes, making people laugh, but I never thought I could do it.