Got plans Thursday night? No? Good! Get yourself over to Solo in Lower Queen Anne, because there's a Bumbershoot prefunk party going on -- and we're all invited.

On August 25th (this Thursday) from 5-8p, a handful of local photographers (along with the fine folks over at One Reel) will be combining forces to present a happy hour of festival-sized proportions.  We will bask in the glory of the amazing work of James Bailey, Laura Musselman, Christopher Nelson, Jim Bennett, Erin Lodi, Nate Watters, and our very own Victoria VanBruinisse while snacking on tasty food and drink specials as a handcrafted playlist plays on the Solo soundsystem.

What a way to kick off the weekend (because we all know that weekend's *actually* start on Thursday night): happy hour specials and getting our Bumbershoot frenzy on!  After we peruse the art on the walls, let's chat about our Bumbershoot schedules and figure out a strategy to fit in all the must-sees.

Admission is free and the show will be hanging for a few weeks in case you can't join us for the fab opening night festivities.

Hope to see you there!

{Free / 21+ / 5-8p. More information on the Facebook event page here. Photo of Mark Pickerel and the Tripwires from Bumbershoot 2010 by Victoria VanBruinisse.}

Seattle is a big comics AND music town; besides musicians putting out their own comics and slinking around both sides of the counter at comic stores, and whole bands working in the Fantagraphics warehouse at times, there is almost a mutual fandom for both. That connection has been helped out with bright, dapper promoters like Pete Greenberg moving back and forth between those creative milieus.

Pete was in charge of making the old Croc the rocking madness it was night after night for many years, and then did the same for Chop Suey. He was always great to BANDOPPLER, the comics-friendly music magazine I used to co-edit, and now he helps put on the Backroom Comics Podcast (with someone here who might look awful familiar to the Three Imaginary Girls family):

Next week, the Backroom Comics Podcast comes out from behind the long boxes and displays and presents "You've Got Booze On My Comics!" at Solo Bar ("the best bar in Seattle to be named after a Star Wars character", the invite says) on 200 Roy Street in Lower Queen Anne.

Starting at 8 PM, there will be a comic book swap (bring one take one! "Kinda like a key party only way less icky"), death defying trivia questions, performances by Galzilla ("Beware The Clownquistador!"), and something called "Drink & Draw"...which many cartoonists I know locally have been practicing for for quite some time.

"Live readings! Games! Fun! Booze! You!" And make that me, because I wouldn't miss this hot mess for the world.

Bumbershoot weekend is going to be hopping in and outside the gates of the Seattle Center.

By now you know what you should be on the look out for while walking the Bumbershoot campus, but once you exit the gate, I recommend you head over to Bumbershots! at the Solo bar this Saturday and Sunday.

Three Imaginary Girls, along with our friends at Easy Street, Makers Mark and New Belgium Brewing, have put together evening, complete with Seattle musician DJ sets and drink specials to help you wind down / rest up / keep the party going during your post-Bshoot hours.

• Saturday (9/5) - 10pm DJ set by Rachel & Ben from Visqueen
• Sunday (9/6) - 10pm DJ set by Cassidy & Andrew from Sleepy Eyes of Death

Tonight, Solo Bar in Lower Queen Anne (200 Roy Street) is hosting a listening party for two of the most highly-anticipated local releases of the year: Throw Me the Statue's Creaturesque and USE's L O V E W O R L D.

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If you'd like to make it an early night but still want to catch some rock and roll, might we suggest a fun time on Lower Queen Anne?

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