People: There are reasons to go to Folklife! First, Folklife is free. There's a suggested donation, so you can always throw some dollars their way, but if you're broke, you're broke. Second, there are always dogs wandering around and looking cute. So many dogs. Dogs are wonderful. Third, there's roasted corn! You can cover it with garlic salt and butter and chili powder. It's delicious.

Also: There is music. Good music, even! Here are a few highlights, should you be in town this weekend, looking for some fun.

Terrible Buttons (3:45 pm at the Vera Project). I wrote about them here. Read that. They're good! You can hear them here.

Levi Fuller (6:20 pm at the Folklife Cafe). The man behind the wonderful Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly! Hear his song from the last BofW release, "With Age Wisdom," here.

Orkestar Zirkonium (8:25 pm at the Fountain Lawn Stage). A dozen-member marching band that you've probably seen before because they have a habit of taking their entertaining racket to the street. See them in action here!

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By now, chances are, you've already made up your mind on what you're doing this weekend. You could be packing up all your camping gear and heading out to the Gorge for a weekend full of whimsical indie rock at Sasquatch, heading down to Seattle Center to partake in some Folklife festivities, or hitting up the insanely stacked Tragedy and Nasum shows at the Highline. But if you're like me, you'll be sweating it out all weekend long for the sixth annual Rain Fest, a sold-out three day hardcore fest. Like last year, this year's event will take place at Neumo's.

Here's what I wrote about Friday's line up in this week's Up & Coming section...

Rainfest: Between Earth & Sky, Clarity, CodeXRed, Cro-Mags, H20, Losing Skin, Minority Unit, Paint It Black, Suburban Scum, Wreck
(Neumos) Now in its sixth year, Rainfest has quickly grown from a small-time affair taking place in VFW halls to a three-day hardcore-punk extravaganza, boasting a lineup packed with enough fury to keep the kids fist-pumping and stage-diving all weekend. The first day of the fest is headlined by two New York hardcore heavyweights: the legendary Cro-Mags and the always positive H20. There's no reason to show up late for just these two; local favorites like Wreck and Losing Skin are sure to turn some heads and get some banging. With more than 40 bands playing everything from thrash punk to metalcore, Rainfest is sure to feature at least one band to please anyone with a taste for loudness. KEVIN DIERS

But if you're sticking it out for the whole weekend, here are a few more bands you won't want to miss:

SATURDAY

- Weekend Nachos: This Chicago band plays raw-as-fuck powerviolence that's best described as "superfast/superslow." They're thrashing one second and the next they're crushing your eardrums with that heavy slowness.

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Well, this is cool. Read more.

Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Youth Violence Prevention Program and Bembry Consulting Services invite you and your youth to come out and join legendary Hip-Hop Pioneer and Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Kurtis Blow, in a talk back at Garfield Teen Life Center on Monday, May 28 from 10am – 1pm.

Some guy named "Jimmy the Pickpocket" organized a "punk folk" weekend to coincide with the Folklife Fest this weekend. How smart is that? Sunday, a group from Oakland called the Sourmash Hug Band plays. I'm in love with them for their name alone.

Full lineup after the jump...

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John Felthous and Andy Reichel* (aka Gel-Sol) will be launching a new DJ night at the Living Room June 20 called Stunt Rock. What the blazing hell is Stunt Rock? From what I can gather, it's rock that makes you want to perform dangerous stunts, lose your inhibitions, wear bellbottoms, get shit-faced and/or stoned, and grow mutton chops. Mr. Felthous can elaborate further.

Every third Wednesday at The Living Room in Seattle, curators Gel-Sol and John F. spin the sounds of 70 rock. Favorites you're not sick of yet, and stuff you've never heard that will blow. your. mind, including: AC/DC, Angel, Aerosmith, Allman Brothers, April Wine, Alice Cooper, Atomic Rooster, Bad Company, Badfinger, Blackhorse, Budgie, Buzzcocks, Black Sabbath, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Boston, Blue Cheer, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, Cargo, The Cars, Cheap Trick, Crazy Horse, Deep Purple, The Doors, ELO, ELP, Estus, Foghat, Foreigner, Funkadelic, Rory Gallagher, Genesis, Grateful Dead, The Guess Who, Golden Earring, Hawkwind, Head East, Heart, Jimi Hendrix, Highway Robbery, Humble Pie, Hydra, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Starship, Jethro Tull, Journey, Judas Priest, Ki...ng Crimson, The Knack, Led Zeppelin, Legend, Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, MC5, Mahogany Rush, Steve Miller, Moby Dick, Motorhead, Mott the Hoople, Moody Blues, Montrose, Moxy, Nazareth, New York Dolls, Outlaws, The Partridge Family, Patti Smith, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Rainbow, Ramones, The Runaways, Rolling Stones, Todd Rundgren, Rush, Santana, Savage Grace, Scorpions, Sly and the Family Stone, Steel Mill, Steppenwolf, Stray Dog, Three Man Army, Stooges, Supertramp, Styx, T. Rex, Ted Nugent, Ten Years After, Three Dog Night, Toad, Robin Trower, UFO, Ultra, Uria Heap, Van Halen, Joe Walsh, White Witch, The Who, Wings, Wishbone Ash, Y&T, Yes, ZZ Top, Frank Zappa.

More info on Stunt Rock here.

* I co-host a DJ bimonthly called Prog! with Reichel at the Living Room.

Is it the Fartz? Fitz of Depression? Zipgun? The Briefs? The Furies? Mother Love Bone? The Blood Brothers?

The correct answer after the cut!

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"Swim"

Wind-tunnel punk-rock trio Nü Sensae announce their second LP on Suicide Squeeze. It's a howling work that speaks highly of what's to come, but hey, I'm biased. WEIRD. These Canucks will be tearing apart their corner of Capitol Hill Block Party. Get on it.

Tour dates after the cut:

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Slack Fest in Lovely and Enchanting Stanwood,™ is on sale today, and features some fine bands again this Year.

What started as a party at the Stanwood Hotel in 2004 has morphed into a party and concert celebrating the spirit and passion Don Slack puts into every show he attends and the bands who inspire it.

One of the Pacific Northwest's most recognizable and involved music fans for decades, Don Slack also moonlights as celebrated DJ of KEXP's "Swingin' Doors." And anyone who has seen Slack in his natural habitat in the middle of a packed crowd with wife Deb by his side and a Rainier in hand knows he can put most 22-year-olds to shame.

Held at the Slime Dog Race Track in Stanwood, Washington nestled against the Stillaguamish River, Slack Fest features some of the Pacific Northwest's best bands like you've never seen them before: playing on a dirt racetrack on the back of a flatbed truck. Slack Fest offers a laid back but loud alternative to summer festivals in the city.

*Strongly recommended that only patrons 21+ attend (this isn't for the kiddies this time around) * Under 21 guests are welcome but may only be able to view the concert outside of the race track area.

The Moondoggies
Hobosexual
Hounds of the Wild Hunt
The Rolling Stones
The Wayfinders
Big Wheel Stunt Show
Country Lips
Pipsisewah

If you're bummed out by the Beyond Thunderdome nature of big festivals like Sasquatch! or Bumbershoot, this can be a nice weekend getaway without all the teens and crazies and white people wearing Native American headdresses. Get your tickets here.

But last night a glance at the Neumos calendar revealed that the show (also, mind you, featuring Keak Da Sneak) was canceled. After the cancellation of the Main Attraks show, this was too much loss to bear; like, damn, can a brotha not see a top-shelf Bay Area rap act in a reputable and well-run environment?

Well, feel at least somewhat better, as E-40's road manager tweeted helpfully that the show has now moved to iMusic, across from the EMP. I admittedly have never been in the spot, too leery of amateur hour drinking, Future songs—but really, just the ghost of Polly Esther's—whatever the case though, it's an actual E-40 performance reasonably close to the crib. Just thought you should know.

Now watch Unc hang out with Gary Payton:

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Seattle musician Nick Larson—who used to drum for the Mercury Four, Fe Fi Fo Fums, the Fabulous Shockwaves, Code Brown, and many others—was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January and has undergone surgery and radiation treatments since February. Obviously, he’s wracked up some serious medical expenses that outstrip his insurance coverage, and some friends are throwing a benefit concert Thurs. May 10 at the Funhouse. The bill consists of the Primate 5, Mercury Four, and Fancy Lads.

Read more about Larson’s urgent situation here and get more info on the show, which will have many raffle prizes, here.