ON THE RADIO
This August, Spokane Public Radio is airing the second season of RADIO PLAY CO-LAB audio theater in collaboration with Spokane Playwrights Laboratory. First up is Dead Mouse on Your Doorstep by Malcolm Pelles, a comedy about an activist who fights to buy his cat vegetarian food, which premieres Thursday, Aug. 3, at 12:30 pm on KPBX (91.1 FM). Up next is Mea Culpa by longtime Spokane playwright Bryan Harnetiaux, which centers on a priest and a child confessor listening and learning about each other's guilt. Mea Culpa airs the following Thursday, Aug. 10 at 12:30 pm, also on KPBX. Both productions are directed by Juan A Mas, one of Radio Play Co-Lab's founders, and feature all-local casts. If you miss the debut broadcasts (or later re-broadcasts on KSFC 91.9 FM), listen on-demand at spokanepublicradio.org. (SYLVIA DAVIDOW)
FOO FLIPPERS
So you didn't score tickets to the Foo Fighters sold-out show Aug. 4 at Spokane Arena, but you still want a tiny dose of the band's rocking attitude? Head to the lobby of the Garland Theater. There you'll find the FOO FIGHTERS PINBALL (there are also Foo machines at Park Inn and Berserk). Unlike many rock-and-roll pinball machines that just seems like rushed cash-ins, Foo pinball is actually an amazingly constructed game that incorporates the band's hits like "Everlong" and "Walk" seamlessly with a story about the guys fighting aliens (I have a super serious fanatical pinball buddy, and he claims it may be the best designed pinball table ever). It's worth flipping out over. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on Aug. 4.
MAMMOTH WVH, MAMMOTH II. Wolfgang Van Halen (Eddie's son) looks to further carve out his own musical legacy of upbeat rockers on his second LP. (Bonus: He's playing the Knitting Factory on Dec. 2.)
HOLY WAVE, FIVE OF CUPS. Get yourself a tarot reading to the sounds of the Austin psych-garage rock group's latest collection of droning soft fuzz jams.
TRIPPIE REDD, A LOVE LETTER TO YOU 5. From Soundcloud rapper to Billboard mainstay, the prolific MC drops his second expansive mixtape of 2023. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
