Summer shows we're itching to see

SP20

Marymoor Park, July 12-13

Damn Seattle, you look good. You know you look good. And you know what else? More than most American cities, you love looking longingly at your own reflection. It's in the great Northwest tradition of shameless vanity that Sub Pop records pauses at its 20th anniversary to give itself a well-deserved pat on the back and the rest of us one of the summer's most anticipated music festivals. Over the course of two midsummer days and nights, SP20 will bring together the label's most beloved bands in the suburban Eden that is Marymoor Park. Most enticing are the reunions of originators long disbanded: Mudhoney and Beachwood Sparks. Newcomers like Flight of the Conchords, Comets on Fire, Fleet Foxes and Pissed Jeans will have their moments in the sun, too. It's a lineup any city would give a light-rail system to host, but it's all ours, Seattle. Yeah, it's hard to be humble when we're as great as we are.

— Jonathan Zwickel

Capitol Hill Block Party

July 25-26

When the Capitol Hill Block Party shuts down the epicenter of Seattle's rock-music community for two days and several stages of outdoor (all ages) and indoor (21+) music, the Pike/Pine corridor's cool takes on a whole new swagger. Basically a festival for people who already go to a lot of concerts (or used to, or at least listen to KEXP 90.3 FM a lot), the selections announced so far exhibit both Urban Outfitters appeal and excellent taste. CHBP 2008 is full of artists who back up their Internet hype with famously engaging performances: critically acclaimed national indie stars (Girl Talk, Les Savy Fav, The Hold Steady, DeVotchika); local rock, rap and dance groups kids actually listen to (The Hands, The Physics, Velella Velella); and big names like Vampire Weekend (African-sounding indie-rock sensation) and Kimya Dawson (Olympia resident with six songs on the "Juno" soundtrack, including the memorable "Anyone Else But You" with The Moldy Peaches).

— Andrew Matson

ZooTunes

June24-Aug.27

A chance to hear music and visit the animals? Need I say more? With a lineup that includes the Indigo Girls, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Amos Lee, you can't go wrong. The wine and beer garden gets you a great view of the concert, and money from your purchases supports the zoo's animal care, education programs and wildlife-conservation initiatives from across the world. Or you can do the Yogi Bear thing and bring your own picnic basket. Break out the blankets and chairs (with a height limit of 24 inches) to make your own makeshift living room on the lawn. Concerts go on rain or shine outdoors at the North Meadow of Woodland Park Zoo, near the north entrance.

— Marian Liu

Vancouver International Jazz Festival

June 20-29

Easily the most anticipated regional jazz event of the year, the Vancouver, B.C., fest offers an incomparable roundup of jazz — from mainstream to the European avant garde — as well as world music and blues, in venues large and small, all over town. This year's lineup includes Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Ivan Lins, Dave Brubeck, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, John Scofield, EST, Susan Tedeschi, Ig Henneman, Ab Baars, Barry Guy, Campbell Ryga, Hilario Durán, Brad Mehldau, Andy Bey, Carla Kihlstedt, Satoko Fujii, Sylvie Courvoisier, Johannes Bauer, Carlos Bica, Atomic, Ken Vandermark, Benoit Delbecq and many, many others (www.coastaljazz.ca).

— Paul de Barros