Mostly, what seems to work in Tacoma is heavy metal. It seems permanently unflappable. Something about Tacoma nourishes furious guitar licks and mosh pits. No one could say that’s a bad thing, but those who don’t live on the metal are happy to have The Den. Located deep within the bowels of downtown Tacoma’s aggressively hip used clothing store, urbanXchange, is a venue that trades in the kaleidoscopic cult of “indie”—folk, garage, psychedelic, electronic, and straight-ahead rock ‘n roll inflections abound.

A complaint I’ve heard (and made) before regards the circular, almost incestuous nature of the Tacoma local music scene. Not to say that this is an entirely a bad thing, but after seeing your favorite local bands so many time, it gets stale and you just need something new in your diet. Luckily, The Den keeps a constant parade of new and exciting bands coming through their doors. Big names and small, local and touring, The Den consistently brings it. Our newest venue, The Den will hit its one-year anniversary in February. With any luck, it’ll stick around for a good long while — long enough to exist as an example for future all-ages venues.