It's a new week, which means it's time for a new installment of Bobble Tiki's South Sound music news and notes column. Without further ado, let's get rolling. ...

Wow. What a week. As you probably didn't notice, Bobble Tiki took last week off. He spent some time untangling his world-renowned yarn collection, and also took several naps. It was good times. But when Bobble Tiki returned from said vacation on Monday, you can only imagine the horror and dismay that filled his Tiki body when he saw it - the pink spray paint and wheat-pasted STD flyers adorning every (not visible from the street) wall of Weekly Volcano World Headquarters.

Had his employer redecorated in his absence, Bobble Tiki wondered? Had the Swarner Bros. given up on the paper making racket, turned their wardrobes black and hitch hiked to Portland via Olympia, bumming cigarettes and cursing the man all the way? Had Weekly Volcano World Headquarters become Lakewood's new anarchist motel?

As it turns out, Sunday night a bunch of punk kids took their vandalistic aggression out on the ol' Weekly Volcano. And to think, Bobble Tiki thought something serious was afoot.

Then, only a day later, The Traveller showed up at Weekly Volcano World Headquarters - to everyone's great surprise. The Volcano was two for two, as it had drawn vandalism outside on Monday, and drawn vandalism inside (in the form of Robert Hill's B.O.) on Tuesday. The receptionist was loving it.

While Bobble Tiki writes to you on Wednesday (to be published Thursday on weeklyvolcano.com), and nothing bizarre has happened yet today, still - the Volcano is on a roll. It simply must be said. If this is what happens every time Bobble Tiki takes a week off from his column, he's going to need more vacation time. This week has been spectacular!

Finally, some musical thoughts:

The Grit City Fest has made its lineup and schedule official ... for the most part. The fact is there were still some tweaks being made as late as this week - but Bobble Tiki's understanding is that wiggling was mainly the result of a double booking at Jazzbones, causing one Grit City Fest's planned hip-hop shows to be moved to a new location. Bobble Tiki's not sure, but he thinks Jazzbones accidentally also booked DJ Gross, DJ Gig Harbor Money and DJ Jager-Bomb-Blackout on the night in question.

Either way, here's a link to the most up to date Grit City Fest info Bobble Tiki knows of. Remember, Grit City Fest will go down June 17-19 in venues throughout T-town. It's going to be totally awesome, which is just one of the reasons the Weekly Volcano is sponsoring it.

A couple weeks ago, the Weekly Volcano interviewed Cody Foster, he of sideburns and Cody Foster's Army (C.F.A.) fame. At the time, C.F.A. was celebrating the release of their new CD, Smoking Gun, as part of a Hell's Kitchen anniversary show with Zeke. It was the loud and blistering C.F.A. show you'd expect.

Well, this week, C.F.A. will take a slightly different route, playing a free show at Top of Tacoma Bar and Café on Saturday, and billing it as "Disarmed." It too should be awesome, just in a totally different way than the Zeke show.

Here's how Foster explained the event to the Volcano:

"We are playing the entire CD that night as well as other songs, all rewritten acoustically. There are a lot of people scheduled to perform with us. Gary Lappier is playing guitar and singing one of his own songs. Metal Ed is going to play some 12-string. Our friend Greg is playing harmonica, Bryan Johnson too ... I don't want to spoil all the surprises yet. It is going to be a lot of fun, though. We're really looking forward to these shows."

Last but certainly not least; one of the Volcano's favorite bands, The Color of East (our time together was too short!), has officially decided to "call it a day." Bobble Tiki received word of the split Tuesday, and though saddened by it - he remains optimistic about what the future of the musicians that made up The Color of East holds.

Here's the official explanation from the band (which Bobble Tiki promises he's not just posting because they say nice things about his employer):

We are sad to announce that The Color of East has come to an end.  This was a difficult decision that was not made easily.  We are parting the band as friends and wish each other nothing but the best in our future creative endeavors.  We have played to full houses and we've played to empty bars.  That's rock'n'roll.  But even on the nights when we played to four or five people, we believed in our songs and we believed in ourselves.  We walk away knowing that we gave this band everything we had.

We'd like to thank the many venues that hosted us the last few years, especially The New Frontier Lounge for serving as a home base.  We also want to thank the many great bands we shared a stage with.  The Weekly Volcano sponsored some of our most important shows and they do a great job bringing a voice to the Tacoma music scene.  Their work is absolutely vital and we greatly appreciate everything they did for us.  But most importantly, we want to thank you all for your support.  Bands need fans and you were there, dancing, drinking, and singing along every step of the way.  We were lucky to have so many people give us their support, night after night, month after month.  Truly, thank you.

We will all be moving on to new creative ventures and will use this list to keep you updated.  Again, thank you so much.  It was worth every minute.  Keep supporting local music!

With absolute sincerity,

Eric, Pat, Vinny

The Color of East

Until next week.