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

Bobble Tiki is nothing if not a multitasker. He's always looking for a new way to increase productivity, whether that means popping two straws into his am/pm water bottle full of boxed wine, or using downtime on a holiday to get something important done.

Case in point, Bobble Tiki wrote this week's entire column while waiting for the fireworks to finally start at Freedom Fair. Bobble Tiki pushed out roughly 400 words in the wasted time right after 10 o'clock, when the fireworks should have started, and nearly 10:30 p.m., when they finally kicked off. Maybe Freedom Fair head honchos were just trying to stick it to us all for not donating to the cause, but whatever their reasoning for the excruciating wait for Freedom Fair pyrotechnics, Bobble Tiki made good use of it.

First on Bobble Tiki's radar this week is Mahnhammer, a band in close contention for the Best Metal Band award in the forthcoming Weekly Volcano Best of Tacoma issue, set to hit streets on July 29. While Bobble Tiki isn't in a position to crown an official winner yet - as it wouldn't be proper - it is fair to say Mahnhammer, when it comes to the votes of the people, had a very good showing. The band will play The New Frontier in Tacoma on Saturday, with fellow fan favorites Micho De Noche and Twelve Gauge Saint. It'll be brutal, in all the right ways. Bobble Tiki promises. And Mahnhammer delivers.

For those who need a little refresher course on the awesomeness that is Mahnhammer, here's a taste of how the Weekly Volcano has summed the band up in the past:

Ask any true-blue Tacoman what's likely to be birthed when Dave Takata, Shawn Lanksbury, Sean Horst, Chris Roxx and Michah Hammer get together and the answer will be blatant: fucking rock. And lots of it. Formed from members of the late Brian Redman's Dirty Knockers and members of low-fi punks Gold Teeth, Mahnhammer, according to the band, "come to flatten the South Sound with a rock so monstrous it must be from Leipzig." Leipzig is in Germany, for those playing at home - but let's not get distracted by geography. 

Seriously. Trust us on this one.

Another band the Volcano has hyped in the past, and with good reason, is the young, somewhat unkempt Apache Chief - contestants in this past year's EMP Soundoff! Competition, but more importantly one hell of a sludgy throwback to detuned chords of yesteryear, giving us all hope for the future amidst the throngs of neon and cold computer beats. On Saturday, July 17, Apache Chief plays a show with the Coloffs at Bob's Java Jive. Talk about quintessential, young and old, Tacoma.

"There's nothing really to do except play music," Miles VanMatre, Apache Chief's leader, once told the Volcano of Tacoma. "Which is cool."

See, and who said having nothing going in this town would never lead to anything?

Moving along...

SPOILER ALERT: The Viaduct's "Final Show" is scheduled for July 31. Check out next week's Volcano for a full story by Rev. Adam McKinney on what's going down, and what all the hardcore kids are going to do without the Viaduct.

Finally, the annual Tacoma Old Town Blues Festival is back once again, raising its head like an out-of-work, 56-year-old man who had too much pink wine last night and taking over Old Town Saturday.

For those that have played the game before, the rules are pretty much the same this year - as they've been for most of the festival's 18 years of existence. The Slavonian Hall, The Spar, the Old Town Park and the Mountaineer's Club will all act as stages. The action starts with a 9:30 a.m. blueberry pancake feed in the Slavonian Hall, with musical accompaniment from Mark DuFresne with Annieville Blues - and then moves into a whole day full of bluesy good times. In total, 14 acts will be featured, including Little Bill and the Bluenotes, Blues Redemption, the Hip Replacements, the Careless Hunters, Maia Santell, Mojo Overload, the New Blues Brothers and T-Town Aces - a band formerly loved as Crossroads Blues Band. Full day passes are available, but you can also buy your way into most single events - except for the concerts in Old Town Park ... BECAUSE THEY'RE FREE!

Awesome. See you there. Bobble Tiki will be the old looking dude in the safari hat saying stuff like, "Damn it's hot" and "I need more wine again!"