I don't think I'd be speaking out of school to say that the phenomenon known as "Black Friday" is easily the ugliest part of the holiday season. This is ground that has been exhaustively covered since long before Black Friday became the trample-athon that we know it to be today.

The day after Thanksgiving has been transformed into a consumerist nightmare - lines of shoppers extend off past the horizon, waiting impatiently for stores to open so that they can high-step on their fellow humans' faces en route to the newest Playstation. Wily consumers bring implements like pepper spray and tasers, which allow them to clear a wide path, like cowcatchers barreling headlong through a herd.

And what's that playing in the background? Harry Connick, Jr.? Merry Christmas!

In the spirit of making the best out of a bad situation, Zach Powers has organized a Black Friday "mini-concert series" to simultaneously take the sting out of the dubious holiday and to direct shoppers to local establishments. From 1 to 5:30 p.m., select downtown stores will be host to mini-performances from local acts.

"We started planning for the thing only in late October which, for an event like this, is kind of soon," says Powers. "We announced just a few days after the idea had been hatched."

Once the idea was up and running, Powers began approaching musicians and shop-owners to see who was interested in participating.

"I started with a few businesses that I had previous relationships with, which were King's Books and Feather & Oar," says Powers. "From there, I wanted to have some variety. I didn't want it to all be clothing stores, or all be a certain type of thing. I wanted it to work if you really had multiple people to shop for. So, I wanted there to be a toy store, an interior design store. ... I just thought about variety. I had reached out to businesses in other parts of the city, and they were a lot less interested in it, or more skeptical of it. So, it worked out that, at least in this first year, having it all be downtown was the easiest thing."

Participating businesses, besides the aforementioned King's Books and Feather & Oar, are Learning Sprout Toys, UrbanXchange and Millesime Designs. At each of these businesses, one band will show up and play a brief, 15-minute set, designed to draw in shoppers with being too distracting a presence: 1 p.m. at Learning Sprout Toys will feature singer-songwriters Olivia Joy Hustoft and Jenny Snipstead; 2 p.m. at UrbanXchange will have Rockwell Powers; from there, it's 3 p.m. at King's Books with Goldfinch; 4 p.m. finds Apartment Lights at Millesime Designs; and the day closes out at 5 p.m. with Q-Dot at Feather & Oar.

"I've never been one to partake (in Black Friday)," says Powers. "The consumerization of the holiday season is not something I'm a super fan of. This'll be my first time shopping or buying anything on Black Friday. It'll take more than something like or a local force to undo this sort of bad habit, so if people are going to be shopping on that day, then I think things that remind them to shop local are important. It's about taking a situation that's not the best and making the best out of it."

Now that Walmart has planted its roots in Tacoma, it's more important than ever to embrace shopping locally, especially at the year's most concentrated moment of consumerism. It doesn't hurt that you'll get to experience some of the finest music Tacoma has going for it in the process.

BLACK FRIDAY CONCERT SERIES, 1-5:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 29, Learning Sprout Toys, UrbanXchange, King's Books, Millesime Designs, Feather & Oar, 1-5:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 29, downtown Tacoma

See Also

Black Saturday fashion show and concert