DJs L.A. Kendall and Elle Tee spin last night at Tacoma's Tempest Lounge.

Matthew Bornstein-Grove, Kate Monthy, Alexa Folson-Hill and Patricia Rubke enjoy the noshies and ambience of Tempest.

I did not feel like a dumb ass walking into Tempest Lounge alone.
It was a chill atmosphere, a couple of groups sitting, eating, and drinking, and a big bar on a radius, which echoed the radius of the wall beyond the bar, the wall past the bathrooms which I desperately needed. 
After my visit to the bathroom â€" neat handmade wall tiles, great floor tiles, good use of wall colors, and Marilyn Monroe â€" I took up a perch at the bar.  I was That Customer which all barkeeps dread, “I dunno what I want. What do you recommend?” 
While Larry made me up some fabulously light, thirst-quenching and not-too-sweet concoction (I call it “The Mindreader”) I checked out the menu and the bar-top surface.  Both impressed me.  I had hummus â€" homemade and divine â€" with dippers, and added some amazing pickled veggies for a buck.  Mmm, they had just  the right heat, crunch, and blend of salty/vinegary.  Larry informed me the Bloody Mary mix is equally fabulous, and I’ll take him at his word.
Best part of the night: Girl DJs.  Elle Tee and DJ Kendall spun the mellow-cool tunes that ignited conversation.  There was the mild argument from the rummy-playing pair across the bar about whether Barbra Streisand was great or not.  There was the amped-up tune I recognized from "Garden State" that made the guy next to me irritated, “I hate soundtracks!” he griped.  There was "How Soon is Now," encapsulating my entire life as a young hip cool person (hmmm, must work on a theme song for This Phase) and then there was The Cure, "Pictures of You," encapsulating so many other elements of life.
Or maybe all the philosophical stuff was the liquid happiness flowing through my system.  All I know is, great atmosphere, great tunes, great night. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Heads turned and cars swerved yesterday when Tacoma's new resturant/nightclub, The Factory, escorted its beautiful waitsaff to the club's front steps at the corner of 56th Street and South Tacoma Way to greet the neighborhood.  In fact, several dazed men popped out of their cars to snap shots of the beauties.  Eventually the busy intersection became a parking lot until the cops appeared and yelled at drivers.
Check them out for yourself as The Factory opens Aug. 11. â€" Brad Allen

Today I'm a lucky girl. I'm starting my own column, AND I have one of the very first copies of Jerin Falkner's new album, Almost Completely Happy, hot off the press.
If you're a loyal Weekly Volcano reader and you're keeping track, then you'll know that I have written about Falkner before, but this is the new and improved Jerin Falkner. Oh yes, she was good before, but now she's completed her first studio recorded CD with a real producer â€" The hot girl next door has grown up and moved to Seattle.
Falkner worked with producer Jon Goff from Self Adhesive Records on recommendation from another Tacoma singer/songwriter, Jeremy Hoog, who got a thank-you mention in the liner notes. Nice. The Weekly Volcano did too by the way. Could this girl be any nicer?
Good manners are not all she has. This is an excellent record. Her six-song concept record takes you from the first blush of a crush with "Give Me a Chance," into full blown love with "Suddenly Beautiful." Then in the song called "Me" she's in that scary period where she realizes this love is real and it's hers to lose. What follows is the falling out period where we feel all five stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance â€" being processed in "Charade," and the return of emotional strength is conveyed with a slightly heavier bass and drum accompaniment on the song "Better." But in the end, Falkner's final song, "Ghost," makes you wonder if she really has accepted it or if something else is going on behind the scenes. Christine Gunn's cello makes "Ghost" sound as haunting as its name implies.
Falkner sings of her lovers' absence the way an amputee refers to a lost limb that she can still feel even though it's gone. The song effectively creates a mood that is starkly opposed to the sweet, intimate and charming effect of the preceding songs. 
Falkner proves her knack for storytelling with this album. It's as though she's whispering a series of intimate love letters, with an acoustic guitar and a string quartet in the background. Almost Completely Happy is a beautiful work of art and would make an excellent movie sound track.
But I have good and bad news for you. The bad news is Almost Completely Happy won't be officially released until October. The good news is if you go to Falkner's Web site and join the mailing list you can buy an advance copy at her next show â€" tonight, 8 p.m., at Northern Pacific Coffee Co., 401 Garfield St. S. in Parkland by Pacific Lutheran University.  The CD is available at this show only for $5.   Falkner also notes a special guest will open.
Oh, I guess you'll need that Web address.  â€" Angela Jossy

Send us your CD: The Weekly Volcano, P.O. Box 98801, Lakewood, WA 98499.

www.myspace.com/shihosdude "> When urbanXchange turns one on July 29, nobody will be smashing cake into the baby’s face. Instead there will be a mash-up dance party anniversary extravaganza with www.myspace.com/shihosdude">DJ Colin at Club Zoe at 9 p.m. (1710 Market St., Tacoma)
Mash-up? It’s kind of like if the Gypsy Kings met Johnny Cash and the train-beat stayed the same.  Different genres, same beat â€" good music and good times will coalesce.  “It’ll be a postmodern party, minimalist but kind of techie â€" the type of party that would be held in a Soho art loft,” says store owner Julie Bennett about the event at Club Zoe and sale happening at the store Saturday and Sunday.  The urbanXchange is at 1934 Pacific Ave. in downtown Tacoma.  For more information, call (253) 572-2280.  â€" Jessica Corey-Butler

Bobble Tiki is pleased to announce that Tacoma's City Lights & City Nights (445 Tacoma Ave. S., (253) 383-3301) has been granted Most Favored Bar status by fellow Weekly Volcano scribe Brad Allen. "This is my new favorite bar!" Brad pronounced, after showing up late last night with his designated-driver date in tow and startling a crowd that basically hung on the dance floor before classic rockers Rock-N-Roll Magic.  Allen based his "new favorite" designation solely on the size of his tab, which was minuscule in light of how many Pabsts he'd had. The basis for his snap judgment would be akin to giving George Tenet the Medal of Freedom for his sleuth, but even so, Tacoma's City Lights & City Nights deserves recognition.  (Bobble Tiki wishes they'd drop the practice of grabbing his drivers license before pounding the suds.)
The Fabulous Wailers demonstrate why most crown them the first American garage band tonight at City Lights.  â€" Bobble Tiki

It may not be the hippest party of the year, but the folks in Steilacoom threw a nice Sunday afternoon salmon feed today at Sunnyside Beach in Steilacoom.  The corn on the cob was first rate, the salmon a little dry and the woman guarding the juice preventing second trips was this side of Nurse Ratchet, but all in all a lovely time.  The rain managed to stay away during the four-hour fest, while the 40-somethings had an ego boost being the youngest ones there.  Ah, how soon we won't forget. â€" Michael Swan

Through the Tacoma Arts listserv, Sixth Avenue Art Gallery director Charles "Kelly" Creso ask these questions concerning the graffiti on the side of his gallery at 2610-B  Sixth Ave. in Tacoma:

• Should I leave it up a few days or paint it over?
• What is your opinion?
• Is it art?
• Is it protected by the Constitution?
• Is it prohibited by Tacoma City Law?
• Should I consider a "Call for more artists?"

Drop by and voice your opinion. â€" Suzy Stump

I was pumped after hearing Mars Volta joined Endfest 15 Saturday, Aug. 12, at White River Ampitehatre.  I hope the news that Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore left the band will not destroy my Mars Volta experience. â€" Brad Allen

• punkbands reports: Drummer Jon Theodore has left The Mars Volta. The band cast that performed Amputechture will be modified for live dates that begin imminently, with drummer Jon Theodore replaced by Blake Fleming, formerly of Laddio Bolocko and Dazzling Killmen and actually the drummer who played on the very first Mars Volta demos.

Tacoma indie rock band Some By Sea will disband after Aug. 11 Hell's Kitchen show. â€" Brad Allen

• Some By Sea reports: Hello Friends, It's with very heavy and sad hearts that we are writing you this evening to inform you that Some By Sea will be disbanding after our final two local shows.  As all of you know, the last few months have hit the band particularly hard and as much as we've tried to recover, it apparently just wasn't in the cards.  For the past three years, we've had the honor of meeting so many wonderful people and created lifelong friendships because of this band and all of you that have been such a huge support to us. For that, we will never be able to thank you enough. You've been wonderful to us and we're sorry that we can't provide you with some better news.As mentioned, there will be two final shows in the Washington area and as always, we would be honored to have you at either show and would love to have the chance to say our goodbyes to all of you.  The final date is Friday, August 11 @ Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, WA  Again, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for everything. As soon is there is news on what we are all up to, we will be sure to let you know.  Love, your friends, Some By Sea

Those with access to Fort Lewis can meet the members of the rock band Slave to the System Aug. 5, noon to 2 p.m., at the Main Exchange on post. The band consists of Queensryche dummer Scott Rockenfield, ex-Queensryche guitarist Kelly Gray, Brother Cane singer/guitarist Damon Johnson and BC bassist Roman Glick.  The group will autograph copies of their CD, Slave to the System. â€" Brad Allen