Last night the Weekly Volcano hit the streets of Tacoma snapping shots at "The House of Kubla Kahn: Tacoma Indie Fashion Showcase," Tacoma Arts Community's "Snowballed" event, the opening night of Kulture Lab and the Tempest Lounge's one-year anniversary party.

Please excuse our brief report.  We're freakin' tired.  Some of use never went to bed.   

The night began at 4 p.m. when Indochine restaurant became "The House of Kubla Kahn."  DJ Lulu Spice provided the exotic soundtrack for two dozen models showcasing the creations of Dang, betty Vintage, Prime.All's Lisa Fruichantie and Danii Blackwell, Isolde Chae-Lawrence, Carolyn Osborne, Sam Trout, Yoshimi Designs and Daniel Blue and his Loyalty Conglomerate.  Special thanks to Indochine owner Russel Brunton who treated the Weekly Volcano staff like royalty.

When Marty Campbell, president of the Downtown Tacoma Merchants Association,
introduced Chip Van Gilder, president of the Tacoma Arts Community, the organization behind Snowballed at that event last night, there were more empty chairs than filled ones.  Pity, because his message was optimistic and inspiring, as were the others that followed. 
The Arts community in Tacoma, despite what the empty chairs might indicate, is a viable life force, and has been “snowballing,” becoming bigger and bigger as time passes. One comment about the complaint that there wasn’t enough art in Tacoma â€" tonight there’s too much, drew a chuckle from the crowd, as the overabundance of the Arts might account for the overabundance of empty chairs.
As soon as Daniel Blue and his entourage arrived, the crowds descended, and threshold, Act One unfolded before our eyes.  Laura Malone lit up the stage, and despite the sorrowful undertone of the piece, some moments sparkled, like Janae Plaisance’s glee as the angel of death, with her fluid dance moves contrasting-or complimenting?the action.  Joel Myer’s energy and depth of emotion fairly burst off the stage, and the whole dramatic, arts-encompassing event was worth all the hype it received.
The crowd dwindled as Jeremy Silas performed his guts out, and dwindled even further when Angela Jossy and her Polar Bears hit the stage.  Again, a pity, because the chick’s got a set of pipes and showmanship that has more polish than you’d imagine a local act would have. 

In the end, I succumbed and left to see what all the fuss was about at Kulture Lab, which was a room-filled, slamming good artistic time.  The Dead Artists threw a righteous opening night party that included a DJ Dynomite D spinning acid jazz above in a loft, bassist James Whiton, Victor Prinsen and Matt Eklund jam, Dead Artist Rob Anderson dressed as a robot wandering inside and along Sixth Avenue, Meyer Lansky III, grandson of the legendary mobster, was in the house checking the scene, three films looped on the walls, a who's who in the Tacoma art scene, plus tons of art that will continue to show at the space.

After "Snowballed" and Kulture Lab most of the crowd hit the Tempest Lounge's one-year bash, where once again Laura Malone sparkled, happy to hear people faced with the dilemma, “Which hilltop hot spot should we hit?”
Booties shook, the floor writhed with energy, and I can safely say a great time was had by all. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler