VISUAL ART
TCC Student Show
The artists featured in Gallery Madera’s latest show are all students and include: Jessica Atal, Jefferson Elliott, Joey Freer, John Gordon, Lizzie Gulick, Jessie Krett, Jimmy McDonough, and Mahta Shakib. The best are a couple of painters whose works have a lot in common â€" Joey Freer and Jefferson Elliott.

Both Elliott and Freer paint in a free-flowing, graffiti-inspired manner that calls to mind works by Jean-Michael Basquat and Cy Twombly coupled with a line quality in Elliott’s work that looks a lot like Willem de Kooning. Their paintings are gritty and energetic. They are drawings in paint. Color is almost incidental, mostly monotones with line drawings superimposed over washes of a single color. Their paintings are all about the line and the image. â€" Alec Clayton
[Gallery Madera, through May 31, 2210 Court A, Tacoma, 253.381.0039]

HIP-HOP
Fresh Blends
The second in a series of regular mix-and-match, hip-hop shows at Hell’s Kitchen, this week’s Fresh Blends offers up Tacoma beatsmith and emcee Todd Sykes, Tacoma rhyme pioneer Josh Rizeberg, Seattle underground cabal Alpha P and turntable Frankenstein Dragonfish Killswitch.â€" Paul Schrag
[Hell’s Kitchen, 9 p.m., $3, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

HIP-HOP
The Cave
One-Be-Lo gets to Tacoma more than just about any underground emcee. The former One-Man-Army is always nice. Def Poetry Jam founder Bruce George once said the Macklemore is “Common and Eminem personified.” The Seattle emcee is neck deep in a new album, give thanks and praise. Also on deck are Tacoma pioneer Can-U and upstarts 10th & Commerce, who have a new EP that sounds pretty fresh. â€" PS
[The Cave at Pacific Lutheran University, 9 p.m., all ages, $5 or free for PLU students, Garfield Street South and Park Avenue South, Tacoma/Parkland]

LINK: The Trevalyan Triangle and others in the clubs tonight.
LINK: Let’s eat in a wine bar today.
FORUM: Where can you dance Sunday night?