MATT DRISCOLL: PAT FEST AT HELL'S KITCHEN >>>

Pat Bostwick was â€" and still is â€" a Tacoma legend. That will never change.

I didn’t even know the man, and I know that much.

In August, Pat Bostwick passed away at the all-too young age of 45. A fixture at Magoo’s, a friend to so many, a damn fine harmonica player, and an institution in this town, Pat Bostwick’s influence can’t be surmised with simple words. Pat Bostwick can’t be boiled down to an essence in a tightly packed column here in the Weekly Volcano, especially by someone only going off the stories of others.

Bostwick was bigger than that.

To fully appreciate the impact Pat Bostwick had on Tacoma, a person needs look no further than
Bostwick’s many friends. The outpouring of grief and love when Bostwick passed away was immense. Months later, while a bit of the grief has likely been dealt with and supplanted by fond memories, those immense feelings of love and loss persist. It’s as though â€" while his seat at Magoo’s might be empty â€" Bostwick’s presence will be forever felt here in the place he loved to call home.

Friday, Oct. 24, Bostwick’s many friends â€" who miss him so â€" have organized Pat Fest at Hell’s Kitchen.

To read the full story in the latest issue of the Weekly Volcano click here.

TONY ENGELHART: JOHNNY A HAS MANY SIDES >>>

What a cool name- Johnny A! But if his name is groovy, his music is extra groovy. While Johnny A can rock, he falls more into the category of a jazz and blues collision- think Jeff Beck meets George Benson. The one-time Peter Wolf sidekick is a true guitar virtuoso who has the ability to bend the strings until they sing in perfect harmony. While he's not a household name, superstar Eric Clapton welcomed his nimble fingers to the stage at his Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004. Johnny A has also been spotted on stages with Stevie Vai, B.B. King and Robert Cray. To date, A has released two discs. Both 1999's Sometime Tuesday Morning and 2004'¢s Get Inside contain mostly original compositions, but he covers tunes like the Beatles' "Yes It Is" and Hendrix' "The Wind Cries Mary" with remarkable originality.

[Jazzbones, 9 p.m., $15, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

Photo courtesy of Myspace

BOBBLE TIKI: HOT TWO-PIECE TONIGHT AT THE JIVE >>>

It’s cold outside, Tacoma, and Bobble Tiki can feel it throughout his Tiki body. Bobble Tiki’s bones are aching, and his motivation is lacking. All Bobble Tiki can seem to do is stare out his tiny Tiki office window and dream of a warmer, dryer place to go home every night and pass out on boxed wine.

But not everything is so bleak. While it might be cold outside, Tacoma’s music scene right now is hotter than hot. The success of last week’s Squeak and Squawk Music Festival is proof of that fact, and the bevy of quality shows happening around Grit City this weekend only furthers the notion.

One of the best, sexiest, and most rockin’ shows scheduled to go down this week will happen at Bob’s Java Jive on Friday, Oct. 24, when Seattle’s The Get Off make the trip south to bestow their brand of garage punk goodness on Tacoma.

Made up of only two members, drummer Mario and singer/guitarist/femme fatal rock and roll bombshell Leigh, The Get Off is about as tight as a band can get â€" as you’ll find out below. Bobble Tiki caught up with Leigh this week to get her thoughts on The Get Off’s upcoming show at Bob’s Java Jive.

To read Bobble Tiki's full interview with The Get Off in the latest issue of the Weekly Volcano click here.

[Bob’s Java Jive, The Get Off, The Syph, Dialtone, Sammy Swell, Friday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m., $5, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

Photo courtesy of Myspace

MATT DRISCOLL: MARNIE STERN LIKES LONG ALBUM TITLES >>>

It's Friday - thank gawd!- which means it's time for our weekly CD review brought with love from the fine folks over at KUPS 90.1 The Sound.

This week, Amanda Hart - the Assistant Alternative Director at KUPS - reviewed Marnie Stern's This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That.

Seriously. That's the name of the thing. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, you can read Hart's review on our website, by clicking here.

MATT DRISCOLL: DOH! >>>

So, Pat Fest at Hell's Kitchen is tonight - designed to celebrate the life of Tacoma icon Pat Bostwick, who passed away earlier this year.

I wrote an article about Pat Fest which you can find in this week's issue of the Weekly Volcano. In fact, you can find it right now on our website by clicking here.

The only problem is the music for tonight's Pat Fest will include sets from the Fucking Eagles, Guns & Rossetti, Nancy Frieko and Taist of Iron - which I incorrectly called an Iron Maiden tribute band in my article.

That sucks and I apologize. I must have been really baked, or perhaps just distracted by how bad the Broncos have been playing.

Probably both, actually.

Either way - let me state for the record one more time that Taist of Iron is NOT an Iron Maiden tribute band. I fucked up.

Sorry, Tacoma.

BRAD ALLEN: PAPPI SWARNER'S JUKEBOX >>>

Pappi and Bobble Tiki headed off to Hawaii this morning. To send him off I plucked The Ides of March's "Vehicle" off his '70s pop jukebox. Aloha!

JENNIFER JOHNSON: JONELL MOSSER IN OLY TONIGHT >>>

Jonell Mosser and the Jim Pribbenow Band come to Olympia to give a pulse-pounding, energetic performance at the gem of the South Puget Sound Community College campus, the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts. The blues artist has subtle gravel in her voice that carries over whether she’s performing driving rock, soulful blues, powerful gospel or folk protest songs. To see her perform live is to be lit on fire with the love of live music all over again. Her stage presence is commanding yet uncomplicatedly lighthearted and straightforward. One can see how she’s mastered the ability to demand attention through her songwriting and vocals. Some of Mosser’s tunes have crossover appeal to country fans as well, so look for a bit of that good ol’ Southern twang from the Kentucky native. Mosser’s abilities have been compared to Tina Turner and Bette Midler, though no one will question she holds her own after singing the house down Saturday. After sharing the stage with Delbert McClinton, the much loved John Prine, and Ringo Starr â€" and working with B. B. King, Trisha Yearwood, Etta James, and Waylon Jennings â€" Mosser has proved to be a powerful force all her own.

[South Puget Sound Community College, Minnaert Center for the Arts, 8 p.m., 2011 Mottman Road S.W., Olympia, 360.754.7711]

Photo courtesy of Myspace

MATT DRISCOLL: ZEKE TONIGHT AT HELL'S KITCHEN >>>

Zeke, perhaps one of the best and most influential underground hardcore punk bands in the last 20 years, is proud to call Tacoma home. They always have been. Even during the height of their popularity, perhaps while playing dates with Pearl Jam or being lumped in with the shitload of ’90s acts that benefited from Seattle’s success on the national stage, Zeke has always been straight up.

This is a band from Tacoma. They’ve got the stains on their clothes and devilish and dirty guitar licks to prove it.

Tonight, Zeke, along with Kevin Seconds, the Insurgence and the Mopars will play Hell’s Kitchen as part of the fourth annual Hell’s Kitchen tattoo contest. If ever there were an opportunity to see a true blue Tacoma band in the proper environment, this would be it, my friends.

To read our full preview of tonight's Zeke show at Hell's Kitchen, complete with an interview with Zeke drummer Donny Paycheck, click here.

[Hell’s Kitchen, Saturday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m., $8, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

MATT DRISCOLL: DANIEL BLUE'S MOTOPONY RIDES AT JAZZBONES >>>

If you haven't at least heard of Daniel Blue at this point, and you hail from Tacoma, all I can say is you haven't been paying attention.

Blue- a man of many talents- is quite possibly Tacoma's most famous fashion designing dude, beat poet, scribbler, thinker, hipster and artist. His work and his name have seemed to grab hold of T-town- for many reasons- and, as the guy who came up with that 253 sticker that you see plastered all over the back of trust fund Subarus, beat up Volvos and petering mopeds, Blue has reaped the benefits.

Like it or not, Daniel Blue has become a Tacoma fixture.

Blue's latest artistic vision is a rock and roll band- known as Motopony- and it will hit the stage at Jazzbones tonight along with the Painkillers.

At this point, I'll admit it. I was skeptical when I heard about Daniel Blue fronting a rock and roll band. I'm not big on poetry, and I had trouble envisioning Blue- who has something of a Kermit the Frog speaking voice- manning the main vocal duties for a group I'd heard friends describe sonically as what might have happened if Janis Joplin and Leonard Cohen made a love
child.

But my skepticism has been erased. Completely. After spending time with Blue at his downtown, Warhol-like communal warehouse, and listening to Tacoma's prominent hipster poet explain the motivation behind Motopony- as well as spin a few tracks for me- I've been won over. Considering the alarmingly good guitar work of Motopony co-founder Robby Rebel, along with the newly enlisted drumming of Peter Tietjan- who's something of a skins legend in these parts thanks to his band Umber Sleeping- Motopony has more going for it than simply the Daniel Blue coolness factor.

Motopony is, quite possibly, the most unique, challenging and promising local band to be shoved out of Tacoma's indie birth canal in some time.

"I've never really enjoyed reading my poetry. I enjoyed the attention, for sure, but singing is a lot different," says Blue. "This dream predates everything."

While it seems Blue has long harbored aspiration of fronting a rock band, the fact that he actually has what it takes seems to have caught even him a little off guard.

"At first, I was like- Wow, I can do this," says Blue. "Then it was like, -I want to do this. The music really drives me. It's a primal thing."

If you haven't yet felt Motopony's buzz, tonight's show at Jazzbones  will be as good a chance as any to familiarize yourself with one of the best things Tacoma currently has going.

[Jazzbones, The Painkillers, Motopony, Stephanie Johnson, Saturday, Oct. 25, 8:30 p.m., $5, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

Photo credit: Melanie Cantara