Weekly Volcano Blogs: Walkie Talkie Blog

Posts made in: November, 2008 (196) Currently Viewing: 91 - 100 of 196

November 14, 2008 at 12:09pm

Somethings is something

BOBBLE TIKI: THE OREGON DONOR TONIGHT >>>

Tonight, Anacortes-based band The Oregon Donor â€" who many will remember from EMP’s ‘06 Sound Off! Competition â€" will play The Viaduct along with the Kindness Kind, Mission Orange and the Apple War, intent on laying down well-crafted indie rock for all in attendance. If the Oregon Donor’s soon to be digitally released record Somethings â€" which Bobble Tiki received in the mail earlier this week â€" is any indication, this will be a show worth catching.

Like many indie bands, the Oregon Donor takes its cues from seminal acts like Modest Mouse, Sunny Day Real Estate and Built to Spill. And who could blame them? But while many bands have tried to emulate such sounds, the Oregon Donor have the rare ability to make it seem fresh and original â€" one of the many reasons that Somethings is still in Bobble Tiki’s CD player four days after he first opened it.

Read Bobble Tiki’s interview with The Oregon Donor on the Weekly Volcano’s Web site.

[The Viaduct, The Oregon Donor, The Kindness Kind, Mission Orange, The Apple War, Friday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., all ages, $8, 5412 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma]

Filed under: Music, Tacoma,

November 14, 2008 at 12:22pm

Tonight's workout

LAUREN NAPIER: FROM APHONY >>>

From-Aphony Self-described by rhythm guitarist Blake Romney as “catchy, poppy metal,” From Aphony is the sound rock is morphing into nowadays â€" and the band isn’t afraid to scream it.

From Aphony’s major influences range from Thrice to Killswitch Engage to A Day To Remember â€" which leaves some wiggle room as far as pinning down a sound and genre. Is the band screamo? Rock? Are they just loud? If you aim to find out yourself, make sure you have a pair of earplugs on hand tonight at Hell’s Kitchen â€" just so you’re not deaf the second time around.

The band’s just-released EP, Survive, is the follow-up to Conversation Blackout â€" a melodic disc laden with heavy riffs, pounding kick-drum, and contradictory poppy hooks. From Aphony might possess elements easily lumped with bands clogging the current scene, but From Aphony’s stubborn search for originality keeps them above the surface â€" far from drowning in that ocean of cliché.

Their current sound lies somewhere between This Calendar Year and The Confession â€" a large gap, but From Aphony fills it well.

Their live show is nothing short of electric. If you’re not sweating by the end of tonight’s set, you’ll be in the minority, because you can be guaranteed that the members of From Aphony will be dripping.

Can you survive?

[Hell’s Kitchen, Friday, Nov. 14, 5:30 p.m., $8, all ages, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]

Photo courtesy of Megan Thompson/MySpace

Filed under: Music, Tacoma,

November 14, 2008 at 12:35pm

Uncle! Uncle!

PAUL SCHRAG: UNCLE BONSAI >>>

Uncle-Bonsai Uncle Bonsai is the real deal. Filed most often under “folk,” the original trio of Ashley O’Keeffe, Andrew Ratshin, and Arni Adler made more than 200 original songs and toured like mad before taking an extended hiatus beginning in the very late 1980s. Maybe it’s a change in the air, or maybe the world has called for more beautifully weird storytellers to join the chorus. Whatever it is, Uncle Bonsai is back, and they’ll play the Pythian Temple in Tacoma tonight.

Joining the band tonight, and standing in place of Ashley O’Keeffe, with be local legend Patrice O’Neill, who will help Uncle B bring what has been heralded as amazing folk-pop-performance art madness to all you lucky listeners. I don’t know about you, but O’Neill’s angelic voice combined with the celestial weirdness and beauty of Uncle Bonsai sounds like a match made in heaven to me.

Check it at the Pythian Temple, and get tickets at LeRoy Jewelers.

[Pythian Temple, Friday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m., $17-$20, 926.5 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.272.4433]

LINK: South Sound live music and DJs tonight

Filed under: Music, Tacoma,

November 14, 2008 at 1:07pm

Tacoma photo of the day

Filed under: Photo of the Day, Tacoma,

November 14, 2008 at 2:19pm

Broadway Center's new shows

SUZY STUMP: I INTERRUPT MY WORK FOR THIS ANNOUNCEMENT >>>

Kd-lang Here at the Weekly Volcano deadlines hit us like a ton of bricks. Bricks with nails sticking out of them. Rusty nails! Dipped in anthrax! By Frenchmen! The days get hectic is what we’re saying. There’s always a rat-scurry of minor details underfoot, none of them life-changing, all of them requiring attention. So we round them up with one hand while manhandling a 10-pound to-do list with the other. And with our third hand, we answer the phone â€" it’s a publicist with an ill-timed pitch or our youngest son tattling on his brothers. And then our e-mail beeps ...

The Broadway Center interrupts our work with an announcement of new shows for the season.

So we put down the pencils and pens and glue to tell you the following new shows will go on sale Monday, Dec. 1:

k.d. lang will perform in the intimate setting of the Pantages Theater on Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 7:30pm.  Tickets are $68, $88 and $119; the $119 tickets include a complimentary private, pre-party from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Maxwell's Speakeasy and Lounge.

Theatre Northwest Group will present seven performances of The Final Toast beginning on Feb. 13 at Theatre on the Square.   Tickets are $22 and $34.

Theatre Northwest Group will also present seven performances of Educating Rita beginning on May 15 at Theatre on the Square.  Tickets are $22 and $34.

Defending the Caveman is back in Tacoma April 16-19 at Theatre on the Square.  Tickets are $22 and $34.

Several local blues icons will join forces in A Celebration of Little Bill and the Blue Notes on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at the Rialto Theater.  Tickets are $19, $29 and $50.  The $50 tickets include a VIP Reception prior to the performance.  By the way Little Bill Engelhart kicks ass. His son, Tony, writes for the Weekly Volcano. It’s all good.

Other community events are in the works: the Broadway Center will partner with a local coalition of hip-hop enthusiasts to present a festival of hip-hop in late spring.

Tickets are on sale Nov. 12 to Broadway Center members (how nice!) and on sale Dec. 1 to civilians.  Call 253.591.5894 to join the fun, won’t you?

LINK: ViVA South Sound arts and entertainment guide

Filed under: Culture, Music, Tacoma, Theater,

November 14, 2008 at 4:00pm

Who's That Lady

BRAD ALLEN: PAPPI SWARNER'S JUKEBOX >>>

While Pappi is out looking for new Birkenstocks and a traffic cone, I yanked The Isley Brothers' "Who's That Lady" off his '70s pop jukebox to prove why he should skip said purchases.

Hope his jukebox inspires you to be yourself tonight.




Filed under: Music, Pappi Swaner's Jukebox,

November 14, 2008 at 5:36pm

City Center Luncheon

MATT DRISCOLL: WHAT A $30 LUNCH BUYS YOU >>>

As happens every few months, the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber hosted one of their City Center Luncheons this afternoon at the Tacoma Club. The lunch consisted of chicken, peas and corn, a salad with cute little tangerine slices and cookies for desert. The business centric pep rally the lunch was based around was just about as exciting.

Three main themes dominated the discussion.

THE FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN

First off, Ryan Petty from the City of Tacoma’s Economic Development Department and Peter Huffman from the City of Tacoma’s Planning Department gave lunch-goers a rundown of the transformation of downtown Tacoma. As is continually touted at functions like the City Center Luncheon, Tacoma’s downtown core has come a long way. Even so, Tacoma continues to look for new waves to promote growth and encourage business. Folks like Petty and Huffman are playing key roles in establishing an updated plan for the future of Tacoma’s downtown.

According to Petty, the working definition of downtown Tacoma is now larger than it’s ever been â€" thanks to the expansion of UWT, the resurgence of Hilltop, and efforts to revive the Foss Waterway.

While working to create an updated plan for Downtown Tacoma, several objectives are being kept in mind, including: retaining DaVita and Russell Investments, focusing on the most marketable areas of downtown, coordinating public and private investment, adhering to the complete streets mentality, aligning the Economic Development Board and the city better and having a good plan with enough wiggle room to be opportunistic when a chance for profit or city betterment arises.

Vitality, sustainability and cultivating Tacoma as a “City of the Arts” were also mentioned as priorities for Downtown. According to Huffman, it’s important for Tacoma to “leverage our unique character,” as well as develop the arts in Tacoma as a possible economic opportunity.

UWT’S MASTER PLAN

Milt Trembley, from the University of Washington Tacoma’s Facilities and Campus Services Department discussed the future of UWT. Simply put, Trembley says the continued growth and success of UWT depends on a partnership between private and public investment â€" something UWT has done well so far.

Trembley said that many people with similar job titles as his at different universities have called  to ask how they can do what UWT has been able to do. To this, Trembley points out with pride that “Once you get as bad as (downtown Tacoma was), then you can do what we did.”

With UWT's transformation to a 4-year university, look for the campuses footprint to continue to expand, but with the community as a whole in mind â€" capitalizing on the urban nature of the campus and continuing to emphasize mixed-use spaces and buildings.

Also, Trembley says you can expect the UWT to have a carbon neutral footprint by 2040. Hot damn! Only 32 more years!

THE LUZON BUILDING

Karsen Keever from the Gintz Group gave a brief talk about the future of the Luzon Building, which his company is nearly ready to start bringing back to life. He showed some nifty pictures and provided a brief play by play of what construction will entail. It was enough to get all the real estate and development types in the Tacoma Club a little wet, hot and bothered â€" but at this point I was more interested in my cookie.

PARKING IN TACOMA

Finally, aside from Jessica Holden’s brief talk on supporting alternatives to commuting from a business perspective and Joanne Buselmeier’s ultra brief preview of Tollefest ’08 (word on the street is there’ll be a clown, yo!), Marty Campbell of the Parking Implementation Committee and David Schroedel of Schroedel Planning Services gave the Tacoma Club an update on the research they’ve done regarding the future of parking in Tacoma.

Pay parking is coming to Tacoma. The decision has already been made. Luckily, before rushing into it, Tacoma gave folks like Campbell and Schroedel a chance to look into the matter, and â€" hopefully â€" devise a plan that will work best for everyone involved â€" business owners, consumers, and those who just like to park.

While it’s ultimately up to the City to determine the future of parking in Tacoma, Campbell’s Parking Implementation Committee will soon offer their suggestions on the matter to the Tacoma City Council. Those recommendations are expected to be based around: increasing convenience for customers trying to park downtown, increasing the time people are allowed to park in existing spots downtown (Tacoma currently has more 1/2 hour parking than Seattle and Portland combined), developing alternatives to commuting by car, and making sure 15% of parking spaces downtown are unoccupied at any one time.   

November 14, 2008 at 8:32pm

Flickr Post of the Day

November 15, 2008 at 7:46am

Lava 3 tonight

MATT DRISCOLL: FUCK YEAH SCOOTER RIDE CONCLUDES AT THE JIVE >>>

L_32cd1ba4313f40469cf25710ec4a599b Is it possible to look cool while riding a scooter?

As gas prices continue to wreak havoc on budgets everywhere â€" even at an ultra-cheap $2-something a gallon â€" and scooters and scooter riders multiply like fruit flies on the road, it would seem that question is being answered for me.

If hipsters, those who realize the terrifying repercussions of our country’s dependency on oil, and those just looking to have a good time and zip around on two wheels have found peace â€" and a way (at least in their own minds) to look cool riding a scooter â€" than who am I to doubt them?

It’s a very good question, but still my cynicism persists.

Tucked up knees. Lawnmower power. Rain gear. All of these things come with traveling by scooter, and all of them â€" at least in a traditional sense â€" are basically the opposite of cool.
But maybe that’s it. Maybe one can look cool on a scooter because of the irony â€" the same way that indie dude with the mullet I see at all the Tacoma hipster shows rocks it?
Or maybe I just need to check myself. What does it mean to “look cool?” And who the hell really cares?

I would say: not the Tacoma Fuck Yeah Scooter Club, who will celebrate their inaugural ride and get-together today and tonight. But then again, for a gaggle of scooterists who â€" assumedly â€" don’t give a flying you-know-what about looking cool, these guys are actually pretty, well, cool.

And they know how to throw an event.

The Tacoma Fuck Yeah Scooter Club's inaugural ride and get together will culminate tonight at Bob's Java Jive, and Lava 3 - the monthly tag team effort between the Weekly Volcano and Bob's Java Jive to put on one hell of a show and invite everyone and their brother out to fall down and get drunk with us. Bands at tonight's Lava 3 will include Waves and Radiation and Bandolier.

For the full story in the current issue of the Weekly Volcano click here.

Filed under: Matt Driscoll, Music, Tacoma,

November 15, 2008 at 8:30am

Schoolyard Heroes at Hell's Kitchen

CARADY MADDEN: EERIE MELODIES AND POST HARDCORE RHYTHM >>>

L_705085f176d2f5da2d10412bbbe38d41 Fresh off a West Coast tour, Schoolyard Heroes head home to roost with a show in Tacoma tonight. The band’s unique female-fronted garage grunge-pop is both rocking and danceable, and will keep your ears on their proverbial toes â€" with crunchy riffs backed with an active bass and pounding drums, all with Ryann Donnelly’s dynamic and diverse vocals coming out clear over the top. One second she's syrupy sweet and cute, the next she lets loose with a powerful and amazingly sustained scream. With Schoolyard Heroes, eerie melodies mix with and over "post-hardcore" rhythm. Somehow managing to fuse metal, garage and pop into the new characteristic Seattle sound, this is one band you can't get enough of. If you aren't already familiar with Schoolyard Heroes, go to this show.

Filed under: Music, Tacoma,

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