MARK THOMAS DEMING: AND THE DRUG PURSE, FOR THAT MATTER >>>

Let us now praise The New Frontier Lounge. Remember that gaping hole in the Tacoma live music scene? The one in-between coffee shop Celtic and Death Pussy? It seems like ancient history now, thanks largely to The New Frontier Lounge. Case in point: Tonight, local retrock favs The Drug Purse will share the stage with So Cal pop eclectics The Fling, Vashon Island’s Greenfield and Seattle folkster Tommy Dean. Off-night smorgasbords like this keep live music alive at the roots in drought-prone towns like Tacoma, and the venues that book them should be regarded as civic treasures. Such clubs are rare and fragile these days, and their success depends on you. You, your thirst and three bucks at the door. It’s worth more than that just to see The Drug Purse. And it’s worth way more to know that you can.

[The New Frontier Lounge, with The Fling, Greenfield, Tommy Dean, 8 p.m., $3, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4020]