STEPH DEROSA: HERE'S HOPING IT OPENS IN OCTOBER AS PLANNED >>>

As much as Hyon Luv Kil would love for me to forget, I will always remember that fateful day of May 16, 2008 when we all watched the Firwood Roadhouse in Fife burn down.  From the moment he learned of the landmark's demise, Luv Kil swore he would do nothing but fight for the return of the Firwood.  After considering many locations, the infamous nighttime hot spot has finally found a new home - right in downtown Tacoma.

Shedding the old "Roadhouse" surname, what will soon be occupying Pacific Avenue's old club, The Drake, will be Luv Kil's Firwood Rock Lounge.  Be gone old reputation of female patrons with fake tans, fake boobs, outdated French manicured nails, Katy Perry wannabe haircuts, matching Hot Topic shirts, and knowing no other way to take pictures but by making that dumb "kissy face" pose. Luv Kil promises me that while still catering to his loyal "Roadhouse" crowd, he is setting up shop with the intention of entering the awesomeness of what Tacoma has to offer.  Read: He's welcoming live, local music. 

Oh, hell yeah. 

He just said those three magic words that my Weekly Volcano-loving heart wants to hear.

As I sat inside the grand, rebuilt, relocated Firwood interior, I felt a dash of coolness being part of something so undeniably needed in this area.  With so many evolving, talented bands in the South Puget Sound, venues for citizens to appreciate local music have become an ever increasing need.  Acoustic engineers have taken over the new Firwood Rock Lounge in order to give the place the best opportunity for exquisite live music.  An elevated stage, three brand new bars (one of them extremely huge), re-built booths, and an entirely cleaned-up kitchen now occupy the once gutted business space.

Neighboring businesses have openly welcomed the new Firwood Rock Lounge to their entertainment-laden block of downtown. 

"As long as it's not another Club Juno," says a neighboring business owner. 

"This will be the farthest thing from that," states Luv Kil.  

Luv Kil is hoping for an opening sometime in October 2009, though the Firwood Rock Lounge still has a few city hoops left to jump through, he says.

If the downtown Tacoma joint turns out to be what Luv Kil describes, expect this place to bear hug Tacoma's live music scene like you've never seen it hugged before.

MICHAEL SWAN: FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 2009 >>>

1. BigShowCity presents The Lord Franzannian Royal Olympian Spectacular Vaudeville Show! hosted by storyteller Elizabeth Lord at 8 p.m. inside The Midnight Sun Performance Space in Olympia.

2. The Old Town Arts and Crafts Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. inside the Slavonian Hall.

3. Critical Mass â€" the grassroots reclamation of public space by cyclists and other self-propelled people â€" will begin at Jefferson Park at 6 p.m.

4. Seattle’s Spectrum Dance makes a rare south-of-the-Seattle-border appearance, joining noteworthy Tacoma dancers from MLKBallet’s MOVE! 14 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Jan Collum Ballroom (Tacoma City Ballet) at the Merlino Art Center.

5. Ryan Purcell and the Last Round play O’Malley’s Irish Pub at 10 p.m.

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: Local movie starting times

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MICHAEL SWAN: PUYALLUP FAIR, FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 2009 >>>

Check it: Did we mention there's a Bikini Soda booth at the Fair? Snug.

Stuff to do today
10 a.m.: Open Class Sheep Show, Large Show Arena

11 a.m.: Meet SpongeBob SquarePants, ToonzVille

11:30 a.m.: Ukrainian Eggs, Hobby Hall

12 p.m.: Target Shooting, Contest Arena

1 p.m.: Deadliest Catch â€" Meet Scott Hillstrand and Jake Anderson, Grand Ave. & Midway Blvd.

4 p.m.: Weaving on a Box, Pavilion, 2nd Floor

5 p.m.: Friends of the Orphans, Education Stage

7 p.m.: Seattle Sea Gals, Showplace Stage

7:30 p.m.: An Evening with LeAnn Rimes, Grandstand

More things to do today here

Hours
10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday.

Admission
$11 adults, $8 seniors (62 and older) and students (age 6-18); free age 5 and younger. Advance discount tickets at Safeway, Fred Meyer and Columbia Bank.

Parking
$10 Monday-Friday, $12 Saturday-Sunday

Transportation
Pierce Transit “Fair Express” for $3 round trip. Details are here.

More Information
Do their Web site.

PAUL SCHRAG: TOO SLIM AND THE TAILDRAGGERS WILL ROCK JAZZBONES >>>

Take the modern alt-country blues sound of Drive By Truckers, throw in the fun loving attitude and riff-blues-rock of ZZ Top, mix them all together and you get close to the vibe of Too Slim and the Taildraggers. This is real, down and dirty rock and roll â€" a delightful jumble of virtuosic slide guitar work from frontman Tim “Too Slim” Langford and the recently revamped rock sound of the Taildraggers.

The band’s new vibe blends power-chord-driven, fun-loving nasty grooves with a new, indie-rock songwriting vibe. And it works.

Don’t worry, Too Slim and crew still infuse plenty of blues and Americana into their work. In fact, if anything, this new sound will garner the local favorites a whole new audience.

You dig?

[Jazzbones, Friday, Sept. 25, 8 p.m., $12, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY: POPISH POST-PUNK AT THE DEN >>>

Let’s consider, for a moment, all the odd bands that seem to come from nowhere and, inexplicably, become a sensation. These anomalies get a lot more play than the bands that were destined for stardom from the very beginning, but they’re equally weird to me. Example: New Faces, a band of high school students, wins EMP’s Sound Off!, signs to Loveless Records, earns acclaim from the critics, and becomes a Top 40 sensation that sweeps the nation.

Well, almost.

It’s easy to see how the band’s immensely listenable popish post-punk got them from A to B, and it’s only a matter of time before they get to C, also known as World Domination.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

[The Den @ urbanXchange, with Colonies, Apache Chief, Friday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m., $4-$5, all ages, 1932 Pacific Ave., downtown Tacoma, 253.572.2280]

NEWS TEAM: GOOD MORNING SOUTH SOUND >>>

Luzon’s Last Stand: Someone brought in Super Engineer Guy.

Protestpile: Three more anti-war protesters hating on the Tacoma police.

They're Pulling What?: Grab N Go Espresso bikini baristas face prostitution charges.

No More Pulling!: Members of at least 19 Tacoma neighborhood groups will march against prostitution.

Hey!: Obama says Iran is breaking the rules.

Headed Down: Ex-Manson follower Susan Atkins dies.

New World Order: G-20 nears agreement on banker pay, policy coordination as crisis recedes.

The Horror: Wild turkeys terrorize Jersey neighborhood.

Issues: Mom attacks son for eating last pork chop.

Why Is This Guy Still On TV?

KUPS STAFF: RECORD REVIEW FRIDAYS >>>

Editor’s Note: As has become tradition, every Friday the fresh-faced kids over at KUPS 90.1FM â€" the awesome UPS student run radio station â€" will be stepping away from the microphone and offering up a well-crafted review of a recent record release. Today marks the first such review, and they’ll continue throughout the school year.

Le Loup, Family
Reviewed by Kayla Morrison, Alternative Music Director KUPS 90.1 FM Tacoma

Le Loup’s 2007 album The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly (yes, that really is the title) was one of the most criminally underappreciated albums of 2007. Now Le Loup is back with Family, out this past Tuesday on Hardly Art, and they have crafted another gem.

Incorporating traditional melodies, multi-part harmonies, a little bit of banjo, and a lot of awesomeness, Sam Simkoff and friends have created the perfect sophomore album: different enough to not be redundant but not so different as to disgust superfans such as myself.

The album opens with the soft drum and banjo fanfare of “Saddle Mountain” and seamlessly flows through several brilliant but unassuming songs before reaching its climax in “Neahkahnie” â€" a joyful, raucous banjo, guitar, and dusty church basement piano number. 

Don’t let Family suffer the fate of its younger brother; this album definitely deserves your love and attention.

GEOFF READING: AN INTRODUCTION >>>

Hey there, hi there, ho there. My name is Geoff Reading. Five years ago, for nine months or so while my wife was pregnant, I forgot to pay attention to what I was doing and woke up one morning having relocated my family from sunny Los Angeles to your lovely city of Tacoma. This was a total accident.

Fast forward to the present: I have fallen in love with Tacoma and all that it is, and isn't. I love the people who live here, and almost more so, I love those who don't. I want to write of things I love about Tacoma. The way it compares to other cities around the country and around the world. This is such an amazing time to be in the 253 that I want to go around town and talk to people who grew up here, started businesses and families here â€" people who have, and always will, call this home.

I love the shirts I see with the AK-47 that says "Protect Tacoma."  It’s exactly how I feel.

I like hearing people say, "Fuck Seattle."

I love how territorial people are about their city. You don't get that in a city full of transplants. Tacoma has the personality that Seattle lost right around the time Andy Wood eternally benched himself. Most people in Tacoma are from Tacoma. Not a lot of people relocate (present company excluded) to the 253. That creates a homegrown attitude, feeds the city's character and makes for a general lack of self-consciousness that tends to foster creative growth. I'd like to take time, now and again, to shine some light, tell some stories, and blow a little smoke up some of the people's asses that I think make Tacoma one of the great undiscovered cities on the planet.

Drummer Geoff Reading â€" who will be writing a bi-weekly Spew column for the Weekly Volcano called “Holding Down the 253” which will post every other Friday â€" has played music in tons of Northwest bands: Green Apple Quickstep, New American Shame, Top Heavy Crush and most recently Duff McKagan's LOADED â€" to name but a few. He's toured the world several times over, sharing stages with the likes of Slipknot, The Cult, Buckcherry, Korn, Journey, The Sex Pistols, Nine Inch Nails and on and on. He has called Tacoma home since 2005, and he holds down the 253 in the North End with his wife and son.

MICHAEL SWAN: IT’S FAIR DAYS AT THE CROWN BAR >>>

It's Fair Days at the Crown Bar today and tomorrow. If you walk through the doors of the Sixth Avenue lounge dressed like a carny you’ll win a prize.

In addition, the Crown will serve corn dogs, corn on the cob, deep fried pickles and elephant ears as well as drink specials featuring shaved ice.

[Crown Bar, 4 p.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, 2705 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4177]

MICHAEL SWAN: SUNDAY BENEFIT FOR LITTLE BAILY >>>

Tuesday April 7 little Baily was diagnosed with Advanced Stage Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Since that dreadful day, little Baily has undergone intensive chemotherapy â€" twice. The tumor is aggressive.

According to Baily’s mom, the little boy has been a trooper. “He knows that he is sick and cannot do most of the things that he loves; zoos, petting zoos, church group, preschool, train store, library, even riding his bike can be hard for him because of how weak he is,” she states in a press release. “He tells me that ‘it’s okay mom, I know I can’t do that because I’m sick’ â€" and it breaks my heart. This is his ‘normal’ life now and he has accepted it. He says that he will never leave us and that he will get better. He is a good strong 4-year-old boy who is fighting for his life.”

Baily needs a boost of joy, folks. Please join Baily’s family and friends Sunday, Sept. 27, for an afternoon of cupcakes, balloons and a silent auction at the Life Center Church Gymnasium. The event runs from 12:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. The silent auction begins at 1 p.m. and ends at 4.

For more information, go to Baily’s support Web site.