SUNDAY, JULY 4, 2010 >>>

1. If you heard Parenthetical Girls' most recent LP, Entanglements, you might be tempted to call them orchestral pop. Listen to the band's previous album, and you'll not be so quick with your designation. Despite how loaded the word "experimental" is, this is the basic definition of experimentation: Lead singer and brainchild Zac Pennington desired to make orchestral pop, and Entanglements was his experiment. "We generally just consider the music that we make to be pop music, because it's a pretty wide umbrella, and it allows us not to have to feel like we have to do any one sort of thing," says Pennington. "As a rule, we are generally pop music fans, so it's easier to classify it that way and not put ourselves into a corner." Check out Parenthetical Girls with Deerhoof and AU at 7:30 p.m. inside the Capitol Theater.

2. If drunken debauchery and in-your-face patriotism seem a little too much for you, check out Grand Old Fourth of July in Steilacoom from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Here you'll take in free historical walking tours, ice cream socials, an old-fashioned parade at 1 p.m., street dance at 7 p.m. and fireworks around 10:30 p.m. 

3. A community band will present a late afternoon concert of patriotic and old-fashioned music on the lawn of Meeker Mansion in Puyallup from 3-5 p.m.  The Meeker Society, the private nonprofit organization that maintains the 1890-era Victoria Home erected by Puyallup founder Ezra Meeker, will sell hot dogs, soft drinks, ice cream sundaes, and more.

4. Country band Broken Trail will perform from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at Red Wind Casino's outdoor Fourth of July party, which also features a booze garden, inflatable jumphouse and fireworks after dark.

5. The South Sound Blues Association hosts a Blues Stage during the Tacoma Freedom Fair and Air Show on Tacoma's Ruston Way Waterfront.  The Blues Stage is at Duke's Chowder House with Blues Redemption opening the stage at noon. The Back to Beale Street Blues finals begin at 3:30 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound