SIXTH AVENUE WELCOMES PASTICHE AND GRUV >>>

A couple new businesses will open on Sixth Avenue catering to the dance crowd - young and old.

First, a new wine bar called Pastiche is scheduled to move into the other half of the former Il Fiasco space (Beyond The Bridge Café occupies the left side) Monday, Nov. 1. The owners bring 20 years of wine experience with them to the 2715 Sixth Ave. spot, as well as tapas for lunch and dinner menu. However, what caught our eyes is the large dance floor. Pastiche will host bands performing music from the '30s and '40s. Could cool jazz full of blaring horns, brushes on snare drums, wicked and suspicious-sounding reeds, and perhaps the coolest basslines of the 20th century come to Tacoma on a regular basis? We pray.

Second, Jason Rim's Gruv Lounge and Nightclub is on target for a soft opening Friday, Oct. 22 in the former Hell's Kitchen space on Sixth Avenue. I toured the joint last week with Gruv manager Calvin Murphy, who launched his DJ conglomerate Ocean Grooves in the same space in 1999 when it was the 6^th & Proctor Bar & Grill (after the popular Central Tavern closed in the same spot).

I'm happy to report that Rim and Murphy bypassed the glitzy nightclub motif for more of a fancy industrial environment: gray walls, steel accents and not a drape in sight.

Murphy, barely able to keep the smile off his face, guided me through the two private karaoke lounges, the clean(!) bathrooms, the remote-control LED lighting system - which includes 35 lights that can completely change the interior color - the wraparound video screen below the elevated DJ booth, and the large seating area where Hell's Kitchen pool and pinball room stood.

In regards to the music, Murphy plans on brining in popular national-touring DJs, as well as host Puget Sounds' DJ talent pool. Los Angeles DJ Uberzone will join local DJs dAb, Jason Diamond and Mr. Clean for the club's official opening Friday, Oct. 29. Admission will be $10. And a 6^th & Proctor Bar & Grill Ocean Grooves reunion will take place Saturday, Nov. 6 when Donald Glaude, Omar and dAb spin in the same spot they did 11 years ago. That night, which will be a Halloween bash, will be off the hook.