WE RECOMMEND THESE LIVE SHOWS TONIGHT >>>

Eastside Club Olympia - Downtown. Chicago Afrobeat Project. 21+. 9 pm.

• While afrobeat has experienced a hip resurgence of late, this is a group that's been doing it since before it was cool (or as cool as it is today), and one that takes an original approach. As the name implies, Chicago Afrobeat Project has always had the goal of, "breathing the intensity of Chicago's rich music scene into the infectious sounds of afrobeat." Infectious. That word is used a lot in relation to this band. Judge for yourself Thursday at the Eastside. – Michael Swan
  

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. The Missionary Position, Big Wheel Stunt Show, Revolt Revolt. 21+. 9 pm. $3.

• "We're making up some new ground with the Missionary Position," says singer/guitarist Jeff Angell. "We got a couple offers from a couple labels. I'm not sure if that's what we want to do. The Independent Film Channel licensed some of our songs to use for their promos. We did 154 shows last year and sold out of our first pressing of our record and now we're on our second pressing. ... We're staying pretty busy." With the Missionary Position getting some early recognition, Angell says that he needs to be wary of how to proceed with dealing with the music business. Read my full story here. — Rev. Adam McKinney

Hi-Fidelity Lounge Bremerton. The Ray Ohls Jazz Trio. New York style jazz. 21+. 8:30 pm. $4.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. Marty Barrett, Heaths, Total Life. All Ages. 8 pm.

• Total Life is the solo project of Kevin Doria from esteemed experimental Olympia expats Growing. Like most drone music, Total Life can be as punishing as it is proficiently-crafted, and so subtle that the many shifts and eddies which unfold amidst Doria's white noise squall sometimes barely register, sticking to the margins of the listener's perception. On the extremely-rare 2005 Total Life debut, Doria's feedback-overloaded guitar occasionally contorts into something resembling a typical solo or melody, bubbling up through layers of phlegmy whorls to reach the sonic foreground. It's a little like Growing's earlier material, only morphed by mountainous heaps of distortion. Fans of both Kevin Shields (the seminal shoegaze musician who found nirvana in eardrum-immolating guitar) and Kevin Shields (the intense noise band), take note. - Jason Baxter

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. Tim Hall Band. 21+. 7 pm. NC.

Rock the Dock Pub & Grill Tacoma - Downtown. Acoustic Open Mic/Musicians Night. Hosted by Big D from 9 Pound Hammer. 21+. 9 pm.

Sax Restaurant and Lounge Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Singer-songwriter Randall Jex. 21+. 9 pm. NC.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Billy Stoops Acoustic Jam. 21+. 9 pm. NC.

Tempest Lounge Tacoma - Upper Tacoma. Come Out And Play Open Mic. Hosted by Kim Archer and Nick Sandy. All Ages. 7-10 pm. NC.

LINK: More live music in the South Sound tonight