SATURDAY, JAN. 29, 2011 >>>

1. Ever wanted to play mini-golf inside the Washington Center for the Performing Arts? Who hasn't? This weekend provides just such an opportunity ... and for a good cause.

2. Tacoma's Apache Chief celebrates the release of their first full length, Trail of Beers, tonight at the Peabody Waldorf Gallery with Drug Purse, Red Hex and Night Beats.

3. It's not every night that you have an opportunity to see music legend Nanci Griffith in Tacoma. Tonight, however, you do ...

4. The rock ‘n' roll powers that are Fall From Grace and Atomic Outlaws will join forces tonight for a worthy benefit at Stonegate Pizza on South Tacoma Way. Check details here.

5. It's a great day for theater. Around the sound, productions of Frost/Nixon, Sea Marks, Twelfth Night, the Drowsy Chaperone, The Foreigner, Ring Round the Moon, and the 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are all available for your enjoyment.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

Goodbye, farewell, we shall miss all of you! Three weeks is cruel amount of time to spend in an internship, but hey, it's better than none. We only just got attached to everyone here, when suddenly we are ripped unceremoniously out and thrust back into cold and unforgiving high school.

We really did have a blast! Concert alert, adventuring, writing articles, getting a picture published on the cover, blogging, happy hour, happy hour, and more happy hour were all amazing. We even found ourselves having fun making 158 cold calls to bars!

But don't cry too hard, you can't get rid of us that easily! We will definitely still be around the world of the Volcano, somehow.

We also couldn't leave without thanking our wonderful readers (Hi mom and dad!). We couldn't have done it without you.

All kidding aside, we really had an amazing time. Thank you so much to the Volcano staff that put up with our antics and doodling for three weeks! Everyone was friendly, welcoming, and even shared their pizza on company pizza day. It takes a really nice person to share their pizza with high school students.

LOCAL ADVICE ABOUT PET PEEVES AND TRIVIAL MATTERS >>>

This week's question is about something we've all dealt with, where to binge drink during Spring Break ...

A bunch of friends of mine want to go on spring break. The place they suggest is in the Dominican Republic, but it seems like a dump. Reviews report timeshare salesmen hounding you, aided by hotel staff. Maids won't leave you towels unless you leave tips on the bed everyday. Many, many people get food poisoning. How do I suggest a new spring break opportunity without seeming like I'm suggesting a new spring break?

---Dominican Rhythm Problems

Read the answer here.

MORE LIVE THAN YOU'LL EVER BE >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Gina Belliveau, Lijie, Focus Focus. 9 pm.

Bob's Java Jive Tacoma - Central. Shrouded In Veils, Atomic Bride, Aerglo. 9 pm.

Doyle's Public House Tacoma - Stadium District. Northwest Sons. 8 pm.

Eagle's Hall Olympia - Downtown. M.A.D.D. Benefit Show, featuring VIII Days Clean. All Ages. 7:30 pm.

Graham-Kapowsin High School Graham. Cancer Benefit Concert featuring Moneta, They Charge Like Warriors, Burning Twilight, Spare Me Poseidon, and Shoreline Drive. All Ages. 5-11 pm. $5.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. The Fun Police, The Graceland Five, Hopeless Jack & The Handsome Devils, Phasers On Kill. 9 pm. $5.

The Hub Tacoma - Stadium District. The Kim Archer Band. 9 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Randy Hansen. 9 pm. $8-$10.

JR's Hideaway Belfair. Relay For Life Benefit, with Chicken Joe & The Fabulous Cocks. 9 pm.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. The Artichoke Project. 9 pm.

Little Creek Casino Shelton. John Rich (of Big & Rich). 7 pm. $50-$65. Chance McKinney & Crosswire. 9 pm. NC.

The Loft on Cherry Olympia - Downtown. Hip Hop 4 The Homeless Benefit Weekend, with spoken word & live performances by Afrok, XP, Sista Hailstorm, Night Fox, Josh Rizeberg, Collective Love, Never Sleep, Hollywood Kill Krew. This event is family-friendly & proceeds benefit the Olympia-area homeless & vulnerably housed. All Ages. 7 pm. $5 or a donation of clothing, tent, tarp or hygein.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Scott Cook. All Ages. 6 pm. NC. Mary Win, Paula Boggs Band. All Ages. 8:30 pm. $5.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma. Musuji (Denver Band) with Pioneers West. 8 pm to Midnight. $5.

Pantages Theater Tacoma - Downtown. Nanci Griffith. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $30-$70.

Peabody Waldorf Gallery Tacoma - Downtown. Apache Chief Album Release Show, with The Drug Purse, Sam Olsen, Miles VanMatre, All Ages. 7 pm. $3.

Red Bicycle Bistro and Sushi Bar Vashon. Nick Vigarino. All Ages. 8:30 pm. NC.

Rock the Dock Pub & Grill Tacoma - Downtown. Billy Roy Duo. 9 pm. NC.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. Fingertips. 8 pm. NC.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Fall From Grace, Atomic Outlaws, Plaster. 8 pm. $5.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Scott Cossu, with Jessica Blinn. All Ages. 8 pm. $8-$12.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Billy Shew. 8 pm.

LINK: More live music tonight in the South Sound

SUNDAY, JAN. 30, 2011 >>>

1. Tonight is your chance to check out Robbie Walden & The Gunslingers video at Big Whisky Saloon in downtown Tacoma. The country and bluegrass good times start at 7 p.m.

2. Want to be amazed and inspired? Sure you do. Luckily, the Kodo Japanese Drummers are in Olympia tonight for a performance at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts.

3. Today from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. the Tacoma Art Museum will be alive with Native celebration and art as the public is invited to experience the heritage and the arts of the Puyallup Tribe and other Coast Salish groups. The Coastal Native Celebration is an annual event featuring cultural performances and hands-on art activities for all ages. And here's the really good part: the museum is offering free admission all day.

4. If you're into all-ages indie rock shows, Sparrows Gate, Rad Cloud and Lee Baggett will do it to it tonight at Northern in Olympia. Click here for our entire live local music calendar.

5. OMG! It's "Sexy Sunday" at O'Henry's Sports Bar in Puyallup. Naturally, DJ El Guapo will lay it down.

DELIBERATE, STRUCTURED, PENETRATING HAZE >>>

What a difference a mix makes.

I bought Drag Lake Sin, the new EP by Tacoma outfit Slowwave, upon its release Tuesday. Five dollars for six tracks, and man, they are good ones. There is a layering and nuance to the instrumentation and production of each track that is rare in a lot of local music. There's a lot of noise, and a lot of what Rev. Adam McKinney describes as "haze." But it is a deliberate, structured and penetrating haze.

The thing about live sound is this: layering and nuance are extremely hard to do. This is true of most any venue not explicitly designed for music, but particularly so in a somewhat cavernous space such as the double-decker Peabody Waldorf Gallery - where the band played Friday night.

The intricacies of Slowwave's material echoed back on themselves as they reverberated off the walls, creating a muddle of sound - not a horrid mess by any means. Having spent most of the last week listening to Drag Lake Sin on a loop, my brain was preemptively conditioned to pick out the subtleties in the haze. But by and large the noise overpowered the music.

As I sat down to write this, I cranked up the EP on my speakers, and my girlfriend turned almost immediately and said, "This is really good. Who is this?"

My reply was simply, "I told you you'd like the record better than you liked the show."

So what I'm saying is this: If you were at the release show Friday, and you loved it, great. Go buy the record - it's better.

And anyone who was there and didn't care for it? Go buy the record - it's better.
Also I think my girlfriend was disconcerted by the number of stocking caps and skinny jeans surrounding us all night. But that's her own problem.

MONDAY, JAN. 31, 2011 >>>

1. The Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center will be home to an event aiming to help businesses, individuals and communities discover ways to aid sustainably and promote healthy business practices from noon to 8 p.m. The day-long, three-part event is intended to help community members step past the standard "buy local," "go green" mindset. Because if a flourishing community and healthy environment is the end goal, there's a lot more to be done than just buying and going. Read the full story here.

2. Marked: Susan Dory, Michelle Grabner, and Margie Livingston show their abstract paintings in Kittredge Gallery's large space from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Marked highlights painting's potential to simultaneously operate as a material thing and communication mode.

3. Billy Stoops and Jim King stop by Harmon Brewery's Blues Night at 7 p.m.

4. The S.R.O. swing band performs music from the '30s and '40s from 7-9 p.m. inside the Imperial Dragon Restaurant on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue.

5. Surreal Ultra Lounge's electro Euro Night gets trashy beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

"ANYTHING DIRTY OR DINGY OR DUSTY" >>>

The bar formerly known as SAX Restaurant and Lounge on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue has reopened as D.O.A., short for Dirty Oscar's Annex - a reference to Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. And just as Oscar is a musical chap ("I Love Trash"), DOA hosts live music every other Friday and Saturday with an open mic on Tuesday.

The joint has its sights on being a neighborhood hangout, with a concentration on food. In the kitchen, Kyle Wnuk - who did a stint at the Lobster Shop - has created several signature dishes, including beer battered asparagus and a Dirty Burger that sports a pretzel bun, primo meat, bacon, cheddar and tomato jam.

"It is insane what he does with food," says D.O.A. customer Jake Barth said.

D.O.A.'s signature drink is the Moonshine, bartender Fred Vetters' creation made with 80-proof lemonade and his secret twist. It is smooth as Barry White but kicks like Jackie Chan.

D.O.A.

4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday-Friday
10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday-Sunday
309 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.572.0588
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TIME IS RUNNING OUT >>>

As we've hopefully lodged into your cranium by now, the Weekly Volcano will publish its Best of Olympia 2011 issue Feb. 17 - which, for those playing at home, is a mere 17 days from now.

Today is the final day to vote in the Weekly Volcano's Best of Olympia Readers' Poll - currently running at www.bestofolympia2011.com

If you have yet to let your voice be heard, go forth now or forever wallow in regret.

Or something.

Just vote.

Thanks for your time.

GET YOUR ACT ON >>>

Despite an increase in theater coverage over the last year, we at the Volcano sometimes fall short on listing audition notices. Here, then, is a first attempt at addressing that inadvertent deficiency.

Capital Playhouse will be holding auditions for The Secret Garden Saturday, Feb. 5, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. They're looking for young actors who can play age 10, plus some adult males with strong singing voices. Bring sheet music and a head shot with résumé. For more information, call the theater at 360.943.2744.

Lakewood Playhouse will cast Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street from auditions on Sunday and Monday, Feb. 6 and 7, at 7 p.m. Have 16 bars of music prepared. A memorized monologue and/or head shot with résumé would be appreciated. It appears LP's late April show, The Joy Luck Club, is being replaced, so keep an eye out for further audition notices at lakewoodplayhouse.org.

Olympia Little Theatre will be seeing actors, primarily male adults, for A Few Good Men on Monday, Feb. 28, and Tuesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. This will be a cold reading audition. For more info, contact the director, Katy Shockman, at katy_shockman@yahoo.com.

Tacoma Little Theatre will begin scheduling auditions for The Who's Tommy on Feb. 22, at which time call 253.272.2281 or e-mail tlt@tacomalittletheatre.com. The actual auditions will be on March 6 and 7 for director Scott Campbell.

Finally, Paradise Theater in Gig Harbor is getting ready for West Side Story auditions at noon on March 6.

If you know of other auditions in Pierce or Thurston counties, drop me a line at christian.carvajal@hotmail.com. Thanks, and break a leg!