ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Tom Carter in regard to Brett Cihon's editorial blog from late February about the temporary closure of Yauger Skatepark in Olympia due to excessive litter.

Carter writes,

Wow, just think about how much trash the Lakefair creates, they don't shut that down to prove a point to the general public that they are being "bad" or need to "shape up". I understand the fair lasts for a week and the skatepark is there all year, but something so popular should be taken into consideration and dealt with, not just shut down. Instead of resolving the issue, I feel like whoever in charge here is acting like some tough mom trying to ground it's citizens.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011 >>>

1. Lew Tabackin has been nominated for Grammys, yo - like plural Grammys. Freakin' 10 times. While there's no doubt the Black Eyed Peas et al. have cheapened that honor, it's still kind of a big deal ... although it may be the least impressive thing on Tabackin's resume. Dude's flute is "electric." His tenor sax style "distinctive" - these the words of people much smarter than us ... real heady jazz types. Did we mention his name is Lew Tabackin? Say that three times fast. He's at the University of Puget Sound at 7:30 p.m.

2. What's a good sign adult dodgeball has jettisoned itself into the mainstream, no longer a fringe activity engaged in by alt-types, Ben Stiller characters and nostalgia freaks? Well, when the Pierce County prosecutors office and local members of the defense attorneys bar face off in a dodgeball match (refereed by Superior Court Judge John McCarthy, no less) to benefit charity, it's a pretty strong indication. Starting at 6 p.m. at the People's Center (1602 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma), that's exactly what will happen. The after party is at the SideBar Bistro, where they all hang out.

3. After the winter we went through, we could use a little tropical injection. Hanging in a coffee shop in Fircrest isn't going to cut it. However, when you add the topical musical stylings of Trio Tropical (and a flask full of rum), your smashed fender and broken arm from that trip to the grocery store in the snow just might disappear out of your mind (with enough rum). Check out the combo from 6:30-8 p.m. at The Greener Bean.

4. Greasy rocker Meatloaf sang, "There's evil in the air and there's thunder in sky, and A killer's on the bloodshot streets / Oh and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising / Oh I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter / He was starting to foam in the heat. The song, of course, is "Bat Out Of Hell." The Weekly Volcano wasn't able to confirm if Paul Richards' "Bat Out of Hell" - performed tonight by saxophonist Fred "Don't Call Me Henry" Winkler and the TCC Symphonic Band - is of the same ilk as Meatloaf's version. If it is, the 7:30 p.m. show inside TCC Building 3 will be sure to incite an encore call, which we can only hope will feature Winkler busting out "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." 

5. Project:U, the United Way of Pierce County offshoot loaded with young cool cats, hosts comedian Ty Barnett at 8 p.m. inside the Tacoma Comedy Club. The Tacoma Comedy Club will donate 20 percent of their post tax ticket sales - and Barnett will toss in another $2 per ticket - toward United Way's local charities, which is nice.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

MUSIC GOODNESS IN STORE IN PRINT & ONLINE >>>

Here at the Weekly Volcano, the saying really doesn't apply. Thursday IS NOT the new Friday. It's just Thursday - as it's always been. Which, by the way, is rad as hell since Thursday just happens to be the day new issues of the Weekly Volcano hit the street.

Here's a sneak peek at the musical goodness in store in print and online.

SANTEE

Some bands seem to hit from the word go. It seems from the moment Santee sleepily, casually emerged on the scene, there has been an uncommon level of excitement for what was originally just an acoustic two-piece. Now a full band, Santee is running on all cylinders and continually exceeding expectations. - Rev. Adam McKinney

THE PEABODY WALDORF IS MOVING

Over the weekend, I heard talk that the Peabody Waldorf Gallery - which has been steadily making its mark as one of the best venues in town - was closing. I immediately contacted the Peabody's P. Eric Waldmann to see what was up.

The Peadbody Waldorf is not closing down, Waldmann assures me.

"It looks like we're moving spaces again as part of a partnership with a better landlord and a better space," he says. - Rev. AM

CHIEF

Saturday, Centralia and The Hub Bar and Grill pull out all the stops to raise money for a beloved Northwest icon, the Yard Bird - leftover from that home improvement chain of yesteryear. A benefit show to help restore the huge, ugly-yet-endearing black bird (still standing at the former corporate flagship location of Yard Birds in Chehalis - having endured 40 years of weather and having garnered more than 5,000 friends on Facebook) will go down with Olympia heavyweights Chief, and Centralia bands Big Chunk and Rock City Refugees. - Nikki Talotta

PLUS: Better Living Through Music - Wheelies, Tacomen, The Curious Mystery

PLUS: Concert Alert - Def Leppard, Paul Simon, Papa Roach and others ...

PLUS: The most extensive live local music listings anywhere in the South Sound

PLUS: Crap like this

THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT'S UP THIS WEEKEND >>>

WEATHER REPORT

Friday: Cloudy, hi 51, lo 41

Saturday: Rain, hi 49, lo 42

Sunday: Rather cloudy, rain possible, hi 49, lo 44

>>> MARCH 11 - 12: Jordan Family Circus

The circus is a dying art - and the circus-lifer is a dying breed. Bearded ladies just don't go as far as they once did. Sure, someday there may be an iPhone app replicating the experience only achieved by rings of fire, balancing acts, shitty peanuts and captive wild animals. But what fun will that be? This weekend the Jordan Family Circus sets up its tents at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, more than ready to stick their entire head in a wild beast's mouth for nothing more than your applause ... and a small entrance fee. See it while you still can.

• Puyallup Fairgrounds - Paulhamus Arena, $16 Adult, $12 Children 3-12, 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Tacoma, thejordanworldcircus.com]

>>> SATURDAY, MARCH 12: The Great Leprechaun Hunt

The Tacoma Mob Riders are at it again -- planning another booze fueled bicycle cruise for Tacoma's dedicated peddlers this weekend. Starting off at everyone's favorite beer and hot dog destination, The Red Hot (because nothing says, "Let's go excercise!" like a stomach full of hot dogs and beer), The Great Leprechaun Hunt Bicylce Booze Cruz will kick off at 7 p.m. and offer riders a chance to mingle, drink, ride and repeat -- with this time of year's obligatory Irish green thrown in for good measure.

• Starts at The Red Hot, 7 p.m., free, 2914 Sixth Ave.., Tacoma, 253.779.0229

>>> SUNDAY, MARCH 13: Jim Lynch & Stephanie Kallos

Weekly Volcano readers recently named Jim Lynch "Best Writer" in our 2011 Best of Olympia issue. Taking nothing away from those who cast votes, they were really just following the overall trend. Jim Lynch is getting props from high and low, and they're all well deserved. His novels, 2006's The Highest Tide, and the more recent (and most awesome) Border Songs have both been gushed over by book critic types from across the land. Sunday, Lynch and fellow author Stephanie Kallos, who spent 20 years in the theater business before turning her attention to writing, will be at the Tacoma Art Museum to talk about how the Northwest has inspirted their work -- part of the Literacy Month Author Series.

• Tacoma Art Museum, 2 p.m., $10, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258.

>>> WHERE OUR STAFF IS GOING

NIKKI TALOTTA Features Writer
Well, I'm back at work this weekend, so I'm sure I'll be hearing about all the great shows I'm missing. But no bother, I'll be happy shaking it behind the bar, where all kinds of fun things happen. (Check out my Spew Blog, "Behind Bars" for more on that.) Anyway, what's really got me shaking is the nerve-racking wait time to see if an offer we put on a new house goes through! Geez - big things for Volcano staff lately, engagements, babies, new houses - there must be something in the paycheck ink.

MATT DRISCOLL Editor
For the first weekend in as long as I can remember we don't have a toddler birthday party to attend this weekend, so I'll probably ... Wait. Crap. My wife just texted. Guess we got invited to a toddler birthday party. So there you go ...

BRETT CHIHON Meat Market Correspondent/Features Writer
I have my sights set on the Matador tequila bar for Friday night, which means I've penciled in a headache for Saturday morning.

CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL: Theater Critic
Between rounds of wedding plans, I'll be reviewing Love, Sex, and the IRS at OLT and The Floating World at PLU. Best of all, I get to watch hostile E.T.s kick the crap out of my home town in Battle: Los Angeles. Go, Team Alien!

ALEC CLAYTON: Visual Arts Critic
More theater shit. Going to see Love, Sex and the IRS at Olympia Little Theatre. And, if you want to fudge on the definition of weekend, I'm going to see the high school art exhibit at South Puget Sound Community College to review it for this fine rag (actually going this afternoon).

JOANN VARNELL Theater Critic
This weekend (hopefully), I will be crafty and make curtains for my son's room in anticipation of transitioning him to spend nights in there. Other than that, I got nothin'.

STEVE DUNKELBERGER Nightlife Correspondent
I'm headed to the Tacoma Opera then Toxic 253 Roller Derby, Lenten stuff and maybe start planting my pea patch.

JOE IZENMAN Theater and Music Writer
With the missus away for her hometown bridal shower, it's 100% MAXIMUM PARTY TIME at Casa Izenman. Featuring such exciting party activities as playing Settlers of Catan, DnD character creation, maybe a chess game or two, and a bike ride to the final monthly off-season Proctor Farmer's Market. NEWS FLASH: I am a huge nerd.

REV. ADAM MCKINNEY Features Writer
In between going to Santee's show on Friday and all of the other totally fun things I'm doing this weekend, I will be scrambling to figure out last-minute accommodations for my trip down to SXSW. If there are any non-serial-killers out there reading this, I will gladly stay at your house for the days of the 14th-16th or the 20th-22nd.

JENNIFER JOHNSON Food and Lifestyles Writer
The DoDo Show at Mad Hat Tea Friday evening. Volunteering at the Empowerment Center Saturday morning. Then attending the vocal masterworks concert at Tacoma Community College Saturday night. Sunday church service followed by potluck dinner with friends.

RON SWARNER Publisher
Friday night I'm hitting MOVE! #18, followed by embarrassing ass shaking during Rare Groove night at The Tempest. Sunday afternoon I'll clean up for the Tacoma Opera. The remaining time gaps will be filled with thick and thin crust research for our Tournament of Pizza, which begins March 17.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

NOT BOGUS >>>

"I know that dude," I said in a Spicoli voice in my head this morning walking toward the espresso counter at Caffe Dei. I even pointed as I said it in my head. I didn't point at a human, but rather the new art show on the Sixth Avenue coffee house's wall.

I instantly recognized the work of Manticore, or as some call the Bremerton artist, Dave Ryan. I bought one of his pieces this past fall at the Gritty City Art Fair - a stencil art of President Obama and Mr. T hanging out in what looks to be a colorful desert. I love it.

Many of Manticore's other stencil art pieces that I wished I bought back in November are now hanging on Caffe Dei's wall, along with many new pieces. The circular works, about the size of a 33 1/3 record, draw from all walks of pop-culture life - from Spock, Star Wars and Army of Darkness to Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Bad Santa and Bob Ross. All are priced in the $25 to $30 range.

The show hangs through March 31. Drop by and order one of Cafe Dei's delicious Sasquatch drinks and sip it next to Manticore's Sasquatch disc.

P.S. Caffe Dei just received the OK to add alcohol to their repertoire.

Caffe Dei

8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
2607 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.572.2550

ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Today's comment comes from Perlita Picante in regard to this week's feature on the Tush Burlesque production of Deadly Dames this Saturday.

Picante writes,

This is going to be the best show TUSH! has put on stage so far. I will do pick up for the first time here- and all I can say is that Peter Fondle is da shit! you do not want to miss this.

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011 >>>

1. You have wasted a lot of time perfecting a totally useless skill - Beer Pong, the distinctly college game in which competitors stand on either side of a table and hurl Ping-Pong balls into keg cups full of beer. It's time to use your skills to do some good. Dockyard Derby Dames team the Trampires host a Beer Pong tournament at 7 p.m. inside Cheers West Sports Bar And Grill to raise money for their trip to RollerCon in Las Vegas. Pony up to the table and toss balls toward a Trampire. You will find yourself caught in the dance of love and lust and a pointless, juvenile drinking game.

2. It's a scientific fact that the only thing that comes close to achieving the adrenaline rush of hurdling down a steep-ass, majestic mountain at warp speed strapped to a snowboard or skis is sitting in a theater, bucket of popcorn between your well-toned legs, watching people on screen hurdling down a steep-ass, majestic mountain at warp speed. Look it up. At 7:30 p.m., the Olympia Mountaineers presents the Banff Mountain Film Festival Radical Reels tour at the Capitol Theater - which should be snow porn at its best.

3. Oh, the farce - such ridiculousness, always treading the fine line between absurdity and hilarity. Tacoma Little Theatre's production, directed by Frank Kohel, of A Flea in Her Ear is no exception. For the production TLT chose a new version of George Feydeau's French farce as translated by David Ives. A Flea in Her Ear has all the classic elements one would expect - mistaken identity, misdirection, missed meetings, misunderstandings, double entendres, bawdy behavior and plain silliness. Read our full review of the show here before catching it at 7:30 p.m.

4. The Second City Chamber Series drops in on the Tacoma Art Museum for the first time for a 7:30 p.m. Masterpieces Series II concert. Pacific Lutheran University's Regency String Quartet will explore the music of Pulitzer Prize winning composer William Bolcom, his fellow Northwesterner and former student, Gregory Youtz, and Gig Harbor's "up and coming" composer, Alexandra Bryant, who also is an alumna of Second City Chamber Series' Young Chamber Players program. Yes, yes, they'll also perform a little Gershwin. During intermission, concertgoers will receive a special tour of TAM's Norman Rockwell exhibit.

5. In the grand, and unusual, tradition of skinny English boys bopping about in even skinnier ties to American soul and jazz music, local DJs Bobby Galaxy and dAb offer a night of soul, funk, jazz and rare grooves under the tag Rare Groove at 9:30 p.m. inside the Tempest Lounge. It's righteous, to say the least.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Concerts go on sale today

LINK: Movies open today

STAY ABREAST OF THE EARTHQUAKE SITUATION IN JAPAN >>>

An 8.9 earthquake triggered a huge tsunami with waves up to 30 feet high that hit the coast of Japan, with more than 400 deaths reported so far. Japan ordered a 1.6-mile evacuation around a nuclear power plant, but a massive fire was set off at an oil-refinery north of Tokyo. More than 30 aftershocks were reported, and additional tsunamis are expected throughout the Pacific Rim.

Locally, Click! Cable TV has issued a statement stating it will yank TV Japan ch. 393 off its premium service, making it available to all its subscribers. View Click!'s press release after the jump.

Read more...

Comment On This Post

AS THE CLUB TURNS >>>

Gruv Lounge and Nightclub on Sixth Avenue has made another change. As we reported, General Manager Calvin Murphy and Chef Aaron Grissom bailed on the nightclub. This week we learnedBrandon Escovedo - formerly of Jazzbones, Station 56 and Big Wheel Steakhouse - has grabbed the general manager reigns of Gruv, and already has made a few changes.

First, Gruv's happy hour is now 4-8 p.m. Monday through Friday featuring $3 wells, $3 micros, $2 domestic drafts, half-priced appetizers, as well as free pool.

Beginning Friday, April 1, the club introduces "After Hours Gruv" offering a breakfast buffet beginning at 2 a.m. for $5.

For this weeks add I would like to stress that we are under new management, with a new menu and a new format.  "The New Gruv"

Escovedo tells us a skee ball game is also in the works.

Gruv Lounge and Nightclub

3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma,
gruvtacoma.com

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

4th Ave Ale House Olympia - Downtown. Horse Bodies, Fight For Change. 9 pm.

Beyond the Bridge Cafe Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Open Mic Night. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

Chris Knutzen Hall Tacoma - Parkland. University Jazz Ensemble. All Ages. 8 pm.

Hell's Kitchen Tacoma - Downtown. Help A Brother Out Benefit Show, with The Ellis Armor, Pink Bead Federation, Crowd War, Plague Ships, We Live As Lions. 9 pm. $5.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Snake Oil Blues Elixir, Rod Cook, Mark Riley. 8 pm. $6.

Kamel Toe Bar and Grill Tacoma - Parkland. Spooning With Elmo. 9 pm.

Mandolin Cafe Tacoma - Central. Tin Man. All Ages. 6 pm. NC. Mary Tebbs, Nick Sandy. All Ages. 8 pm. $5.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Santee, PWRFL Power. 9 pm.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. New Slang, G-Force, String Theory. All Ages. 8 pm.

• Some bands seem to hit from the word go. It seems from the moment Santee sleepily, casually emerged on the scene, there has been an uncommon level of excitement for what was originally just an acoustic two-piece. Now a full band, Santee is running on all cylinders and continually exceeding expectations. It helped that the initial pitch was alluring: Josh Vega, of Paris Spleen and Drug Purse notoriety, would take time off from his psychedelic and post-punk inclinations in favor of accompanying singer-songwriter Heather Loepp. Read the full story here. – Rev. Adam McKinney
  

O'Callahan's Pub & Grill Key Peninsula. The Spanktones. 8 pm.

O'Malley's Irish Pub Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Jim Basnight. 9 pm.

The Spar Olympia. Scott West. All Ages. 8 pm. NC.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Subvinyl Jukebox. 9 pm.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. Sonic Funk Orchestra. 9 pm. $7.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Odark 30. 9 pm.

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound