FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2013 >>>

1. Tommy Castro is Delbert McClinton's more talented kid brother. We have been waiting for this San Francisco rockin' blues guitarist to put another one in the ditches. Finally, this past November the blistering "Greedy" / "That's All I Got" (Alligator Records) arrived. Nobody plays roadhouse like this anymore: the rock snarl and the soul heart. His songs don't make us want to sing along; they make us want to scream along. Tommy Castro and the Painkillers will play Jazzbones at 8 p.m.

2. The Bayview School of Cooking in Olympia will pour cider and meads with complementary cheeses from 5-7:30 p.m. The cost is $12 per person. No RSVP is required.

3. Tacoma's first artisan children's clothing shop, Dandelion Wishes, will hold an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. before the store officially opens March 23 at 10 a.m. in the old Corina Bakery space at 510 Sixth Ave. Appropriately, Corina Bakery will provide snacks.

4. Have you visited the Science Dome? At 7 p.m. the South Sound's only planetarium will host an interactive tour of our current night sky, exploring the stars, planets, constellations and other celestial objects followed by a 20-35 minute full dome show.  A question and answer period will follow.

5. As if Horace Pickett's awesome name wasn't enough, the band actually does well at evoking the cheesy party vibe of "Monster Mash." Though the band claims that it often gets comparisons to the Kinks, They Might Be Giants and Beck, to us it couldn't be more perfectly channeling Devo. Stiffly voiced robot-funk, surging electro-pop, concerning topics such as the Milky Way and the weirdness of having a body - and all that entails. Check the band out with The Whorewoods at 10 p.m. inside Le Voyeur.

LINK: Friday, March 22 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area