SATURDAY, JUNE 29 2013 >>>
1. An almost too obvious entry point for the kind of satirical Americana of Shotgun Kitchen would be their spiritual forefather, John Prine. Just as Prine had a tendency to almost undermine salient points in his songs by making stoned-out, hallucinatory jokes about chasing rainbows down the street and nonchalantly tossing off non sequiturs about having a sister who's a nun, Shotgun Kitchen's perfectly legitimate satire is given a winking treatment that lets the medicine go down nice and easy.Catch them tonight at 9 p.m. at The New Frontier Lounge.
2. Be irresponsible. Take a day off from smartphones and the Internet, video games and televisions, Go fly a kite at the annual Kite Festival at Chambers Bay from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Besides people craning their necks upward the free, fun-filled day will feature kite vendors, food, face-painting and a free concert with the saxophone quartet from the Tacoma Concert Band. The first 250 kids can make their own kite, compliments of Pierce County KiteFliers Association.
3. In its 19th year, the Olympia Experimental Music Festival features bands from near and far who favor experimentalism, texture, ambience, improvisation and psychedelia over straight-up rock 'n' roll. The three-day ordeal will take over all-ages venue Northern in Olympia June 28-30. The festival will feature 18 different acts - many from Olympia, and the rest mostly spanning from Seattle to Portland. Today brings Denver band Thinking Plague to Olympia. Founded in 1982, the Colorado-based band's unpredictable melodies and instrumentation will be right at home the South Sound. For the other bands performing today, click here.
4. As the most successful girl band, The Supremes further extended their longevity with their renaming to "Diana Ross & The Supremes." If only future girl bands had learned the lesson, we might still be graced by the melodious tunes of "Jordan Knight & The New Kids On The Block." But we disgress. At 8 p.m. Centerstage Theatre pays tribute to the iconic American girl-group featuring Seattle-based entertainers Nique Haggerty, LaNita Hudson and Amy van Mechcelen, backed by the six-piece Purple Phoenix Band. The concert will be staged in the 1960s style of the Las Vegas/Atlantic City showrooms in their heyday.
5. Professional storytelller Elizabeth Lord's original The Swimsuit Area stage play "explores reproduction in today's modern age. What it means to be a parent, and more importantly what it means to choose not to be a parent." In an encore performance, Lord will explore the hard issues such as deciding not to have a child - and what someone does about that - and the finality of hysterectomy surgery which results in never being able to conceive a child - all with her trademark humor lined glow. The show starts at 8 p.m. inside The Midnight Sun Performance Space.
LINK: Saturday, June 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
