WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16 2013 >>>

1. 3 Inches of Blood divorced themselves from the cheesier of their metal ancestors.  This Vancouver, B.C., sextet, sporting two singers - Cam Pipes belting out death metal screams while guitarist Justin Hagberg has replaced Jamie Hopper's vocal duties - spews classic metal swagger, and that's why we dig them. They remind us of the '70s metal past - the vocal assault of Rob Halford, epic guitars of Iron Maiden and Metallica. Loud and raucous, 3 Inches of Blood will rock Jazzbones at 8 p.m. with screaming-for-vengeance vocals, medieval tales of pillaging unsuspecting victims and fair maidens, razor sharp guitar riffs and thunderous drumming. Witchburn and Deathbed Confessions will set the tone.

2. Little antique stores have their appeal, but sometimes it's nice to take a giant approach to antique shopping - that is, you stop at one big place and find everything. Sanford and Son Antiques stocks all sorts of old knickknacks and goodies in a three-floor maze of awesomeness. Griswold cast-iron pans, oak library tables, antique Royal typewriters, old cameras, antique lighters, dishes, silver, that Six Million Dollar Man action figure you had as a child - you'll find it all here under one roof at reasonable prices. In 2005, Sanford and Son owners Alan and Cheryl Gorsuch converted its middle floor into a shopping bazaar of 20 local businesses called the Middle Floor Merchants. From noon to 6 p.m., a celebration for new merchants will be held, including Magic Card gaming, a drum circle, entertainment, youth crafting, door prizes and refreshments. Check out the magic card shop, fashion accessories, photography studio, model train shop, a home-style diner and coffee shop, dog boutique, vintage and decor shops and other shops.

3. Artist David Roholt transforms the familiar. His paintings balance the abstract and the representational, creating dimension through contrasting color and surface texture. Roholt's paintings will be on display at Pacific Lutheran University's University Gallery through Nov. 13. A wine and cheese reception will be held from 5-7 p.m.

4. You can hear it in his voice. It’s quiet and not the least bit nervous. As he describes his conversion from staunch Republican to old-fashioned populist Democrat; as he revisits days as a White House intern; as he recalls his tenure as student advisor to the University of Puget Sound’s Black Student Union and participation in antiwar protest marches; and decades later, as he laments the presence of a private prison for immigrants on the Tacoma Tideflats one thing becomes clear — many of us never knew the real Bill Baarsma. Maybe you'll get to know the former Tacoma mayor better when he hosts History Night at 6:30 p.m. in The Swiss. The theme is sports in Tacoma.

5. San Francisco poet and artist Beau Beausoleil is the founder of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition and co-curator of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here book exhibit, which is on display at the Collins Memorial Library on the campus of the University of Puget Sound. Beausoleil will be at the library from 7-8 p.m. to discuss the exhibit and discuss the al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad as a place that has long offered sanctuary to diverse Iraqi voices, and a place where the roots of democracy took hold hundreds of years ago.

LINK: Wednesday, Oct. 16 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area