SATURDAY, JAN. 4 2014 >>>

1. Franciscan Polar Plaza is on its third year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from Tacoma Art Museum. The Weekly Volcano has hosted live bands at Polar Plaza every Saturday from 7-9 p.m. on our Electric Salchow Stage. The last concert is tonight, featuring the lovely voice of Leah Tussing and the rockin' magical guitar work of Rafeal Tranquilino. Come listen the performance for free, or pay to ice skate and feel the music during your butterfly jumps, cherry-flips, and layback spins.

2. Violinist Maria Newman will perform with flutist Hal Ott, violinist, violist and conductor Scott Hosfeld, Malibu Coast Chamber Orchestra soloists and members of Central Washington University's Flute Ensemble under the Capitol Rotunda's Dome from 2-3:30 p.m. 

3. Who doesn't like to sit in attendance while junkyard cars get smashed and toppled by massive, petrol-chugging monster trucks? That's like suggesting there are people out there who don't like nacho cheese or Michele Bachmann. Monster Jam consumes the Tacoma Dome with a 10 a.m. to noon party in the Monster Truck pits, then a show at 2 and 8 p.m. No matter where you're seated in the Tacoma Dome, you won't need binoculars: At eleven feet tall and weighing in at 9,000 pounds, monster trucks are easy to eyeball as they mash the motor, teeter, roll and auger in (monster-ese for a nosedive - as if you didn't know). Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on the Groth brothers in the Military Life section.

4. Just when you're convinced that Lures is just another in a long line of increasingly indistinguishable garage-psych bands, they reveal themselves as soulful purveyors of indie rock hiding beneath all of that hazy reverb. The pristine harmonies and chiming guitars remind me of the long-lost and much-loved Basemint, if that's the sort of thing that pricks up your ears. Catch the band with Hands In, Peter Tietjen and the Balloon Power Challenge and Week of Wonders at 8 p.m. in Bob's Java Jive.

LINK: Saturday, Jan. 4 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area