WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23 2014 >>>
1. It's impossible to place The Saturday Giant into any sort of neat one-man band box. The Columbus, Ohio native isn't a prototypical one-man band: no one hollow-body guitar, no one bass drum, no one hi-hat cymbal and, OK, one voice. Instead, The Saturday Giant, aka Phil Cogley, purchased a Boomerang III Phrase Sampler looping pedal building one fragment of musical material on top of another - sculpting layers of guitars, drums, bass lines, beat boxing, keyboards and vocals into intricate indie pop-rock. In spirit and attitude, The Saturday Giant plays innovative art rock - nothing pre-recorded. The result is a one-of-a-kind live show at 8 p.m. in Metronome Coffee.
2. The Evergreen State College keeps the Earth Day drive alive with a live music, vendors, sustainability workshops, interactive art displays, activities for kids and more from noon to 5 p.m.
3. Several local beer events go down tonight. 99 Bottles in Federal Way will be pouring five brews from Anchorage Brewing Company from 5-7 p.m., with guest Geoff Sampson from Shelton Brothers importers. Pint Defiance on the edge of Fircrest hosts the American Brewing Company team, which will show off its new canned Breakaway IPA - as well as pour American Blonde Ale, Single-Hop Citra Experimental Pale Ale and Cabernet Barrel Aged Imperial Stout from the handles - from 5-7 p.m. Over at The Swiss Restaurant & Pub, Pyramid Breweries will be in the house from 6-9 p.m.
4. Alt rock band Torre had their equipment stolen last week. Beginning at 7 p.m. the music community will gather to help their own in the form of a benefit concert at Louie G's Pizza in Fife. Schedule to rock the house are Jessica Lynne, Kitt Bender and Eva D, Strangely Alright, Brooke Lizotte and Pamela Moore, SweetKiss Momma, Rafael Tranquilino with Torre hitting the stage and 10:30 p.m. Come out, drop a few dollars, eat some pizza and rock out. If you can't make the show, watch a live stream of Strangely Alright's set here.
5. Besides being the son of Woody, Arlo Guthrie is destined to be remembered for one memorable recording: "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," a raucous, politically edgy, draft-dodging, best-to-hear-high anthem that once upon a time was a fixture on early underground FM radio. Guthrie's story is based in truth: Two youths - one Arlo himself - couldn't find a garbage dump open on Thanksgiving, and so they threw a load of refuse down a hillside and were arrested. The events that transpired next are right out of Mayberry R.F.D., which is funny enough, except that Guthrie departs from his story line to talk about what it's like to get a draft physical: "You walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected!" And the people you meet there: "There was all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly-lookin' people on the bench there ... there was mother-rapers ... father-stabbers ... father-rapers!" "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is an American classic, and we have out fingers crossed Guthrie performs it at 7:30 p.m. in the Washington Center - along with "Dead or Alive," "Gypsy Davy" and "This Land Is Your Land."
LINK: Wednesday, April 23 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
