THURSDAY, AUG. 28 2014 >>>
1. If you're one of these mixed up people who enjoy summer, it stands to reason that you wouldn't want summer to end so soon. So, why not attend a totally rad party at The New Frontier Lounge that promises Eternal Summer. No word on whether refunds will be offered in the event that summer should end. In addition to the always welcome beats of Eliot Lipp, there will be cool synths brought by the lovely Lobsana and the incredibly new band Crater. If you can stand dancing in this dumb weather, that is encouraged, as is beach attire, beginning at 9 p.m.
2. The public is invited to celebrate the reinstallation of "Children's Bell" by Larry Anderson from 2-3 p.m., in the park at 3825 Ruston Way, in Tacoma. Anderson will be present at this event, along with Tacoma City Councilmember David Boe, representatives from Washington Partnerships for Action Voices for Empowerment (PAVE), and members of the Tacoma Arts Commission. The sculpture was commissioned as a gift to the citizens of Tacoma from PAVE and other private donors to celebrate the life, spirit and accomplishments of PAVE founder and director Marty Gentili (May 26, 1942-Feb. 28, 1993).
3. Will Eno, a playwright (and Pulitzer finalist) born in 1965, was cocky enough to write his own, 21st-century take on Our Town. The resulting script, Middletown, is less than four years old, so it truly is about the meaning of life in our time. Its ad copy emphasizes the arc of life from birth to death, and that's a fair summation of the play. An anti-Seinfeld, it's a show about everything. It's loaded with jokes, but none are delivered as jokes. We laugh a few seconds later, having solved a mental puzzle. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Middletown in the Music & Culture section., then catch it at 8 p.m. at Harlequin Productions.
4. You should really stop reading this right now. Seriously. It isn't that Searching for Sugar Man's plot developments are gotcha!-like, but this documentary does boast some bowl-you-over reveals best experienced blind. Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul treks his camera to South Africa to investigate the legend of Rodriguez, a '70s-era singer-songwriter long rumored dead. Hidden behind long, flowing hair and dark glasses, he sang in folk music bars with his back turned to the audience. His first album got a rare four-star review from Billboard. Neither it nor the second one sold well, and the story seemed to end there. Bendjelloul traces him to South Africa where the singer's music became anthemic for the anti-apartheid Voëlvry movement of the Afrikaans counterculture, and the musician, with his hazy origins and questionable demise, became an icon. OK, that's enough. Grab your lawn chair, maybe a longhaired wig and dark sunglasses, and head to Olympia's Sylvester Park at 8 p.m. for an outdoor screening of Searching for Sugar Man.
5. Readers voted the Kareem Kandi Band Best Jazz Band in our 2014 Best of Tacoma issue. Catch this amazing jazz band for free at 8:30 p.m. in the Hotel Murano's lobby.
LINK: Thursday, Aug. 28 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
