SATURDAY, JAN. 10 2015 >>>
1. The rock concept album lives! Tommy told the story of a deaf, dumb and blind kid who became a wizard of some kind. Yoshimi battled some pink robots on a Flaming Lips record. Styx rebelled against a bleak, totalitarian future with rock-n-roll in Kilroy Was Here. And now, the Fantastic Animals' new EP, The Walls Will Speak to Break the Curse,explores the lifetime of a man who grew up at the beginning of the new millennium - a narrative divided into five different segments, each one covering a different period of perspective and experience. OK, not quite as grand in theme as the aforementioned concept albums, but Walls is only 21 minutes long - a short story in comparison to those epic, novel-length LPs. At 9 p.m., the band celebrates Walls' release at The New Frontier, where presumably they'll play the opus in its entirety. Filling out the bill are J. Martin, Bes and Wow, Laura.
2. LeMay - America's Car Museum opens the Ford F-Series: The Truck That Grew Up with America exhibit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit highlights the versatility of the Ford F-Series over the years featuring work trucks, hot rods, luxury and off-road vehicles, such as a custom 1956 F-100 in brilliant orange and a 2000 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, a factory-built, supercharged sport truck with a top speed of 140 mph. The Truck That Grew Up with America exhibit will be on view through June 2015.
3. Neil Berg's Rock-n-Roll Decades travels the annals of rock history. Instead of using lame comic filler to slog from song to song, however, its performers introduce each number with history about the icon who made it famous. We're talking single-named superstars like Elvis, Dylan, Aretha, Janis, Elton, Billy and Bruce. And oh, what singers and musicians Berg assembled to wail these numbers! All six vocalists have toured with national productions, and Sophia Ramos fills Janis's shoes by touring as lead singer for Big Brother and the Holding Company. Read Christian Carvajal's full feature on Neil Berg's Rock-N-Roll Decades in the Music & Culture section, then see the show at 7:30 p.m. in the Washington Center.
4. Tell us something: do you enjoy music? I mean, pretty much any kind of music? Reggae? Electronica? Folk? Funk? Nursery rhymes? Australian didgeridoo? Or unconditional love - do you enjoy that? Do you appreciate lyrical messages of intercultural acceptance and peace? If you said yes to any of that, then we have the band for you. They're from Eugene, Oregon; they make sweet, sensual love to your earholes; and they call themselves Sol Seed. Catch the band with Valley Green at 8 p.m. in Jazzbones.
5. Fingertips perform Motown, funky R&B, and blues at 9 p.m. inside Dawson's Bar & Grill on South Tacoma Way.
LINK: Saturday, Jan. 10 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area