MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2012 >>>

1. Willkommen. Welcome to the Kamikaze Queens. The Berlin punk cabaret exploring the bacchanalian club atmosphere of '20s Germany is coming to Tacoma tonight. "Musically their style ranges from early punk rock and soulful garage to dirty jazz and punkabilly, smothered in reverb, topped off with Spooky Waltzes, and served up with burlesque and cabaret," according to hype. "Fronted by two dazzling American female singers, Trinity Sarratt and Mad Kate take turns at being sweet & sour, dancing, kicking, and playing percussion. We love the local ladies of punk rock, with their vicious glares and sexy snarls. Best of all is when the fists are pumping and the vocal chords are shredding, front and center stage. Of course, we love the boys who back the ladies of punk, too. What better way to start your week than with a good, old-fashioned punk-rock cabaret party tonight with The Hot Roddin' Romeo's, Blacktop Deceiver, Darkhorse High at the Backstage Bar and Grill beginning at 8 p.m.

2. Join the Port of Tacoma and City of Tacoma to celebrate the opening of the Lincoln Avenue corridor from 2-2:30 p.m. at the Gog-le-hi-te Wetland, near the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Stewart Street. For those not familiar with this vital link between downtown Tacoma and the Port, it allows traffic flow on Lincoln Avenue over the Tacoma Rail tracks serving the Port of Tacoma's congested North and South Intermodal Yards. It's a bid deal. Check out the speakers list: Port of Tacoma Commissioner Dick Marzano; City of Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland; Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Executive Director Board Karen Schmidt; Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond; and United States Senator Honorable Patty Murray (tentative).

3. Wouldn't you love to know if your spouse was cheating? Or find out what Fido has been doing in Heaven all these years? Thank Goddess for psychics, and thank your lucky stars for the Psychic Buffet, from 5-9 p.m. every first Monday at the Urban Onion Restaurant in downtown Olympia. See your future a little more clearly thanks to area clairvoyants and mediums, Tarot card readers and energy healers. Plug into the area's collective unconscious.

4. Every April, the Academy of American Poets commands us to pay attention to poetry, with National Poetry Month. Which is troublesome, because most poets spend their lifetimes trying just to figure out what poetry is. How is the layperson supposed to do it in a month? Appropriately, the Striped Water Poets kicks off a new poetry series tonight from 7-9 p.m. at the Station Bistro in the Auburn transit center. Before MC Christopher J. Jarmick announces the poetry open mic session, two poets will take the stage: Woodinville's Peggy Barnett and Tacoma-based writer and actress Emilie Rommel Shimkus.

5. Let's tally up the score for Jazzbones's 9 p.m. Monday night Rockaraoke, shall we? A chance to sing onstage with a live band? Yes. Cheap Miller High Life? Yes. A valid excuse to drink on a Monday (repeat, Monday) night? Yes, yes and, oh God, yes.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: South Sound happy hours

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012 >>>

1. You can't help be jealous of letterpress artists. They both intelligence and creativity, and when they collaborate, you get a massive-shot of talent. A massive shot is exactly what will go down from 6-8 p.m. when King's Books hosts Wayz and Means: Letterpress Film Festival screening short films celebrating letterpress and book arts. Tickets are $20 and include popcorn, liquid refreshments, and - of course - cake. The event will raise funds for the Stadium District bookstore's annual Wayzgoose: Letterpress and Book Arts Festival. Apparently, filmgoers will also have the opportunity to purchase early Wayzgoose raffle tickets.

2. This morning we woke up in this house where we're dog-sitting, and the thought crossed our minds that if I were an O'Malley or an O'Reilly, we'd be an Irish sitter.  Other random ideas raced around our brains like a dog chasing its tail before we could unleash ourselves from the warm covers of this foreign bed. You see, Ted must be walked by 10 a.m. (Hey, it's Sunday!) Anyway, we're going to kill two birds with one stone. Pet Connection Magazine's 5th Annual Dog-Gone Easter Egg Hunt runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Rainier Vista Park in Lacey. For $3, we can run the dog silly, and collect some food for an afternoon omelet. As a bonus, there's some sort of dog fashion show benefiting Old Dog Haven & Feline Friends.

3. Books are your friends. They are like theatric performances in your head. And the Bonney Lake branch of the Pierce County Library system is making it easier to see more mental plays, by holding book sale from 1-5 p.m. Expect crazy discounts on a great variety of materials for all ages and interests, including hardback and paperback fiction and nonfiction, children's books, cookbooks, reference books, audiobooks, music and movies.

4. Local fixture Dave Graham is at the center of a benefit show to aid in the cost of his cancer treatment beginning at 3 p.m. at The Swiss. Rev. Adam McKinney has the details here.

5. Some would argue that a dive bar like the China Clipper Club and Café is no place to party. But let us tell you something, friend: There's a little thing called class. Class is something you can't buy. Class is something inherited. Class is years and years of spilled drinks, double shots and drunken hookups. Class never goes away, no matter how dirty the carpet is or how dilapidated the karaoke stage becomes. Class makes drinking fun. And let us tell you, friends: the China Clipper oozes class. By the way, karaoke is nightly at 9 p.m.

PLUS: More awesome event suggestions in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: South Sound happy hours

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 >>>

1. The rites of spring are coming fast and furious these days. Valhalla will unfold on earth once again when the weekly Proctor Farmers Market opens for the season from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 31. While your best bets for fresh produce this time of year include asparagus, rhubarb, salad greens, edible flowers, fiddleheads, wild mushrooms and green onions, this popular farmers markets doesn't stop there: You'll also find meats and cheeses, fresh-cut flowers, garden gadgets, artisanal crafts, and concessions, with plenty of free samples being doled out. John Hoover and the Quinns and Kendl ad Joe (Southern Skies) will entertain. And Wilridge Winery of Seattle will be pouring. Come see the farmers market the Weekly Volcano readers voted Super Best Farmers Market of 2011.

2. If you're looking for a prom dress, you should attend the "It's All About the Dress" event from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the University of Puget Sound Memorial Field House. This one-day only special sales event showcasing nearly 3,000 brand-name evening, prom and wedding dresses - including large selection of tuxedos and accessories - starting at $19.99. Many of the dresses still have price tags on them, and most have only been worn once. Proceeds from the event help fund Goodwill's job training and placement services for people in the community with disabilities and disadvantages.

3. If you dig Jack Johnson's music, you relish in local singer/songwriter KC Brakes's show at 8 p.m. in C.I. Shenanigan's lounge. Arrive early for that coveted fireplace table.

4. The New York Death Metal Fest with Nocturnal Slaughter, Truculence, God Denied, Future Disorder and American Wrecking Company will invade Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill in Spanaway beginning at 9 p.m.

5. J. Elquist of The Camp - or whatever he's calling his Camp 6 organization since being served a cease and desist order from the Camp 6 Logging Museum in Point Defiance Park - hosts Static Snap every Saturday night at The Deltan Club, which sits on the top floor of the former Drake's nightclub at Seventh and Commerce. Beginning at 10 p.m. and closing the doors at 3 a.m., Static Snap kicks off tonight with DJs Omarvelous and The X-Man.

PLUS: More awesome event suggestions in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: South Sound happy hours

FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012 >>>

1. Ludwig Van Beethoven was a badass. The German composer and pianist smashed the keys hard enough to break the strings. He used vulgar language. Franz Schubert, on the other hand, was the Tom Hanks of classical composers: a shy workaholic with an amazing body of work. Schubert, nicknamed "Mushroom" by his friends for his retiring personality, wrote almost 1,000 works of music before he died of typhoid fever at 31. These included more than 600 songs, nine symphonies, operas, liturgical music, and chamber and solo piano music. At 7:30 p.m., University of Puget Sound's School of Music will give its own bow to Mushroom with the Jacobsen Series concert Schubertiade, featuring a small sampling of the Austrian composer's immense portfolio of work.

2. Have you seen them? Homeowners are replacing sod with vegetable beds and building chicken coops by their garages. The Joneses are becoming the McDonalds, converting their prime North End Tacoma real estate into a miniature farm. South Sounders are fighting for their right to raise hens, ducks, goats and honey bees. Want in? Local author Dave Toht will pull his tractor up to Orca Books at 7 p.m. and tell all your wannabe Farmers in the Dell how to turn your yard into a productive and wholesome "homestead," rich in fruits and vegetables, and livestock, including chickens, ducks, and goats. Toht knows. He wrote the book, Backyard Homesteading, in which he covers the laws and regulations of raising livestock in populated areas and demonstrates to readers how to use and preserve the bounty they produce. He'll also tell you what to do about angry neighbors who are hating on your rooster. 

3. The animal workers of Manor Farm stage a glorious revolution and drive away Mr. Jones, their despised human ruler. They institute a new democratic regime, but it turns out, as the famous line goes, "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." The pigs, you see, can read and write, and they use these abilities to dominate the other species and (pardon the expression) hog the fruits of their labor. Olympia Family Theater's Animal Farm tracks the rise to power of a ruthless porker named Napoleon, and if you know your 20th-century history, you'll have no trouble recognizing him as a stand-in for Stalin. See it go down beginning at 7 p.m.

4. The Liberty Theater in Puyallup hosts comedians Jubal Flagg, Susan Rice and Travis Simmons at 8 p.m.

5. At 8 p.m. Obscure Robot, Four Dimensional Nightmare and Bagger288 burst out of the gate at the Tacoma Noise Rodeo inside Metronome Coffee on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue.

PLUS: More awesome event suggestions in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: South Sound happy hours

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012 >>>

1. 1022 South, the craft cocktail lounge in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood, will celebrate its three-year anniversary tonight with a party debuting its spring menu of 40 innovative, and, in some cases, curative handcrafted cocktails. The new menu showcases 1022 South's respect for classic cocktails, an enthusiasm for apothecary, and a few of the favorite cocktails from the original menu. In addition to craft cocktails and apothecary infusions, the menu will feature a variety of delicious small plate items. To celebrate, all menu cocktails will be specially priced at $6 the night of the party. Pro tip: Order the new drink with the mezcal and rum base. It's life changing.

2. From 4:30-6:30 p.m. the Collins Memorial Library will host an opening reception for Jessica Spring, the proprietor of Springtide Press, and her new exhibit of artists books, Circus Libris. Spring's small, finely-crafted editions consider historical topics and popular culture from a unique perspective, expanding the library's tent with new-fashioned books.

3. Lisa and Mike Hahn recently turned over their Tacoma Runners management duties to Rob McNair-Huff, community relations manager for the City of Tacoma. You might have seen McNair-Huff on the streets running a 50-miler before work. He likes to run. McNair-Huff has scheduled the Tacoma Runners' weekly Thursday night 3-miler for a 6 p.m. launch from Dirty Oscar's Annex. After a 3-mile run it's important to refuel with protein and vitamins. D.O.A. is well aware of this fact. When the Runners return to discuss the run - over food and drinks (natch!) - the Sixth Avenue restaurant will serve them the Dead Elvis Burger (bacon, fried egg, 100 percent Angus hand-formed beef patty) at a $2 discount along with Vitamin C shots or cocktails for $5. You should really be a Tacoma Runner. Join them.

4. In celebration of the Pierce County Reads program, and it's spotlight book, "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by award-winning writer Jamie Ford, historian Michael Sullivan will relay the fascinating history of the Japanese American community in Tacoma and their contributions to the region beginning at 7 p.m. inside King's Books.

5. Sludge metal band Black Tusk joins East of the Wall, Witchburn, C.F.A. and Deathbed Confessions at Hell's Kitchen beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: South Sound happy hours

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012 >>>

1. Writing from a lesbian and/or feminist perspective is easier today than it was 30 years ago, thanks in large part to the sustained work of women activists and by growing mass acceptance of their arguments. The level of anger and revolt and solidarity is not the same today as it was in the '70s or '80s. Or is it? Internationally acclaimed slam poet, full-time writer, performing artist and activist, Tony-nominated Staceyann Chin probably can answer the question. The strong and versatile self-described out-poet with a Caribbean-accent and huge, parted Afro has seen and experienced the light and dark of life of plantation-era Jamaica, and carries a worldly perspective, identifying with Caribbean and Black, Asian and lesbian, women and New Yorkers. She speaks about her experiences of growing up in Jamaica and the consequences of her coming-out at 7 p.m. inside Schneebeck Concert Hall on the University of Puget Sound campus.

2. A Hope Not Forgotten, Darasuum, I/Delilah, Beneath All Kaos and Silent Planet rock the all-ages Red Room beginning at 7 p.m.

3. As far as virtuosic young piano prodigies go, Ran Dank is totally dank, yo. And by that we mean he's the bomb. Even better, he's performing at 7:30 p.m. inside the Washington Center.

4. Watch 10-20 comedians try out their new material during Tacoma Comedy Club's open mic beginning at 8 p.m. It don't cost nutin'.

5. Want to get into the habit of doodling dudes? Tonight at 8:30 p.m. The Mix hosts live body painting giving Tacoma's creative community an opportunity to socialize, sip and scribble. Most succinctly described as figure-drawing sessions with a gay twist, the sessions are open to the public, as long as you're of drinking age. Oh, there will be drinks.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

LINK: South Sound happy hours

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 >>>

1. After a cold and wet winter, the cycle of seasons is finally swinging toward spring. Whether you ride five minutes to work or 70 miles every Saturday, it's time to throw your leg over the top tube and mount your saddle. The Harmon Bike Club opens its season tonight with a short ride beginning at 5:30 p.m. The group will push off from the Harmon Tap room, ride to Point Defiance Park, through the 5 Mile Drive, and back to the Tap for post ride apps and brewskis. A short program explains upcoming rides and fundraisers will be part of the fun.

2. Heralded Chinese painter Xu Yongmin will exhibit 20 pieces in the exhibit High Wind that opens today in Kittredge Art Gallery on the University of Puget Sound campus. The prize winning painter - who will lecture in Wyatt Hall Room 101 tomorrow 5 p.m. - has received many teaching and art awards, including an honor from the Excellent Young Teachers Program of China's Ministry of Education and the First Literature and Art Star Award in Hubei Province. According to pre-show hype, "Yongmin uses traditional Chinese brush methods, yet reveals a Western influence in his work."

3. Most people know the lasting legacy of Harry Belafonte, the entertainer. A handsome man with the dazzling smile who starred in many a film, he remains ingrained into your memory as the singer of the Caribbean folk tune "Day-O" - the last melody you heard before passing out underneath the ping pong table during the Sigma Chi's St. Barts Simpson party. Belafonte also worked tirelessly in support of the civil rights movement in America and to social justice globally. Director Susanne Rostock champions the big life of Belafonte in her documentary, Sing Your Song. The doc revisits moments in Belafonte's career, from playing clubs in New York City to starring in Hollywood films to his work with Civil Rights. The Grand Cinema screens Sing Your Song at 1:50 and 6:35 p.m. as part of its Tuesday Film Series.

4. Every Tuesday at 7 p.m. Victory Music hosts the grandaddy of open mics inside the bean-sproutin,' free-trading Antique Sandwich Company in Ruston.

5. The New Frontier Lounge will host Argonaut, Lozen, Hot Victory and X Suns on a Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Cool.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012 >>>

1. Flamenco, like tango, is one of those exotic music-and-dance idioms for which the Weekly Volcano presses our nose to the glass and watches all the colorful action, amused and amazed at the sights and sounds. Flamenco is made up of the song, the dance, the guitar, and the rhythmic accompaniment of finger-snapping, tongue-clicking, or even knuckle-bashing on a tabletop. The music grabs us by the scruff of the neck and demands that we dance, or at the very least surrender to their sultry and explosive spell. The New Frontier Lounge hosts Arte Eterno Flamenco en Vivo at 8 p.m. featuring the powerful voice of Sevilla-born singer Jesus Montoya of Sevilla. Montoya will be joined by guitarists Gerardo Alcala and Tyson Kikuo, as well as dancer Savannah Fuentes.

2. Kitzel's Deli in downtown Olympia hosts an Open Mic Poetry & Jazz Night featuring The Joe Mailhot Jazz Unit beginning at 4:30 p.m.

3. The Weekly Volcano has discovered a few things about the devil over the years. He says the word "soul" too often. He's seriously thinking about switching hell over to cheaper natural gas. He can play an amazing fiddle. He also bites his nails while releasing tiny, lethal farts. We're pretty sure we don't know everything about the devil. Thankfully, the Tacoma Cult Movie Club's monthly 7 p.m. Monday night screening of free movies at The Acme Grub Cage centers on the theme "The Devil Made Me Do It." Somewhere in tonight's movie, trailers and commercials screenings - even the craptastic door prizes - there has to be new devil details we don't know. If not, at least co-producer Rev. Colin says he has new club button, which is nice.

4. King's Books owner sweet pea might not believe in capital letters, but he does believe in books clubs. He hosts a gaggle of them, including the Capes & Cowls Book Club, which meets tonight at 8 p.m. The caped readers will take a chair and discuss Kurt Busiek's Astro City: Life in the Big City, a collection of loosely-connected stories about life in Astro City, in a world where superheroes outnumber book clubs. Afterward, the caped readers will venture next door to Doyle's, where they'll repeat the exact same conversation over beers.

5. Every Monday, DJ Melodica and guests DJs spin a wide variety of tunes in between band sets during Showcase Mondays at Magoo's Annex in Tacoma, which kicks off at 8:30 p.m. Except tonight. Producer DJ Melodica won't be at Magoo's. He'll be home having gusts sign his cast. Apparently, he's broken his leg. The Weekly Volcano can't confirm if a milk crate full of records was the cause. One would assume. DJ Darren Selector will step in as the host DJ with DJ Das Prompt riding in the sidecar. Will Selector continue the popular "Guess the TV Theme Song" segment regulars have grown to love? Not sure. We do know Magoo's will still offer $3 beers and $2 mondo hot dogs. And the Seattle band Watch It Sparkle will perform.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music and DJs in the South Sound

SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2012 >>>

1. Hollywood has been responsible for some classic songs over the years - the combination of cinema and soundtrack joining forces to create a truly indelible moment. Today, coloratura soprano Diane Penning will be welcomed to Tacoma by the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra for a presentation of POPS: Hollywood's Greatest Melodies - a show featuring songs from Hollywood classics like Mary Poppins, Phantom of the Opera, Papa's Delicate Condition, West Side Story, The King and I, Porgy and Bess and Victor Herbert's Enchantress.

2. Tacoma artist Lynn Di Nino and her team of stalwart archeologists have found buried Hostess cupcakes under the ice in Antarctica. Tons and tons of cupcakes and other Hostess products, plus many other consumer products that have been popular throughout most of our lives. Those damn cupcakes last forever, and that's the point of their art-as-archeology exhibition, The Survivors, which has a reception today from 1-5 p.m. at Flow Gallery in the Tacoma Dome District. Read Alec Clayton's review of The Survivors in the Arts section at weeklyvolcano.com.

3.Olympia will be blessed with an East Coast legend tonight when Wu Tang Clan member Raekwon hits the state capitol for the first time, playing the Royal Lounge.  Since officially joining Wu Tang in 1992, over the years Raekwon has become one of the more recognized names in the group and continues to consistently release his Mafioso style of hip-hop. 

4. It's an all-ages bonanza today at Jazzbones as the Spring Rockcital, featuring Diet Love, Le Pomme De Terre, Selling Out Seattle, Nuclear Weapons, Angry Beavers, Gelatin, Case Of Fire, Thirty Years After, Shadow Sythe and Pain Haunts Me. It all starts at 2 p.m.

5. Glasses Malone will be all up in the Backstage Bar and Grill at the end of Sixth Avenue. Here's what Volcano hip-hop columnist Josh Rizeberg has to say about.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound

LINK: The Weekend Hustle

SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012 >>>

1. Tonight in Olympia Romanteek is back again, packing the group's unique sound of hypnotic vocals, sometimes breezy, sometimes moody melodies, layered with soul-soothing guitar riffs and dance-beat drums into the Capitol Theater for an event called "All of the Shadows Open." For this performance Olympia's Romanteek will pair with another local favorite, the Tallhouse Arts Consortium - a trapeze and aerialist troupe. The two live performances will weave story, music and movement into a spectacular show for all the senses.

2. Tonight the historic walls of Tacoma's Immanuel Presbyterian Church will be filled with some very fresh sounds. Indie groups Pearly Gate Music, The Maldives and Pickwick make up the impressive line-up. An eye-stopping cobalt blue poster heralds the event as Cathedrals Tacoma: Part One. 

3. This afternoon at the Washington Center Black Box Olympia Family Theater presents Animal Farm, which it says is best enjoyed by kids 10 and older. According to hype, "this dramatization remains faithful to the book's plot and intent and retains both its affection for the animals and the incisiveness of its message." In other words, watch out for the pigs.

4. Tonight at the Last Call Bar in Lakewood with DJ C-Lu busts out another renditions of Grown Folk Saturday, Look for old school, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s dance hits starting at 9 p.m.

5. It's a day full of music at Tacoma's Mandolin Café, as Harbor Voice Music goes on at 1 p.m., Graydon Holden & Friends get down at 7 p.m. and Paul Mauer gets going at 8 p.m. All the action is all-ages.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Live music tonight in the South Sound

LINK: The Weekend Hustle