WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 24 2014 >>>

1. With two No. 1 singles, multiple awards and nominations, plus performances on some of the biggest stages in the world, country singer Easton Corbin performs at 7 p.m. in the Steel Creek American Whiskey Company. Local country act Aces Up opens. No tickets will be sold at the door, so go here to grab them: http://bit.ly/easton-corbin.

2. The Iittala birds by Oiva Toikka return to the Museum of Glass for the 11th consecutive year beginning at 10 a.m. and running through Feb. 22. In partnership with Finland's Iittala, Inc., this year's display will feature the newly designed "Anna's Hummingbird," continuing the celebration of internationally recognized designer Oiva Toikka's glass birds. In addition to the display, Iittala-related arts and educational activities will be offered during Bird Lovers' Weekend, Oct. 3-5.

3. Germany's Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival going down right now in Munich. Federal Way beer store 99 Bottles is doing it in one day. The store will feature 16 German-style and import beers from which you may choose 10 for $2, from 5-7 p.m. Pint Defiance is hosting a Washington state beer (WA)toberfest tonight, but you knew that because you read our massive calendar of Oktoberfest events.

4. Maxwell's Restaurant and Lounge will host an exclusive bookworm and dining matrimony with A Taste of Washington Cookbook Signing and Dinner from 5-8 p.m. A $50 ticket includes cookbook author and photographer Michelle Morris on site to discuss her cookbook and sign copies as well as a special tasting menu featuring Chef Hudson Slater's recipes that are highlighted in the book. Call 253.683.4115 for reservation. The book will be available for purchase.

5. In honor of The Swiss Restaurant and Pub's 21st birthday this past spring, 7 Seas Brewing in Gig Harbor reunited Swiss owners Jack McQuade and a retired Bob Hill, now living on a mountain, to brew a special beer for the occasion. The two gave their input, selected the hops for 7 Seas' malt and helped brew it. "We chose an Imperial Red Ale because it's the new popular style. Plus, it ties in with The Swiss, the red shield," says McQuade. "And we like hoppy beers down here. So we hopped it up a bit. Plus, there are a ton of IPAs out there, so there is another reason to go with the red ale." The resulting collaboration ale, Revi Red, will be one of the 7 Seas brews in the spotlight tonight as The Swiss hosts the brewery for a Brewer's Night with raffle giveaways from 6-9 p.m.

LINK: Wednesday, Sept. 24 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, SEPT. 13 2014 >>>

1. Museum of Glass and Hilltop Artists present "Hilltop Artists 20th Anniversary," an exhibition highlighting the impact of glass art on the lives of youth, the Hilltop neighborhood, and beyond, opening at 10 a.m. in the Museum of Glass. The exhibition will consist of glass objects, images, and videos, telling a story that spans the past 20 years of Hilltop Artists and the community it serves. The exhibit runs through Feb. 1.

2. The South Sound is quickly becoming a major craft beer destination. Pint Defiance Specialty Beer Store and Taproom is quickly becoming one of the centers of the local craft beer scene. Read Pappi Swarner's love letter to Pint Defiance, then head to the Fircrest beer haven to help them celebrate their second anniversary beginning at 11 a.m.

3. The third annual Moveable Feast - Tacoma’s largest mobile food truck festival - is returning to Cheney Stadium with more than 20 trucks infiltrating Cheney’s infield, and eight bands including Seattle Rock Orchestra, the Rusty Cleavers, Michelle from the Club and Stephanie Anne Johnson. A wide-range of craft beers will be available for guests 21 and older as well. This year’s event will have two sessions from 12-4 p.m. and 6-10 p.m.

4. During the last incarnation of the Tacoma music festival Squeak and Squawk, we were lucky enough to see a band from Oakland, California, called Twin Steps. Led by Drew Pearson, their maniacal frontman, Twin Steps are a stubbornly undefinable group of weirdos who mix warped vocal samples with visceral percussion and interchangeably nightmarish and sweet vocals. Pearson is returning to the Northwest with his new project, Golden Drugs, which streamlines the mayhem of Twin Steps in exchange for a more concentrated dose of dread. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Golden Drugs in the Music & Culture section, then catch the band with Chung Antique, Clayface and Derek M. Johnson at 8 p.m. in Northern.

5. Toucan Sam and the Fruitloops seems like a perverse exercise in buckshot blasts of gimmickry. Made up of a Polyphonic Spree-level assemblage of musicians, the Fruitloops specialize in orchestrated punk rock explosions of popular songs done in ukulele. Still, one can only scoff so much in the face of 15 people armed with ukes and dressed in rainbows and sparkles. It's enough to forgive any sense of calculation on Toucan Sam's part, and they're actually quite impressive musicianship allows everyone to relax and enjoy the novelty of this absurd band. Think of them as the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, but for misfits. Once they pack themselves into the cozy concrete confines of Le Voyeur at 10 p.m., one will be hard-pressed not to join in with the goofy spirit of the whole thing.

LINK: Saturday, Sept. 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, MAY 29 2014 >>>

1. Jackie Kashian is funny, snarky, smart, Wisconsin-y, and, well a dork. Her podcast, The Dork Forest, is dense with her obsessions with video games, comic books and birdwatching. On The Dork Forest, Kashian interviews fellow comedians as well as non-celebrity guests, focusing the conversation around her guests' "dorkdoms" - special obsessions that may or may not fall within the bounds of traditional nerdiness. As a comedian, her act is sharp and warm, biting and personable. She talks about her Midwestern upbringing and salesman father; her marriage to a fellow dork and video game designer; and her current life in Los Angeles. All this comedic wonderfulness is going to be at the Tacoma Comedy Club at 8 p.m. 

2. The ParkWay Tavern hosts a Planned Parenthood fundraiser featuring Pike Brewing Company's Morning After Pale Ale beginning at 5 p.m. Expect a raffle. Expect a Randle.

3. Three Pacific Northwest writers - Sophia Pfaff-Shalmiyev, Cooper Lee Bombardier and Inga Muscio - will read from their works about gender, loss and racism at 7:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberland Library.

4. Charley's Pub in Fircrest hosts "Real Chicago Blues Thursdays" featuring Richard Molina at 8 p.m.

5. Brewing a hot pot of shoegaze and Krautrock bubbled through a psych filter, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete knows how to ride the edge of groove and gently cut back to spacey atmospherics to superb effect. Catch the band with Billions & Billions at 9 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

LINK: Thursday, May 29 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7 2014 >>>

1. Named after Bill Murray's iconic, sardonic Peter Venkman character - and populated by members with names like Air Bud and Hot Pants - something tells us Venkman aren't usually serious about much, but the stuff they take seriously they'll likely go nuclear over. Nominally a powerviolence band (charmingly re-dubbed "nerdviolence"), Venkman tear through punishing, briefly blistering songs with silly names like "Powerviolence and Applesauce." Catch the band with Jedi Scum and Under 15 Seconds at 10 p.m. in Le Voyeur.

2. Pint Defiance - the beer store/taproom so in love with Point Defiance Park it incorporated the Tacoma icon into its name - will host a fundraiser with Ninkasi Brewing Company for Fort Nisqually 5-7 p.m.For every pint sold, Ninkasi will donate $1 to the Fort Nisqually Foundation to keep the camps and classes coming. In fact, $2 will be donated for every growler filled. As a bonus, Pint Defiance is putting a bounty on the draft beers by donating $50 to the Fort for every keg emptied that night. Nice. Expect Ninkasi schwag and both free and donation-based raffles.

3. Film Colorist Ed Shoemaker comes to the 253Film Collective to share his process in color grading film as part of telling a good story at 7 p.m. in The Grand Cinema. 

4. Journeying through the rich and complex saga of American history with storytelling, "old time" music and paintings as the McHughs will present "The Green Fields of America" at 7:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberland Library.

5. The Brotherhood Takes Flight aerial and trapeze show takes off at 8 p.m. every first Wednesday, with Olympia's toughest babes taking to the air with whimsy, strength and artful grace. The performances above the drinking crowd range from naughty to funny to just plain beautiful. A dance party typically follows the performance.

LINK: Wednesday, May 7 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

The arrival of spring at the RAM Restaurant and Brewery marks the return of its 2010 Great American Beer Festival bronze medal winner, Maibock. "The RAM's traditional Heller Bock combines toasty malt richness and a refreshing hop character to deliver a bold kick," says Dave Leonard, director of Brewery Operations for the RAM in a news release.

In Germany, Maibocks are the first bock biers released each year, which makes this medal-winning brew perfect to toast longer days. The RAM's version is an easy drink, smooth with notes of citrus, floral and caramel.

The RAM's Maibock will be on tap for a limited time at all RAM locations.

Wednesday, May 7

I'm transforming my Ford Fusion into a funky vehicle perfect for peeling through the years via one of those freaky traversable wormholes. I still need a collider, an imploding device, a differentiator - you know, your basic road trip stuff. My target? Shea Stadium, 1986, Game 6 of the World Series to make damn sure that Beantown's first baseman bends lower. 

Some would rather go back further, mid-1800s, to see how our state rocked the world back then. If you are having differentiator problems, check out Fort Nisqually Living History Museum at Point Defiance Park. Established in 1833 by the Hudson Bay Company and moved to Tacoma's peninsula in 1933, the fort acts as a repository of living history, and their camps and classes - run by Mike McGuire (a.k.a. Fort Mike) - continue to educate kids about the rich history of the South Puget Sound.

Pint Defiance - the beer store/taproom so in love with Point Defiance Park it incorporated the Tacoma icon into its name - will host a fundraiser with Ninkasi Brewing Company for Fort Nisqually 5-7 p.m. Wednesday.For every pint sold, Ninkasi will donate $1 to the Fort Nisqually Foundation to keep the camps and classes coming. In fact, $2 will be donated for every growler filled. With Ninkasi's Total Domination IPA, Prismatic Series Lux Helles Lager and Multihead Single-Hop Pale Ale on tap, McGuire should be a happy man.As a bonus, Pint Defiance is putting a bounty on the draft beers by donating $50 to the Fort for every keg emptied that night. Nice. Expect Ninkasi schwag and both free and donation-based raffles.

Thursday, May 8

Now in its sixth year, Seattle Beer Week is more than 100 beery events May 8 through 18. Who cares? Pint Defiance does. It will celebrate the Seattle event by tapping 26 Washington beers, in intervals, during the duration. Pint Defiance will issue a special punch card. Drink all 26 and earn a limited edition shirt as proof of your status as a veteran beer marathoner. Start stretching and stay hydrated with your favorite electrolyte-enhanced beverage, because you won't want to hit the wall during this once-a-year-event. Check out its Facebook page for more details: facebook.com/PintDefiance.

Saturday, May 10

The third annual Gig Harbor Beer Festival will host 21 craft brewers, Gig Harbor's Heritage Distillery and a bigger music venue at the Gig Harbor Uptown Pavilion Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. In terms of music, Perry Acker returns for the band's second year and takes the stage at 3 p.m. Aisle of View, a reggae band currently touring the country, opens at 1 p.m. Tickets are $25, and are available at gigharborbeerfestival.com. Admission includes a commemorative taster cup and eight taster tokens. Depending on availability, you may also purchase tickets the day of the event for $25. Additional taster tokens will be on sale during the event. The Uptown Pavilion is at 4701 Point Fosdick Dr. NW.

Wednesday, May 14

The 10 Barrel Brewing Co. is on the move. The Bend, Ore., brewery is opening a third brewpub in Portland's Pearl District this summer - the other two are in Bend and Boise. The Portland site will include a pub and a brewhouse, which will brew small batch and one-off beers. Speaking of 10 Barrel small batch beers, several will be available May 14 when 10 Barrel visits the Puyallup River Alehouse. The downtown Puyallup house of beers will serve hot dogs, tacos, giveaway prizes and pour a bunch of 10 Barrel beers.

"Cinco de Mayo," Spanish for "the sink is full of mayonnaise." OK, not really. I made that up, which is only fitting, because the idea that May 5 is a big holiday celebrated throughout Mexico is also made up. This yarn was spun by some PR hack for Corona beer back in the '80s, when the company was looking for a way to get Americans to drink more beer.

Since this is not an especially hard task, they didn't work especially hard on the idea, not even hard enough to note that Mexico's real Day of Independence is Sept. 16. Cinco de Mayo commemorates The Battle of Puebla, where Mexicans defeated the French army, and in Mexico is mostly a regional holiday. Ordinarily, Americans don't cotton to anyone except Oliver Stone replacing facts with fabrications, but in this case, with beer consumption at stake, we were more than willing to overlook a little lie.

So here we are, decades later, stuffing our faces with nachos (another American invention) and toasting each other with mugs of Corona as we celebrate the truly American tradition of making up holidays to boost sales.

Holy mole! Why celebrate the fake holiday by drinking tasteless beer? It's the perfect opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture and drink Mexican craft beer.  Mexico's beer market is the 5th largest in the world by volume: 1.77 billion gallons per year to be exact. Certainly beer-loving Tacoma has a few Mexican craft beer bottles ready for Monday's holiday.

OK, a little research proves grabbing a craft beer created South of the Border might be a challenge. Apparently, of those billions of gallons that are exported - 58 percent of it is Anheuser Busch (Modelo, Corona, Dos Equis) and 41 percent of it is Heineken (Tecate, Sol) - (divide number x by number y, then multiply by 100) that leaves a mere one percent for other Mexican brewers, fighting for space on shelves and taps.

I'm still up for the challenge.

Read more...

You'd best prep your favorite Barry Manilow, Nelly and Journey songs, because you're entrenched in National Karaoke Week. Seriously, this is a thing. National Karaoke Week happens through Saturday, and it's a BFD in some parts of the country. Wait, scratch that - it's apparently a BFD in Tacoma, if a brewery is busting out the karaoke machine.

Narrows Brewing Company hosts a karaoke competition tonight from 7-9 p.m. Need some courage? Head brewer Joe Walts has released a new Double IPA. Oh Mandy! It's going to get Hot in Herre.

Also tonight

Puyallup River Brewing Company will release its first bourbon barrel-aged beer tonight. The Point Success Porter and Mud Mountain Milk Stout were aged in American oak Ghost Owl Bourbon barrels from Parliament Distillery in Sumner. Parliament head distiller Jarrett Tomal and his crew will be at the Puyallup River Alehouse to discuss their business, hand our Parliament swag and, of course, swig some brews. The celebration begins at 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 26

Those in the know know that barley wine isn't wine at all, but a dark, malty ale enjoyed late in the evening. Brewed for a long time with ample sugar, barley wine's alcohol levels tend to top off at about 14 percent. That's about three times the amount in a popular, mass-produced beer. Those in the know know the ParkWay Tavern host its ninth annual Barley Wine Festival from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Expect 30 aged barley wines and Murphy's Barbecue out front. Let's take a look at the schedule taplist:

2007 Anchor Old Foghorn
2007 Full Sail Old Boardhead
2008 Flying Dog Horn Dog
2009 Stone Old Guardian
2010 Fishtale 10(2)
2010 Great Divide Old Ruffian
2010 Hale's Rudyard's Rare
2010 Hopworks Noggin Floggin
2010 Lagunitas Gnarleywine
2010 Rogue Old Crustacean
2010 Red Hook Treblehook
2011 Beer Valley Highway to Ale
2011 Lost Coast Fog Cutter
2011 Port Townsend Barleywine
2012 21st Amendment Lower De Boom
2012 Avery Hog Heaven
2012 Dick's Barleywine
2012 Ninkasi Wheat Wine
2012 Silver City Old Scrooge
2012 Widmer Old Embalmer
2013 Anderson Valley Horn of the Beer
2013 Black Diamond Dried Up Old Geezer
2013 E-9 Thunder Buddies
2013 Epic Barleywine
2013 Mad River John Barleycorn
2013 Oakshire Barleywine
2013 Snipes Rosa
2014 Harmon Barleywine
2014 High Water Old & in the Way
2014 Lazy Boy Barleywine
2014 Sound Old Scoundrel

Those in the know know to program a taxi service on their cell.

Sunday, April 27

Pint Defiance will host German beers for its Sonntag Sampler from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Flights of four 4-ounce pours will be served for the cost of a normal pint. You may sample Dr. Fritz Briem 1809 Berlinerweisse, DAB Dortmunder Export, Ayinger Ur Weisse Dunkel and Wiehenstephaner Korbinian Doppelbock. Das ist sehr gut!

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

Sometimes it seems like obsession with bacon know no bounds. Present company definitely included. However, in some cases the infatuation is deserved, as in the case with the Gratzilla bacon wheat beer created by Wingman Brewers and Maxwell's Restaurant, which I wrote about this week. The two Tacoma entities let their pork flag fly, and their porky and smoky beer is on tap now, well ahead of the Bacon and Beer Classic at Safeco Field May 17 for which they brewed it. Drop by Wingman Brewers by the Tacoma Dome for a taste.

Side note: 208 Garfield next to Pacific Lutheran University offers a $10 beer and bacon sampling at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 17.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12

The Leavenworth Ale Fest, which is the annual fundraiser for the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, will run from 2-10 p.m. on April 12. This year's Ale Fest will feature beers from more than 30 breweries, five popular food vendors and live music performances every 90 minutes throughout the day. The hop-tastic day also benefits Operation Ward 57, a nonprofit that provides assistance to wounded warriors, their families and their caregivers. In exchange for providing volunteers for the event, Operation Ward 57 receives a portion of the proceeds. Best of all, active duty servicemembers receive free admission by simply presenting their respective IDs at the entrance. Admission for military also includes a taster's glass and three drink tokens. Regular admission is $20 at www.leavenworthalefest.com. Tickets will increase to $25 when purchased at the door. The event will take place at the Leavenworth Festhalle, 1001 Front St., Leavenworth.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13

Pint Defiance will host Petrus sour beers as part of its "Sour Sampler" from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Flights of four 4-ounce pours will be served for the cost of a normal pint.

SUNDAY, MARCH 30 2014 >>>

1. Most people recognize Mark Pickerel's name from his drumming with Van Conner, Gary Lee Conner and Mark Lanegan in this little band from Ellensburg you may have heard of called the Screaming Trees, but in reality he's done much more than man the skins for the band that crafted "Sweet Oblivion" and "Nearly Lost You."  Pickerel has played and recorded with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, the Dusty 45's, His Praying Hands and Truly. Pickerel will emcee a poetry slam in Tenino. No, it's true. Scatter Creek Winery in the little town of Tenino plays host to the biggest throw-down of romantic and cynical poetry and songs in the known world from 4-6 p.m. Pickerel will keep the peace among the poets from both sides of the love aisle as they duel to the finish to convince the crowd that their position on love represents the truth. Rumor has it Pickerel may even play a few of his own love or heartbreak songs during the event.

2. Pint Defiance continues its popular Sunday Sampler series, this week offering tastings of San Diego beers: Lost Abbey Red Barn Saison, Ale Smith Nut Brown, Ballast Point Big Eye IPA and Stone Imperial Russian Stout. From 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., flights of four 4-ounce pours will be served for the cost of a normal pint.

3. Mitch Reems, singer for several Northwest bands, including portraying Elwood Blues in the New Blues Brothers Band, has been undergoing treatment for stage four non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He's damn near kicked it. The music community is celebrating, as well as helping pay his bills, with a benefit show at 3 p.m. in Tacoma's Temple Theatre. Bump Kitchen, Champagne Sunday, and Gabriel with Merrilee Rush will join the New Blues Brothers onstage.

4. Huntsville, Alabama, band Nightmare Boyzzz win points for not sounding anything like what their name might suggest. This is a band that is built of brittle sugar, constantly threatened at every turn with crumbling. While the riffs are firmly in the garage rock vein of bands such as the Black Lips, the vocals are consistently on point and prettier than necessary. Here, again, is a band that values melody, even as it streaks its songs with distortion. This is the kind of garage pop that goes down easy, but might give you heartburn. Catch them at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

5. Survival Knife is Kris Cunningham on drums, Meg Cunningham on bass, Brandt Sandeno on guitar and Justin Trosper on guitar and vocals. Yes, Meg and Kris are married, and yes, Sandeno and Trosper are two of the original three members of Olympia's infamous '90s indie rock predecessors, Unwound. The band rocks, and with Broken Water and Hungry Ghost on the 9 p.m. bill at The Brotherhood Lounge, this show really rocks.

LINK: Sunday, March 30 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area