TUESDAY, MAY 21 2013 >>>

1. Week of Wonders describe their music as "tropical punk," which we suppose is as good a place to start as anywhere. What do they mean when they say this? Upon first listening, the lo-fi guitars and reverb-laden vocals call to mind any of many psychedelic pop revivalists, but then that percussion begins to seep into the fore. The sprightlier the percussion becomes, the easier it is to be whisked away by Week of Wonders to warmer climates, where the murkiness of the humidity starts to soak your brain and encourage flights of fancy and hallucinatory revelry.Catch them withHumble Cub and Shogun Barbie at 8 p.m. in the Tahoma Tea & Co.

2. The Pierce County Gleaning Project and Share the Harvest programs will kick off the season with a picnic-potluck paired with a continuing conversation on food justice issues in Tacoma/Piece County from 6-8 p.m. in Wright Park. Breakout-blankets will be arranged for some meaty (and veg/vegan!) discussion topics.

3. Mike Vax, an international artist for the Getzen Musical Instrument Company and a Summit Records recording artist, has played lead and solo trumpet with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, the Clark Terry Big Bad Band, and the U.S. Navy Show Band. His "sit-in" list is long and impressive that includes Art Pepper, Gene Krupa, Al Grey, and Freddy Hubbard, John Handy, Don Ellis, Don Jacoby, Louie Bellson, Joe Williams. Currently Vax leads his own groups: The Stan Kenton Alumni Band, The Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra, The Swing Shift Big Band in Prescott, Arizona, TRPTS (Trumpets), The Great American Jazz Band and the Mike Vax Quintet and Sextet. And he finds time to drop in on Tacoma how? Vax will hold a 7:30 p.m. trumpet clinic with the Tacoma Community College Band at TCC where he'll perform, talk about jazz, coach the band, dole out tips and, maybe, fetch your car.

4. Blackbird Raum is a gypsy punk band from Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, that are well known for their frantic live shows. Catch them with Matador, Gembrokers, Phillip Irie, Rickie Rich and The Lockstitch at 8 p.m. in Northern.

5. Negative Degree and Sterilized Adjustment play a 9 p.m. show at Le Voyeur.

LINK: Tuesday, May 21 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

The Sixth Avenue street fair bonanza known as the Art on the Ave returns to Tacoma Sunday, July 14 bringing all the corn on a stick, face painting and guys dressed as nuns on a pogo stick that comes with it. Also, look out for the Save our Sonics guy. Yes, Sixth Avenue traffic will have to find an alternate route that Sunday afternoon as the good times will be rolling all day.

Ignoring the Art on the Ave dunk-tank, the highlight of the annual event is the music. This year four stages will dot the asphalt, although one stage will house such acts as dance groups, grub crawl judging, maybe a choir and probably cute kids.

Here are the music acts scheduled to perform the second Sunday in July, beginning around 11 a.m.

Dirty Oscar's Annex (2309 Sixth Ave.): The Fame Riot, Ben Union, The Dignitaries, Not From Brooklyn, Bandolier and Roswell 

O'Malley's Irish Pub (2403 Sixth Ave.): The Fun Police, Ten Pole Drunk, Kramer, Northslope and Devil on a Leash 

Jazzbones (2803 Sixth Ave.): Nolan Garrett, Big Wheel Stunt Show, Randy Hanson, Mighty High, C-leb and Kettle Black ... with two headlines to be announced July 13.

Courtney Love is hitting the road again. The Hole singer will set out on a solo tour throughout the Northeast, hitting major markets such as Boston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn in June before hitting the West Coast, with a stop Tuesday, July 23 at the Moore Theatre in Seattle. While she's leaving the Hole hounds at home, it's likely she'll still dust off a few classic tracks.

Although a ticket price hasn't been announce, they will go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 22 at LiveNation.com, tickets.com, ticketing kiosks at the Moore and the Paramount Theater and 877.784.4849.

MONDAY, MAY 20 2013 >>>

1. The Mac - that's Fleetwood Mac, for those of you who weren't around in the late '70s/early '80s and/or don't have parents - will perform at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Dome. Drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks will be on hand, but missing will be singer/keyboardist Mac mainstay Christine McVie, who blazed in 1998. Without McVie's alto voice, you'll hear a lot more of Buckingham and Nicks, which according to tour reports, you might hear a bit of wear in their voices. Who cares? Bring on "Dreams," "Rhiannon," "Gold Dust Woman," "Don't Stop," "Tusk" and "Go Your Own Way." Bring on the lyrics full of heartbreak and recriminations. Bring on the between-song banter. In the end, the landslide will bring you down anyway.

2. If you've noticed we're pushing local breweries lately, you've caught us. We can't stay away from local beer. Plus, there's something about a local brewery that screams perfect date night. A couple pints of lager, a couple side salads, a doggy bag for the happy couple. ... Powerhouse Restaurant and Brewery in Puyallup offers a pasta and pint combination every Monday that's easy on the wallet. Buy pasta off the menu and get any one of Powerhouse's seven beers free of charge. 

3. Monday is typically a black hole for nightlife. Sure, if you run a sports bar, you'll do well during the World Series or football season, but for most eating and drinking establishments, it's just dead, dead, dead. There's a darn good reason why so many bars are empty on Mondays. So how do those that remain open find ways to fill barstools on this, the most dreadful evening of the workweek? The folks at The Swiss seem to have found a solution and, oddly enough, it's one that has been the bane of many other venues: live music. Since the beginning of time, The Swiss has hosted live blues every Monday. At 8 p.m. catch The Mark Riley Band.

4. Every Monday Jazzbones is packed to the brim with college kids. Party types. The type that wear tight shirts and trucker hats. Throngs of Chad Fratguys and Sarah Sororitysisters swarm the bar, line up for the bathroom and dance to the Rockaraoke - live band karaoke. The Rockaraoke band is skilled, too. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs beginning at 9 p.m.

5. Infernoh and Effluxus will rock Le Voyeur in downtown Olympia beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Monday, May 20 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, MAY 19 2013 >>>

1. Germany's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language film, Barbara paints a picture through its striking cinematography and tension-building plot. The film tells the story of a woman named Barbara during the height of the Cold War in Germany in 1980. Barbara is a doctor who is punished for applying for an exit visa and forced to work in an East German hospital where she remains under intense scrutiny.  Winner of Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, Christian Petzold creates an incredible amount of tension that leaves the viewer on edge. The artistic opening shots are well composed and full of purpose. Each shot is beautiful in a different way than the previous one. Read Cassady Coulter's full feature on Barbara in Northwest Military's Music & Culture section. See the film at 1:55 and 6:45 p.m. in The Grand Cinema.

2. Over the years the Lacey Spring Fun Fair has grown into a great weekend. There are much bigger festivals — Taste of Tacoma, Harbor Days, Freedom Fair — and much smaller neighborhood fairs, bu the Lacey Spring Fun FAir is just the right size, every inch and minute packed with entertainment, car shows, the wacky Kid's World and tons of food. Spring into it from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Martin's University.

3, What started as Paul Manuel's outgrowth of monthly youth jams at Jazzbones on Sixth Avenue has turned into something much more involved; kids of all ages are forming bands, learning to play new instruments, performing and competing through their affiliation with the Puget Sound Music For Youth Association. See it in all its glory at 3 p.m. when Puget Sound Music For Youth Youth-A-Palooza hits The Swiss.

4. Seattle jazz vibraphonist Susan Pascal has taken her music through four tours of Singapore and concerts, workshops and clinics across the United States. Add the Live Jazz @ Marine View show to the list as she performs at Marine View Prebyterian Chuch at 5 p.m.

5. The Lloyd Jones Struggle will showcase their latest original R&B and swingin' blues at their CD Release Show in The Spar at 7 p.m.

LINK: Sunday, May 19 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, MAY 18 2013 >>>

1. "Since the earliest days of our Union, America has been blessed with an unbroken chain of patriots willing to give of themselves so their fellow citizens might live free. Whenever our Nation has come under attack, courageous men and women in uniform have risen to her defense. Whenever our liberties have come under assault, our service members have responded with resolve. Time and again, these heroes have sacrificed to sustain that powerful promise that we hold so dear - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And on Armed Forces Day, we honor those who serve bravely and sacrifice selflessly in our name," said Pres. Barack Obama in his Armed Forces Day proclamation. So, let's celebrate.

2. Get your Gilligan from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. when the Port of Olympia resurrects the Swantown Boatswap and Chowder Challenge. Boat connoisseurs will be able to peruse boats listed for sale, pick up parts and accessories all while enjoying a little bit of live music and chowder from Thurston County eateries. The chowder contest starts promptly at 12:30 p.m. when 12 local restaurants - including Fish Tale Brew Pub, The Sidewalk Café, Tugboat Annies and Lucky Eagle Casino - will serve their finest clam chowder and compete for "best chowder" honors, voted buy the eating public.

3. The Olympia Youth Chorus is one of those organizations you just can't help but feel good about supporting. With an end goal of nurturing an appreciation for music and choral art in kids as young as kindergarten age, the Olympia Youth Chorus has been going strong for over 16 years. At 4 p.m. in the Westwood Baptist Church, the chorus presents "Bach to Rock" - billed as "a sampling of choral music from J.S. Bach and Hildegard von Bingen to Sister Act's 'Joyful, Joyful.'"

4. Weekly Volcano music critic Rev. Adam McKinney says there's vocal similarities between Bodybox frontman Kurt Lindsay and late cult singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley.  The Rev. says, "Lindsay's voice, like Buckley's (though, of course, no one can truly touch Jeff Buckley, vocally), is simultaneously full of bravado and wounded timidity. It quivers with feeling, though it might be noted that Lindsay's voice often comes across as more lost, searching, which adds a nice element to what is largely music that errs toward modern rock, with some detours to friendly mixers like R&B and folk." See for yourself over a glass or three of wine at 8 p.m. in Cork Wine Bar. 

5. There's a full, complicated backstory of the mARMITs, involving an "inter-dimensional long shoreman/neon harvester named Wildcat," of which the mARMITs are captives. The rest of the narrative we'll leave for them to describe at 10 p.m. in Le Voyeur, but what we will mention is the music, which is a delirious concoction that calls to mind other insane innovators like Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, with a distinctively populist bent (music-wise) in search of artistic abstraction.

LINK: Saturday, May 18 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

INTERN REPORT >>>

When I, Keegan Patterson, the new intern for the Weekly Volcano, was asked if I wanted to write a story, I had to steady myself for fear of collapsing under the weight of my enthusiasm and curiosity. What would I be writing about? Would I get to attend some awesome all-ages show and report on it? Would I meet interesting Tacoma icons and engage them in intellectual interviews? As if to stop my pondering dead in its tracks, Pappi Swarner, the editor, explained the story is about a benefit show in a tiki bar Friday, May 17 - and I had less than 12 hours to finish it.

I'm an innocent, dewy-eyed 18-year-old intern. It's my first story and I can't even go. Ah yes, I thought, so that's how the Volcano rolls. ...

Though I can't go myself, I hope I can convince some of the less age-challenged readers out there to attend an exciting night full of tasty Mai Tais and performances by two skilled and spacey Northwest bands at Tacoma's tiki bar, Tacoma Cabana. The bards in attendance for this tropical bash will be the Olympian electronic bass-synth-synth trio Elbow Coulee and Tacoma natives Death by Stars, a band described as a "21st century Hüsker Dü" by Downtown Joe from KJR Seattle's Bob Rivers Show. DBS guitarist Patrick Galactic describes their sound as "Electropunk," while Andrew Tuller from Elbow Coulee classifies his band as "Northwest Rocktronica." Andrew told me tonight's event is "a meeting of two bands who have the notion to push the boundaries of music as far as we can." When I asked Galactic how he feels about playing a show on the home front, he told me, "In Seattle a Tacoma band can get weird looks" and Death by Stars is "definitely Tacoma proud."

Read more...

FRIDAY, MAY 17 2013 >>>

1. Talented artists command the Madera Architectural Elements Showroom semi-monthly, illuminating their work and creativity with the visually aided enhancement implied by the name of the series, TRIPOD Slide Shows. Created by Tacoma artist Lynn Di Nino, the night of digital slides features three artists and one creative theme.  The next TRIPOD Slide Show slides into Madera tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. featuring 15-minute slide shows by Mady Murrey will show slides of art hidden at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, nationally syndicated political cartoonist Chris Britt and Oregon’s "Barbie Lady" LaVonne Sallee.

2. The annual Military Retiree Appreciation Day event runs from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hangar 9, building #1166, on JBLM-McChord Field. Event officials are expecting approximately 2,000 military beneficiaries to attend, who will enjoy the Madigan Healthcare System Health Fair, ID card issuance and replacement opportunities, the Legal Assistance Station, Vehicle registration fun, the VA Compensation Review Station and the Veterans Information Expo.

3. Grit City Comedy Club will be closed for three weeks while Malarkey’s Pool & Brew hosts the APA League Championship for Pierce County May 17-June 1. Winners will move onto the Nationals in Las Vegas.

4. Paula McLain wrote The Paris Wife, a novel that captures the love affair between Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. McLain paints a real sense of their daily life - Hemingway's charisma, genius, stinginess and cruelty that apparently could erupt with no warning - and the citizens of Pierce County know this. For the past two months, thousands have been reading the book as part of the Pierce County READS program. At 7 p.m., McLain will drop in on the McGavick Conference Center to discuss the book, and the life of the famous couple.

5. Local Internet NWCZ Radio knows music. It's not only obvious from their daily shows, but also in the live shows they produce — as in the case of the 9 p.m. presentation of Ben Union, Perry Acker and The Furniture Girls at the Harmon Tap Room in Tacoma.

LINK: Friday, May 17 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, MAY 16 2013 >>>

1. Rose Windows evokes the sounds of American and British psychedelia of the late '60s, while also incorporating elements of proto-metal acts like the Gun and Black Sabbath, even managing to emulate those earlier psych bands' cannibalizing of world music. Catch the band at 8 p.m. with La Luz and Happy Noose at Northern in downtown Olympia.

2. It's bike night at the Tacoma Art Museum. Ride your bike to Tacoma Art Museum and enjoy an evening of art activities that you can combine to your bike. Learn about Bike to Work Month and see a collection of photos as part of 253bike. Enjoy free admission to the Tacoma art Museum from 5 to 8 p.m. and receive a free Eric Carle bookmark at the Admissions Desk.

3. At 5:45 p.m., Tacoma Deputy Mayor Marty Campbell will jump on the Tacoma ART BUS as its celebrity tour guide. It's Campbell's second or third tour as host. He knows the routine. He knows jokes. And he knows the city like the back of his hand, so if something happens to the bus driver, Campbell could drive the bus to the designated stops: Rampart, Art Stop, FabLab, Bleach, Mica, 253 Collective and The Social. Reserve your spot here.

4. Film reviewer Robert Horton will pull up a bale of hay at 7:30 p.m. in the Olympia Timberland Library. Horton will explain how the Western movie was America's bedrock mythology for the first 70s years of film history, but during the hippie era the genre the "revisionist" Western took up a fiercely critical argument with the past: In the disillusioned age of the counterculture and Vietnam, you could no longer distinguish heroes from villains by the color of their hats. Horton thinks because of the dramatic changes seen in Westerns, the genre forces us to look critically at our own myths: Why do we need the clarity of "good guys" and "bad guys" at certain times? Why do we sometimes embrace a more ambiguous view of human nature? How do these movies challenge us - and what happens when a movie forces us to question our long-cherished beliefs? Will Horton hear from you?

5. The Twang Junkies will fill The Swiss with rockin' country tunes beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Thursday, May 16 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15 2013 >>>

1. Why go on a beer run when you can participate in a beer walk. We don't know what that means, but we do know this: Downtown On the Go's Walk Tacoma tours are awesome, and at 5:15 p.m. local historian Michael Sullivan will lead the tour through Tacoma's Brewery District. For 45 minutes Sullivan will point out interesting buildings in the downtown Tacoma historic district, drop Tacoma historical facts and drink Tacoma beer with the group at the post walk party at Harmon Brewery & Eatery. The walk, sponsored by Union Bank, begins at the top of the University of Washington Tacoma stairs at South 19th and Jefferson then weaves through the district like a person drunk on beer.

2. Australian artist Nick Mount with American artist Richard Marquis will be inaugurating the 2013 Visiting Artists Summer Series in the Hot Shop at Museum of Glass today through Sunday, May 19. Since working amongst the pioneers of hot glass in Australia in the early 1970s, Mount has been one of that country's pre-eminent glass artists. His work combines virtuoso technique with a keen instinct for design. He has exhibited in Europe, South America, the United States and Japan and is recognised internationally for his exhibition work, commissions and teaching. He's kind of a big deal.

3. The "World War II" exhibit is on display at Karpeles Manuscript Museum housing the Japanese flag captured at the Battle of Okinawa and the navigator's flight log of the Enola Gay Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber at the time of its dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It's open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

4. Held every Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Dorky's Arcade, Trivia for Dorks is a free, all-ages affair with such prizes as gift certificates to Dorky's. Sure, prizes are nice, but even better is dropping your win at your next round table D & D discussion. Teams can earn bonus points for correctly identifying the night's theme.

5. Little Wings, aka Kyle Field, is an instantly engaging performer. Whether it is huddled under a blanket softly singing to a small handful of listeners, or bellowing out his caterwaul warbled yelp in small theaters, there is a striking intimacy in his approach. At 8 p.m., Little Wings takes his roadshow to the "guesthouse" with guests Lee Baggett and Globelamp. It is a house show, so be polite, double check the Facebook invite for more information and most of all enjoy the experience.

LINK: Wednesday, May 15 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area