Viva South Sound
Welcome to Thurston County, where hunters, hippies, and head officers can all be at the same bar. While an establishment may have a country, dive or hipster feel, everyone is always welcome. That's the one thing that makes this area so unique: we're pretty darn accepting of everyone. Many people will
Critics' Picks
[SINGER-SONGWRITER] + THURS, APRIL 10-11 I can't remember when I met Mike Coucoules. Years and years ago at Cole's in Ruston is my guess, well before it burst into flames, before his auto accident benefit jam at Seafarers Sports Bar in 2006, and before I became a groupie when Coucoules played
Music
Metal is soft. In fact, cesium, the softest metal on earth, can be cut with a butter knife. The metal music genre is taking a turn toward softness, too. Have you seen those Skeletor memes with the inspirational quotes? How about the photo Tumblr of metalheads posing with their cats? Point
Music
It's an open secret that music critics - and, really, any critics - end up being drawn to the unusual, or even the off-putting, due to their constant exposure to the same old same old. I've just reached five years of writing about music for this fine rag, and there's
Features
The people have spoken. For the past several weeks, 64 burger-flipping establishments have been pitted against each other in a bracket-style competition to crown South Sound burger royalty. On April 7, weeks of voting came down to two unlikely contenders: Westside Tavern in Olympia and Maxwell's Restaurant & Lounge of
News Front
The Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) Community Connector Program, which was developed by the I Corps Commanding General's program, has been connecting local Puget Sound communities with specific units from JBLM since March 2000. The key goals of the program are to increase interaction between JBLM and local communities, create awareness
Archives
At Thee Barber Shop, a guy briskly shines the shoes of the customer sitting in the chair. A seated customer nervously leafs through magazines as he waits for barber Pete Lira to squeeze him in. The barber himself, attired in his gray suit, spins a yarn about his fighting days;
Archives
On my days off from work I head to the Tacoma Mall, and my first stop is always a little store called D.E.M.O located in front of the food court right next to Finish Line. They have all the designer brands in this store including my favorites — Apple Bottom,
Food Matters
HONG KONG MARKET Sunday, April 13, bright and early at 8:30 a.m., Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and Deputy Mayor Marty Campbell will hug a new and improved Hong Kong Market at 3816 Yakima Ave. Join them, and meet your neighbors, business owners and other elected officials while celebrating a new grocery
Show And Tell
Fried things filled with more fried things and then deep-fried. Bits of meat and vegetables suspended in thick sauces and pastes ladled over rice, seasoned with a rich, exotic medley of the most powerful spices this side of a Dune novel. All of it so succulently semisolid you can almost
We Recommend
As of press time, I'm not even sure if I like the Cosmopolites, but they do, blessedly, give me pause. What I know for sure is that they're compelling. There's something at once cheesy and subversive about the music they make. Blending a syrupy mixture of light jazz and provocative
Arts
Teddy Haggarty is unstoppable. To say the longtime nationally and locally renowned artist, actor, filmmaker, designer and South Sound resident is very busy man is an understatement. He's painting up a beautiful storm, with a positively prolific collection of new works complete with a gallery opening in the near future; he's
Concert Alert
We list major concerts going on sale this weekend, as well as national touring acts performing in the Puget
We Recommend
Phobos and Deimos get their name from the two moons of Mars, a suitably grandiose title and concept for a band as dramatic as they are. Taking their cues from dark, crooning, romantic New Wavers like the Cure, the Church, and Echo and the Bunnymen, Phobos and Deimos are the
We Recommend
The amount of words that have been spilled on surfy garage music is surely some intimidating, absurd amount that can only be quantified using some poetic, Carl Sagan-esque double-speak. Something about star stuff. Here, then, I find myself faced with Los Devitos. They're a surfy garage rock band. They're great.
News
Of the two words "attorney general," it is the word "general" that catches the eye. A general is one who leads individuals, who sets expectations for those individuals and is accountable to those individuals. Bob Ferguson is the attorney general for the state of Washington. And as the state's top lawyer, he
We Recommend
I can't remember when I met Mike Coucoules. Years and years ago at Cole's in Ruston is my guess, well before it burst into flames, before his auto accident benefit jam at Seafarers Sports Bar in 2006, and before I became a groupie when Coucoules played bass in Malcolm Clark's
We Recommend
The heavy, four-piece Pariah's Revolt from Olympia (Kevin Saint, Josh "Monster" Williams, Chad "The Ghost" Daniels, and Shane "Warzone" Hanson) have all the badassness of ear-splitting chords, metal riffs and black clothing that you'd expect from the genre. And they're taking their community involvement to the next level with a fundraiser to help the
Listings
BLUES Dawson's Bar and Grill Tacoma - South. Billy Shew Band Open Jam Session. 8 pm. NC. Eagle's Hall Olympia - Downtown. OlyBlues Dance Night. Third floor, no partner necessary. All Ages. 9 pm. $5. COMEDY/GAMES Tacoma Comedy Club Tacoma - Downtown. Comedian Tom Cotter. 8 pm. $15.
We Recommend
Last year, we sat above the fairgrounds in a wobbly umbrella-covered enclosure, surging over that precarious point in the Ferris wheel where we swore to corn dog we would be pitched over, knocked off balance with our missing partner, and die a horrible death. We didn't, and we will freely
