The urge for music freaks (including many employed at the Weekly Volcano) to combine the word "rock" with the month October whenever its referenced is almost too strong to deny. It's like Pavlov's dog shit. It just makes so much sense. It feels right in so many ways. The guys over at NWCZ Radio obviously subscribe to this theory as well, and wasted no time in bringing their Rocktoberfest to life this year - claiming the first night of the month at Hell's Kitchen and reserving it for devil horns and fist pounding (and beer pounding). Expect crushing sets from local-favorites Mahnhammer, Dethproof, Parlooka, Fox and the Law, Burn the Harbor and headliner, The Screaming Starts - a four-piece band of hell-raisers known for doling out self-described, "heavy, riff-driven" rock. What else would you expect out of Rocktoberfest?  

[Hell's Kitchen, with The Screaming Starts, Mahnhammer, Dethproof, Palooka, Fox and the Law, Burn the Harbor, 6 p.m., no cover, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]