If I have anything in common with Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, it’s certainly not knowledge of foreign policy or an appreciation for blue ties. No, Joe Biden and I probably don’t see eye to eye on either topic. I loathe blue ties, for the record. I think ties of any color make you look like The Man — except for those little skinny ones. Skinny ties just make you look kind of douchey. 

Furthermore, I’m totally willing to admit Joe Biden knows far more than I do about global politics, international relations, the war on terrorism and foreign policy. That should be a given. Isn’t that what any sane, high school educated, rational and not blindly moronic person expects out of a vice presidential candidate? 

One thing I do have in common with Joe Biden, however, is a “fighter spirit.”

If you tuned into the Democratic National Convention and happened to catch Biden’s acceptance speech, you probably know a few things about the Senator from Delaware that you didn’t going in.

One of the major goals of Biden’s speech was to “introduce” the prospective VP to the American public. That’s what I heard 24 hour cable news shove down America’s throat, anyway. Even if it wasn’t true to begin with — now it must be.  

One thing we learned from his speech is as a kid Biden stuttered like a motherf***er. Politicians love to point out the hurdles they’ve had to clear — and Biden beat stuttering like a proverbial red-headed step child. His speech let it be known. Point for Joe.

Also, Biden’s mom appears to be the cutest little old lady of all time. She’s got to be at least McCain’s age, and she’s more adorable than a puppy and kitten milkshake. Plus she’s down with punching bullies in the yapper. I always like that in a little old lady. Point for Joe Biden’s mom.

Those two things, along with a bunch of other stuff I’ve already forgotten from his speech, helped give Biden the fighter spirit he has today. That fighter spirit, he tells us, is truly American — and exactly the spirit Barack Obama needs by his side.

 

I have the fighter spirit Biden speaks of. It’s the urge that makes a person get back up on the cliché horse every time they take a proverbial tumble. Some people probably just call it stupidity. 

Whatever you call it, I’m infected, and it leads in nicely to this week’s column.

Saturday, Sept. 6, the Point Defiance Music Festival will engulf the area of 51st and Pearl Street in Ruston, and the Weekly Volcano will have its very own stage. Coming to that stage, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., will be Starstruck, GE5, Jonny Smokes, 2112 (a freakin’ Rush Tribute band of all things), the Hard Way, Sons of Ivan, the Drug Purse, the Elephants and Jon Auer of the Posies. 

Starting with Sons of Ivan, I’ll be the awkward dude with the microphone introducing the bands. If you saw my less than inspiring performance introducing the Helio Sequence at Showcase Tacoma (which can be explained with the mathematical equation: booze + nerves = botched introduction), you know this feat will represent a “getting back on the horse” moment for me.

 

That’s my fighter spirit, yo!

Why am I getting back on the horse after a horrible experience doing something I’ll probably never be very comfortable with? It’s a worthy question, but one that can be answered succinctly.

Because this show is worth it. Saying nothing of the bands set to play between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., an afternoon lineup that includes Sons of Ivan, the Drug Purse, the Elephants and Jon Auer is a lineup not to be missed. If I can help introduce bands like that to a crowd at the Point Defiance Music Festival, I’d be dumb not to take advantage. Plus, maybe some of the Drug Purse’s indie sex appeal or the Elephants’ humble genius will rub off on me?

 

Since I named Sons of Ivan the best (new) indie band in Tacoma in the Weekly Volcano’s “Best Of” issue earlier this summer, and just a few weeks ago I (once again) revealed my man crush on the Elephants — not to mention Jon Auer has graced the pages of this rag plenty of times — it’s time for me to show a little love to the Drug Purse.

Led by ex-Elephant Jason Freet, the Drug Purse is a 253 psychedelic ride into the world of repeated guitar chords, dark sunglasses, mind alteration and Tacoma’s burgeoning and confident indie music scene. Like doing whippets in a field of dandelions near Cheney Stadium or floating off to a chemically enhanced happy place near the bocce field in Wright Park, the Drug Purse combines long revered psychedelic rock aesthetics — i.e. Middle Eastern influences and shag haircuts — with a vibe that’s distinctively Tacoma. 

The result is, shall we say, unique.

“Jason has these chords that he just plays over and over again,” explains Drug Purse bassist Tarek Wagner. “He’ll just say ‘yeah, that’s it,’ or ‘no, that’s not it.’ It’s strange.

“He’s kind of a wizard.”

While Wagner says Freet is the band’s main songwriter, in the end he considers the Drug Purse a collaborative project — one that has evolved over time and become something no one in the band envisioned. 

“We just kind of went into it blindly. It feels like it has taken shape a little, but our eyes are still adjusting,” explains Wagner. “We’re all freaks here.”

In case you’re playing at home, the Drug Purse is part of the Team Unicorn family — along with fellow Point Defiance Music Festival performers the Elephants. It’s a connection that makes sense considering the closeness of all parties involved with both bands — and they’re two of the best bands Team Unicorn has to offer. The relationship is yet another example why people really should be paying attention to what Team Unicorn is doing in Tacoma.

“If we all put two cents in we have a dollar,” says Wagner of Team Unicorn. “We’re a group of likeminded people created out of necessity. We just don’t have anything to do except play music.”

The Drug Purse will play the Point Defiance Music Festival in Ruston this Saturday along with Sons of Ivan, the Elephants and Jon Auer. I’ll see you there.