The Weekly Volcano bounced around New Year's Eve in Tacoma snapping photos. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger and Pappi Swarner
You won't find gunslingin' cow pokes playing poker at Lady Luck Cowgirl Up Steakhouse and Saloon. Nope. What you'll find is a handful of Coyote Ugly-style bar babes happily serving customers. This joint has become a haven for bachelorette parties, thanks to the party hardy atmosphere. In fact, the crowdâ??s dance moves match the staff's ??" all orchestrated by DJ Adam Ant. On the way out, don't forget to grab a cream cheese hot dog.
Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
The official debut of the Tacoma burlesque troupe, Gritty City Sirens, went down Thursday, Dec. 23 inside The Swiss. Ava D'Jor, Tizzy Van Tassel, Rosie Cheexx, Funny Face Fanny and Polly Puckerup combated the cold weather with a hot show in front of a packed - and we do mean push, shove and wiggle your way through - mass of people.
The creative and beautiful women stripped through self-choreographed sets down to skivvies, stockings and pasties. The crowd loved it, and so did the performers.
We have a few more photos to post after we receive permission from the performers.
Weekly Volcano Publisher Pappi Swarner - dressed as Buddy the elf - was the tour guide for the Tacoma Third Thursday Artwalk Art Bus tour Dec. 16, 2010. Musicians Doug Mackey and Evan Purcell performed on and off the bus. The bus visited the Speakeasy, Viceroy Art Gallery, former Luzon building site, B2 Fine Art Gallery, Tacoma Art Place, Evergreen State College, Brick House Gallery, Fulcrum Gallery, Two Five Tress, BKB & Company and The Swiss.
Although it lacks a mechanical bull, Big Whisky Saloon in downtown Tacoma has peanut shells on the floor, whiskey in the bottles and Bud Lite on tap. That seems cowboy enough for me. Toss in Thursday night line dance lessons, courtesy of Char Alexander and Alan Provencher, and hot woman in tight jeans, and you have a fun night. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
Ensure against your bah humbugs early this year by joining us daily on Spew for Bandito Betty Lou Who's "Leap of the Day." We have gone to great lengths to capture her daily leaps (we paid Steph DeRosa to stalk her).
What a gift. Twenty-four days of leaps. You are so welcome.
Feel free to rate her jumps or provide captions in the comments sections.
Special thanks to Matthew David Photography for snapping the shots: matthewdavidphotography.com
Anyone who remembers Drake's from back in the day will enjoy the Firwood Rock Lounge, the new club that now commands the Drake’s spot at 734 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma. The 50-or-so member crowd for the Shifter show last Friday was mixed but mostly graying hair retreads out for a night of rock covers and whiskey sours. But there were a good share of hot bodies out for girls' night out fun. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
With a bill headlined by the brightly colored and HIGH-ly enthusiastic Northwest Sons, and including Mighty High and Dirty Change Up, Friday’s sweet-smelling benefit for NORML was a chance to get down and (figuratively speaking) get high all in one place. NORML, founded in 1970, is a nonprofit public interest advocacy group that lobbies for marijuana legalization and, well, basic common sense when it comes to pot. The Weekly Volcano dropped in on the event for the reggae beats and pro-pot speeches. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
Bryan "the brain" O'Neil might host trivia night at Tacoma's Ale House on Wednesdays, but the real show is the people who match minds over beers. Watching thumbs scramble over cell phones to get answers is hilarious, especially knowing that O'Neil has a secret tactic against such cheating.Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
The Weekly Volcano sponsored ART BUS toured local art exhibits in downtown Tacoma during Third Thursday Artwalk.
The South Sound Blues Association held a fundraiser show Sunday, Nov. 14 inside the Rhythm & Brews club to help send the Randy Oxford Band to Memphis this February. The band will represent the South Sound at the Back To Beale Street Blues 2011 competition. The Weekly Volcano dropped by to snap a few shots.
The Weekly Volcano foodie group Nosh League formed a nosh pit Thursday, Nov. 11 inside Masa restaurant in Tacoma. Don Julio Ambassador Tierney Milton poured four tequilas, including their smooth 1942. Masa served such dishes as steak and roasted yellow tomato crostini, bacon wrapped mesquite grilled dates and spiced candied pineapple skewers and more. Big fun was had.
To join the Nosh League, click "community" at the top of this page, then click on the Nosh League in the Groups section.
Last night at Northern in Olympia, Wild Flag - perhaps at least momentarily better known as Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss and Rebecca Cole - played its first show ever. As Brownstein noted (herself and Weiss Sleater-Kinney alums) most of her bands have played their first show in Oly, so the packed and much-anticipated all-ages gig on an otherwise slow Wednesday night in our state's capital made plenty of sense. It was also amazing - a show people will be talking about for a long time. Here are some photos of the performance taken by Nicole Martin.
Last Wednesday, I dropped in on Rock The Dock Pub & Grill's new Old School College Wednesdays with DJ Contagious. And while I wouldn't call it a meat market, and only a few people danced to the dance hits from years past, I still had a rockin' good time. Reps from Snake River Stampede Whiskey were on hand to showcase its new distilled goodness. And tight-jeaned 20somethings in tank tops had to stretch over the pool table to "make the shot."
An added bonus was trading shots and laughs with bar owner Gwendolyn Stence. She said that Tacoma's music scene makers gather there Thursday nights for the open mic.
Oh, and the best part, was carpenter Zachary Tippett's challenging his boss, Jeff Larsen, to dive into the 34 degree neighboring Foss Waterway.
Story and photography by Steve Dunkelberger
The new Gruv Lounge and Nightclub on Tacoma's sixth Avenue hosted DJs Donald Glaude, dAb and Omar Saturday, Nov. 6. Gruv manager Calvin Murphy, who launched his DJ conglomerate Ocean Grooves in the same space in 1999 when it was the 6th & Proctor Bar & Grill, reunited the three DJs who spun in the same building 11 years ago.
The Tacoma art community came together last night for the Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month kickoff party inside the Tacoma Art Museum. The celebration paid tribute to local artists and contributors, like glass artist/DJ/Fulcrum Gallery owner Oliver Doriss, nonprofit hip-hop arts group Fab-5, and Urban Grace Cfurch, winners of the 2010 AMOCAT awards for artist, organization and patron outreach, respectively. This party - which featured hors d'oeuvres, desserts and a non-host bar - also paid tribute to Tacoma Artists Initiative Program grant recipients, Spaceworks Tacoma (applause for the property owners), and the dedicated work of the Tacoma Arts Commission. Photography by J.M. Simpson
Jon Tartaglia and Roger S. Rahil, the forces behind popular downtown Tacoma nightclubs The Loft, 21 Commerce, Big Whisky Saloon and countless others, opened their new venture last Friday in the site formerly occupied by The Vault at 1025 Pacific Ave. Designed by award-winning architect Marcelo Rocha, the swanky Encore Boutique Nightclub offers modern elements, mood lighting, leather seating, a state-of-the-art-sound system, European bottle service, private restrooms, and private champagne couches roped off by black velvet ropes and guards in ties for those clubbers willing to pay extra ($350) to ensure they always have fresh drinks and places to sit.
The Weekly Volcano dropped on Encore's grand opening party last Friday. Surrounded by cocktail dresses and men with collars and sport coats, we attached a clip-on and snapped a few shots. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
Top of Tacoma Bar and Cafe has been a destination bar for the booze hopping set since it opened three years ago in the largely residential McKinley neighborhood. Neighborhood regulars, the Tacoma music scene, college coeds and bearded longshoremen call this place their unofficial livingroom, shooting pool and chowing down on the tasty grub. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
Focusing on the seasoned beer lover, the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival held a special opening night party Friday, Oct. 1 featuring 12 additional beers from a selection of local breweries, served up in firkins (a particular small size of keg) in classical cask style-fresh from the brewery, still fermenting, neither refrigerated nor carbonated. The Weekly Volcano stopped by for beers and cheers. The festival continued the next day with 50 brewers in the house. Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
Intermediate and advanced skaters converged on a wooden miniramp behind O'Malley's Irish Pub on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue to compete for $500 prize money.
