Nosh Leaguers congregated in the tippy top of Engine House No. 9 Thursday, Aug. 12 for the second gathering of tasty liquid libations and yummy pairings. Surprising for a warm summer day, the highest room of the building held no heat. The lucky attendees arranged themselves at two long tables; some made instant friends while others said hello to familiar faces and hunkered down to get schooled on beer.
Read my full report on our blog, Spew.
Jennifer Johnson
The weather around Tacoma is always predictable. If there is an outdoor festival planned, there will be rain in the forecast.
Such was the case for the eighth annual Hotrod-A-Rama Friday, Aug. 6-Saturday, Aug. 8 at The Swiss in Tacoma.
Rows of pre-1965 cars, from restored to towed-in jalopies and custom jobs filled the block around The Swiss alongside car-related vendors and pinup models with tattoos, hot pants and poodle skirts.
Photography by Steve Dunkelberger
Artist James Sinding has dumped 5 square yards of 12-inch painted wooden letters into the middle of barren Tollefson Plaza and extended an open invitation for passersby to write a poem, or read the thoughts of others. The exhibition runs through Aug. 30.
Also pictured are several chalk art shots from Tacoma Art Museum's community festival that extended into Tollefson Plaza.
Lord knows Tacoma has plenty of empty spaces. Luckily, it also has plenty of artists. In a moment of pure genius, Spaceworks Tacoma was created - an effort to revitalize T-Town's barren spaces with art of all kinds, from installations to creative enterprises to artist residences and pop-up events.
Thursday, July 29, Spaceworks Tacoma kickeds off with a block party that included walking tours, food and drinks, and live music.
Pappi Swarner snapped a few photos on his crappy camera on one of the walking tours.
Here are a few photos of the Best of Tacoma 2010 Premiere Party taken by Volcano photographer J.M. Simpson Wednesday, July 28 inside Masa restaurant. We're especially fond of his capturing of the pushup contest between Tacoma's Most Sexy Local Business Owner Melanie Manista-Rushforth and the ultra-ripped Masa door guy, and also the photo of emcee Doug Mackey prodding Best Local Actor Joe Rosati (tied with actor Matt Shimkus) into reading the Masa menu in thespian fashion while EvergreenOne (in the Sonics jersey) tweets in the background about how "cracking" the party is, or how the greeter (accidentally, we hope) gave him a butt-sweat handshake. (Seriously, if you're not following EvergreenOne on Twitter you're missing out.)
Yesterday, one of the busiest streets in Tacoma was Sixth Avenue â€" between Pine and Trafton â€" where from early afternoon to about 5:30 p.m., food vendors, artists, bands and herds of neighborhood people held court at the 12th annual Art on the Ave festival.
Held every year in mid July, The Tacoma Old Town Music Festival, formerly the Old Town Blues Festival, crams around 20 blues-ish bands into a full day of wall-to-wall music. It kicked off yesterday morning with BluesBerry pancake breakfast featuring music by Mark DuFresne with Annieville Blues, featured surprise sets from Al Earick, Billy Stoops, Mark Riley, and Billy Farmer in the afternoon, and ended with interesting dance moves in front of the New Blues Brothers band.
Besides the politicians, vendor tents and advocate speeches, Tacoma's annual Out in the Park Pride festival offered a lot of things to the city's LGBT population: a coming-out experience, a chance to be out in public with more ease, or to get more involved. For others, it's just a hell of a party Saturday, July 10 in Wright Park.
The Weekly Volcano's Nosh League foodie group met at Cork! A Wine Bar on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma for a wine and cheese tasting led by Weekly Volcano Grocery Stories columnist Kris Blondin.
Tacoma rockers, hippies, hip-hoppers, drunks, DJs, kids, homeless, bicyclists, and even some artists converged on People's Park Sunday, June 27 during the Urban Art Festival. It had an awesome vibe.
The AIDS Hosing Association of Tacoma hosted a fund-raising drag show Friday, June 25, titled “Until The Fat Lady Sings 2†inside the Blue Mouse Theatre.
The production featured some of the Puget Sound’s most recognizable female impersonators. Volcano photographer JM Simpson dropped in, enjoyed the show and came back with these images.
Think all bike racing has to offer is stories of Lance Armstrong blood doping between romps with Sheryl Crow? Think again. The first Tacoma Twilight Criterium proved it Saturday, June 12 in downtown Tacoma. The Tacoma Twilight Criterium, a first for Tacoma, featured seven categories of racing, a beer garden (for spectators) and an art bike parade. Weekly Volcano photographer J.M. Simpson was on the scene.
Doyle's Public House fittingly played host to a memorial concert for Brian Redman Tuesday, June 8. Tacoma turned out to honor their beloved friend who passed away in the fall of 2008.
You probably know the drill. You may even have shared in the contemporary-indie ritual with Weekly Volcano Editor Matt Driscoll Saturday morning; packing up functional, concert-tested clothing, saying a little prayer that your piece-of-crap car will make it over the pass one more time, and figuring out which nook of your backpack or crotch you'll be smuggling contraband in.
It's Memorial Day weekend. It's Sasquatch. It's good times. And Driscoll is there.
Photos by Jennifer Driscoll
Tacoma came out in strong numbers to the Broadway Center's Carnevale a Venezia gala Sunday, May 23 inside the Pantages Theater. The evening began with shopping, noshing and sipping in a vibrant Italian market (Pantages lobby) followed by a live auction, El Gaucho dinner, opera singers, and trapeze artists in a Venetian Opera House (Pantages main stage). The event benefits Broadway Center's vital arts education programs that touch the lives of 35,000 students and teachers annually.
The folks behind Gig Harbor's wine retail shop Water to Wine have opened a wine bar and small plate restaurant Friday, May 21, 2010, in the same complex at the head of the harbor. Chef Jeff Bishop has joined the team. The address is 9014 Peacock Hill Ave.
Harmon Brewing Company has opened a new beer production facility that also houses a tasting room in the front and game room in the back.
Road warriors since the beginning, and perhaps too American for their own good, Nashville Pussy has enjoyed an impressive global following since the band's inception, from Australia to Europe to Japan, but that fanaticism - while still measurable - has brewed mainly underground in the states. After spending three years perfecting and recording From Hell To Texas, working in Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio, no less, and then enduring the failure of their label, SPV (Motorhead, Scorpions), Nashville Pussy pulled into Hell's Kitchen Friday night and rocked the Tacoma club. Photography by Patrick Snapp
Since its conception three years ago, the Tap into T-Town event benefiting Tacoma City Kid's Marathon has grown exponentially. With approximately 300 participants that made up 73 teams of four, this year's 2010 Amazing Race-style scavenger hunt was nothing less than a complete blast and an absolute success. And Team weekly Volcano took second!
Seattle's Sweet Water filled Hell's Kitchen with hooks Friday, April 30. See our Music section for a review of the show. Photography by Patrick Snapp
