BLUES NIGHT >>>

Wikipedia says, "Sunday night blues is an acute condition, mostly affecting nine-to-five workers and students."

Wikipedia is full of crap.

Sunday night blues is an awesome condition, mostly affecting a graying crowd of music lovers. For as long as we can remember, The Spar in Old Town Tacoma, with the help of promoter Ted Brown and his crew, has hosted blues bands every Sunday from 7-10 p.m. This past Sunday, the Dana Lupinacci Band commanded the far left corner, inspiring the crowd to tap their feet as they downed bowl after bowl of chowder.

Dave Macord and Jewel McCart shared a dance Sunday night.

This coming Sunday The Spar hosts the "3 Ms" - Jerry Miller, Jay Mabin and Tom Murphy. That's a helluva blues show right there.

LINK: Live music in the South Sound

THIS IS HOW THEY ROCK IT AT ROCK THE DOCK >>>

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. Here's a photomontage of how that went down"

The Challenge pregame show

The Challenge throwdown

The Challenge is accepted. Larsen shattered his hand in a fight a week ago.

The Challenge hug

The Challenge paceoff

The Challenge dive!

The Challenge dismount

The Challenge shrinkage

LINK: More photos of the night in our Photo Hot Spot

THE KINGS OF TACOMA NIGHTCLUBS ARE AT IT AGAIN >>>

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.

Encore Boutique Nightclub

1025 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
206.335.9139

LINK: More Encore photos here

WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT TOP OF TACOMA BAR AND CAFÉ >>>

Tacoma loves booze. Fancy microbrews, dented cans of PBR, a snobby Cabernet or a shot of Jack - we love it all. But lonely drinkers we're not. We Tacomans go out to get our drink on because we know a good time has more to do with location than beverage.

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.

Last Wednesday night was not different. The age span of the 30 or so beer chuggers was easily 40 years. But the vibe was cool.

What made the night interesting was the way co-owner Jaime Kay Jones handled a drunken douche who was hassling a cute young woman who was out with friends. The douche not only sat down uninvited to the hen party, but also kept asking his target her name, her job and where she lived - over and over. When she pointed out the fact that his questions were asked and answered, he got pissy. Jones simply told his friends outside that she wanted to talk to him. Once outside, she handed him is tab to sign. Problem solved.

‘Women make a bar, if they don't feel comfortable, they won't stay," she said as she went about her business.

Top of Tacoma Bar and Café

2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday-Friday
noon to 2 a.m. Saturday-Sunday
3529 McKinley Ave. E. Tacoma
253.272.1502

LINK: More photos in the Photo Hot Spot

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT? >>>

Paddy Coyne's is a traditional Irish Pub with a Northwest spin. Its Tuesday night fair includes dark ales flowing from the tap on a regular basis and emceed trivia courtesy of Joe Korbuszewski. For the last two years Korbuszewski has tossed questions to the Coyne's crowd that range between home improvement tips and politics to geography, pop culture and automotive repair. No subject is out of reach, which makes sense since the average score on his 25-question rosters hovers at about 60 percent.

Last Tuesday, Alexander Scotland Wilson brought his bagpipes and belted out a few tunes during the lulls in trivia. He has been playing pipes for 12 years after blowing the sacks under the pipe major of the Black Watch and pipe major of the senior Scottish Regiment of the British Army, Alexander "Sandy" Hain. Anyone who knows pipes knows that such training is a big deal.

Tuesday Night Pub Quiz

7 p.m. Tuesday, no cover
Minimum of two people and a maximum of 6 people per team
$2 per person entry fee and the winning team takes all
Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub
815 Pacific Ave., Tacoma
253.272.6963

A NEW WAY TO GET CARDED >>>

If your image of bingo is a sort of purgatory, a cafeteria filled with grannies clutching cigarettes with three-inch ashes as they listen to the numbers being called, you need to check out Rock & Roll Bingo Night at The New Frontier Lounge in Tacoma. Every Wednesday night sprightly bartender Brook Pawlicki emcees the games that offer the beer-chugging patrons chances to win campy prizes with every "Bingo" yell.

Last Wednesday brought a light crowd of regulars that ranged from members of Tacoma's music scene to 30-somethings out on the town tossing down $3 wells and $2 Session lagers with pizza and fries.

Prizes I saw dolled out included a Pillsbury Dough Boy doll, a Best of Country Music of 1968 record and low-budget porn from 1996.

The campy vibe allows patrons to mix and mingle while still concentrating on their Bingo cards. The music is low and steady but the pace of bingo can be fast and furious as the numbers drop toward the end of the card.

Rock & Roll Bingo

Wednesdays, 9:30-11:30 p.m., no cover
The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma
253.572.4020

LINK: More bingo photos in our Photo Hot Spot

UNOFFICIAL SERVICE INDUSTRY NIGHT >>>

Magoo's Annex & Eatery not only hosts northend Tacoma regulars and University of Puget Sound student every Sunday night, but it's also the unofficial information center and after-shift spot for those in the dining, entertainment and arts set. Such was the case this past Sunday night when servers and bartenders tossed back pints and shots followed by their odd customer stories. A constant stream of laughter was only interrupted by more shots.

Writer and director Chad Ruin and producer Scott Stone dropped in after an editing session on their upcoming movie, The Perfect Life, for a couple of beers with bartenders from the Swiss, Asado and the Parkway.

Anchoring the bar was bartender and Australian transplant Ceara Nicholson. She's charming, to say the least.

LINK: More photos from Magoo's Sunday night

TODAY - THE CHEAP WAY >>>

Hell's Kitchen in downtown Tacoma presents another Tightwad Tuesday featuring $2 tacos (two), $2 beers (any beer) and $2 wells (swell!) beginning at 4 p.m.

The Flying Boots Café and Spur Room in the Lincoln District celebrates Tipsy Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. with $2.75 wells and $2.75 Bud.

ICE BLOCK PARTY AT VARSITY GRILL >>>

Where there’s beer, there’s burping, and where there’s beer burping, there’s smiling. Beer enthusiasts from near and far will be gathering for the Varsity Grill’s annual Ice Block Party Thursday, Jan. 21 from 5-8 p.m. A $10 pass nabs you winter beer samples from the likes of Red Hook Winterbrook, Alaskan Winter, Deschutes Jubelale, Pyramid Snow Cap, Widmer Brrr, Sam Adams Winter, Snoqualmie Avalanche, Rogue Mogul and New Belgium 2º Below.

Live music and prizes are also on tap.

[Varsity Grill, Thursday, Jan. 21, 5-8 p.m., 114 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.1229]