WE SCENE IT WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 22 >>>

Matt Coughlin and the Growlers performed Wednesday, Sept. 22 at The Swiss in Tacoma. The large crowd was a happy lot - hugging and smiling while the band's soulful roots-rock sound filled the downtown Tacoma bar. Check out the photos we snapped here.

TIGHTWAD THURSDAY >>>

Riding the popularity of its Tightwad Tuesday night – $2 tacos, $2 beers, $2 wells - Hell's Kitchen in downtown Tacoma will introduce $3 Thursdays – $3 wells, $3 beers, $3 for two hot dogs – this Thursday with a free show featuring I Defy, Dead Peasants, Sickamore and My Eternal.

PHOTO HOT SPOT >>>

Photography Steve Dunkelberger dropped in on this party Monday night. The next one goes down here.

PLEASURE DOME >>>

Summer is in the air, and all the little boys and girls are wondering with bleary eyes where their next nightlife fix is coming from. We suggest the Cedarwood Dome in Milton.

Levi Lyon of Lyon Pride Music has loaded the nightclub up through June with reggae on Friday nights and rock music on Saturdays. You can peruse the schedules here.

The more interesting note regarding these nights is what's happening around the music stage: glassblowing, fire dancing, drum circles and a Hookah Lounge.  Yup, the Cedarwood has gone Arabian Nights on Milton.

Lyon has opened the Dome's loft to give you a taste of Persian decadence. I caught up with him for the details.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: Tell us about the Hookah Lounge.

LEVI LYON: Its on the third floor overlooking the stage, the Tinder Box has sponsored the nearly 30 flavors of tobacco and our other friends at the Green Room have donated several of our hookahs. Lyon Pride Music provides the free tobacco.

VOLCANO: Describe the feel of the Lounge.

LYON: It's very loungey with five to six table with four to six seats at each table. The prime seats over look the stage so for patrons that get there early they get the hookah experience with a show.

VOLCANO: Is there a cost to get into the Lounge?

LYON: Just admission into the show which ranges from $5-25 usually depending on the talent. The Hookah Lounge is free if you become a VIP member. Patrons can sign up at the club or Text LPM to 68398 to receive VIP treatment.

This weekend the Vinyl Tribe and Dub Lounge International will be working the deck during "Reggae Fridays," and Third Law of Motion, Blue Helix, Ice On The Wing, Actual Depiction and Level rock the Dome's "Smokin' Saturdays." Both nights begin at 8 p.m.

Cedarwood Dome

7404 Pacific Hwy. E., Milton
253.922.5727

TODAY IN LAKEWOOD CLUBBING >>>

Everybody needs to party. There's nothing like a night of serious clubbing to blow off steam.

But the scene is an ever-changing monster. New clubs constantly open. The music constantly changes, the fashions constantly evolve. When I started clubbing years back, the style was raver. Everywhere you went you saw glow sticks and visors, baggy pants and backpacks. After a while, those godawful pimp-inspired getups took over. (If I never see another pimp hat or fuzzy green leopard-print coat, it'll be too soon.) Nowadays, fashion is a slicker and a bit more urban. A few years back, no one would dare wear a pair of jeans out - now they're all over.

Beginning Friday, Lakewood will have another chance to dance. The Longhorn Saloon & Restaurant reopens with an interior remodel including a brand spanking new dance floor. They cut the bar in half and shoved it back to make room for the Electric Slide.

No word yet who will be spinning on the weekends. We assume they'll still serve those freakishly strong Jell-O shots.

[Longhorn Saloon & Restaurant, reopens April 2, 10011 Bridgeport Way SW, Lakewood, 253.581.2580]

IT'S A GLOOMY DAY >>>

The appeal can be summed up in a sentence: What happens at Dress-A-Raoke stays at Dress-A-Raoke - although I'm talking more about embarrassingly heartfelt karaoke choices (oh, for a Gloom Chaser drink and the music to "Chevy Van!") than about any activities stretching into the realms of illicit, illegal or enjoyable. No matter how wild the night can be, this is still Tacoma, not Bangkok.

Let's skip past the "Chevy Van" subject and talk Gloom Chaser.

The drink doesn't chase it away; it brings it on - especially on an empty stomach.

The Tempest Lounge - hosts of Thursday night Dress-A-Raoke (karaoke with props and hosted by Colin) - serves the $10 Gloom Chaser. Served in a pint glass, this liquid of death contains Belvedere Intense Vodka (100 proof), Grand Marnier, PatronCitronge liqueur, fresh squeezed lemon juice, dash of grenadine, and topped with soda.

Lost in the music and artist Teddy Haggarty's Hollywood stories, I accidentally drank three of these.

Enough said.

AIR GUITAR CONTEST >>>

The perfect outlet for people who think Rock Band requires too many real guitar skills will arrive in Lakewood Saturday night.

The folks from The Schooner Pub & Galley — who will host a Hot Legs Contest tonight at 11 p.m. — will host an Air Guitar Contest tomorrow night at 11 p.m.

Mastering the air guitar takes a lot - just not an actual instrument. Competitors will be judged on technical merit, because the more your invisible fretwork matches to the music, the more you might be able to convince people you're actually playing an invisible guitar, not an air guitar. (Call it the emperor's new Fender.) Not surprisingly, stage presence also matters, because, well, it's all you've got.

[The Schooner Pub & Gallery, Saturday, March 13, 11 p.m., 5429 100^th St. S.W., Lakewood, 253.584.1919]

FIRST FRIDAY SERIES >>>

Just as turntablism-the art of playing records-has made an instrument out of a medium, the movement's DJs have made the transition from enablers to performers. Friday's The Last Vestiges of Winter, organized by record-player manipulator/artist Oliver Doriss, seeks to put a little stress on that assumption by presenting three musical talents in an art gallery setting. Saxophonist Victor Prinsen begins the night with improvisational notes. At 10 p.m. DJ dAb presents a historical look at grooves including rare cuts paired with their modern counterparts. At the stroke of midnight Klik will offer a gut tingling set of modern dubstep.

Throughout the night the art space will be under a blanket of snow visuals.

What will result during this art-space party is anyone's guess, which is more or less the idea. Get spun for a loop.

[Fulcrum Gallery, Friday, Feb. 5, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., 21+, $5 benefiting the gallery, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]