We Recommend
With Coachella on the horizon and SWSX respectfully behind us, it can only mean one thing - 54 music fest season is officially in swing. The Olympia Acoustic Festival is just one of many in the South Sound, and it's a good one. In its second year, the
Music
With Coachella on the horizon and SWSX respectfully behind us, it can only mean one thing - 54 music fest season is officially in swing. The Olympia Acoustic Festival is just one of many in the South Sound, and it's a good one. In its second year, the all-ages, two-stage festival
We Recommend
Tropical breezes, the scent of coconut oil mixed with blooming plumeria wafting under your nostrils, the salty ocean waves gently rolling on shore, inches from your bare feet - ah, Hawaii, how we wish we were there. Since we're not, and the pleasantness of spring in the Pacific Northwest is
Viva South Sound
Andy Geertsen has spent the last 13 years in Olympia doing what he loves - booking shows and bringing music to the masses. A bartender by trade, this former trumpet player has an ear for great bands and a dedication to the music scene that has earned him an awesome
We Recommend
Hello metal fans, it's been awhile. It's time to pull out the horns and remember the rock. Christian Mistress, Olympia's favorite metal sweethearts, are about to make their home stop on a wailing west coast tour. The bellowing harmonies of a front woman - who was clearly born from the
Guides
Interviewing Fruit Juice, voted the Best New Band in Olympia by you lovely readers, was the best band interview I've done in a long time. It may have been the bottle of wine I finished prior, or it may have been the band's own intake of whiskey and beer, but
Guides
"Our role isn't to create popular bands," says Johnson, "we're just here to document them." The founder of K Records, Calvin Johnson, who dug into hearts with his bands Beat Happening, Halo Benders and Dub Narcotic Sound System, who played records on Evergreen's independent radio station, KAOS, when he was just
Arts
"Live, from our studios somewhere in cyberspace - it's "Beats and Eats" - a happy hour for your mind," says the announcer, in the style of early radio and TV broadcasting, voice booming over a catchy background jingle. "The virtual lounge is open. So come inside, grab a stool and
We Recommend
Olympia's Broken Water is terrifically mesmerizing. Listening to the avant-garde, shoegaze threesome forces a sort of centering that is hard to come by. For instance, when typing and listening, I literally had to pull my fingers from the keyboard, lay my head back and close my eyes will the talents
Archives
How shall we mark the passage from late summer into fall and early winter this year? The choices available to Washingtonians are, as ever, many. Some represent long but enduring traditions that would be a shame to miss. Others represent newcomers to the event calendar lineup. Here are a few
We Recommend
This week the entire bill rules. I wish I had room to dive into the history these bands have, how deep their ties to the music scene run, how stellar their dynamic is, like the patterns of a mandala, reaching into the organisms of time and space and stitching elements
Viva South Sound
From the Salish tribes that dot the coast, to the Evergreen students that dot the bars, the city of Olympia is unique. With its temperate climate, beautiful mountains, nearby ocean and lush forests, people are drawn to Olympia's natural beauty. And with its cultural hub of creativity, from up-and-coming musicians
Arts
With The Beatles playing in the background, the rhythmic familiarity mingling with the scents of ink and must, Last Word Books in downtown Olympia feels like it always does: welcoming and mysterious. Basil, the black cat, still mills around, meowing at the occasional customer, and an employee sits behind the till,
We Recommend
I love my music-writing gig. I can choose to preview any show I want. There isn't a scene I'm attached to. I'm not stuck with dreadlocks or a mohawk or a cowboy hat or a fedora or a trucker cap. I can listen to whatever I want, whatever the mood,
Features
In honor of our anti-Valentine's Day-themed issue, in which Volcano staff wrote bitterly about the woes of dating, love and relationships, I have decided to be anti-anti and write about the positivity of love. To be specific - to observe the random acts of love that surround us at any
