WE SCENE IT >>>

It grew larger and larger in my vision. I was being pushed closer to the "Crash 20" logo on Mos Generator drummer Shawn Johnson's Paiste cymbal. I took it as a personal warning - I was going to crash into the whole fucking drum set if I got moshed another 20 inches. My hair was drenched with beer. I'm pretty sure my elbow played a couple bass lines. And I was about to play the drums with my ass.

No stage. Bare light bulbs. And what seemed like 600 people crammed into the Track House's 12 by 12 room.

So. Fucking. Good.  

This was the scene at a house show Friday night in Olympia with Ancient Warlocks, Black Pussy and Mos Generator. It was a true house show. The kind of house show that changes an under-ager's life and validates a grown-up's one.The kind of house show that make you wonder, "Who the hell lives in this beer-trodden rock palace?"  I vaguely remember smelling something burning - pizza, I think someone said - and had a brief paranoid driven fantasy of a house fire, how everyone would be trapped in burning wasteland of rock 'n' roll. It was a beautiful vision, in an emo way.

But I digress. What was most beautiful was the heat of the moment, the truth of the music, the two new songs played Mos Generator played, and the way guitarist and vocalist Tony Reed kept nursing a bottle of Jager, calling the roomful of rockers "Freaks," and the crowd responding with deafening cheers.

Want to see an dhear Mos Generator? Below is the first video from the band's album NOMADS that dropped Oct. 23, 2012 on Ripple Music.

I walked past Golden Oldies record store, past Farrelli's Pizza's outside fireplace window and into the warm glow of Metronome Coffee. It was around 9 p.m. on a Saturday night. It was packed. A smile cracked my face in anticipation of witnessing one of Tacoma School of the Arts' most exciting and hyped new bands, Bat Police. While the band was jamming, I stood stage side next to the band's frontman Levi Ratliff's girlfriend - and part time muse - Molly. Strange, she's wasn't dancing.  Typically a dancey person at SOTA shows, Molly was not in the dancing mood. "I think I have a fever," she claimed and left it at that.

Thankfully, Molly's unusual lack of dance and energy seemed to be the antithesis of the mood of the crowd that night. Bat Police encouraged a sort of energy and reaction that I had not been in the presence of since I saw the band Roswell in the dead of winter. Bat Police burned through their set list in little over an hour and left the crowd wanting more of the signature SOTA rock band sound that has been absent since the departure of both Roswell and Makeup Monsters.

Bat Police is a quartet, composed of singer songwriter and guitar player Levi Ratliff, bassist David Pierce, keyboardist Austin Milner and drummer Alex Williams. The group members met at SOTA and became fast friends, bonding over a shared love of Weezer and garage rock. The group's original lineup consisted of Ratliff, Pierce, Williams and Mitchell Babington under the name The Okays, which they thought sounded humble. Babington backed out of the band taking more of a managerial role. After a few failed attempts to find a replacement drummer, Williams became the permanent drummer. The Okays performed its first song, "Deep End," at a SOTA showcase, which was met with positive reactions. Ratliff remembers the show as being "pretty okay." Over the next year, the four friends worked to develop their sound, taking key influences from bands such as Weezer, Vampire Weekend, The Smith Westerns, Phoenix and Roswell. They also renamed themselves Bat Police.

In terms of both style and sound,

Bat Police's sound could be compared to Weezer circa 1994. Ratliff and his fellow band members appear awkward on stage, which lends the band a sort of nervous charm. Its focus on guitar-heavy indie rock makes the group easily identifiable, yet keeps its influences on its sleeves.

Over the summer of 2012, Bat Police continued to write and develop, culminating in its first show at The Den, which it played alongside prominent SOTA songwriter Evan Main. The success of the show inspired the band to perform again - this time at SOTA's summer camp showcase. Everyone left with Bat Police on the brain, clinging to one of the few surviving SOTA bands.

Aside from a recent show in the garage of The Trasholes' frontman Ian Call, Bat Police has taken time away from performing to write songs and improve its sound. With the addition of Austin Milner on keyboards, the band is currently at its best, proven at the post Valentine's Day show at Metronome.

Like all young bands, Bat Police seeks a label. In the meantime, catch the band Saturday, Feb. 23 at Anthem Coffee in downtown Tacoma.

I'm always amazed when a band can energize a crowd as the Bat Police did that Saturday night at Metronome. I don't witness such energy too often. Bat Police are in flight, and currently, it seems the sky is the limit.

WE SCENE IT >>>

Friday night, I bar hopped around Tacoma with my camera. It was a full-meal deal of live music and audiences wackiness.

The first course of the night was a family set at C.I. Shenanigans along the Ruston Way waterfront. Gina Belliveau and Cottonwood Cutups were in the Fireplace Room, performing before date couples, families and old dudes snapping their fingers to the down beat. A kid or two played games on cell phones as the music blasted the room. Belliveau packed a lot of power into a spritely frame while Cottonwood did ... well, what Cottonwood does ... brought the thunder. See more photos from the Shenanigans show in the Weekly Volcano's Photo Hot Spot.

The next morsel came with The Front featuring RJ Medeiros playing at Rock the Dock Pub & Grill. The band brought out the power ballads for a mix of over 50 rockers and those who love them. The jam proved that age is just a number - some of those folks can cut a rug with the best of them. See more photos from the Rock the Dock show in the Weekly Volcano's Photo Hot Spot.

My main entrée was a delicious set by the Kim Archer Band at Jazzbones. The band brought its signature soul and energy to the stage with a tight set of classic R&B covers. See more photos of the Jazzbones show in the Weekly Volcano's Photo Hot Spot.

For dessert, I went for the weird. After the KAB show, the Jazzbones crowd was well lubricated for BZ Productions' Mardi Gras Costume Contest, complete with full-on bead craving hotties. With $100 for best Mardi Gras outfit on the line, and DJ Switch behind the deck, BZ asked the Jazzbones crowd to stay away from the trashy look. It got trashy. Fast. See more photos from the Mardi Gras Party in the Weekly Volcano's Photo Hot Spot.

LINK: Weekly Volcano Photo Hot Spot

WE SCENE IT >>>

I kissed a lot last night.

My wife, Kate, and I fell in love while listening to hours and hours of Jeff Buckley songs. In the '90s, Kate saw Buckley perform at the old Backstage venue in the Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. To this day, that Buckley show, which was on his birthday, remains her all-time favorite concert.

Back to the kissing - last night The New Frontier Lounge hosted a Jeff Buckley tribute show. Besides performing in their Jeff Buckley pop-up band Wait In The Fire, producers Najamonique Todd and Del Brown asked Alex Tapia of RowHouse, Kurt Lindsay of BODYBOX and Not From Brooklyn to perform songs from Buckley's small catalog of songs. Todd and Brown couldn't have picked better bands. All musicans performed with passion, as well as showed admiration for each other. The music was so glorious we practically made out.

Highlights included Tapia's "Lilac Wine," Lindsay's "Grace" and "Everybody Here Wants You" and Not From Brooklyn's "So Real," which I caught on video.

The night was Todd and Brown's second Sound Icons show. Can't wait for part three.

WE SCENE IT >>>

Down at Olympia's Eastside Club, the party was in full swing. Zombies, pharaohs, kitty cats and more packed the dance floor as The Brown Edition played their hearts out at their Soulpocalypse CD release Halloween party.

The band members were also dressed up. My favorite was Animal on the drums. Voted Best of Olympia two years in a row, it's easy to see why when you catch The Brown Edition in action.

How do they pack all those instruments on one stage?

Hoots and hollers and serious booty shaking was how the crowd showed their appreciation for the all the soul, funk and good vibes the band dished out.

Did you make it to the show?

Its Old West saloon style facade and jutting awning are nothing that will ever land it onto some glossy magazine pages extolling the best in Tacoma design. If it weren't for the yellow lettering, you wouldn't notice it at all as your car sails on by.

Well, that place is Buffino's Golden West Restaurant and Lounge. There's nothing surprising or unexpected about the Golden West. It looks on the inside exactly as you would picture it upon viewing the outside. Interesting carpeting, funky smells, low lights, beer signage, pull-tabs and dart machines. It's the sort of neighborhood joint where people just walk in, saddle up to the bar and see what movie is playing on the DVR.

Gailene Donovan shows off the wall of names at Buffino's Golden West Restaurant and Lounge in Tacoma.

A rite of passage - from a casual patron to a "regular" - is the ritual of writing your name on the back of the bar. Yes, you have to ask for the Sharpie by the cash register, but you have to be bold enough to ask for it. Regulars have been writing then names there for decades.

Other draws to the South Tacoma Way watering hole are the $1.75 Rolling Rocks and tasty 100-year-old spaghetti recipe.

Barry Hall tossed down another whiskey at Buffino's Golden West Restaurant and Lounge in Tacoma.

Friday and Saturday nights bring the owner out with his band, the Back Porch Band, to play blues and jazz.

[Buffino's Golden West Restaurant and Lounge, 5228 S. Tacoma Way. Tacoma, 253.471.9892]

LINK: More photos from Buffino's Golden West Restaurant and Lounge

We've come to the point in rock history that there are actually "punk classics," and you know you want to slam a few brewskies, climb on a stage and belt out something - hell, anything - by the Ramones.

This scenario can play out every Thursday and Saturday night at the historic Engine House No. 9 in Tacoma. You pick a tune out of the songbook, host Rev. Colin loads it, you're Joey for three minutes.

Bonus: Rev. Colin possesses a wealth of oddball musical knowledge and a disarming ease for calling everyone "baby."

[Engine House No 9, 10 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, no cover, 611 N. Pine St., Tacoma, 253.272.3435]

WATCH OUT FOR SHARP OBJECTS >>>

Laid-back is the essence of Sunday. That means a lazy mid-afternoon brunch, no work, phone off the hook, sweats ... you know the routine. The mere thought of lifting a finger to wash the mountain of dishes in the sink should make you shudder. Only as the sun starts to slip down should you attempt any activities. Then, you should hightail it to Dawson's where Tim Hall opens up it.

The Tim Hall Band hosts the Sunday Night blues Jam at Dawson's Bar and Grill on South Tacoma Way. Frontman "Too Tall" Tim Hall is a towering, workingman  blues guitarist who originally rocked it psychedelic with Jerry Miller in the Bay Area during the '60s. Hall switched to the blues after opening for legendary guitarist Albert Collins at an all-ages venue in South Tacoma called The Break Thru. Gigging with Robert Cray and Jho Blenis, and fine-tuning his chops in several blues groups, he eventually found his home under his own name and has been recording albums and playing every clubs in the Pacific Northwest as the Tim Hall Band for the last 25 years.

Warning: Besides awesome rockin' blues, you'll find hot dart league action Sunday nights at Dawson's. Weekly Volcano photographer Steve Dunkelberger thought his flash would be the death of him. Apparently, dart throwers don't enjoy distractions.

Other than that bar faux pas, Sunday nights at Dawson's are filled with blues originals and covers – and tipsy middle-aged folks swaying to the music.

[Dawson's Bar and Grill, Tim Hall Band Open Jam Session, 8 p.m., 5443 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.476.1421]

LINK: More photos of the open blues jam

WE SCENE IT >>>

Ten Miles of Bad Road and Speed Kills Bears drummer Justin Hosea turned 30, which may be too old for Madonna and Demi Moore, but old enough to have burlesque dancers at his birthday party last night at The New Frontier Lounge. As part of the festivities Hosea was treated to performances by Tacoma burlesque dancers Moonshine Molly Minski, Pistolita and Heather Hostility. When the tassels weren't twirling, Hosea's bands rocked the joint.

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

WE SCENE IT >>>

Every week in the print version of the Weekly Volcano, right below our awesome crime column Ragnet, we predict the outcome of local events for the week ahead. Titled "Punching Up The Future," our predictions are compared with predictions by Zoltar, the mechanical fortuneteller. Zoltar always nails the outcomes of the events. We, on the other hand, suck at it – correctly predicting only 8 to 16 percent of what happens at the events.

In this week's issue, we tackled Weekly Volcano photographer Steve Dunkelberger's birthday bash at Jazzbones. We wrote,

It's the hottest party of the year, bitches!The one and only Steve Dunkelberger - photographer, journalist, Tacoma icon, geocaching nut - only has one birthday a year, and this Friday at Jazzbones he'll be celebrating 2011's rendition. Expect music from Deborah Page, the Dignitaries, Voxxy Vallejo and China Davis - with proceeds generated from the $7 cover benefiting AAUW, Emergency Food Lifeline, Tacoma Art Place and YWCA. Why? Because that's the kind of solid dude Steve Dunkelberger is.

PREDICTION: What happens at a Steve Dunkelberger birthday party, stays at a Steve Dunkelberger birthday party ... unless Steve Dunkelberger takes pictures and we post them on our website.

Again, our prediction sucked. Dunkelberger didn't take pictures, which also means he didn't post them to our website.

However, his friend, Abby Hooyer, did take photos.

What the hell, we'll post them below. We'll also stay true to keeping what happened at the bash a secret ... BUT we'll tell you the after party at Puget Sound Pizza was a karaoke-licious booze fest. Karaoke host Rev. Colin, sporting a Christmas sweater, kept the mic occupied throughout the night, which was impressive considering the amount of booze being downed. Singing highlights include Voxxy belting out Led Zeppelin, Doug Mackey nailing the Beatles and Cody Jones singing Neil Diamond's "Cracklin' Rosie" as if he toured as an Diamond impersonator. Steve, although taking on the roll as designated driver, danced wildly before the singers.

We're happy to report, after the last drink was downed and the numbers were tallied, Dunkelberger raise $1,200 toward his designated charities.

Nice work Steve.

Emcees Doug Mackey and Pretty Boy Sean Culver

The Dignitaries

China Davis

Voxxy Vallejo

Fire dancers!

Deborah Page

LINK: Steve's photographic handiwork can be seen in our Photo Hot Spot