What did Chico do anyway?

Dave Hates Chico
Dave Hates Chico rockin The Spar in Old Town Tacoma

Last time they came to town, the result was an acoustic rainbow through the back room of The Spar on a gorgeous summer evening in Old Town. You can expect virtually nothing to be the same this time around.

Dave Hates Chico is synonymous with the word acoustic. Or at least they have been in Seattle for double digit years. They’ve taken their acoustic open mic gig all over the country, from Seattle to New York and back again. They have established themselves as one of the country’s most reputable duos of open mic. Their acoustic repertoire goes for miles and nobody can dispute that.

So why are they switching to electric??

Come find out on Saturday night.

What many of you have never seen before, I have. I have spent many an hour playing electric guitar with Jeremy Johnson. Truth be told, electricity is actually at the root of my relationship with Jeremy. If it weren’t for electric guitars and gourmet sandwiches, this article would likely never have been penned.

The only guy more excited for this show than me has to be Jeremy himself. My resources are saying that he is rather jacked up to plug in and get loud. Those of you who only know his gentle, acoustic side may be a bit surprised by his possible anger and ferocity set to be on display here this weekend.

Bring your earplugs and your thirst for good beer and great people. I’ll be bringing my Smiths requests and an appetite for rock. I might even be packing a Pesto Chicken sandwich in my pocket. We’ll see how it unfolds. The only thing I can guarantee is greatness.

See you there.

You’ll like Tacoma

Several of my relatives plan to move back to Tacoma in the near future. This has me thinking about the City of Density and how it is here today compared with how it was here 10 years ago.

I regularly complain about all sorts of things in Tacoma ranging from traffic cameras, to bad urban development, to the lack of useful retail downtown. That being said, I think Tacoma is much cooler today than it was 10 years ago. Does this mean Tacoma really sucked in 99? Or is it actually cool here now? The answer to this question depends largely on who you ask.

I moved back to Tacoma in 99 and I’ve had no regrets. I love my neighborhood, we have several great bars & restaurants to enjoy, traffic and cost of living are manageable and the geographic location and climate are ideal. What more do you need?

While it’s been interesting to watch the city grow to this point, I’m even more interested to see where it goes from here.

Seaweed, Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, 8/7/09

Tacoma’s greatest band is playing The Crocodile Cafe in Seattle on Friday August 7, 2009. They bring their powerful brand of pre-grunge punk to the Emerald City amid suspicion that they are prepped and ready to embark on recording a new album. Hopefully we’ll get more information on that in a couple days. Last week they played Portland, so expect them to be ready and firing on all cylinders.

Seaweed in Seattle Seaweed playing Crocodile Cafe

Downtown Tacoma via Puyallup River

If you’re like me, you’ve often wondered what it would be like to take a kayak down the Puyallup River. Your ship has come in. This article and subsequent video should provide everything you need to know when taking this safe, fun journey through the wilds of Pierce County. You can park cars behind the Puyallup Fred Meyer on River Road and drop boats in the water under the bridge to Hwy 167. There is a nice sandy beach under the bridge, perfect for this sort of thing.

We left the other car at The Dock building on Dock Street in downtown Tacoma and it took us about 4 hours to connect the dots. 2 1/2 hours of the trip is like riding an escalator – very relaxing and calm. The last hour and a half did involve a pretty good paddle, but only because of the way we timed the tide. Surprisingly, when the tide is coming in, Commencement Bay actually backs up into what appears to be the last mile of the Puyallup River. So we were effectively paddling upcurrent and downstream at the same time for awhile, even though that really doesn’t make sense until you’re there.

You loop around the Simpson Lumber Mill (the one with the smokestacks and giant sawdust piles in the middle of the port – this is a site to behold if you’ve never been close to it) and cut across Commencement Bay to Dock Street.

I highly recommend this for anyone with a kayak in the Tacoma area. It’s just too easy and convenient to pass up. The river level is high right now because of all the warm temps and mountain runoff; I assume this is key to the whole operation. Obviously, if the water level is low, the conditions will change drastically, and you may end up carrying boats over sandbars in spots.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO of what we encountered. Good luck, and please drop us a line if you try it.