Weekend Review: Union drive

While the obvious event of note this weekend was Easter, with its chocolate bunnies, egg hunts and promise of a risen Lord, there were other events well worth a break from all the sugar and religious stuff.

Ben Union’s CD release party at Jazzbones was just such an event. His new work “Burning the Place to the Ground” and the supporting line up was rocking from start to last call.

Opening the gig was Benjamin Doerr and a band made up of some of the best voices the 206 can offer. Doerr is a rocker on the move, who needs to be seen whenever he is in town. His energy and tight lyrics force even the dead to get swaying to the beat.

Next on the playbill was Tacoma’s own Colonies , another band on the march that further added to the bar’s vibe that was only capped by Union’s performance.

Union is the next Vicci Martinez of the Tacoma scene. The electricity was so charged by the end of the night that the smoking crowd outside the bar didn’t have to blaze up their cancer sticks. They could just pull out their sticks and pooooof, they would light themselves.

For a more subdued evening, the Aries Party at Speakeasy Arts Cooperative on Saturday brought all things artsy fartsy to T-town. While the crowd was small, the air was filled with supportive artsy talk and a pick-up drum circle. The draw of the night there was Deanna Riley doing her fire dancing outside the doors. Good times.

It was a good night, a very good night.