Live music at a new nightclub scene
Club O‚ a regular nightclub event at the Open Space for Arts & Community‚ will feature live music for the first time when Thick as Thieves plays at 9:30 p.m. tomorrow.
The Los Angeles-based band that formed in 2009 lists influences such as Tupac, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Fleetwood Mac. The band’s manager is Zach Mann, who grew up on Vashon and now lives in Los Angeles, where he also works as a film producer.
Local musician Kiki Means will open the all-ages event.
Admission is $10 to Club O, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Two poets read at the Vashon Bookshop
Poetry fans are in for a treat this Friday, when the Vashon Bookshop will host two poetry readings. Ann Spiers and Marci Ameluxen will both read from their latest books at 6 p.m.
Spiers, a well-known Vashon poet and poetry workshop leader was named Vashon Poet Laureate for 2011-2013 by the organizing committee of Vashon Poetry Fest. On Friday she’ll read from her seventh and latest volume of poetry, “Bunker Trail.” The chapbook describes life in a cabin in the waterfront community, where the sea and nature are ever present.
“This cycle of poems reveres the power of wave and wind, respects the incessant wear of daily tides,” wrote one reviewier. “Spiers shares a life of the Sound rather than on the Sound.”
Sharing the evening, Ameluxen, a poet who has lived most her life on islands and currently lives on Whidbey, will read from her new book, “Lean House.”
According to the cover, the book “interrogates the relationships in a woman’s life, especially between mother and daughter, and the way these connections ravel and unravel one’s sense of being.”
Outdoor concerts wrap up with a Latin beat
Vashon’s summer outdoor concert series will come to a close with flare tomorrow, when the Latin band Picoso plays at 7 p.m. at Ober Park.
Picoso will play Afro-Latin sounds of the Caribbean, from Cuban son and cha cha to reggae and salsa.
“They are not afraid to stretch beyond what is comfortably known as Latin or world music,” said series organizer Pete Welch. “The vibe is very urban and hip, without losing the relationship to the ancestor sound.”
World Music returns to the Red Bicycle
Cordaviva, a nine-piece powerhouse band that plays a danceable blend of world music, will return to Vashon with a free, all-ages show at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Red Bicycle Bistro.
Band members cite influences, including Nigeria’s Fela Kuti, Guinea’s Bembeya Jazz and the Brazilian and Afro-Cuban sounds of Caetano Veloso and Mongo Santamaria.
With trumpet, sax, percussion, guitars, keyboards and vocals, the band has taken its show on the road to such venues as Seattle Triple’s Door, Nectar Lounge, the Tractor Tavern and ACT Theatre.
“You’ll be in for a treat when you see Cordaviva,” music blogger Lindsay Scully wrote in a recent review for SSG Music. “Blending soukous, Afrobeat and reggae gives them an unexpected edge in the local world music scene and completely sets them apart.”
Eclectic band will fill Nirvana with sound
A rowdy alternative band will play Saturday night at what Vashon Events organizer Pete Welch is calling “Vashon’s hottest new music venue.”
The Wages of Sin will play a mix of Celtic, country, punk rockabilly and blues at 9 p.m. Saturday at Nirvana.
“Alternately rowdy and mournful, they’re sure to get your feet tapping, your heart palpitating, and your liver crying for mercy,” Welch said.
A classic musical under the stars
Pack up your lawn chairs and blankets to watch a classic movie under the stars. The Vashon Film Society, which shows monthly free films at the Vashon Theatre, has chosen “Mary Poppins” for its annual Outdoor Movie Night Aug. 24. The movie will be projected onto the side of the large theater building.
Viewers are invited to bring low-back chairs and blankets and to set up early in the theater’s parking lot to enjoy a lookalike parade with prizes, pre-show music and shorts before the feature. The award-winning musical will play at dusk, and the Vashon Theatre concession stand will sell popcorn and treats before the show. The movie is free, and come prepared to sing along.
