MONDAY, MARCH 27 2017: South Sound events + craft beer …
Odd Otter Brewing Co. + Peaks and Pints = SudsPop
The Grand Cinema + Parkway Tavern = Wolf Totem and Old Crustacean
DYNAMIC DUO
Champagne Sunday is an interesting breed. Performing a little bit Broadway, a little bit contemporary, a little bit punk and a little bit blues, this indie duo has a lot of energy and talent that makes for an engaging, powerful listen. Jessi and Jared Fredeen, (yes, they’re married) make up the California transplant band that uses instrumentation ranging from acoustic guitar to piano, with trombone, ukulele, harmonica and squeezebox. Vocalist Jessi has a sound similar to Chrissie Hynde or Ani DiFranco — a huge, feminine voice with power and punch, but with a range so as to reach into a lullaby if necessary. This is not to say that guitarist Jared isn’t without poise when he flies solo or chimes in on harmony. Check out Champagne Monday at 7 p.m. in Odd Otter Brewing Co.’s taproom.
PREFUNK: Every month, Peaks and Pints invites a craft brewery to create a three-hour soundtrack off our jukebox, pour its craft beer and award prizes during zany games. We call the Monday nights “SudsPop.” This month’s special guest is Fort George Brewery out of Astoria, Oregon. The brewery’s sales executive for Washington state, Hoyt Smith, has served stout floats, spun records, held a hop bag tossing contest and poured a lot of Fort George goodness. At 6 p.m. Smith offers a varied set of pierced, long-haired and tattooed ruffians of 1980’s glam, punk, rock and metal for his last SudsPop at Peaks and Pints. If that’s not enough, Smith hopes you’ll join him in dressing the part (he’s wearing a sleeveless Beavis and Butthead jean jacket to name one-tenth his outfit for the night) for a little costume contest. Flowing from the Peaks and Pints’ Western red cedar tap log will be Fort George’s Matryoshka Russian Imperial Stout, Voluptas Stout and other delicious Fort George craft beers.
DANCES WITH FUZHOU
Though based on Jiang Rong’s popular semi-autobiographical novel, which drew on his own experience as a herder for 11 years in Inner Mongolia, the French-Chinese production Wolf Totem plays something like a repurposed Dances With Wolves, right down to the Easternized score by the late James Horner. In the Kevin Costner role, there’s Chen Zhen (Feng Shaofeng), a feckless student from Beijing who’s sent to help civilize the Mongolian nomads and carve out a place for migrating Han Chinese. Eventually, he runs with the tribe. He has a Mary McDonnell in Gasma (Ankhnyam Ragchaa), the widowed daughter of the wise chief Bilig (Basen Zhabu), and he takes in a wolf cub, too, that rivals Costner’s “Two Socks” for fluffy, yelping adorability. Presented as part of the Sister Cities Film Festival, Wolf Totem is the feature film selected by our Sister City friends representing Fuzhou, China, screening at 6:30 p.m. in The Grand Cinema.
PREFUNK: Good Ol’ Crusty! The Old Crustacean Barleywine is part of Rogue breweries XS series. Don’t be fooled by the adorable label, this beer packs a bit of a punch at 11.5 percent ABV. Only eight ingredients went into the making of all natural beer. No chemicals, no additives, and zero preservatives just pure no nonsense beer. Until tonight. The Parkway Tavern pulled a keg aside from its Barley Wine FEstival this past weekend and will run it through a Randall loaded with fresh ingredients. Drop by at 5 p.m. and watch manager Sean Jackson work his magic.
