Last night I dropped in on the soft opening for Syren, the new club that will open to the general public at 8 tonight at 1117 Tacoma Ave., formerly the location of Panamonica’s.

So far so good, though it definitely felt a bit like Panamonica’s redux, with a DJ spinning house music in lieu of open mike jam night. Owner Chad Melton hadn’t made any drastic structural changes, and the deck remained a major attraction. Local artist Teddy Haggerty was responsible for the paintings that overlooked the dance floor. Haggerty told me that Art Slam, a major draw

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Joey, Dee Dee and Johnny have all, sadly, passed away, leaving Marky to carry on The Ramones torch. And carry it he will, all the way to Studio 7 tonight (Sept. 15) and Hell’s Kitchen Friday where he and his band will deliver sets packed with Ramones classics in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the seminal punk band’s self-titled debut.

You can read some of his reflections on the past three decades of Ramone mania in the story I wrote for Friday’s GO section. But here are a few sound bites on topics not

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Sheryl Crow is back on the road this season after battling breast cancer. And though the folks at Auburn’s White River Amphitheatre haven’t made the official announcement yet, her Web site has her playing there on Sept. 23 with John Mayer.

In case you haven’t noticed, gas prices plain suck – big time. But if you read the paper on Tuesday, you may have seen my "High octane audio" play list, my little attempt to cheer you guys up even as your wallets are getting sucked dry.

The gist of the story for those of you who don’t read all my stuff (and shame on you, really) is that if you burn a CD or program an iTunes mix based on the songs I offered up, it might help you work through the frustration of this financially strapping summer.

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Scottish rock band Snow Patrol postponed several dates on its current tour – including Thursday’s show at the Paramount in Seattle and Friday’s gig at Portland’s Roseland Theatre – because singer Gary Lightbody has lesions on his vocal chords, according to promoter Monqui.

The shows will likely be rescheduled for September. Other refund information was not yet available Tuesday evening.

Grunge godfathers Mudhoney are all set to rock Maggie’s in Lakewood on Thursday. And to get you all ready for that show, I thought I’d post a couple of clips from my interview with frontman Mark Arm back in March, before Sub Pop issued his band’s newest album “Under a Billion Suns.”

* One thing fans will have noticed about the band’s last two albums is ll the horn arrangements. And in the first clip, Arm gets into some of the influences that lead the band in that direction and how childhood friend Craig Flory got

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It seems they might have failed Slayer in the weeks leading up to Tuesday, aka 06-06-06, a day many metalheads celebrated as National Day of Slayer.

That when the band’s Unholy Alliance tour was originally scheduled to kick off. But, as many fans already know, they had to push the launch back tour after singer-bassist Tom Araya had to check in for gall bladder maintenance.

Here’s what guitarist Kerry King had to say Thursday about his band’s snake-bitten plans, and how he made the best of the heavy metal

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The Streets delivered a nice, crowd pleasing set Wednesday night at The Showbox – one that culminated in a quick sendup of "Foxey Lady" (leader Mike Skinner tells me his bassist is a huge Jimi Hendrix fan) and MTV "Fit But You Know It." But I and several other people I talked last night were actually more excited about Lady Sovereign, the little spitfire who opened last night’s UK grime showcase.



"Vertically Challenged," the name of her debut EP, definitely fits, since she stands about 4-foot-10 with a pony tail sprouting from the side of her

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One Reel just announced another batch of artists that will appear at Bumbershoot, Labor Day weekend at Seattle Center. And a whole gang of cult favorites — Badly Drawn Boy, Zero 7, Great Big Sea, Rogue Wave, The Veronicas, Alejandro Escovedo and more — are among the second wave of musical acts to be announced. Personally, I’m excited about the addition of half-pint British rapper Lady Sovereign, who some of you will actually get your first taste of when she opens for The Streets Wednesday at the Showbox. (Hear a sample on The Streets entry from the other day.)

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