Remember when Queen Latifah was known as a rapper? You know, back when you’d see her on "YO! MTV Raps" wearing colorful, Afrocentric head gear and pushing oversized chess pieces around?

Well, that early phase of her career was a faint memory Wednesday night as the Queen (born Dana Owens) headlined a sold-out show at the Pantages Theatre. The only evidence that it had even happened was the jazzy revamp of early ’90s hit "U.N.I.T.Y." that fans coaxed her

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Just got back from Queen Latifah’s show at the the Pantages, and it was smokin’. Here’s the set list for now. Check in a little later for a more detailed report with photos.

Queen Latifah

Pantages Theatre

Nov. 28, 2007

Gonna Live Till I Die

I Love Being Here With You

Baby, Get Lost

The Same Love That Made Me Laugh

Georgia Rose

Travlin’ Light

When You’re Good to Mama

I Know Where I’ve Been

UNITY

Poetry Man

Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

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While I was on vacation last week, I got a call from Josh Brumley, the local promoter who’s been an organizer behind several short-lived all-ages venues, including the Junkyard and the Viaduct this year. And now it looks like the sixth time is a charm, after past spots where he’s hosted shows have been shut down because of permit and fire code issues.

Brumley tells me his Viaduct crew is setting up shop at 5412 South Tacoma Way, the recently renovated space that was home to 21-and-older dance spot Club Sapphire for a short time earlier

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Van Halen version 4.0 is all set to rock KeyArena next week, with original mouthpiece David Lee Roth back in place (for now) and young Wolfgang Van Halen on bass in place of the estranged Michael Anthony. And while that’s all good and well, I wanted to know which of the earlier incarnations rocked the hardest?

Was it the original Diamond Dave lead bunch, which brought us “Jump” and “Hot For Teacher” while rockin’ the spandex and Aquanet like none before. Was it the earthier Sammy Hagar fronted bunch that brought us “Right Now” in the ’90s? Or maybe

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I ran into Glimpse’s Jason Ott yesterday morning while checkin’ out a little NFL action at the Varsity Grill. He explained the mixup about his band being AWOL from Saturday’s unplugged Post Stardom Depression show at Station 56 (his boys had never actually agreed to the gig despite being listed on the bill, he said.) And then he gave me the heads up regarding his new project, called the Joshua Cain Band, that’s on the way.

The new band is doing more of a rootsy southern rock and gospel thing, and he cited Mavis Staples as an example.

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Just saw Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron and Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell on the Seahawks game! Wonder if Jerry has moved back up her or if he’s just visiting. Anyone out there had any run ins?

I hadn’t planned on blogging much while on vacation. But as a public service announcement, I thought I’d encourage you all to go to tonight’s M.I.A. show at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle. Sure, it’s probably sold out at this late hour. But it should be well worth it you can find a reasonable scalper.

I’m posting this from Portland where, last night, I saw the British dance act demolish the Roseland Theatre with her stylish and kinetic blend of electro, dancehall, techno and world music. Maya Arulpragasam – aka M.I.A. – was joined by DJ Low Budget

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Canadian metal band and occasional Tacoma residents 3 Inches of Blood have kicked drummer Alexei Rodriguez out of the band after an apparent scuffle with the group Saxon, according to a leaked apology letter that you can read on rock gossip and news site Blabbermouth.net.

And today 3IB posted this response to the matter becoming public on MySpace:

If you’ve heard about the fiasco we’ve been through in England then just be aware that the letter we wrote to Saxon was never intended not to be posted all over the world wide

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I caught up with Sonics guitarist Larry Parypa yesterday to find out how the Cavestomp gigs in New York went last weekend. He and singer Jerry Roslie had said those would be the gauge for whether they played any more gigs — say, in Tacoma. Hmmmm?

Click here to hear his account. Sounds promising.

I also asked Larry to clarify the Sonics’ somewhat convoluted history. Many bios, including this one on AllMusic.com, list the “original” lineup as follows:

Gerry Roslie (lead singer, piano, organ) (note: He actually spells it

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Allow me to quote a preview to this week’s "South Park" episode, which is apparently about the video game “Guitar Hero”: "Real guitars are for old people." Same goes for drums and synthesizers. And French horns. As pop culture writer Bill Hutchens and I explain in our cover story for today’s SoundLife section, there are enough new video game simulators available now – stuff like Traxxpad, Jam Sessions, Rock Band – that you could start an entire video game band using only virtual instruments.

For example, check out a track we threw together in a few minutes using

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