So your Christmas festivities are coming to a close. For hours, you've been sitting around with family for hours, eating and hearing about Uncle Harold's increasingly aggravating bunion problems.
You're getting anxious. Antsy. You need to get out.
Well, friend, you've come to the right place. Our weekly Good Friday tradition is here to help spice up your annual Christmas tradition of figuring out what the hell you're supposed to do once the celebration's come to its merciful end--not just for tonight, but all weekend long.
As always, we start with the shows we've already mentioned in this week's coverage...
On Saturday night, the always-engaging Fair to Midland brings its prog-metal to the Granada Theater.
All day on Sunday, meanwhile, things will be swinging at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, as A Day to Remember headlines a bill that also features local favorites (and one-time rivals) The Secret Handshake and Analog Rebellion. And don't forget: Sunday night, of course, sees the start of the Old 97's' four-night residency at Sons of Hermann Hall.
Ah, but what about tonight? We've got your answer there--as well as plenty more options throughout the rest of the weekend--after the jump. Come along now...
Charlie Robison
Fri., Dec. 25, at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth
Houston-raised country singer and Dixie Chick spouse Robison brings his brand o' honky tonk to the famed Fort Worth honky tonk this evening. A true Christmas treat for fans of good ol' 'merica. Actually maybe not. Where do we stand on the Dixie Chicks again? Are the pro-America at this point? It's so tough to keep up with this stuff...
Mad Mexicans, Ugly Lion
Fri., Dec. 25, at Trees
Dallas' rap-rockin' Mad Mexicans are promoting this show as "Santa's Hangover," and posters announcing the show are plastered with the words "Viva Christmas!" Gotta love that Spanglish--and the fact that, for once maybe, the guy in Mad Mexicans whose sole job is to get on stage and wave a Mexican flag for the entire set may get to have fun with Christmas decorations this time out, too.
Hello Lover, The American Fuse
Fri., Dec. 25, at The Double Wide
A free show from the self-proclaimed dirty sex-rockers of Hello Lover, bolstered by a performance from long-running area punk outfit American Fuse.
Awkquarius, Dustin Cavazos, Sore Losers, Chucky Sly
Fri., Dec. 25, at The Lounge on Elm Street
A lineup filled with DC9 faves and some of the better underground acts in Dallas hip-hop today, this $5 affair makes for a fine party option to help start dancing the post-Christmas carbs away.
Jacob Metcalf, The Fox & The Bird, Caleb Ian Campbell
Sat., Dec. 26, at The Double Wide
DC9-approved neo-folkers Jacob Metcalf and The Fox & The Bird are joined on this bill by Polycorns frontman Caleb Campbell, making for a low-key, but bound to be well-attended and uplifting affair.
Fever in the Funkhouse
Sat., Dec. 26, at Barley House
The longtime Dallas favorites--since back in the ol' bohemian chic days of Edie Brickell and the like in '90s Deep Ellum--played a reunion show not too long ago. But if you missed it, you're in luck: The band returns for a Saturday night gig at the Barley House. And, coming soon: More shows, which will find the band taking to Fort Worth and Austin.
Jason Boland & The Stragglers
Sat., Dec. 26, at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth
Stillwater's Jason Boland & The Stragglers bring their red dirt to Fort Worth on Saturday, something that would be far more fitting if it weren't for this year's surprising white Christmas.
Mannheim Steamroller
Sat., Dec. 26, at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Who says you can't listen to Christmas music the day after the holiday? Scrooge, that's who. You want people to call you Scrooge?
Max Stalling
Sat., Dec. 26, at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton
The Dallas country act takes to Dan's in Denton for what should be an intimate affair. For a chuckle, listen to his song "Ping Pong Pool." It's comical and actually kinda charming all at once.
Nelo
Sat., Dec. 26, at House of Blues' Cambridge Room
Austin's Nelo features more than its fair share of former Dentonites and University of North Texas grads, which capably explains the jammier, jazzier sides of the band's enjoyable indie rock sound.
Two Tons of Steel, Eleven Hundred Springs
Sat., Dec. 26, at House of Blues
Call me crazy, but, for me, this show is right up there among the best of the weekend, featuring Dallas' own Eleven Hundred Springs and San Antonio's Two Tons of Steel, two high-energy, good-time country-based acts that find ways to infuse their sounds with elements of rockabilly for a little added spice when needed.
Darktown Strutters, Binary Sunrise
Sat. Dec. 26, at City Tavern
Two of the more interesting area acts in Dallas share this Saturday night bill--and it's a fitting match, actually, as both acts exist on the fringes of dance and electronic music while finding clever ways to change things up and make the sounds wholly their own. One of the better shows of the weekend for those not afraid to think outside the verse-chorus-verse box.
...and that's your weekend. Be safe out there.