The Marked Men Thursday, December 27, at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, $5 One of Denton's all-time best punk bands, the Marked Men, are playing at Rubber Gloves with the equally formidable Bad Sports, who are in the process of recording a new album. Since their conception in the early aughts, the Marked Men have built an international underground following through four albums, including their latest, 2009's Ghosts, and their roster is a who's who of the DFW punk world. Be prepared for some bounce-house-style pit play, should you choose not to remain on the fringes. The Novice and Pink Smoke open. -- Brian Rash
See also: - Five great NYE parties to ring in 2013
Pinkish Black, Dim Locator Friday, December 28, at Lola's Saloon, $8/$12 With Pinkish Black in the middle of recording their sophomore album, they might be testing out some new material at this show, so fingers crossed for that. Add in Will Kapinos' one-man blues show Dim Locator, the Wooden Birds' Leslie Sisson and Dallas psych wards Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things, and you've got four good reasons to ride a bar stool in Fort Worth tonight. -- Audra Schroeder
Sara Hickman, Jessie Frye, Kate Hearne Friday, December 28, at Dada, $10 Check out three strong leading ladies this weekend at Dada. Austin singer-songwriter Sara Hickman is using her folk-pop ballads to benefit children- and community-focused fundraisers throughout Texas, and this week she's headlining Dada after her recent box set release of children's music. Denton's Jessie Frye, who fleshed out a full band and is currently working on a new full-length, will co-headline. Local 22-year-old acoustic guitarist Kate Hearne opens. -- Rachel Watts
Lights All Night Saturday, December 29 - Monday, December 31, in Fair Park, $99-$199 With its expansion to three nights this year, Lights All Night has become a legit electronic music festival, and is testing out Fair Park's party limits. Tiësto, AVICII, Bassnectar, Calvin Harris, Ghostland Observatory, 12th Planet, Axwell, Diplo and more will perform over the weekend, and while there seems to be a few more women on the lineup this year, the numbers are still low. Can we step that up next year? K thanks. -- Audra Schroeder
Rhymin' N Stealin' Saturday, December 29, at House of Blues, $12/$14 After 2012 saw the death of beloved Beastie Boy MCA, it only seems fitting that the Dallas tribute act would bookend the year with a blowout show. See them at House of Blues this weekend as they pay homage to Adam Yauch. -- Rachel Watts
Hotel Tesseract Sunday, December 30, at Dada, $4-$8 These multimedia events, which would usually take place at the now-shuttered LaGrange, are always a more stimulating audio-visual experience than your typical live music performance. Wanz Dover, Home by Hovercraft, Fond Phantom, Orgullo Primitivo and more gather to merge mediums and redefine what a concert can be. -- Audra Schroeder
