Party Ends

   It's that time of year again and, shockingly as ever, Christmas is just around the corner, bringing with it all the staples and franchises we have grown to love: the over hyped toy (PS3?), all those good movies they've been holding out on us, Black Friday, and, of course, the Christmas Shows. Every year, the local bands get together with one more excuse to play a big show (sometimes even called a festival), with a long lineup of bands that you might not go see by themselves, but when all lined up in a convenient "two birds for your one stone" sort of row, you just can't pass it up. There are some good values to be had, if you know how to handle them.

   Sometimes put together by labels, sometimes by the clubs, sometimes even including an nice headlining "name", here is what I've found for you greedy little elves so far:

• 12.9 / A Spune Christmas / Hailey's / Denton: $10 adv $12 ad

Starlight Mints / Pleasant Grove / Baboon / The Marked Man / Record Hop / Stumptone / Dove Hunter / Red Monroe / Ghostcar

• 12.15 / Christmas Extravaganza / Rubber Gloves / Denton: $5

Fishboy ( one of my local favorites ) / Eat Avery's Bones / Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go / Cavedweller / Brooke Opie

Denton's Fishboy

• 12.16 / End Of The Year Blow Out and Toy Drive / The Door ( if your into that sort of thing / have to go see your little brothers band so he'll stop nagging you ) / Dallas: $10 

Oceans Firing / Foreign Oren / Waiting For Dawn / Enter The Collector / The Embassy / The News Can Wait / For Deceit For Despair / Strangers In The Attic / A Road Less Traveled / Erased / Behold My Beloved

• 12.17 / A Very Buzz Oven Christmas / the Plano Center / Plano: $?
  Eisley / The Feds / The Gazelles / Kessler / Upside / Darby and friends

   Yeah, I know some of these kind of suck. There aren't too many announced so far, but check back, and I'll try to keep you posted. I mean, this is without all the pre-pubescent-metal / Pimpadelic fan-boy shows, but there will be more good ones to come (I think / pray ).

Just for good measure ( and to make up for including anything about Buzz-Oven ), heres an MP3 from my favorite of the bunch, Fishboy:

MP3 - Fishboy - Tree Star