I firmly believe that music is for everyone — and there is certainly enough from which to choose this weekend — but if you’re just not in the mood (perhaps puckered out from the holidays), you might prefer to kick back in a nice, dark theater for a post-holiday treat. We get so wrapped up in all the holiday obligations — all the shopping, the traveling, the visits, the eating and drinking and rejoicing (or tearing one’s hair out) — that we forget what it’s all about. No, I’m not talking Christ here. I’m talking about the Fatman, Santa. The man grew up in Finland, and it’s time to get the story from the Finns. Learn about an orphaned village boy named Nikolas at a Twin Cities special premiere ofChristmas Story, directed by Juha Wuolilsoki.
Friday at 7:15 p.m., The Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-331-3134, $8 (seniors $6, members & students $5).
MUSIC The Snakes Are in My Water-trough
What’s at the heart of the blues? Well, according to the Black-Eyed Snakes, playing the blues is a lot like having an epileptic fit or butchering pigs. Maybe both. Alan Sparhawk lets the blues take a hold of him — a firm, almost possessive, hold. This is raw blues. And watching gives new meaning to musical experience. —Kate McDonald
A Smorgasbord of Local (and almost local) Hotshots
Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum and Tim O’Reagan of the Jayhawks are just two of the artists that make up the smorgasbord of local rock talents performing tonight at the Cabooze. Pirner will be accompanied by The Volunteers, and O’Reagan will be followed by the lovely Janey & Marc, whose sweet melodies have accompanied the likes of Astronaut Wife and Sarah Lee Guthrie. It is a night of music perfectly fit for the Friday after Christmas. —Kate McDonald
Friday at 9:30 p.m., The Cabooze, 917 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; $13.
A Spontaneous Pre-New Year’s Show — Up to Your Standards
What happens when you combine Semisonic with The Suburbs and a vibraphonist? Well, you get a new standard for music, of course, and a new band, The New Standards. It’s almost the New Year — better start thinking about having some standards. And if you look back at our last big fashion spread, it’ll attest to their level of class. —Kate McDonald
Thrasher Magazine has a great website. It includes pictures of bikini-clad skateboard-welding bitties, documented proof of skater Darren Navarrette’s party throwing abilities, and an interview with Shed, who’s wearing an executioner’s hood and is in the middle of a half pipe talking about his upcoming 13th skate rock album. However, this all seems to stand in stark contrast to the Bright Eyes website, which boasts only a lone tree and the work of a serious indie computer graphics design genius. What, then, are former Thrasher photographer Nik Freitas and Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst doing together in Minneapolis? Well, playing a show, naturally — since their alt-indie sound turns out to be oddly similar. It’s worth checking out — almost as much as the Thrasher website is. —Kate McDonald
Saturday at 9 p.m., 400 Bar, Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-332-2903; $20.
The Big Stuff
Should old acquaintance be forgot? Not in the new year, my dears — hence the House of Large Sizes “Re-Union” gig at the Triple Rock. Two-thousand-and-seven was the 20-year mark from the band’s first recorded release, so what better way to ring in the 21st than with a rock-, funk-, heavy metal-influenced performance? Special guests will include Speed’s the Name, Beat Strings, and The Melismatics. —Kate McDonald
Sunday at 7 p.m. Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-333-7399; $10.
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