The South London electronic dance craze known as dubstep is well-represented by Nick Weiller, aka Bro Safari, this Friday night at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore. These drum and bass guys bring new meaning to “Animal House”.
Also on the bill Friday night to keeping you moving on the dance floor are J Craze, Etc! Etc!, Crnkn and Ape Drums (8 p.m.).
Across the Bay Bridge on Friday night, you are invited to a holiday performance with country music star Mark Wills as he performs his eight Top 10 hits including “19 Something,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Don’t Laugh At Me” at the Avalon Theatre in Easton (8 p.m.).
A few other holiday concerts you might really enjoy this Friday night include A Jazz Piano Christmas broadcast on NPR from the Terrace Theatre at the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capital (7:30 and 9:30 p.m. shows), and the 5 Browns, siblings performing simultaneously on five grand pianos at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax (8 p.m.)
In addition, there’s a rock ‘n’ roll holiday show starring Nick Lowe as he presents his Quality Holiday Revue at the Birchmere in Alexandria (7:30 p.m.).
As lovable as Nick is, there’s bound to be a serious sadness to this show as we recently lost Nick’s friend, label mate and band mate. Legendary Faces and Small Faces keyboard player, solo band leader and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Ian “Mac” McLagan unexpectedly passed away from a stroke he suffered the day before. The day he died Mac was to leave on tour with Lowe.
At a recent solo show just a few months ago in Wilmington, Mac said 2015 was going to be a great year for The Faces, suggesting a possible reunion with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart. But it wasn’t to be for the lovable and charming rocker.
Mac McLagan was one of the truly good guys of the music world and he’s gone now. But his story can be found in his autobiography titled “All the Rage,” a great Christmas present for the music lover in your life. Cheers to Mac and I’m certain he’s just now hauling his Hammond B-3 up that tall stairway to the great gig in the sky. Rage on, Mac!
Saturday
Holiday time is great for some of the regional acts who find themselves on the big stage. This Saturday night there’s a killer hometown gig featuring irish rockers Dublin 5 plus humorous Irish picker Seamus Kennedy at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis (8:30 p.m.).
Dublin 5 is fronted by Ray Murphy (lead guitar) with Jenn Garmen (fiddle), Eddie McGowan (bass and bagpipes), Jim Martin (percussion) and drummer Kevin Shook.
At Rams Head Live! in Baltimore this Saturday night, get your spandex on for the ultimate 80s dance tribute show with The Legwarmers (9 p.m. show, ages 21+). From the Simmons electronic drum pad kit to checkered vans and skinny ties, the Legwarmers are the 1980s you might remember.
Other shows this Saturday night include a night of blues, gospel and soul music featuring the incomparable Bettye LaVette at the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown (8 p.m.). LaVette sang at a tribute performance for The Who at a Kennedy Center Honors, and she performed with Jon Bon Jovi at President’s Obama’s pre-inaugural concert. The woman is red hot! Don’t miss this show.
For a little lighter fare, choose an evening of folk music and the occasional original poem from singer-songwriter Ellis Paul as he regales the crowd at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in Washington (8 p.m.).
And for an epic instrumental holiday show look no further than an afternoon performance by Manheim Steamroller at the Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda (4 p.m.).
There’s also a bevy of holiday song at the National Gallery of Art this Saturday as the Spanish Brass performs an afternoon of seasonal favorites in the West Building Garden Court (3:30 p.m.).
And head over to the Kennedy Center for a National Symphony Orchestra performance with Cirque de la Symphonie that will include the whole range of acrobats, aerialists, jugglers and clowns in the Concert Hall (8 p.m.).
Or, you can spend an evening with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., as they perform at the historic Lincoln Theatre, or head for the Christmas choral concert and Advent wreath laying at the Washington National Cathedral in D.C. (4 p.m., also performing a Sunday show).
If that isn’t enough choices there is always the 31st annual Washington Revels winter solstice concert at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University including a cast of more than 100 performing Irish music and a mummer’s play (2 and 7:30 p.m. shows on Saturday and 1 and 5 p.m. on Sunday).
Sunday
The holiday music continues this Sunday with a performance at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis by popular pianist Jon McLaughlin and exceptionally talented singer-songwriter Andy Davis (8 p.m.). McLaughlin’s songs are well-known thanks in part to their inclusion in a variety of popular television shows and films including “Scrubs,” “Bridge to Terabithia” and Disney’s “Enchanted.” McLaughlin also performed “So Close” at the Academy Awards.
For some nimble fingered guitar picking don’t you dare miss the show on Sunday night with crazy good Frank Vignola and his supremely talented friend Vinny Raniolo in the Stoltz Listening Room at the Avalon Theatre in Easton (7 p.m.).
Vignola has performed as guitarist for an all star list of A-list performers including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitar List” as published in the Wall Street Journal.
Raniolo, a guitar master in his own right, has performed and recorded with cats like Bucky Pizzarelli, Tommy Emmanuel, and David Grisman.
Need we say more? They will play Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, “Eye of the Tiger” from “Rocky III,” along with Bach, Bizet and Sting!
Monday-Tuesday
For your Monday and Tuesday night listening pleasure there’s the wildly popular AMFM “An Annapolis Christmas” concerts at Rams Head On Stage with an individual lineup each night (7 p.m.). All proceeds from this show support the Annapolis Musicians Fund for Musicians Inc. As of press time, only a couple of tickets were still available.
Monday is the night of the grand Jingle Ball at Verizon Center with appearances by Ariana Grande, 5 Seconds of Summer, Calvin Harris, Demi Lovato, OneRepublic, Iggy Azalea, Shawn Mendes and many other of your favorites. The big show is hosted by Nick Jonas.
The Friday Morning Music Club, comprising musicians on harpsichord, violoncello, violin, bass and viola, will perform compositions by Claudio Monteverdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Bernardo and George Onslow on Tuesday at Dumbarton House in Washington, D.C. (noon performance).
Also on Tuesday, stop by the U.S. Botanical Garden and enjoy a healthy stroll in the fresh air while you relish a live seasonal music performance (6 p.m.).
Wednesday
Then on Wednesday look for the seminal jazz group Pieces of a Dream as they light up Rams Head On Stage (8 p.m.). Count Basie once proclaimed Philadelphia’s Pieces of a Dream as “a tough act to follow.” They’re the originators of what’s become known as contemporary or “smooth” jazz (built to satisfy lovers of R&B and soul music).
Wednesday also brings a few more holiday concerts including the epic prog rock sound of Trans-Siberian Orchestra as they elevate the crowd during a performance of “The Christmas Attic,” a rock opera from 1998 that is being re-released and performed at Verizon Center (7:30 p.m.).
Then the second act will feature performances of TSO classics such as “Wizards In Winter,” “Requiem” and the ultimate Christmas rocker “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.”
Thursday, Dec. 18
Robert Randolph & The Family Band perform their unique “sacred steel” style music next Thursday at Rams Head On Stage (8 p.m.). It’s a bundle of rock and soul music in the spirit of Sly & The Family Stone and, well, Jim Hendrix nowadays, but it has evolved from sacred music performed in a series of churches where they use the pedal steel guitar instead of pipe organ.
Seeing these guys at Rams Head in Annapolis will be a real in-your-face treat! The music screams of joy and pain, suffering and redemption, blindness and brilliant light.
“My thing is really upbeat, up tempo, with great guitar riffs,” says Randolph in his Rams Head concert promotional material, “but also catchy choruses and lyrics that someday will make this music into classic tunes.”
Producer and bassist Don Was, president of Randolph’s new label property, Blue Note Records, says of Randolph: “He has mastered what is, arguably, the most complex instrument in the world and developed a unique voice that is equal parts street-corner church and Bonnaroo.”
Also next Thursday night, catch 21-year-old Tinashe, the pop, R&B with a touch of hip hop songwriter and performer, at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore (8 p.m.).
“My dad’s family is from Zimbabwe, and it’s a very musical culture,” says Tinashe in her show and album promo interview. “From my earliest memories, music was all around me. It was part of my DNA, and I just loved everything about it. Doing music became my biggest goal as soon as I could sing!”
Tinashe also is a successful actress having performed in “The Polar Express” with Tom Hanks and the popular television series “Two and a Half Men.”
Of her music she’ll tell you: “It’s progressive R&B. It’s not what you typically would expect R&B to sound like. There are influences from so many different genres that come together in one melting pot. I want to experiment. I want to break boundaries.”
