Thursday16
The Bad PlusSnow Angels
Friday17
The Bad PlusBoneramaJohn LegendMagdaMichael McDermottMillionYoung, Sunglasses
Saturday18
The Bad PlusBoneramaJuiceboxxx
Sunday19
The Bad PlusMemorize the SkyWaka Flocka Flame
Wednesday22
Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang
SNOW ANGELS Since 2003 this seasonal “supergroup”—a tinsel-encrusted side project that includes members of Mannequin Men, Vee Dee, Johnny & the Limelites, and the Automatic Stinging Machines—has thrown an annual party where they’ve played garagey, ebullient covers and PBR-flavored holiday originals. “CTA X-Mas Train” is one of the standout tracks from their 2009 EP Seasonal Help (Diversey), and it was going through my head last week when, lo and behold, I caught a Blue Line train with decked-out halls. The Snow Angels’ punky depiction of that garish spectacle is rather accurate—though it sounds nothing like the music on the train itself, which could benefit from a little less Burl Ives jingle and a little more Ramones/Velvets rumble—so imagine my surprise when I came across an interview in which guitarist and singer “Chris Maas” (otherwise known as Vee Dee bassist Dan Lang) revealed that he’d never actually seen the thing in person. (YouTube truly is a holiday miracle.) The Snow Angels’ set is preceded by Shame That Tune, a live game show hosted by Baby Teeth’s Abraham Levitan and Snow Angels drummer and sleigh-bell shaker Santa Coz, aka Johnny & the Limelites front man and Reader contributor Brian Costello. Contestants share embarrassing music-related memories, and then Costello interviews them for a few minutes while Levitan writes a song about their story in a randomly chosen style; the audience’s reaction to the song and story determine the winner. 8:30 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433 or 866-468-3401, $7. —Monica Kendrick
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BONERAMA This brass-balled army, founded by two Harry Connick Jr. sidemen, mixes New Orleans traditions like Dixieland and second-line jazz with southern-tinged funk and rock. You can almost taste the flavor of the goo that drips out of their spit valves—and their sound is so big you’d think they had hundreds of them. Bonerama—which in reality has four trombones, a bass trombone, and a sousaphone in its arsenal—has covered the Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin, and the band is passing its genre-melding wisdom down to the next generation by holding workshops and clinics on jazz fundamentals and the music business. I’m not normally big on jammy fusion, but these guys are just ridiculously fun. The Lowdown Brass Band opens. See also Saturday. 9:30 PM, Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln, 773-404-9494, $15. —Monica Kendrick
MillionYoung headlines; Sunglasses and the Great Mundane open. 10 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $12, $10 in advance. —Miles Raymer
BONERAMA See Friday. The B.S. Brass Band opens. 9:30 PM, Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln, 773-404-9494, $15.
