Winter has arrived, and looks to be settling in this week. So keep warm with a calendar that includes: a production of Grease; Thunder from Down Under; Jazz on a Winter Night and Chick Singer Night; and, more live music by Birds and Wires, Cross Canadian Ragweed with Ha Ha Tonka, Mountain Heart, The Subdudes, and The Queers.
Monday 12.7
PEARL HARBOR DAY
BIRTHDAYS: Gravel-voiced singer-songwriter-pianist-actor-playwright Tom Waits, 1949.
Birds and Wires
Glass Nickel Pizza (Atwood Ave.), 9 pm
D.C. punks Birds and Wires will punk things up with Moog, static and beer, while local favorites Things Fall Apart and Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons will rock the pepperoni off your pie.
Tuesday 12.8
NOTEWORTHY: John Lennon assassinated, 1980.
BIRTHDAYS: Sinead O'Connor and Geto Boys rapper Bushwick Bill, 1966.
Grease
Overture Hall, 7:30 pm. Also Wednesday-Thursday, Dec. 9-10, 7:30 pm, and through Dec. 13
The 1970s musical and movie helped fan 1950s nostalgia, and now, in the 2000s, we can be nostalgic for the nostalgia. Got it? Even if you don't, there's still a lot of great music in the old warhorse, and this production features American Idol champion Taylor Hicks as Teen Idol and American Idol finalist Ace Young as Danny.
Thunder From Down Under
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
The naughty male revue is based in Las Vegas' Excalibur Hotel, with hunky Aussies gyrating to pop music while dressed as firemen, cowboys and soldiers. Admission is free and gentlemen are welcome, the ad says, so patrons of Woof's gay bar across the street might wander over for a peek.
Wednesday 12.9
BIRTHDAY: Quirky actor John Malkovich, 1953.
Cross Canadian Ragweed, Ha Ha Tonka
Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm
The purveyors of Red Dirt-style country showcase a new album (Happiness and All the Other Things) and share the stage with Missouri-bred indie group Ha Ha Tonka, which blends the sounds of the Ozarks with southern rock and Replacements-style alt-rock.
Thursday 12.10
NOTEWORTHY: Ben Cauley is the lone survivor of Lake Monona plane crash that kills Otis Redding & four members of the Bar-Kays, 1967.
Jazz on a Winter Night
Inn on the Park, 7 pm
It's not technically winter yet, but get into the spirit of the season by snuggling up with some smoldering vocals and red-hot rhythms by Gerri DiMaggio, John Mesoloras, Sally DeBroux, Randal Harrison, John Becker and several other talented performers.
Mountain Heart, The Hot Seats
High Noon Saloon, 7 pm
Bluegrass meets jam band when Mountain Heart takes the stage, while the Hot Seats' bluegrass is of the funny-yet-bluesy variety. No matter which style you prefer on your iPod, you're likely to enjoy both live.
Chick Singer Night
Brink Lounge, 8 pm
Founded in Chicago 20 years ago, the Chick Singer Night phenomenon has spread to numerous cities. Here's the inaugural Madison edition, starring chick singers Beth Kille, Amber Dawn, Devan Brugger, Laura Day, Jayme Dawicki, Jeanna Salzer.
The Subdudes
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
The New Orleans combo plays a gumbo of good-natured, upbeat Dixieland Cajun-grass funk-folk rhythm and blues, fortified with 100% of your USRDA of gospel. The music is moving, enjoyable and seemingly effortless.
The Queers, The Leftovers
Frequency, 9 pm
The Queers aren't making fun of the LGBT community with their name; they're mocking the folks who called them "art fags" in the '80s -- and pretty much everything else that crosses their path -- with ditties such as "Teenage Gluesniffer" and "I Hate Everything." However, the night's highlight might just be the Leftovers, whose take on pop punk is extremely addictive listening and insanely fun to watch. Local faves The Transgressions open.
