Happy Black Friday.
Depending on who you listen to, it’s either Buy Nothing Day or Black Friday. If for you it’s the former, I can’t help you. But if the fact that Thanksgiving is already behind us makes you wonder whether you’ll have time to get to stores in time to buy the year’s hottest holiday gifts for your loved ones, don’t ignore the efforts of local artists, who make a very convincing pitch this holiday season with a host of art and craft events that run through the next month. Opening today at The Bridge is Great Gifts; at the Main Street Arena there’s the Charlottesville Arts and Crafts Fair; and on Saturdays through Christmas meet your holiday needs at the Holiday City Market.
Speaking of local stuff, it looks like most touring musicians are at home for Tofurkey Day, so this is a big week for local music. Tonight at the 12th Street Taphouse, a group of friends gathers to raise money for a local musician’s medical bills. It just so happens that, with an acoustic performance from The Extraordinaires, the resurrection of spaz-rockers Truman Sparks and new ukulele-based local act Northern Diver, these are friends worth having.
The Truman Sparks play "Juan the Sperm Whale" live at Random Row Books.
And onward to the Jefferson Theater, which offers a one-two punch of solid homecoming shows. Friday night it’s the celebrated Steely Dan-lovin’ rock act Indecision, who gave up the touring life in 1993 but who, when they want to put on a show at all, put on a good one.
Saturday night at the Jefferson it’s the band that started with cramped nights at the Blue Moon Diner, and has slimmed in size if only to make its appetite for bringing its punkgrass on the road more satiable: On Pee Paw! On Baby J! On Plantain, on Spits, on Plang Tang and Uncle Blind Bobby! It’s the Hackensaw Boys.
