Festive Overtures
Bonnie Rideout sleighs us.
FRI 12/10
Traditional Scottish-Irish music is all-purpose: One can dance a jig and hoist a pint of bitter to the merry fiddle, or one can lead kilted countrymen into battle against the British as pipes trill and bodhrans thrump. We find this music most useful, however, at Christmas as a suitably wintry and festive alternative to the tired old home-for-the-holidays play list. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, celebrated Scottish fiddler Bonnie Rideout brings a troupe of folk musicians and dancers to the Lied Center (1600 Stewart Drive in Lawrence, 785-864-2787) to help us forget that "Jingle Bell Rock" was ever recorded. -- Jason Harper
Dean for America
The James Dean Trio shows its metal.
FRI 12/10
Rebels without a cause who play metal without a pause, the five (!) members of James Dean Trio position themselves east of Eden and south of heaven. The group hides serene jazz interludes in the eyes of its hardcore hurricanes, letting hepcats snap their fingers before the band snaps their necks. Its aptly titled debut disc, Getting Scary, is a roller-coaster ride that requires a death grip on the guardrails. Navigating this serpentine instrumental terrain can be hazardous, and screecher Jon Terry makes for an unsettling tour guide. John Bersuch, king of the seriously warped Q&A session, will use proceeds from this JDT-headlined benefit show Friday at the Brick (1727 McGee) to fund his local-rock 'zine, Dandercroft. Not coincidentally, opening acts Bellweather, In the Pines and One Million Tiny Tiny Jesuses all appear in the publication's fourth issue, which will arrive in February 2005. For more information, call 816-421-1634. -- Andrew Miller
