This weekend, 12/2-12/4:

Oo la - lots going on this weekend as the holidays ramp up.

General Events:
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Friday 12/2:

• Alternatives Holiday Craft Show at the DE Center for Contemporary Arts (so this should actually be cutting edge, and not the kind of craft show where lots of wooden things are painted with teddy bears and flags). 5-11pm, FREE. More details.
• Wilmington Art Loop. 5-11pm, various locations. More details.
• Spaceboy Clothing's grand opening party for their new store on lower Market. Live music (see bands section), DJs, door prizes. 6-10pm, free.
• The final re:Fresh Art Loop After Party, DCCA, 8-11pm.
• Winterfest in Newark: tree lighting, caroling, chestnut roasting (because everywhere should stink like Manhattan in December), ice carving demos, etc. 6pm, Main Street.
• Free Lunchtime Live show at the Queen.  Noon. More details.
• New event: Kennett Square Outdoor Winter Market. 1st & 3rd Fridays of the month. 2-5pm. 
• Showings of Take Shelter and Le Havre at Theatre N. http://www.theatern.org/Films
• In the "just weird enough for me to mention" category, there's Yoga Night at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Art After 5 series).  With DJ dance party afterwards... of Indian music. More info.

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Saturday 12/3:

• Showings of A Charlie Brown Christmas Special (one showing, 11am only), Le Havre, and Take Shelter at Theatre N. http://www.theatern.org/Films
• Hike & Hot Cocoa at Brandywine Creek State Park, 1-3pm. $2.  More details.
• "Crate Diggers' Clubhouse" LP sale at Rainbow Records.  Thousands of LPs for $1 each (and Rainbow claims they've already culled out the junk records, leaving only good stuff).  Saturday only, 10am-1pm.  54 E. Main St., Newark

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Sunday 12/4:

• Sunday Bird Walk at Bucktoe Creek Preserve  (weekly until Jan. 2). 8-10am, free, nearby PA.
• Showings of Le Havre and Take Shelter at Theatre N. http://www.theatern.org/Films
• Run with the Reindeer 5k in nearby Havre de Grace, MD (this is, as far as I can tell, the last organized 5k of the year, for this area). Details here.

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Band shows:

Friday 12/2:

• New Sweden, I Am Lightning, & DJ EA at Spaceboy Clothing's grand opening party on lower Market St.  All ages, 6-10pm, FREE. More details.
• Mean Lady, Troubled Hips & The Sea Around Us at Mojo Main (preceeded by free matinee solo show by Katie Dill of Mean Lady). 21+, 9pm, $5
• At the Queen, an assortment of  well-known local bands that fly that reggae/frat rock flag that seems to be so enduringly popular around here. 8pm, $10. More info 
• Can You Canoe and Villains Like You at The Note in West Chester. 21+, 8pm, $5.
• Italian-born Wilmington singer/songwriter Jacopo de Nicola at Zaikka Indian Grill. (How the restaurant put it: "Come Hear Lively Music!".  Hee.)  6-9pm, free.
• The Bigger Lovers and Photon Band at Johnny Brenda's. 21+, 8pm, $10
• (The Future Islands show at KFN is sold-out).

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Saturday 12/3:

• Pearl and the Beard at the Queen. Check out their video at the bottom of the post - you won't regret it.    8pm, $8
• Spinto Band opens for Jukebox the Ghost at Union Transfer.  They're on a short but major national tour together, now.  Congrats to our hometown boys. All ages, 8:30pm, $14
• Jazz show: Clifford Brown Year-Round Series presents Point Blank. Christina Cultural Arts Center, lower Market St.  All ages, 8-10pm, $20. More info.
• (The Carbon Leaf show at WCL Philly is now sold out).

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Sunday 12/4:

• Coney Island Rock n' Roll Show at Mojo 13: Burlesque show by Cherry Van Bomb, side show performers, and music by Lara Hope, The Champ-Tones, and Amour Obscur.  Mojo 13, Claymont. 8-12, cost not well advertised but it'll probably run you 5 bucks.
• In case you missed them at the Queen the night before - Pearl and The Beard at Kung Fu Necktie, with Auctioneer (veteran of several high profile area bands like Golden Boots and Birdie Busch). 21+, 8pm, $8

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Upcoming: Duncan Sheik at the Queen Wed., Raul Malo at the Queen Thurs., Sisters 3 & Andrew Gray (H&H) at the Kennett Flash next Fri.

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Pearl and the Beard performing "Sweetness".  Also check out their Will Smith medley on Youtube.  Even amidst the silliness that is that video, this band's tight vocal harmonies and skilled arrangements really shine through.  And I'm a sucker for a rock band string player who is competent on her instrument.