The local bi-monthly battle of the bands known as the Valley Music Showcase wraps up its 2019 season with one final friendly clash of the titans, as the five winners from the earlier bouts face off to see who wins the whole ball o’ wax, at Club One Entertainment Complex in Agawam on Friday, December 6, at 7:30 p.m.
The five acts each won first place at their respective Showcases earlier this year, and these “best of the best” are hoping to win grand prizes that include free recording time in local studios, website design, a photo shoot, filming a music video, and more.
The Green Sisters, siblings from Hubbardston, blend Americana, folk and bluegrass. New Haven singer/songwriter Steve Rodgers was the leader of alt/rock/folk band Mighty Purple. Quincy is a rock/“jamwave” act from North Adams. Keepers of the Vibe are a funk/ hip hop group based in Hartford. The Lost Tribe, based in Middletown, Connecticut, play Afro-funk fusion.
Each of the groups gets 25 minutes to impress the judges (who include local musicians, deejays, writers, and even the mayor of West Springfield). Special guests The Mary Jane Jones (Northampton’s “vintage soul syndicate,” fronted by Mandy Pachios) will start off the night with a 35 minute performance. There will also be a second stage featuring area singer/songwriters Nate Martel, Louise Mosrie and Alex Amato doing short sets.
Amherst-based guitarist Jose Gonzalez and his group Banda Criolla bring their Latin Christmas Show to Gateway City Arts in Holyoke on Friday, December 6, at 7 p.m. Gonzalez and friends will highlight “Parranda” songs from Puerto Rico as well as more modern Latin dance music.
Local Americana group The Boxcar Lilies play their 2nd annual reunion show — onetime member Lily Katie Clarke joins the current duo of Jenny Goodspeed and Stephanie Marshall, as does an all-star backing band — at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday, December 6, at 7 p.m. Emily Matthew-Muller opens.
Swiss saxophonist Christoph Irniger and his group Pilgrim are back in the U.S. for a run of east coast gigs, including one at the Community Music School of Springfield on Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m. It’s the latest show in this season’s Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares concert series.
Brooklyn band Locobeach (mixing together cumbia pop, surf, spaghetti western vibes and more) share the bill with “tropical-psych” quartet Los Cumpleaños (making their Massachusetts debut) for the last Planetary Party concert of the year at New City Brewery in Easthampton on Saturday, December 7, at 8 p.m. Also appearing are the Peace and Rhythm DJs. Children 12 and under get in free.
Palberta make heads spin with short jagged songs that involve three-part harmonies and complex post-punk sounds a la Captain Beefheart and The Raincoats. The playfully screwy New York trio headlines a show that also includes Chris Weisman (playing solo jazz) and Human Host at The Root Cellar in Greenfield on Sunday, December 8, at 8 p.m.
Crooked Still, the non-traditional bluegrass quintet with Aoife O’Donovan on vocals, plays the Shea Theater in Turners Falls on Tuesday, December 10, at 7 p.m. Lula Wiles is the opening act.
Kentucky “scream pop” duo GRLwood headline a show at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Tuesday, December 10, at 7 p.m. Local rockers Ex-Temper play first.
“Nostalgia Personified” stars Nickelodeon’s Pete and Pete (aka Danny Tamberelli and Michael C. Maronna) and it’s an interactive live show that grew out of the friends’ podcast, The Adventures of Danny and Mike. It’s billed as “a humorous look back at the ’90s through the eyes of two child stars,” and will take place at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Wednesday, December 11, at 7 p.m. Warming up the room first is Henning Ohlenbusch (longtime local singer/songwriter and a member of the modern version of Polaris, the once-imaginary band featured in the opening credits for “The Adventures of Pete & Pete”).
Singer/songwriter/guitarist/bluesman Chris Smither released a new album on Signature Sounds earlier this year, Call Me Lucky, and he’ll play two nights at the Parlor Room in Northampton on Wednesday, December 11, and Thursday, December 12, at 7 p.m.
Acclaimed post-hardcore band Pile, on tour for their latest record Green and Gray, appears at the Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Thursday, December 12, at 8:30 p.m.