Music Picks: The Descendents, Stones Throw 15th Anniversary Show,, Princess Pangolin, Brian Setzer

Also Playing:

SOCIAL DISTORTION at Santa Monica Civic Center; RAY MANZAREK at Viper Room; X at the Music Box; BELLE BRIGADE at Satellite; OH LAND at El Rey Theatre; TEEBS at Eagle Rock Center for the Arts.

PHOTO BY CHAPMAN BAEHLER

The Descendents: See Sunday.

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House of Blues Sunset Strip

8430 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Out of Town

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Key Club

9039 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: West Hollywood

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sat 12/17

Stevie Wonder's House Full of Toys

NOKIA THEATRE

The R&B legend is going big — and temporarily Canadian — for this year's edition of his annual holiday benefit concert, promising performances by two of today's biggest pop stars. But Drake (who solicited Wonder's services for his new Take Care) and Justin Bieber (who until recently could easily have been billed as Little Justin Bieber) won't be Wonder's only guests tonight. You'll also see Michael McDonald and Faith Evans, both in possession of more inspiration these days than they're generally credited with having; last year's Something About Faith is the rare album to talk compellingly about "security, serenity, stability," as one song puts it. Look forward, too, to Wonder himself, who never fails to muster a house full of enthusiasm, good cause or no. Steve Harvey hosts. —Mikael Wood

Tori Amos

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Eternally pushing boundaries, Tori Amos has embraced her classical background with her latest album, Night of Hunters, a compelling, classical song cycle based on composers such as Chopin, Bach and Brahms (whom Amos has described as "the Jimi Hendrix of their time"). Touring with a string quartet to augment her piano-centric show, Amos brings the challenging tunes to life, and she likely will put a new spin on fan favorites like "Hey Jupiter" and "Silent All These Years." If all this sounds a bit tame, let's not forget with whom we're dealing. The uber-talented songstress can handily command an audience with a perfectly executed lyrical attack and a flip of her fiery mane. Also Sun. —Laura Ferreiro

Brian Setzer Christmas Rocks! Extravaganza

GIBSON AMPHITHEATRE

There's no denying that Brian Setzer's holiday-themed shows are kitschy, but that's exactly the point. It's tough to argue that shiny suits, Santa hats, big brass and scantily clad backup singers aren't just what the doctor ordered to ring in the Christmas cheer. The immaculately coiffed Long Island boy, who rose to fame in the 1980s with his rockabilly outfit Stray Cats, has since made a name for himself fronting big bands and showcasing his considerable guitar chops. Now veterans of the holiday show circuit, Setzer and his orchestra have sold more than a million Christmas albums, putting their unique, jazzy spin on classics like "Jingle Bell Rock" and "White Christmas." Might as well spike the eggnog and guiltlessly enjoy this old-fashioned Christmas review. —Laura Ferreiro

Weingart, Phillips, Jones & Miller

THE BAKED POTATO

Ohio-born keyboardist Steve Weingart has been a regular in the touring band of guitarist Steve Lukather (Toto) for the past five years. Weingart's wife, Renee Jones, is a fine bassist, and a year ago she joined Lukather's band, giving the pair a chance to tour worldwide together. Simon Phillips is regarded as one of the world's great drummers — he currently holds the Toto chair, after past stints with Jeff Beck and The Who. Weingart and Phillips have toured together with their own band in Japan, adding uber-guitarist Mike Miller (ex–Chick Corea) to create some of the most interesting jazz fusion of the past decade. The four team tonight for the release of Weingart's and Jones' Dialogue. The evening should provide great music, as well as a chance to see Phillips up close and personal in an intimate club, rather than a giant arena. —Tom Meek

Also playing:

WALTER SMITH III QUINTET at the Blue Whale; ZIGGY MARLEY at Club Nokia; BATHS at El Rey Theatre; DAVID ARCHULETA at City National Grove of Anaheim; HER SPACE HOLIDAY at the Satellite.

sun 12/18

The Descendents, The Dickies

SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM

In the late '70s and early '80s, as the original Hollywood punks gave way to the faster and louder suburban bands, The Descendents came up with their own variation on the genre. The Hermosa Beach wise guys married the new hardcore tempos with stubbornly poppy melodies and teen-centric lyrics about fast food ("Weinerschnitzel"), stupid grown-ups ("My Dad Sucks," "Parents"), middle-class aspirations ("Suburban Home"), escaping school/society/heartbreak ("Catalina") and even the occasional tragedy ("Jean Is Dead"). The Descendents' combination of angry punk guitars with giddily sarcastic slacker vocals directly inspired Blink-182, Green Day and a horde of sound-alike emo bands, albeit in a delayed, cross-generational chain reaction. But singer Milo Aukerman and founding drummer Bill Stevenson are finally back at it, without the late, underrated songwriter-guitarist Frank Navetta. The Dickies actually established the pop-punk template even earlier, but they continue to mix thrash and pop in a ruthless and distinctly inimitable, celebrity-savaging, Sammy Maudlin manner. —Falling James

Billy Martin

THE MINT

A number of younger jazz drummers will tell you they got into jazz through the acclaimed jazz-funk trio Medeski, Martin and Wood. The Martin in that jazz firm, Billy (or, "illy B") has gone on to do many unique projects, such as his solo breakbeat albums, starting with Drop the Needle in 2001 and continuing on with the illy B Eats series. Also of note is his recent work with electronic crazy music person Ikue Mori on Iooi and his recent hip-hop project Intro 101. It's hard to downsize from a trio but here, Martin does just that, teaming with awesome Bay Area organist Wil Blades to make some duo magic. Be wary of the MMW fans, and bring a machete to hack through the dreadlocks. —Gary Fukushima