Two Don’t-miss December Shows

Provided you aren’t hitting all three nights of The Lower Lights in the next 7-8 days, here are a couple of shows we’ll gladly add to your radar. It’s not often we get a couple of bands this good this late in the year, so chances are we’re already applauding for that alone.

• Thursday
• Who: Shovels & Rope
• Where: The Commonwealth Room, Dec. 12, 2024, doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. 

Why: On the heels of the band’s latest (September’s full-length Something Is Working Up Above My Head), the husband and wife duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst return to these parts to give us a lot of incredible harmonies laced with a lot of drums, an thundering and steady beat. And, sure, they were here just last year supporting Gregory Alan Isakov, but it’ll be good to see them for a lot longer, showing off all their newly created songs. Is it too much to wish they end up performing their excellent take on “In My Room,” (the one they did along with Sharon Van Etten, on Busted Jukebox, Vol. 3). It’s okay to start manifesting that reality, yeah? In any case, if you’ve never seen them live, know this: even if you don’t know their music well enough to sing-shout along to, just know you’ll really, really want to. And that’s never a bad way to feel, period.  Tickets and info: Tickets

• Saturday
• Who: Portland Cello Project
• Where: The State Room, Dec. 14, 2024, Doors @ 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.

Why: It’s less important to know who is in this band hailing from you-know-where than it is to view them for what they are and the uniqueness that they bring. To paraphrase their own site real loosely, they create music you’d not expect to hear on multiple cellos in places you’d rarely expect to see them performed. And it means, yes, you’ll hear them take on the likes of (spoiler alert) Elliott Smith and Radiohead and Fleet Foxes and Outkast. And considering they’ve recorded their share of holiday tunes, expect one or more of those. Carols may show up. While I can attest to seeing 14 accordions played live at once, I’ve yet to experience what at least 9-12 traveling cellists sound like tackling “Paranoid Android” together. A real gift, indeed. Tickets and info: Tickets