Gearing up for the big New Year's Eve bash, several artists are playing mini-residencies (two or three night stays) this weekend including: Cracker, The Radiators and ALO. If you schedule correctly, you could probably see everything that you want. Though New Year's Eve has some rocking concerts, we are going to cover those shows later in the week. For now, let's focus on Popscene's continued success in picking the perfect bands for their Thursday night......

Judging by the audiences' volatile reactions, She Wants Revenge did everything in their power to give the audience what they wanted: a spectacle (with some music). About half-way through their hour and a half set, a fight erupted. (This isn't the first time, we hear, that fights have started at one of their shows.) The lead singer, Justin Warfield asked, "Can't we all just get along?" and then continued singing their synth-pop Depeche Mode influenced......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Dashboard Confessional - The Shade of Poison Trees: Acoustic is back. Chris Carrabba returns to his "roots" with the new release of The Shade of Poison Trees. Basically if you are a long-time Dashboard Confessional fan, then you already know all about this album and probably have already pre-ordered it. As a newer fan of Dashboard Confessional we......

-- Brazilian Independence Day Celebration: Help celebrate Brazil's independence from Portugal by getting drunk, listening to master drummer Jorge Alabe, maybe doing a forbidden dance or two, and much more. The festivities start at 7 p.m. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding, Alameda; $15. -- Peaches Christ Retrospective: Not only does she liven up the stage at Trannyshack and host Midnight Mass, but Joshua Grannell (a.k.a. Peaches Christ) also makes those newfangled talking pictures,......

We are totally fascinated by the phenomenon of the Asian-American fashion show. In college, the various Asian-American student groups would always throw some kind of runway-themed benefit, featuring the clothing of Armani Exchange, as worn by premeds named Jennifer, and usually featuring the music of Depeche Mode. Reach out, touch faith. This always leads to a certain amount of squawking -- some of it by us! "This objectifies women," "this objectifies Asians," "this objectifies Asian......

Houstonist reports on cross-dressing thieves and undressing educators this week. A Peeping Tom defends himself with a papaya and an outraged onlooker asks Ken Lay, "TATER TOTS OR FRIES?" Also, FEMA wants it's money back. LAist are a bug bunch of geeks. They're Star Trek geeks, David Duchovny geeks and Frank Gehry geeks. During their Cochella preview their readers reveal themselves to be Depeche Mode geeks. Seattlest saw their basketball team preparing to leave for......