On Friday, the campus of San Diego State will be alive with music. The annual Wrex the Halls concert returns with a slew of great acts that will fill the sold-out arena with the buzz of music. The show is headlined by the Killers, who have seen their career resurge following the release of their latest album, Battle Born, a hiatus and solo releases from Brandon Flowers. They'll be joined by Passion Pit, sisters Tegan & Sara and Grammy nominees M83, which would make this a good lineup. Throw in the Joy Formidable, Imagine Dragons and Youngblood Hawke and this is a great lineup. It will be worth your while to get there early and stay until the very end, especially with locals Audio Addiction kicking off the night, and you'd be hard-pressed to think of the band as "just a local band" after seeing them command the stage. There are plenty of other options on Friday, but Viejas Arena is the place to be.
Friday, Dec. 7:
91X Wrex the Halls featuring the Killers (9:45), M83 (8:45), Passion Pit (7:55), Tegan & Sara (7:15), the Joy Formidable (6:45), Imagine Dragons (6:20), Youngblood Hawke (5:55), Audio Addiction (5:30) @ Viejas Arena at the Aztec Bowl, SDSU (Doors at 5 p.m.)
Creepy Creeps, Mrs. Magician, Shiva Trash @ Soda Bar
The Whammy (featuring Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, Jonny Bowler of the Guana Bats and Tim Polecat of the Polecats), Big Sandy and his Flyrite Boys, Roy Rapid & the Rhythm Rock Trio @ Casbah
The Brothers Burns & J Phatts, Soul Ablaze, Kendrick Dial, F.U.Z.Z., DJ Black Belt Jones, DJ Ant Bo @ The Griffin
Stalins Of Sound, White Murderers, Way To Go Genius, Love Lashes @ Eleven
Sculpins, Eskera, Nutstache @ Tin Can
Bob Weir (solo acoustic), Jackie Green @ Balboa Theatre
Curren$y with the League, Trackwide, Fly Ly, Jevy, F.O.E, Ghadd @ Porter's Pub
Hip Hop vs Punk Rock featuring Azul, Zeohdeeh, Conspiracy Theorists, the Touchies @ Tower Bar
The Amandas @ Whistle Stop
Cuyamaca College Winter Wonder Jam 2012 featuring Trailerpark Rockstar, A Mayfield Affair, Josh Damigo, Real Things Are Good, Spero @ Cuyamaca Performing Arts Theatre ($5 or 3 cans of food or 1 unwrapped toy, 7 p.m., All Ages)
The Shallow End, Happy Ron @ Across The Street at Mueller College
Slam Dunk, Linkletter, Black Panther, Plan Without a Pilot, Throne @ Che Cafe
Eventvibe presents Adventure Club @ House of Blues
Reason to Rebel with Project Out Of Bounds, Daniel Z Project, Stircrazies @ 710 Beach Club
Break The Cycle, the Amalgamated, Unsteady, Bucket Of Fish @ Ruby Room
Kim WIlson, The Hips @ Winstons
Walking Papers, Redmond, Phantoms, Sound Sector @ Brick by Brick
Dave Aude @ Voyeur
Alpha Channel @ Thruster's PB
Faded Fridays @ U31
Great @ Go Lounge
Junior theDISCOpunk EDM Danceteria @ AC Lounge
Therapy/DarkWave Garden @ The Flame
Leon's Old School Karaoke @ Tio Leos
Motionless In White, Chelsea Grin, Stick To Your Guns, the Witch Is Right, Upon This Dawning @ Soma