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.)
- December Nights @ Balboa Park (5-10 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
- John Foltz @ Marble Room
- Emerson, Mike Kelly @ Lestats
- Ultimate Stones, Strange Days, @ Belly Up
Rosemary Bystrak writes about the San Diego music scene, events and general musings about life in San Diego on San Diego: Dialed In. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
