Weekend Music: Beyond the Garage

If you manage to pry yourself away from this weekend’s

festival at Rudz and Walter’s (see a full schedule

) - of course, TGG alone is worth an entire weekend of your time, just be sure to read

first - there are some delicious options elsewhere on the weekend’s musical menu.

Before we get into that, though, congratulations to the Dimes for being Spin’s Band of the Day today. Whoops, that’s the one from Portland. No matter – the Houston Dimes are way better, because the last thing the world needs right now is another Shins/Arcade Fire hybrid. Hope our Dimes are resting up for that big warehouse soiree at 1620 Keene St. next Saturday. Anyways…

Don’t forget your can of fake snow for Robert Earl Keen’s “Merry Christmas from the Family” at Verizon, or try Austin four-piece the Black’s considerably darker, thornier version of roots-rock at Walter’s with Nick Joseph and Mathletes. Gil Mantera’s Party Dream brings their bizarre Rust Belt disco-pop to Proletariat, All Severed, Sever the Silence, Eternal Decimation, Blood Void and Suicide Opera hit Fitzgerald’s downstairs for some Christmas caroling – be sure to request “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” – and the Electric Mountain Rotten Apple Gang and Green Mountain Grass light up Last Concert Café. Puff puff give, brah.

Still wondering “Where’d You Hide the Body?,” hard-bitten Americana poet James McMurtry brings his search to the Continental Club Saturday, while local power-pop fixtures dune TX rock the Big Top two doors down. Axiom-era “drunk-rockers” Sad Pygmy party like it’s 1990 at Super Happy Fun Land with the Delta Block, and Million Year Dance, Penny Royal and DJ Ceeplus & the House of Bad Knives get mystical at Warehouse Live. Philly soul smoothie Musiq Soulchild croons the Arena Theater with Chrisette Michelle, and see what’s in store for this week’s Secret Saturday Show at Shady’s Tavern from noon to 5 p.m.

Sunday, Korn’s neighbors from California’s Central Valley, Adema, sail into Scout Bar with the power-metal/post-grunge blasts of their recent album Kill the Headlights. With apologies to Beck, you’ll probably want to put it in neutral after that – or else head back to Rudz with everybody else for the big The Mike Gunn reunion. – Chris Gray

• Playbill