Chris Robinson Brotherhood at Brooklyn Bowl
The name of the band is both a tease and a jab. Chris Robinson famously co-founded The Black Crowes with his younger brother, Rich. But in 2015, the two acrimoniously ended the band, with the elder Robinson already having established another musical project. Naturally, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood doesn’t include Rich, but features four other musicians—including former Crowes keyboardist Adam MacDougall—who have bonded with Chris over their love of soulful and psychedelic roots music. The CRB overlaps with the Crowes’ bluesy reverie, yet wanders in different directions, whether favoring jam-like explorations or a shorter, folkier aesthetic—like on this year’s Barefoot in the Head.
During opener “Behold the Seer,” Chris all but offers another sly broadside against his brother and former band, disguised as a life lesson: “If you want to keep your engine humming, keep your eyes wide ahead and don’t look back.” December 7, 7 p.m., $23-$25. –Mike Prevatt
Art talks by Dave Hickey & Candice Lin at Barrick Museum of Art
“The body is a troubled thing,” sculptor and installation artist Candice Lin writes in an essay for Frieze.com. Based in LA and with a CV of solo shows around the world, Lin is a post-colonial artist who explores the complex relations of power, history and humanity. She speaks December 7 at 7 p.m. as part of the Visiting Artist Lecture Series.
The “bad boy of art criticism” returns to town for “On Writing” on December 12 at 7 p.m. Former UNLV prof Dave Hickey—author, art critic, essayist and MacArthur “genius”—gives lectures that are equal parts inspiring, elucidating and cranky. A must see. December 7 & 12, Free/suggested $5 contributions. –C. Moon Reed
Every Christmas Story Ever Told at Majestic Repertory Theatre
Majestic takes the bones of A Christmas Carol and hangs them with all manner of pop-culture tinsel—including Frosty the Snowman, Charlie Brown and “a slightly tipsy Santa”—in this fun holiday farce. Odds are you need this about now. December 8-23, Days & times vary, $20. –Geoff Carter
Dark Black Record release at 11th Street Records
The local post-punk outfit—yes, Las Vegas has one, and it’s quite good—celebrates its new, self-titled 7-inch with a performance in the very National Southwestern Recording studio Downtown where its two moody, angular tracks (“New Lows” and “My Window,” both streamable at wearedarkblack.bandcamp.com) were laid down. Dark Black’s Running in Place Records labelmates—Brett Vee, Moon Blood and Oversight—are also set to play a few tunes each. It’s an all-ages event, and it’s free; vinyl copies cost $6 and come in several colors. December 8, 8 p.m. –Spencer Patterson
Boots, Buckles, Beers at RM Seafood
The Mandalay Place favorite marks NFR week with a special menu—rock shrimp po’ boys, shrimp hush puppies and more—plus cornhole and the rodeo up on the big screens. A new, unwrapped toy (for Help of Southern Nevada) gets you a free glass of beer or wine. December 9, 6 p.m., Register at 702-632-9300. –Spencer Patterson
3 Desert-dwelling art exhibits
In Mojave: Transcendent Desert at Nevada Humanities Program Gallery, artist Montana Black curates a multi-media exhibition exploring our desert backyard. “The desert landscape of the Mojave with its vast open space and seemingly endless sky has inspired deep mental, emotional and spiritual journeys of reflection and revelation for many through the centuries,” Black writes in a statement. Her own oil painting, a juxtaposition of a classic diner and a desert highway titled “Coffee Cup Mojave,” is featured in the show. Other artists include Suzanne Hackett-Morgan, Anne Hoff, Bobbie Ann Howell, Jeanne Voltura and Kathleen Nathan, along with poets Angela Brommel, Lisa Brown and Joan Robinson. Through January 25; workshop December 20, 1-5 p.m.
Artist Nancy Good digitally alters her photographs of Black Rock City into kaleidoscope visions of Burning Man. She then prints the bright, abstract images onto fabric. The result resembles mandalas or crop circles—both familiar and wholly new. Good’s show, See, Touch and Go Dream: The Burning Tapestries, runs through January 1 at Winchester Cultural Center. Artist reception December 12, 5:30 p.m.
You’ve seen her colorful murals outside Vesta Coffee Roasters and the Plaza Downtown. You’ve seen her plexiglass sculpture at the Windmill and Rainbow road intersection. Now, artist Holly Rae Vaughn fills the Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery with a plexiglass and wood sculpture in her new show, Collide. Through January 19; artist talk December 14, 6 p.m. –C. Moon Reed
