Besides the wonderful events highlighted by the flyers above, there are a few other shows on New Year's Eve in Austin worth noting: - New Monsoon @ Club 115 - South Austin Jug Band & Dertybird @ Stubb's - Bob Schneider & Two Guy Trio @ Antone's - Dale Watson & Jon Dee Graham @ The Continental Club - The Flametrick Subs & Scott H. Biram @ Emo's Outside - Reckless Kelly @ La......

It's the your favorite bartender at Sao Paulo, or the girl in the cutoffs at El Chilito. It's the smokin' UPS guy, or one of the Lone Star Rollergirls. It's your local secret crush. It's hard to believe that it's been over sixteen years since Linklater's Slacker edified the collective and individual characters that make Austin, well, Austin. Although Liberty Lunch is long gone, the people that make our city great remain. And what......

FRIDAY [2] theatre • Improv rap group Aww Shit (Chris Trew, Cody Dearing, Eric Seufert) compose freestyle rap songs and improvise scenes based off of them at this week's Cage Match at Coldtowne Theater (11:30pm) art • Opening Reception for The Llamerret Show at Darkroom Gallery (7pm) art • Texas Biennial Opening Reception at Okay Mountain & Site 1808 (7-10pm, 301 Chicon Unit E at Third and Chicon) art • B Scene: A Night......

[Several weeks ago, we told you about a community radio DJ from Nashville who'd set out, for the second year in a row, to profile all of the bands playing this September's Austin City Limits Festival. We've invited Janet Timmons of Out the Other to join our staff as a guest writer -- she'll be providing weekly summaries of the latest bands she's covered on her fantastic ACL Artist Previews Page. Welcome, Janet! --......

FRIDAY [9] [music] Shellac, The New Year at Emo's (link) [music] Twilight Singers w. Mark Lanegan, Afterhours, Jeff Klein at The Parish Room (link) [music] The Late Fees at End of an Ear (6pm) (link) [music] Sons of Hercules, Jesus Christ Superfly (15th Anniversary!) at Beerland (link) [music/danceparty] Waxploitation! at Red's Scoot Inn (9:30pm) (link) [music] The Beer Garden Series presents South Austin Jug Band at Threadgill's World HQ (link) [dance] A Place to Land......

With the deluge of radio ads promising "drink specials!" and "the biggest screen in town!", it's tough to know which Super Bowl parties might actually be worth getting off of your ass for. We've read the ads, asked around, and looked for a few parties that have something better than average going for them. Our five selections (and the reasons why) follow: - Antone's: Doors at 4pm. Food by Mangia Pizza and Rudy's BBQ.......

SXSW.com released an updated lineup for this year's SXSW Music Festival earlier today, and it's one hell of a list. The SXSW committee hastens to note that "This is a partial list of performers confirmed to appear at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival. This list is current as of 1/13/06. All of this information is subject to change." International acts include: Masahiro Nitta, DMBQ, Ellegarden, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, PE'Z, The Emeralds (Japan)......

[festival/music/art] First Night at Congress Avenue (All Ages, 2pm, Free/$10) [info] [tickets] [music] Nic Armstrong and the Thieves, Moonlight Towers and DJ Polecat at Club de Ville (21+, $5, Call 512-457-0900) [fabulous] Studio 54 Par-tay! at Rain (21+, Call 512-494-1150) [info] [music] White Ghost Shivers and The Small Stars at Blue Genie Art Industries (21+, 9pm, $37) [info] [tickets] [music] Flametrick Subs with Satan's Cheerleaders, Slick 57 and Basin Street at Emo's (All Ages,......

So A Flock of Seagulls won't be playing Elysium tonight, but there are a few great shows happening around town that are bound to tickle your fancy...pants. IF YOU LIKE ... The Rapture, The Faint, or tight pink jeans: Rock out with electroclash wizards Ghostland Observatory at Karma Lounge @ 10pm. They're fresh off a hugely successful East Coast tour, so come and give 'em a warm Austin welcome back! Jack Johnson: Nashville singer-songwriter......