A Squidmas full of festive cheer!

Wow!  I've been waiting for Squidmas for twelve whole months, and now it's finally happened.  Every year, these celebrations full of holiday cheer and massive amounts of festive wonder just get better and better, and this year's show, the fourth annual Squidmas event, blew it out of the water!  This time around, the bands took over the Melting Point stage and rocked their Christmas-flavored hits for a crowd of extremely eager, red-and-green-clad fans.  So much fun!

 Newcomers to the Squidmas scene, 50s inspired band Groove Tangent kicked off the night with their very own version of Jingle Bell Rock.  Then they eased us into the shocking news that it's really our moms putting the presents under the tree rather than Santa with a clever little tune.  I've got to say, for their very first Squidmas show, they sure did an awesome job changing up their songs to add a bit of holiday spice to them!  But the band didn't stop there.  They brought a slew of guest musicians onstage, recruiting some of their most talented friends to to help them rock the songs.  My favorite of these guests had to be Meghan, whose amazing voice gave their version of Santa Baby just the right measure of sultry sweetness.

 She also joined the band for a gorgeous harmony during their take on Feliz Navidad which featured two of their brilliant pals on trumpet and sax as well.

 Soon after, the Warm Fuzzies gave it a go with some rock-infused holiday covers of their own.  I truly enjoyed their amped up versions of some of the most well-loved, traditionally soft and slow Christmas songs.  And remember those free, new Fuzz of the Month tunes the band keeps releasing?  Sprinkled throughout the set, these melodies gave us bit of that quirky Fuzzies style that we know so well.

And then it was time for the creators of Squidmas to show everyone how it's done.  With a "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown," Doctor Squid launched into a set that had every person in the venue dancing and singing along.  Honestly, I don't even think it's possible to keep from joining in the fun at a Squidmas celebration!  And, most unbelievably, this one had the events of past years beat with even more brand new holiday mixes of some of their latest songs including those from their album Doctor Squid Changes the Channel, released at this very show.  I'm still amazed at just how easily all of their biggest hits seem to meld with some of the most beloved Christmas songs.  I will never understand what magic they employ to make that happen.  All I know is that I can't get enough of it!  The crowd clearly felt the same way, as cheers grew louder and louder after every song they played culminating in a chant of "Doctor Squid" and "encore" that brought on yet another tasty musical morsel.  They've done it again.  Doctor Squid has given us the best Squidmas yet!