By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

It’s beginning to sound like Christmas

Like Black Friday, Santa at the mall and holiday light displays, you can set your December calendar to the return of vocal groups The Blenders, Tonic Sol-fa and Mulberry Lane to Des Moines.

This year, the three groups play Hoyt Sherman Place in a one-week span, starting Friday. And if their concerts aren’t enough to fill your hearts with Christmas cheer, then you might check out a few other notable holiday shows being held this week in the metro. Maybe one of them will jingle your bells.

• Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Winter Tour 2007” — Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Wells Fargo Arena, $35.50 and $45.50. A musical and visual spectacle that appeals to audiences across generational divides with a timeless message.

• “Christmas with Mulberry Lane” — Friday, 7:30 p.m., Hoyt Sherman, $11.50-$23. Easy on the eyes and ears, these sassy blondes, ala “Midwest’s most popular sister group,” grew up singing and playing music together and have sold more than 550,000 albums, including their fan-favorite, “A Very Merry Mulberry Christmas.”

• Jim McDonough “Holiday Grande 2007” — Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Hoyt Sherman, $26 and $29. Monticello native pianist plays songs of inspiration and holiday favorites. Proceeds benefit Camp Courageous of Iowa.

• The Blenders “The Holiday Soul Tour 2007” — Sunday and Monday, 7:30 p.m., Hoyt Sherman, $33.50. The Blenders celebrate their 10-year anniversary of making Christmas music with the release of a new live DVD, “Christmas With The Blenders,” and a two-disc “Christmas Collection” CD. Each offers more than an hour’s worth of tight arrangements of Christmas carols, standards, hymns and original tunes. But seeing is believing.

• A St. John’s Christmas — Wednesday, 12:05 p.m., free will offering. A midweek, midday holiday musical that includes lunch. St. John’s Lutheran Church is located at 600 6th Ave.

• Tonic Sol-fa — Dec. 20-21, 7:30 p.m., Hoyt Sherman, $17.50-$100. Twin Cities a cappella quartet has sold more than 1 million records and established itself as one of the most in-demand vocal groups in the region. Their adaptations of holiday tunes varies in genre, from pop and rock, to classical and jazz.

Van Halen to play Des Moines
After weeks of speculation, it’s official: Van Halen, with David Lee Roth and bassist Wolfgang Van Halen in tow, will play Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Ky-Mani Marley opens. Tickets, $125, $75 and $49.50, go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at livenation.com and are also available at dahlstickets.com, Dahl’s ticket locations, the arena box office, or by phone at (866) 553-2457.

Scene notes
The Sonny Humbucker Band will perform Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Des Moines Art Center Downtown to kick off the Conrad Bakker exhibit that opens Friday. Admission is $5. … Local rapper $trick9 & The Truth host a CD release party Friday at 9:30 p.m. at the Vaudeville Mews to celebrate the release of “Mother Earth,” their full-length debut album. Tickets are $5. Fans can expect loads of zany satire. One of the tracks, “A Modest Proposal,” is $trick9’s re-imagining of the classic Jonathan Swift essay suggesting poverty could be solved by eating babies. Also, politician Ed Fallon plays accordion on “Lil Iqbal,” a song about the true story of a child laborer Iqbal Masih who spoke out against sweatshops during the ’90s. … Indie-rockers SNAFU, whose members live in Central Iowa and Minnesota, will host a CD release party Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Vaudeville Mews with Saint Radar and Browntown. Admission is $5. … Wilco returns to the Val Air Ballroom, March 9 for a 7:30 p.m. show. Tickets, $30 in advance, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and the Val Air. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $34. The opening act is TBA. … Casting Crowns will play April 24 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. … Another Des Moines rapper, Horizon, has released a new single, “The Lottery,” about the woes of gambling addiction on his MySpace page, www.myspace.com/horizon515. Horizon said he is contemplating shooting a video for the song, from which he said he has received a lot of positive feedback. The song can be downloaded for free. … The Community Jazz Center Big Band will play for free from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at Java Joes Coffeehouse. Bassist John Klatt from Chicago will be the guest artist. … “Corey’s Dysfunctional New Year’s Eve Bash,” featuring performances by Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor and The DumFux, will play the Val Air Ballroom on Dec. 31. Tickets are $15. Also on sale now at the ballroom, $22.50 tickets for Tesla, which will play Feb. 20. … Sam Summers of First Fleet Concerts, has booked Saosin, fresh off its tour with Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance, to play People’s Court Feb. 8. Armor For Sleep, The Bled and Meriwether will open. Tickets, $15, are on sale now through IowaTIX. … Grammy Award winning South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo will play a free show Feb. 9 at the Harris Center at Grinnell College. Tickets are required. Call (641) 269-3235. … The Dancing With the Stars Tour featuring Marie Osmond, Wayne Newton and Joey Lawrence, plays I Wireless Center in Moline, Ill., formerly known as The Mark, on Jan. 12. … Country Music singer LeAnn Rimes plays Meskwaki Bingo and Casino in Tama on Jan. 25. … Wynton Marsalias and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will play Feb. 12 at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. … “The Lennon Video Collection,” which includes 21 videos by John Lennon, has been released just in time for the holidays. … Bloodshot Records in Chicago has signed Justin Townes Earle, son of Steve Earle and named after Townes Van Zant. Earle, who played with The Swindlers and The Distributors, will release his debut full-length album, “The Good Life,” on Bloodshot next spring. … Columbia Records has entered into an agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment to release “RAW - Greatest Hits - The Music” next week. Here’s betting John Hammond is rolling over in his grave. CV

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