Nightlife Agenda

With Christmas on the horizon, we offer an extended version of the Nightlife Agenda this week. We'll publish a short, updated version next week with additional events, and you can look for a list of more New Year's Eve suggestions on our blog.

Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday, Dec. 27 | Friday, Dec. 28

Thursday, Dec. 20
You may know Jason Mojica as the host of the monthly Modernist Society salon at Bourbon, but he's also an independent filmmaker. Last December, he and partner Jim Milak went to Darfur, where, instead of just filming TV news-style images of genocide -- dead bodies, starving children, squalid refugee camps -- they interviewed American and European relief workers who willingly gave up the comforts of Christmas at home to come to Darfur and work with survivors. Get a first look at "Christmas in Darfur" tonight at 8 p.m. at Bourbon, and stick around for a DJ set by Laura Burhenn of local indie rockers Georgie James. There's a $5 cover, which goes to help pay the costs of making the movie. (You can see clips on the adventure on the filmmakers' blog.)

You know what, sports fans? Mister Days appreciates you. The management doesn't just show it with giant TVs, performances by Redskins cheerleaders or happy hour specials. Tonight, Mister Days throws a Christmas party for all its customers, whether you came once during March Madness or were at the bar to watch Red Sox games every week over the summer. Kicking off at 8, it features a free buffet, door prizes, music from a DJ and a visit from St. Nick. Obviously, there's no cover charge.

Friday, Dec. 21
We've often written about local roots reggae ensemble See-I (listen), thanks to its weekly appearances at Eighteenth Street Lounge and regular gigs at the Lounge's pre-holiday parties, but tonight, we're recommending you go see the group somewhere else. The Rock and Roll Hotel is the site of See-I's album-release party, and along with the band's cranking dubbed-out sound, you get house, funk and reggae music from hometown DJs Rex Riddim, Slant, Bjoo and the always-on Fort Knox Five. Making his D.C. debut tonight is Matt the Alien, an English turntablist (by way of Canada) known for his sick scratching and for working four turntables at once. Yes, four turntables. Tickets for the all-ages show are $10.

From December 19 to 25, the Crossroads is hosting what the club calls "Seven Nights of Christmas" -- a week of special events and concerts. Tonight's one of the better parties, the Carnival Christmas, with Barbadian soca star Alison Hinds (listen) taking center stage. Formerly of the party band Square One, her single "Roll It Gal" topped charts in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad two years ago, and she's just rerecorded the girl-power anthem for her first solo album, "Soca Queen."

There's more Christmas spirit at the Palace of Wonders, where this week's burlesque show is the quaintly titled "Sexy Santa Striptease Spectacular." It starts at 10 and costs $10.

Saturday, Dec. 22
Some people -- and you know who they are -- never get tired of Christmas music. Their radio is tuned to the all-holiday channel on the day after Thanksgiving, they know all the words to "It's a Marshmallow World," they own the soundtracks to the Charlie Brown and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer specials and they collect '80s novelty records. Have we got a show for them. "The 8th Annual Joti Rockwell and the Ambalamps Network Television Holiday Extravaganza," taking place at the Wonderland Ballroom tonight, features a band playing everything from "Donnie Hathaway's 'This Christmas,' to Wham!'s 'Last Christmas,' to Run DMC's 'Christmas in Hollis,'" according to an e-mail we got from the organizers. Since the band members play in groups like Roomful of Blues, we have a feeling they can pull it off. The music runs from 8 to 10, and the entire $8 cover goes to D.C. Central Kitchen.

When we're flipping around the TV, we sometimes come across music videos. Over the years, we've noticed a few things, one of which is this: Hip-hop videos are flush with beautiful women, yachts, expensive cars and several liquor stores worth of champagne. Rock videos tend to show skinny white boys playing guitars or, in rare moments, dancing on exercise equipment. We know who we'd rather hang out with when they get offstage. All of this makes the success of the Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rock Star" more puzzling. Wouldn't they rather party like Jay-Z? Ask them yourself tonight at the Crossroads, where the Shop Boyz are holding court at the "Party Like a Rock Star" event. The bigger draw for us, though, would be the DJs representing Stone Love, one of the finest dancehall sound systems every to come out of Jamaica. WPGC DJ Rane is your host, and DJs Book, Celo and Mr. Majestic spin hip-hop and Caribbean jams.

If you haven't bought jeans for that special someone on your holiday shopping list, you get a not-so-subtle reminder to do so at the Rock and Roll Hotel. A Festive Night Out with the Denim Bar features local electro/industrial/screamo synth duo the Drugstore Cowboys (listen), party-pleasing hip-hop and old-school jams from DJ Dredd, DJ Rob Wonder and DJ Tanner. (We're split over whether the "Full House" reference there is clever or stupid.)

Sunday, Dec. 23
On the heels of Stone Love's appearance, the Crossroads provides yet another present for dancehall fans with a concert by up-and-coming "Gangster Fi Life" Mavado at the Dancehall Sundays Christmas Party. Jamaican toaster Mavado (listen) has been making waves in New York as well as the Caribbean with singles like "Guns Out" and "Real McKoy," and fans of Bounty Killer are going to love Mavado's vocal style. House DJ Jason Steele provides the beats.

Monday, Dec. 24
Christmas Eve is the best night of the year to be Jewish, especially if you're looking for a packed dance floor. Take your pick from a pair of parties catering to young(ish) single members of the Tribe tonight . The long-running Matzo Ball is taking over adjacent nightspots Sesto Senso, Five and Andalu with DJs spinning Top 40, hip-hop and salsa. It runs from 9 to 2, and the $25 cover charge is good for all three clubs.