The Sharar Brothers come right down Santa Claus Lane

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY

What a seasonal sweetheart of a show—Long Beach and beyond invited for Christmas spirits under Alex’s cozy red roof, and anyone who’s not already rotating through a come-all-ye-local line-up gets to play whatever on whatever they brought just about as midnight rolls over. “It’s Christmas Eve Eve and it’s damn cold and you wanna hang with your friends,” says Paul Sharar, guitarist and singer in the Fifth Story Tenants among many other bands, who is happy that his show so happily fell together—a hootenanny set-up anchored by him and his brother Matt with friends and guests from years of Long Beach rock & roll. (The ‘members of’ list advertising the show reads like a compilation record someone could or will make.) Porchcore Pedro comes cheerful with Can of Beans and No Ma’am girls and then Sharar and brother Matt will curate a wildly re-arranged Fifth Story Tenants set—rarities and b-sides redone with guests like Blow Up Blow’s Bob Kurthy, the excellent Paper Planes’ Cliff Kane, ex-Doomed member Darryl Licht on piano for a possible seasoned-up Damned cover done as “I Just Can’t Be Happy (On Christmas Eve!)” and what else? It’s like a box set live and at the end, says Paul, they’re inviting everyone up: “So bring a harmonica!” Horseheads’/Writer’s Garage’s Mike Martt gets a solo set, too, with specific Christmas material requested by Paul, and at 11:30 on Christmas Eve Eve the set opens up: “I kind of want it to be a communal thing where people can just show up,” says Sharar. “I met a guy in a Descendents cover band, and he was like, ‘I’ll bring a ukelele!’ Covers, originals, Christmas jokes—the vibe is anyone can do whatever they want!”

ALMOST CHRISTMAS ACOUSTIC SHOW WITH CAN OF BEANS, NO MA’AM, MIKE MARTT AND THE FIFTH STORY TENANTS PLUS OPEN SET ALEX’S BAR | 2913 E ANAHEIM ST | LONG BEACH 90804 | SUN 8PM | $5 | 21+ | ALEXSBAR.COM | ALSO CONSIDER GOODFOOT XMAS | ALEX’S BAR | TUES 9PM | FREE | 21+ | GOODFOOT.ORG

Tags: alex's bar, fifth story tenants, good foot, Long Beach, Music, sharar brothers