ITP Cheaps: Xmas Trees, Odyssey electro & 12 Pub crawls

Here comes Thursday, and here comes another action-packed edition of my Cheap Thrills column in le Boston Herald, this week addressing more Christmas trees, the Odyssey dance party Friday at Good Life and a 12-bar pub crawl with some holiday spirit. Bring it.

SPRUCE UP THE PLACE
Boston Common Tree Lighting
Today, 6 to 8 p.m., Boston Common, all-ages, FREE
Cheap Thrills loves tree lighting ceremonies about as much as it loves warm cups - nay, jugs - of Bailey’s Irish Cream on a cold December evening. And in the past few weeks we’ve sung carols for various holiday illuminations and ceremonies at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Macy’s in Downtown Crossing, the Stone Zoo and Harvard Square. But here comes the granddaddy of them all - the 68th annual Boston Common Holiday Tree Lighting. The belle of this snow ball is a 46-foot white spruce delivered from Nova Scotia, making it the Canadian province’s finest gift to the Hub since Glen Murray netted 44 goals for the Bruins [team stats] in the 2002-03 hockey season. In addition to the tree-for-all, catch performances by “American Idol” season six third-place finisher Melinda Doolittle, r&b singer Brian McKnight, the Boston Arts Academy dance troupe and Huntington Theatre Company. More than 80 trees around the Common will be decorated accordingly, and holiday-themed images will be projected on the Frog Pond. We live for this kind of stuff.
Info: mayorsholidayspecial.com, 617-635-4505

STAR TREK DISCO
Odyssey: Red Alert dance party
Friday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., at the Good Life, 28 Kingston St. ; 21-plus, $5
Gotta appreciate a dance party where the promoters go all out on the production aspect, and few put more thought into their epic bashes than the So Dope crew. For their Odyssey launch a few months ago, So Dope actually printed personalized boarding passes for party people to redeem at the door. Tomorrow night, the space-aged monthly electronic music beat-market at the Good Life presents “Red Alert,” calling upon locals to defend Boston from a sonic invader, this one in the form of DJ Volterra of Los Angeles megaparty the Heist. Says So Dope: “Fugitive DJ Volterra has launched a merciless onslaught of beats upon the Odyssey - we must defend ourselves.” Awesome. So Dope residents Jay K the DJ and Damien Paul provide the 617 counter attack, with party kids C&G and Voltran spinning cosmic disco in the upstairs room. It’s like “Star Trek” for nightlife, and everybody’s getting beamed up.
Info: sodopeproductions.com; search Odyssey: Red Alert on Facebook.


A PBR IN A PEAR TREE
12 Bars of Christmas pub crawl
Saturday, starting at 2:30 p.m. near Faneuil Hall Marketplace; 21-plus, optional donation of $5 (to support Horizons for Homeless Children)
And on the 12th day of Christmas, our true love gave to Cheap Thrills - a wicked bad hangover from the 12 Bars of Christmas pub binge. Crawl In Boston’s annual jolly romp through a dozen Faneuil Hall area watering holes comes at a great time, as participants can indulge in the holiday spirit - and spirits - just before the New England weather makes a slushy winter sojourn from one pub to another darn near impossible (or at least inconvenient). The crawl kicks off at the Greatest Bar on Friend Street, making its merry way through Grand Canal, Red Sky, Ned Devine’s and others before wrapping up at Hong Kong on Chatham Street sometime around pass-out-o’clock. Those who pony up the $5 donation for charity receive a fancy Crawl In Boston nametag (so you don’t forget yours at the Hong Kong) and a beverage koozie. As an added treat, some bars along the way provide free appetizers, giving us something to munch on between shots of Jager. It’s a good time for all, and those 12 drummers drumming won’t show up inside your head until the following morning.
Info: crawlinboston.com