Badfish

If winter in the Capital Region here in 2008 makes you long for summer in Long Beach circa 1994, then woosh! Badfish can take you there. Kick off the moccasins, knock back a 40, rock the shades, squint real hard, and the guys of Badfish might start to look like the band they’ve made their career paying tribute to. Or, forget all that, take ’em at face value, and skank hard to all the hits: Either way, it will still be Sublime.

It’s really best to go that second route, though, becaue too much squinting will get you thinking that Badfish look an awful lot like opening act Scotty Don’t. Well, we’ll save y’all the headache now: same dudes, different (non-cover) band. The real curveball here is that the whole thing’s a part of the 104.9 Christmas Party. Edgy, indeed.

Feel the one-drop at Northern Lights (1208 Route 146, Clifton Park) Sunday (Dec. 21) at 7:30. Tickets are $18. Buy through the band’s website (badfish.com) and get a copy of Scotty Don’t’s new album. Call 371-0012 for more info.

Disney on Ice

Over the years, Disney has taken various characters from its cartoon family, stuck them on skates and sent them out on the road. Vóila! The Incredibles on Ice! What they haven’t done is take characters from every era of Disney entertainment and put them into the same show.

That’s what’s going on at the Times Union Center this week with Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic. Mickey and Minnie will be on skates, as will, among others, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and those nutty fish from Finding Nemo (pictured). The folks at Feld Entertainment, who put on these shows, are promising that all of the “Disney Princesses” will skate together in one big number.

We have to wonder: Will there really be room for all of Disney’s princesses? You’ll just have to go to find out.

Disney On Ice will be presented today (Thursday, Dec. 18) at 10:30 AM and 7 PM; tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 19) at 7 PM; Saturday (Dec. 20) at 11 AM, 3 and 7 PM; and Sunday (Dec. 21) at 1 and 5 PM at the Times Union Center (51 S. Pearl St., Albany). Tickets are $13 to $56. For more info, call 487-2000.

The Santaland Diaries

Satirist extraordinaire David Sedaris visited the Capital Region this September and delighted audiences once again with his signature brand of wit. If you missed Sedaris in person, you still have a chance to see a live production of the holiday tale that made him famous—The Santaland Diaries.

Sedaris first presented his essay “The SantaLand Diaries” as a humor segment on National Public Radio. The true stories of the now-bestselling author’s holiday stint working as an elf in Macy’s department store became an instant hit, and launched Sedaris to stardom.

In 1996, the essay was adapted for the stage as a one-man, one-act play. And this week, the droll adventures of the department store elf come to Saratoga in a Home Made Theater production starring Jonathan Whitton. So, if you’re nearly heartwarmed-out this Christmas season, this subversive elf might be just the ticket.

The Santaland Diaries opens tonight (Thursday, Dec. 18) at 7:15 PM, and runs through Sunday at Home Made Theater (Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs). Tickets are $15, and can be purchased by calling 587-4427. This show is recommended for adults only.