The651.com

It’s a bustling weekend for nightlife in St. Paul this weekend. Here are our top three picks:

Brass Messengers

Saint Paul Santa Crawl & Lowertown Santa Crawl
When: Saturday, December 10 & Saturday, December 17
Where: Various bars in St. Paul
Get out your ironic Santa cap and head to St. Paul for two weekends of Santa themed pub crawls. Not to be confused with SantaCon, the first-ever Saint Paul Santa Crawl will hit bars all over Saint Paul tomorrow night. The main event is happening at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall, with sets from the Belfast Cowboys and other tribute bands. The crawl is nothing to scoff at – it comes from the team who brought us the Zombie Pub Crawl, after all. A fleet of party busses will take hoppers you from one spot to the next, and the wristband costs $20, with a portion of that going to Toys for Tots. Visit www.stpaulsantacrawl.com for details and tickets. Plans this weekend, or looking to do another round? Next Saturday, December 17, hit up the fourth annual Lowertown Santa Crawl, a smaller, more rootsy version. The Brass Messengers will lead crowds through the streets of Lowertown ending with caroling in Mears Park- and hitting bars in between, of course. Visit www.lowertownsantacon.infofor details to the free event.

Photo by Mathew Rucker

Holiday Lowertown Art Show
When: Opening reception 7-10 p.m. Saturday, December 10; exhibition runs through January 15, 2012.
Where: Black Dog Cafe and AZ Gallery, 308 Prince St., St. Paul, 65-255-6624.
Black Dog Cafe and AZ Gallery are joining forces to co-host the first annual Holiday Lowertown Art Show. The ongoing exhibit, which features pieces from 45 different artists in the area, will have a juried artists’ reception from 7 to 10 p.m. this Saturday, December 10. Participants include glass artist Julie Keller, painter Tom McGregor, and photographers Brian Hartz and Tom Reynen.Guests will be able to vote on their favorite works while listening to live music and sipping drinks from a cashbar.

Solid Gold

Solid Gold play 2 nights at the Turf
When: 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Turf Club, 1601 University Ave. W., St. Paul, 651-647-0486.
After having a relatively quiet year in which they’ve largely spent recording, Solid Gold are playing two nights at the Turf Club this weekend. Expect to hear their new material as well as favorites from their stellar 2008 debut Bodies of Water. Friday night’s show is sold out, thanks largely to opening Polica, the heavy-buzzing new group from Channy Leaneagh (formerly Casselle, of Roma di Luna and Gayngs), but you can still snag tickets for Saturday’s show featuring Milwaukee’s Collections of Colonies of Bees, better known for their Volcano Choir collaboration with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Tickets are $10 and available here.