Working For The Weekend …

Our weekend staff has written the following items to cheer you up when you realize you’ve already blown your holiday budget for this year.

Here Comes The Sun (And The Moon)The Bravery fires up the tour bus in support of its latest.

Steps Into Headlining Spot – The rising country singer heads out on his own for the first time in North America.

Lineup Swells – The roster for the eclectic Florida music festival continues to grow.

100 Days, 100 Nights, 100 Shows (Okay… 22) – Hardworking Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings show no signs of slowing.

Next week’s HotStar is Avenged Sevenfold

Here & There …

Has the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame lost its credibility? – The Detroit News

Friends and family pay their respects to the rapper known as Pimp C – Houston Chronicle

Is this the last year for Andy Williams’ Christmas tour? – Arizona Republic

Chris Cagle cited for misdemeanor assault – Associated Press

Getting’ gritty with TobyMac – The Tennessean

The collective wisdom of The New Pornographers – The Independent

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Iron & Wine will be all over Europe during January. The latest new dates list Copenhagen, Cologne, Amsterdam, Berlin and Milan among the cities on the schedule; The Bridge adds a whole mess of U.S. dates for January, February and April; Billy Joe Shaver plays Fort Worth in January and Houston in February.

Gordon Lightfoot adds to his 2008 calendar with shows in Manistee, MI, Waukegan, IL, Appleton, WI, and Des Moines, IA; Lucy Kaplansky adds CT and OK to her ’08 schedule; Coheed And Cambria play Cologne, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Hamburg next April; David Knopfler plays Germany in February and Drive-By Truckers add dates in the U.S. for March, stopping in cities like Memphis, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Through the course of the day we updated the schedules for Kylie Minogue, Dennis Miller, Dizzee Rascal, Gabrielle, Lee Rocker, Sum 41, Boyz II Men, Foals, Hot Chip, John Fogerty, The Decemberists, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, DevilDriver, John Doe, Kula Shaker, Josh Ritter, David Wilcox, Neil Young, Neko Case, Jason Aldean, The Subdudes, The Toasters, Sara Bareilles, Rockapella, Toubab Krewe, Tom Rush, Foxy Shazam / Karate High School, The Wrights, The Vints, The Benjy Davis Project, The Lee Boys plus more bands and artists than Keith Richards has shot glasses.

And that wraps up another week of rock ’em, sock’em tour date action in the ol’ Pollstar.com Concert Research Center and Turkish Baths. Have a great weekend!