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Club Frenzy Local bands tore up the weekend of clubs By Sarah Quelland SATURDAY NIGHT (Dec. 18) turned out to be a busy one for local bands, with the Cactus Club throwing a fairly low-key 11-year-anniversary celebration with Not Hot and Crack; True to Form opening for Testament at the Usual; Lit, L7, Pauly Shore and others performing at the women's Rock 'n' Wrestling event at the Oakland Arena; and Salmon playing a suicide-prevention benefit at the Gaslighter's Music Hall in Gilroy with NinePastNine, Product, Esoterica and others. Attending the Salmon show may not have been the best bet, as the Gaslighter was plagued with technical difficulties, but the bands muddled through with the poor sound system as best they could. Salmon put on its trademark high-energy show, with distinctive rap lyrics, and lots of kids turned out in support. Teen pop sensation Christina Aguilera was also in town Saturday, at Cesar Chavez Park, to help the Marines collect toys for the San Jose Toys for Tots Program. Folks who brought a toy to donate got their picture taken with the star, who was decked out for the holidays wearing a cheery red Santa hat. Known for her song "Genie in a Bottle," Aguilera just celebrated her 18th birthday. On the Channel 11 News evening broadcast that night, while discussing her appearance in the South Bay, one of the anchors blurted out something very close to "I want to know if she's a real blonde." Gee, I wonder what he meant by that? As the broadcast ended, the poor guy was seen with his head in his hands and shaking his head in bewilderment and most likely in shame. For the eighth year in a row, Stikmon presents the Cactus Club's annual Dysfunctional Family Christmas, a truly alternative holiday activity for those whose Christmases at home are lacking for whatever reason, as well as those for whom Christmas is pretty much over after the presents are unwrapped. Last year's was a great success with a real sense of camaraderie, and this one promises to be no different, with locals Boy Kicks Girl, True to Form, NinePastNine and others lined up for the night. In addition to New Year's Eve events at local clubs, including those at the Agenda Lounge, the Cactus Club, the Edge, Fuel, JJ's Blues, the Usual and other hot spots, some parties of particular note include the all-night blowout at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds known as Planet New Year 2000: the Gathering, a millennium dance theme park with Kool Keith, tons of DJs, thrill rides, fire dancing, spoken word, drum circles, alcohol gardens, giveaways and lots more; Primus' annual New Year's Eve show with Long Beach Dub Allstars and Buckethead at the Henry J. Kaiser Arena in Oakland; Mr. Bungle, the Melvins, Nomeansno, Fantomas (Mike Patton's seldom-seen noise metal side-project known to feature Dave Lombardo, Buzz Osborne and Trevor Dunn) and the Kids of Widney High (who kicked off the Mr. Bungle tour at Slim's earlier this year) at the Galleria Design Center in San Francisco; the San Francisco New Year's Eve/Millennium Celebration with the Pretenders, the Crystal Method, Los Van Van and others at the Bill Graham Civic Center; Uninvited 2000 featuring the Uninvited at the Monterey County Fairgrounds; and the Blues Extravaganza with John Lee Hooker and the Coast to Coast Blues Band, KVHW and the Derek Trucks Band at Maritime Hall. Visit http://calendar.metroactive.com to find our complete schedule of New Year's Eve events. PLAN AHEAD: dredg, Dec. 23 at Borders Books in Los Gatos; Red Hot Chili Peppers and 311, Dec. 28 at the Cow Palace; Krenshaw, Dec. 28 at the Usual; M.I.R.V., Dec. 30 at Slim's in San Francisco; Dance Hall Crashers and Groovie Ghoulies, Jan. 7 at Palookaville; TLC and Christina Aguilera, Jan. 8, 2000, at the Oakland Arena; Papa Roach, Broken Vision, dredg and Downstream, Jan. 15 at the Cactus; The Mr. T Experience, Jan. 15 at Slim's; The Kids in the Hall, Jan. 15-16 at the Warfield; Guster, Jan. 20 at the Edge; Sno-Core with System of a Down, Puya, Mr. Bungle and Incubus, Jan. 22 at the Warfield; Cher and Lou Bega, Feb. 5 at the San Jose Arena; Anthrax, Feb. 5 at the Warfield; the Pretenders, Feb. 14 at the Fillmore; the Judds and Jo Dee Messina, Mar. 3, 2000 at the San Jose Arena; Korn, Mar. 3, 2000, Oakland Arena. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]