John Heller, Post-Gazette
	Click here for our special guide to the Season's sights, sounds and celebrations

FEELIN' THE BLUES
If the holidays have you wanting to either cry in your beer or dance on the bar, there's a blues band from Texas that can provide just the right notes. Actually, there were supposed to be two of them, but late yesterday afternoon Belkin Productions announced that Delbert McClinton would not be visiting us this weekend (refunds are available at the point of purchase).

That leaves Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, a band out of Dallas that features Funderburgh, a songwriter and guitarist inspired by B.B. King, joined by Sam Myers, a singer from Mississippi who was a former drummer in Elmore James' band. With more than 25 years under their belts and numerous W.C. Handy Awards, the Rockets rock the Rex with Texas jump blues and the sound of the Delta at 8 tonight. Tickets are $15. 412-381-6811.

PSO SING
This weekend's concerts at Heinz Hall mark the rare occasion when you can sing along with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Daniel Meyer conducts the orchestra, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the Children's Festival Chorus and you, the audience, in carols, nostalgic noels and sing-alongs. Performances are 8 tonight; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $19.50 to $69.50. Call 412-392-4900.

CORO CONCERTS
For a holiday spice, head for the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium in Oakland where Coro Latinoamericano -- Pittsburgh (the Latin American Choir of Pittsburgh) presents "Feliz Nochebuena (Happy Christmas Eve)" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The concert will feature Latin American rhythms and songs from various countries of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Leading the Coro will be Enrique Bernardo, a native of Lima, Peru, who is currently a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. Latin American musical group Puro Queso is the guest artist. Donation is $5; free to students and children. Call 412-661-1211

The Pittsburgh Camerata combines poetry and choral music in "Ring Out, Ye Crystal Spheres," a title it grabbed from John Milton, who was referring to the constellations in the heavens in "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity." Jay Keenan will read verses from that work between the Camerata's traditional carols and motets. Concerts are at the Church of the Ascension, Oakland, at 8 p.m. Saturday; and St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Oakmont, at 3 p.m. Sunday. Call 412-621-5884.

BAROQUE CHRISTMAS
Biber isn't a name that comes up much during the holiday season. But Chatham Baroque doesn't work in the conventional way. The chamber trio will be supplemented by more baroque string players and an organist for concerts that focus on Heinrich Biber's "Passacaglias" for unaccompanied violin and lute and works by his contemporaries. The concerts are dedicated to the memory of Emily Norman Davidson, a Chatham Baroque member who died in November of last year. Performances are 8 tonight at the United Methodist Church in Sewickley; 8 p.m. Saturday at Synod Hall in Oakland; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Chatham College. Tickets are $8 to $18. Call 412-394-3353.

'DEAD' ZONE
Last call for "The Dead." Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre is closing out its run of "James Joyce's The Dead," a holiday tale about a gathering of three generations in turn-of-the-century Dublin. PG critic Chris Rawson wrote of the play: "While celebrating tradition and exploring with sympathetic comedy the emotional layers of a family holiday party, it also invokes those thorns -- the darkness waiting right outside the encircling glow of candles and fireside." It's at the Charity Randall Theatre, Stephen Foster Memorial, Oakland, at 8 tonight and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Call 412-394-3353.

Also finishing its run is "The Snow Girl," a play based on the Russian folk tale by Michael Price Nelson, at Prime Stage, 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown, at 8 tonight and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Call 412-394-3353.

LETTERMEN SHOW
Before Letterman, there was the Lettermen, who used to make regular appearances on Carson -- Johnny Carson. The '60s vocal group is still going, evoking the pre-Beatles era with hits such as "When I Fall in Love," "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Goin' out of My Head." They play at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at North Allegheny Senior High School in McCandless. Tickets are $25. Call 724-934-7288.

LATE NIGHT SINGERS
With The World closing and Clear Channel halting its club shows, maybe it's time for a cabaret revival. Pittsburgh CLO's Late Night Cabaret is hopping this weekend with the classically trained (but jazzy) Jennifer Saunders doing her "Kaleidoscope" show at 10:15 tonight and Pittsburgh Musical Theater veteran Kathy Lash doing an offbeat holiday tribute at 10:15 p.m. Saturday. The Cabaret at Theater Square is on Penn Avenue, next to the O'Reilly, Downtown. Admission is $10. Call 412-281-1264.

THINGS STILL GOING ON
The National Aviary on the North Side is open for free through Sunday for the Snowbird Festival, featuring crafts for kids, holiday performances and daily bird encounters. Call 412-323-7235.

There will still be Saturdays in the city. But this is the last week for Saturdays in the City, special days Downtown with strolling carolers, street performers, special lights and free horse-drawn carriage rides that depart from the Rink at PPG Place from noon to 3 p.m. The free Dollar Bank shuttle operates from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens keeps the lights on for candlelight evenings to enjoy the Winter Flower Show. Phipps will be open till 9 p.m. through Dec. 30. Also, Santa is there for the kids Saturdays and Sundays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. 412-622-6914.

Just across the street, the Schenley Park Visitor Center is buzzing with holiday activity. Kids can meet Santa and give him their wish lists Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. And there's music at 6 p.m. the next three nights: a holiday bell choir (tonight), Victorian carolers (Saturday) and The Magic Moments (Sunday). It's all free.

And don't forget the Eckerd Celebration of Lights, Overly's Country Christmas, Carnegie Museum trees, the Santas at PPG Place, the tours at the Frick and more!