SUNDAY, DEC. 23 2012 >>>

1. From 4-9 p.m. at The Swiss, seven bands come together at a benefit show for a local woman, Nicole Skoog, a 31-year-old who suffers from a debilitating condition called occipital neuralgia. Blues Redemption, Crazy Texas Gypsies, Dean Reichert, Raphael Tranqilino, James King and the Southsiders, Rod Cook (Vicci Martinez Band) and Paul Green will rock the blues to help offset the costs of surgery and recovery that are not covered by insurance. Doug Skoog is Nicole's father, and is also a member of Blues Redemption and Crazy Texas Gypsies. He writes an explanation of Nicole's condition, "It is a rare congenital abnormality that causes numerous occipital and cranial nerves to run though the muscles below her scalp.  Several car accidents many years ago and a worker's comp injury has triggered severe muscle spasms that have limited the blood supply to these nerves, triggering the inflammatory process and producing scar tissue that further enhances her pain.  She suffers from chronic daily migraines every waking moment.  Her life the past 12 months has been taken away from her and she has been unable to do what she loves, which is working as an ER Trauma RN helping others." Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on this benefit in the Weekly Volcano's Music section.

2. The Lonely Night: Luminous Solo Dance Works presents four solo dance artists — Myrionymos Marionette, Mirror Milk, Douglas Ridings with Stephen Fadrich on piano and Bridget Scott with live musical accompaniment White Gourd at 6 p.m. inside the Midnight Sun Performance Space in downtown Olympia.

3. The Redroom in Tacoma hosts an all-ages rap show featuring Endgame, Knowthead, 100 Proof, J wise and Shane Mackinnon at 7 p.m.

4. Local comedians who have taken their shows to other states have returned home to make their families' holidays a littl ebit funnier. The Tacoma Comedy Club has convinced the comedians to drop by at 8 p.m. for a "Home For The Holidays" comedy show. Brilliant!

5. It has been 10 years since The Brotherhood morphed from the dank, labor bar into one of Olympia's beloved hotspots; 10 years of soul nights, dance parties and more bands than you can ever want to count. To celebrate that auspicious occasion The Brotherhood is throwing a 10-year bash featuring the highlights of the 2012 "Night of the Living Tribute Bands": The Cure and The Scorpions. Tying the event together will be the ever-raucous R&B tunes slapped down by the bar's longtime resident madman, DJ Wildman James. The cover charge benefits the Thurston County Food Bank. It all goes down at 9 p.m.

PLUS: Holiday stage performances in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: Sunday, Dec. 23 arts and entertainment events in the South Sound