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• Local band butcher’s bill for 2008

The Canopy Club’s Fall Semester Showdown is back again this weekend. The series takes local bands and puts them together during a series of shows over several nights like a little festival. Wednesday, Dec. 10 was the first, but there’s still plenty to catch if you missed it. Thursday, Dec. 11, the interesting pairing of Zmick and Underpaid Packy will surely pack the place, starting at 9 p.m. with a $7 cover (get there before 9 p.m. and pay only $5!). Zmick is well-known for putting on genre-bending sets every Monday night as the resident band for Monday Night Rage, while Underpaid Packy has come a long way from playing at Bar Louie (yeah, remember that place?) to becoming one of the biggest bands on campus.

Friday night’s Showdown show keeps up the strong showing but also adds a touch of the bittersweet. The show will be the last in the area for Tall Tale, the group fronted by lady-duo Tracey and Tricia. The band released a full-length album (Pirate Ship) earlier this year, which contained one of the best local songs of the year (“Undertow”). This isn’t the end of music for the members of the band, but they’ll all be heading in opposite directions in 2009. Tricia Scully (guitar/vocals) will head to France for the semester, though she is quick to point out that upon her return, Tracey and Tricia will rise again. Tall Tale will share the stage on Friday with Elsinore — another band packing one of the best songs released locally this year (“The General” from the EP of the same name), though the full-length will now have to wait until 2009. Elsinore will hold down the headlining spot, with the ever-evolving sound of Santa riding shotgun. New Ruins will round things out nicely to give you a pretty great night for $7 (9 p.m. start).

And then Wu-Tang throws a wrench in everything. Where the fourth installment of the showdown was supposed to occur, the Wu-Tang Clan will perform a set that is likely to be a real treat for the folks of CU — hard to hold it against the Canopy Club, as I’m sure W-TC will bring in a few more heads. But there’s still a bit of the local fair in there as Krukid is set to open the show with DJ Delayney on deck. This is an awesome opportunity for one of the area’s best and hardest working emcees. Doors will open at 7 p.m., and you’ll want to be there in line beforehand if you want a good spot in front of the stage. Showtime is 8 p.m. This show will be followed by the originally scheduled late set from the Hood Internet (midnight, $8 advance/$10 at the door).

Earlier mention of the loss of Tall Tale as a unit reminded me that this column never really covered the loss of another excellent local group, the Beauty Shop. Prompted by the loss of another bass player (Eric Fisher, formerly of Lorenzo Goetz, moved to Portland) and a need for some different scenery, singer/guitarist John Hoeffleur said goodbye to the project he spent a decade with and moved to Chicago. John and his writing will be sorely missed (not just in his songwriting but also in his honest, biting and intelligent opinions on any subject you could prompt him with). Hopefully he’ll make the trip down once in a while. Until then, if you don’t know much about the Beauty Shop, you can play catch-up at http://myspace.com/thebeautyshop or at any of the local music spots like Parasol or Exile On Main St., where you can pick up the band’s entire catalog. Following through on my threat of list-writing from a couple of columns back, I now present my top five Beauty Shop songs:

1. “Ambulance” from Just Some Demos: I’ve mentioned it here several times, but this song belonged in heavy rotation on college stations across the country. It’s fantastic, and you can find it on the MySpace page.

2. “A Desperate Cry For Help” from Crisis Helpline: One of the best examples of Hoeffleur’s wit and ability to turn a great phrase.

3. “Death March” from Yr Money or Yr Life: Also on the MySpace, this was the first song that hooked me back around the time it came out.

4. “To Keep You” also from YMOYL: This perfectly captures desperation in the form of a slow crawl. And the slide guitar work is outstanding.

5. “Babyshaker” from Crisis Helpline: It’s hard not to love this song, which became the live anthem, screamed along with by fans. Never did a three-piece with an acoustic guitar sound so badass. Honorable mention goes to the song whose name I believe is “Liquid Fuel,” which has yet to see release (hopefully on the ***Just Some Demos*** follow up, since it was recorded). Another shining example of songwriting wit (“you got served, that’s why your words are slurred”), the song contains one of the best screams I’ve ever heard.

Mike Ingram can be reached at forgottenwords@gmail.com.