For their first holiday event, the station hosted a talented line-up of indie-rock/alternative acts, including headliners AWOLNATION and up-and-comers Youngblood Hawke. The venue’s cave-like interior and impeccable sound quality translated into a barreling and atmospheric party. With no re-entry at the front door, the restrooms were clogged with smokers jockeying for stalls in which to sneak in a few drags, between sets. Changeover was quick, with a tolerable quantity of hammy Christmas jokes and audience-appeasing self-promotion from the radio station’s representatives, accompanied, naturally, by a garrulous brood of bawdy lady-elves.

As the event let out, the nearby Riviera theater’s show was also ending, simultaneously choking the streets with partially Santa-fied hipsters and holiday revelers, all of which felt somewhat off-kilter, maybe due to the unseasonably warm temperatures; 60 degrees just doesn’t scream December, nor Christmas. So while Q87.7 made a valiant and memorable effort this year, the only Grinch to be successful in its Xmas-thievery this month seems to have been the weather. Not that anyone’s complaining about shorts in December.

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