December 29, 2012 | 10:44 AM | By

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Kingsfoil at Chameleon Club, By Surprise at The Barbary, Black Thought at The Blockley, Mike Doughty at The Tin Angel, Moosh and Twist at the First Unitarian Church

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Black Thought, By Surprise, Chameleon Club, First Unitarian Church, Kingsfoil, Mike Doughty, Reef The Lost Cauze, The Barbary, The Blockley, The Roots, The Tin Angel

York County pop-rock four-piece Kingsfoil is wrapping up its 2012 with a headlining show tonight at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster. The band put out its sophomore album this year, the hooky and emotive A Beating Heart is a Bleeding Heart, and recorded a Key Studio Session with us on the eve of Hurricane Sandy. Opening the show is fellow Central Pennsylvanian Jesse Baker, whose LP Tearing Down the Walls is available as a free download here. More information on tonight’s show can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar; below, watch the video for Kingsfoil’s very catchy single “What Your Mother Taught You.”

Emo-inspired South Jersey four-piece By Surprise are making a rare concert appearance tonight at The Barbary, in advance of the January 15 release of their second LP, Criteria. The all-ages show begins at 5 p.m., more information is available here. Below, listen to the title track from their new album.

Lead MC of the Legendary Roots Crew, Black Thought, is playing a solo set tonight at The Blockley in University City. This gives some hope that his long in-the-works solo LP, The Talented Mr. Trotter, might see the light of day. Or it could just be an excuse for him to jam out with a stellar lineup of his friends and contemporaries, including Reef The Lost Cauze (who released the great Reef The Lost Cauze Is Dead on Christmas). The 21+ show begins at 8 p.m., more information can be found here. Below, watch vintage footage of Black Thought freestyling with ?uestlove from the 2000 documentary Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme.

XPN Welcomes quirky / funky singer-songwriter Mike Doughty to The Tin Angel for two shows tonight. The one-time Soul Coughing frontman released his latest solo effort, The Flip Is Another Honey, back in November. The 7:30 show is sold out; tickets still remain for the 10:00 show, more information can be found here. Below, watch Doughty performing “Na Na Nothing” on KEXP.

Philly party-rap duo Moosh & Twist headline the First Unitarian Church tonight. Their latest mixtape, Back To the Basement, is due out in January. For more information on the show, check our concert calendar here; for more on what Moosh and Twist have been up to, read our interview here.