Thursday Happenings

Buying Shit

-- The Davis Square Resident-Business Initiative (DARBI) presents its annual Midnight Madness event, during which passersby are expected to spend orgiastically from 5 p.m. until midnight. Expect discounts on things from pasta to housewares. Beware of the carolers. Various locations, Davis Square, Somerville, 5 p.m. to midnight.

Parties for Rich People

-- Eastern Standard throws an exorbitantly expensive Roaring Twenties party to celebrate Repeal Day, the day when the 18th Amendment was repealed and Prohibition ended, never mind the fact that the original repeal day came in the thirties, during a depression. If you are feeling flush, believe yourself to be layoff-proof, and do not vomit at the prospect of dressing up like dead people from a past decade, this is totally the party for you. Eastern Standard, 528 Comm. Ave., 8 p.m. $120 for the entire event, $40 for late night only.

Openings

-- The thoroughly uninformative (but otherwise delightful) Atlantic Works Gallery opens a new show today. We wish we could tell you who is exhibiting, but the press release just goes on and on about the number 12. Do you have a 12 fetish? Do baker's dozens make you violent with indignant rage? The gallery might have some art that you will like, we guess. Atlantic Works Gallery, Top Floor, 80 Border St., East Boston, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (through January 4). Free.

Mingus

-- Ken Schaphorst and the NEC Jazz Orchestra present the music of Charles Mingus, a bassist and pianist who was not afraid to cut his own band members. He was also pretty brilliant at composing music. The program features Mingus favorites like "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" and "The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife are Some Jive-Ass Slippers." Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. Free.