Nobody makes them jingle bells rock quite like Brian Setzer [ tickets ].

The 46-year-old native of New York is the current top dog on the Christmas-music circuit. That's a good thing, given that he's also one of the very few artists that are doing something interesting with the musical subgenre. (Diana Krall, by the way, is another.)

He's not just singing the old familiar yuletide carols--he's reinventing them as well as creating new ones. Now, mind you, it's not like such Setzer-penned ditties as "Hey Santa!" and "Santa Drives a Hot Rod" will ever be ranked alongside such all-time Christmas classics as Berlin's "White Christmas" or Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve." But they are surely a lot more interesting and fun--a Setzer tradition, no matter what type of music he's performing--than hearing the muzak version of "Winter Wonderland" played for the umpteenth time in your local grocery store or mall.

On Tuesday (12/20), the former leader of The Stray Cats strutted into the lovely Fox Theatre in Redwood City, CA, with a big bag full of musical gifts for the capacity crowd.

It was one of the last dates of the year for the Brian Setzer Orchestra, which is making the rounds in support of a new CD, "Dig That Crazy Christmas," and DVD, "Christmas Extravaganza." The bandleader also released another CD in 2005, "Rockabilly Riot, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Sun Records," but that work doesn't really factor into this road trip.

Tuesday's show definitely lived up to its billing. It was a "Christmas Extravaganza" from start to finish.

Once the curtain rose, Setzer jumped on "Dig That Crazy Santa Claus," which is also the lead track on both the DVD and CD, and proceeded to lead his 12-piece horn section, a pair of back-up vocalists and a rhythm section through such fun numbers as "This Cat's on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus."

It was a mind-boggling display of Christmas colors. Setzer wore a long red coat and played a flashy green guitar and the band members were decked out in Santa hats and in matching green-and-red outfits. The backdrop was a big blow-up of the "Dig That Crazy Christmas" album cover and the rest of the stage was decorated with Christmas stockings, trees and an inflatable snowman.

Drawing equally from surf music, swing and rockabilly, and marginally from both jazz and blues, Setzer provided extreme makeovers of such yuletide standards as "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride" and "Angels We Have Heard on High." Although these renditions were new and different to most of our ears, they were never off-putting. Credit that mostly to Setzer, who is an extremely friendly, warm and likable frontman.

Setzer also took the time to stroll down his Stray Cat past and provided winning versions of "Stray Cat Strut" and "Rock This Town." Furthermore, he even touched upon "Rockabilly Riot" for "Peroxide Blonde in a Hopped Up Model Ford."

Yet, Setzer never let us forget for long that this was a Christmas show. The second half of the concert included such winter-weather classics as "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "Run Rudolph Run," which might have been the best song of the night.

It's unclear where Rudolph is running off to, given that he still has a few days before he has to lead Santa's sleigh. But, if he's looking to hear a different take on Christmas classics, he should definitely race off to see one of the Brian Setzer Orchestra's remaining 2005 shows.