If you’re going to brave the weather, buses and sea of humanity, here are some New Year’s Eve suggestions for the 19-plus crowd. Photograph By ISTOCK
The buses are packed, the weather sucks, almost everyone smells weird and yet somehow you still convince yourself that New Year’s Eve really isn’t amateur hour after all.
But who are we to judge?
Ride a mechanical bull. Transport yourself back to 1981. Take a selfie on a boat and accompany it with the hashtag #ImOnAboat.
You do you.
I’m on a boat
Boy, are you ever. Vancity Party Cruises takes you out on the Queen of Diamonds for an evening on the high seas surrounding Vancouver. The party happens across two floors, includes two DJs and there will even be fireworks. The complimentary appie menu includes a “Chocolate fountain with various items for dipping.” Hmmm… Boarding starts at 6:45 p.m., departure is 7:45 and the evening ends at 1 a.m. Tickets go for $175 and are available HERE.
Am I on LSD?
The Facebook event page here really is all over the place. Dreamscapes and interpretive something or other. Anyway, if surrealism and DJs are your jam, Beaumont Studios in Mount Pleasant is hosting an event called “NYE 2019 — A Surrealist Ball / Eyes Wide Shut in a Dream World.” The writeup says something about, “Let your imagination run wild and enter a dream state of your own inside our immersive themed environment, and have your corporeal form entranced to the sounds of our world-class talent.” DJs, veggie sushi bar, cocktails and live dance performances can all be yours for between $40 and $50. Tickets are available HERE.
Oh, the ’80s
There was a time when Vancouver was affordable and people looked one another in the eye, seemingly happy to engage in conversation. Re-live those magical days with the Biltmore’s “Let’s party like it’s 1981!” party. A roaming Polaroid shutterbug, complimentary champagne and of course, era-specific tunes will be played all night long. Tickets range in price between $25 and $32 and are available HERE.
Make fun of 2018
Wash yourself of the horrible year that was by making fun of the whole thing, as the folks at Vancouver TheatreSports offer their Year in Review show at Granville Island’s Improv Centre. The format will feature go-to gags — legal pot, climate change, bike lanes — along with audience-suggested improv. Three shows are offered over the course of the evening at 7:30, 9:30 and 11:15 and tickets start around $30. Info: tickets.vtsl.com.
Become an Albertan for a night
The tagline for “Wild Wild NYE” promises “line dancing, bull riding and a boot stompin’ wild party!” With a name like the Yale Saloon, what else can you expect? We’re assuming that dressing up like a cowboy or cowgirl is encouraged. Doors at 6 and pressed canapes will be offered from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets range between $20 and $40 and are available at Eventbrite.ca.
Pizza! Beer! Klezmer Punk!
Talk about a match made in heaven. The ANZA Club’s annual Geoff Berner New Year’s shaker returns alongside Kitty and the Rooster. For the uninitiated, accordionist Berner’s brand of “Klezmer Punk” is described as “traditional folk music of Eastern European Jews with punk’s aggressive energy and disdain for slick perfection.” Kitty and the Rooster, meanwhile, includes the use of a cocktail drumkit banging out surf rock tunes. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door and available at brownpapertickets.com.
It’s hip to be squared
Is there anywhere cooler to celebrate the onset of 2019 than where Kennedy Stewart celebrated his election night win? Of course not. The Waldorf will be offering four separate parties with four distinct feels. The Tabu Lounge takes you back to New York City disco scene in 1978 with the Phonix Band. Old school hip hop circa 1995 will be featured in the Tiki Bar with DJ Hubbz, while Nonna’s Cabaret get muy caliente with the sounds of 1987 Miami — think Samba, Salsa, Merengue and Cumbia courtesy of Orquesta Tabasko, Samba Fusion and the The Lolas Entertainment. The Hideaway Bar goes futuristic with a 2025 London feel with a bunch of music made on a computer (trance, house, etc.) from DJ Stamina and Johnny Omega. One ticket gets you into all the rooms, and they cost $50 at Eventbrite.ca.
Red Room goes electric
Sometimes an event listing comes with nothing but links to Soundcloud mixes. What does this tell you? Get ready for some bass, bass, bass in your face! If this suits your 21stcentury fancy, the Red Room gives you “SUBculture NYE 2019 w/ Modestep & INF1N1TE.” Performances come via Modestep, NF1N1TE, Konka and Nostalgix. A Blake Motions b2b Banana Cam (?) is also on tap. Tickets go for $35 and $40 and are available here: digitialmotionevents.ca.
LOLs at the Rio
Patrick Maliha’s annual Naughty Little New Year’s Eve is back for its sixth go at the Rio Theatre and this year it even includes a harpsichordist. Emceed by Maliha and Gentlemen Hecklers member Eric Fell, the show also includes bits by fellow comedians and entertainers Shirley Gnome, Harris Anderson, Simon King, Ryan Williams, Sophia Johnson, Randee Neumeyer, Gina Harms and magician Travis Bernhardt. Doors are 8, the show runs 9 to 11:15 p.m. and then it’s party time. Advance tickets are $32, while tickets at the door will run you $47. Info: Eventbrite.ca.
Fancy times at the Wise Hall
Get gussied up in your suits and sequins at one of East Vancouver’s favourite haunts while taking in the dulcet sounds of Petunia and the Vipers and the Myrtle Family Band. Swing dance lessons will come courtesy of Kat Single-Dain. The show runs 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. and tickets cost $20 if you’re wearing sequins or suits, $25 for the rest of you commoners. Tickets are HERE.
