Happy New Year! Madison sends out 2010 and welcomes 2011 with celebrations that include U.S. Bank Eve and more parties at the Goodman Community Center, Cardinal Bar, Majestic Theatre, Come Back Inn and Essen Haus, downtown Great Dane, High Noon Saloon, Brink Lounge, Club Inferno, Frequency, Restaurant Magnus, Harmony Bar, Jolly Bob's, Orpheum Theatre, Crystal Corner, Mr. Robert's, Natt Spil, Alchemy Café, Mickey's Tavern, Club 5, and many, many other nightspots around the city. The long holiday weekend fun also includes performances by Elias Goldstein and The Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo.
Friday 12.31
NEW YEAR'S EVE
NOTEWORTHY: Packers beat Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Ice Bowl, 1967.
The annual party offers family-friendly fun at six locations. From 5 to 9 pm, check out games and other activities at Olbrich Gardens, Keva Sports Center and Sun Prairie Athletic Club and Ice Rink. And from 6 to 10 pm, there's revelry at U.S. Bank Plaza; dancing, magic and more at Monona Terrace; and music of Ken Lonnquist at the Madison Children's Museum. Top it all off with fireworks over Lake Monona at 10:05 pm, and you'll be ready to face 2011.
Goodman Community Center, 8 pm
Seeking a quintessentially Madison New Year's experience? Look no further than the Berrymans' annual end-of-year folk bash and community-center fundraiser. Witty ditties about the Dairy State are the specialty of these nationally celebrated local residents: accordion-laced polkas, gleeful waltzes, quirky folk-pop yarns.
Cardinal Bar, 8 pm
Madison's longstanding dance bar is doing what you might expect for New Year's Eve -- throwing a dance party that doesn't end until 5 am. Muhammad's style thrives on reggaeton, hip-hop and Latin, which often lend themselves to long dance mixes better than rock and pop.
Hometown Sweethearts, Mama Digdown's Brass Band
Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm
Two of Madison's most beloved party bands aren't just sharing a bill; they're teaming up for at least a few numbers. Will Mama Digdown's add a funky, down-in-the-bayou twist to the Sweethearts' rendition of "Dancing With Myself"?
Come Back Inn and Essen Haus, 9 pm
Local polka purveyor Austin gets the crowd rolling out the barrel, while Live at Nine offers sassy, brassy renditions of blues and classic rock favorites, from ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses" to B.B. King's "Stormy Monday."
Great Dane Downtown, 9 pm
For Carlson, 2010 began with his house burning down; we trust 2011 will commence in better ways. The musical styles the Kid blends into his mixes range from hip-hop to punk.
High Noon's New Year's Eve Bash 2010
High Noon Saloon, 9 pm
Get sappy, silly and downright spazzy with the Midwest Beat and Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons, then welcome 2011 headbanger-style to the raucous riffage of Hell Toupée, Knuckel Drager and Droids Attack. With the Gusto, Jenni Ladd, Reverend Velveteen.
Brink Lounge, 9 pm
This dueling-pianos extravaganza has little to do with melted cheese and lots to do with hot pop and rock 'n' roll hits. Request a crowd-pleaser, like Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer."
Club Inferno, 9 pm
Some of Madison's BPM pioneers will be on hand for this masquerade ball, including Ritchie, whose WORT radio show and now-defunct East Johnson Street record store introduced Madison to a wide variety of styles. Matt Fanale has been a staple of the Inferno scene and released a album earlier this year titled And You Will Know Me By the Trail of Vomit. Also performing: DJs Pyschotron, Foundation, Wyatt Agard, Storm and St. Luke.
Frequency, 9 pm
Local trio the Treats take an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to songcraft, mixing blues, folk, punk and more into a base of good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. aLETHIO fuses folk and electro influences with a healthy dose of weirdness. With Rescue School, Coloratura and Puffin.
Blues by 5 and 'The Final Jam'
Restaurant Magnus, 9:30 pm
Blues by 5, the jazz-playing scientists, dazzle drinkers and diners with fast-paced standards from the 1950s and '60s. Then stick around to toast Magnus performers old and new as they jive into the wee hours.
Joel Paterson Blues Roundup with Jim Liban
Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm
Blues harmonica hotshot Liban joins hometown-boy-turned-Chicago-dynamo Paterson, making the near-east-side watering hole sound like a live version of Junior Wells' classic 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues.
Jolly Bob's Caribbean Restaurant and Bar, 10 pm
Danny El Niche spins salsa, merengue, reggaeton and bachata, while Que Lo Que sums up his act as "mucho mambo."
DJ Nick Nice, Dirty Disco Kidz
Orpheum Theatre, 10 pm
Nice -- as close as it gets to a household name in Madison DJs -- mixes it up with the house and techno sounds of the DJ collective Dirty Disco Kidz. With Team Bayside High, Radish and Clayton Colwell.
Crystal Corner Bar, 10 pm
Madison's Celtic rock all-stars broke up in 2008 after 10 years, then re-formed this fall with a stripped-down lineup. Whether you're doing the pogo or the jig, this show's fit for hours of dancing and beer-drenched toasts.
Mr. Robert's, 10 pm
Local quintet SweetGrass offers a supercharged set of old-time Americana and bluegrass music.
DJs Jeremy Thomas, Drew Griffin
Natt Spil, 10 pm
Thomas' soul and house mixes have an easygoing vibe. Griffin is a Natt Spil regular whose style emphasizes techno and funk.
WORT benefit with the Mustache
Alchemy Cafe, 10 pm
The Mustache, a campy nine-piece from central Wisconsin, takes the most funk-nasty of retro tunes and spins them into sweaty, soulful grooves.
The Drain, The No & Maybe Game, The Takebacks
Mickey's Tavern, 10:30 pm
If history is any indication, the Drain will bid adieu to Christmastime with its kitschy light-up snowman, which serves as the perfect counterpoint to the group's dark, twitchy rock. The No & Maybe Game makes New Wave sound new again for a new year. Proto-punk, dub and reggae are a few of the threads that bind the Takebacks' sweater of sound. With Control.
Club 5, 10:30 pm
Tony Ritschard got his start at Club de Wash, and he's spun at the Cardinal Bar, Ten Percent Society dances and the Pink Party. Tim Walters is a former Z-104 host who continues his radio DJ role on Elias Goldstein
Chazen Museum of Art, 12:30 pm
Accompanied by pianist Matthew Ganong, violist Goldstein plays music of Beethoven, Paganini and more at this Sunday Afternoon Live performance, courtesy of Wisconsin Public Radio.
The Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo
High Noon Saloon, 7:30 pm
These guitarists blend tip-top technique with loads of creativity as they explore classical, folk and rock. (See Tour Stop.)