Macewan Hall Is Calgary's Place To Be For New Year's Eve

The year is winding down and, as always, there's a ton of New Year's Eve events where you can throw back candy cane shooters while cursing at and/or burning mistletoe.

The big one this year is the launch party for Calgary's new alternative radio station, X92.9FM, featuring Victoria's Hot Hot Heat, Evans Blue and local faves The Dudes. Hot Hot Heat will be hitting the stage at midnight and vocalist/keyboardist Steve Bays is looking forward to kicking off the New Year in front of a swarm of energetic fans.

"It's weird because we've talked about playing a New Year's show for years," he says. "It's pretty much a huge honour to play at midnight and it'll be a great show."

Even though it's their first NYE on stage, Bays prefers to be active rather than sitting around watching cornball Dick Clark-style specials.

"Generally, I'd rather be in a New Year's special than watching one, or at least be in the crowd getting drunk.

"Last year, I was in England and there was a big party with all these British-rocker types like Dirty Pretty Things. It was a very British-style New Year's. Over there, they drink about 4 to 1 what we drink here. So if you drink 10 beers in a night, they drink 40."

When asked if the band will play any traditional tunes, Bays chuckles.

"We probably will play 'Auld Lang Syne,' but it would be fun to play the first few bars and then start busting into 'Raining Blood' by Slayer or something."

The band have been working hard on the follow up to 2005's Elevator for nearly two years and fans can expect a new record in April. Despite the fact that they probably won't preview any of the new songs, Bays knows the NYE show will be a blast nonetheless.

"It's probably the last time we'll play a set of mainly songs from Make Up The Breakdown and Elevator. It's at the point where it's really tight and there's way more emphasis on just having fun."

Toronto's Evans Blue have been riding high since releasing their debut album The Melody And The Energetic Nature Of Volume earlier this year. Guitarist Parker Lauzon says the band are also stoked to be a part of the NYE show.

"We have never actually played a New Year's Eve show. I think it's very fitting that our first NYE show is in our home country, seeing as how we haven't toured here yet and are aching for the opportunity."

Currently, the band are writing new material for their sophomore album and they'll be in the studio in January to start tracking.

"The new stuff is heavier and more aggressive than the first album," Lauzon declares. "It's exactly what we were hoping to achieve."

It's also their first time in front of an audience out west.

"Unfortunately, we haven't played in Calgary before, but we're looking forward to the experience seeing as how we've never played a show in Canada outside of Ontario. We hear the crowd in Calgary is pretty insane."

X92.9's launch party goes down at MacEwan Hall. The good news is it's free if you have a ticket. The bad news is the only way to get one is to win one. Check out their website to try your luck. The Plaza Theatre in Kensington is hosting a Rocky Horror Picture Show cabaret that looks pretty cool. If torch-blowers and tap-dancers aren't enough, they'll be playing the film at the stroke of midnight as well as live music to boot. Local prog-rockers Wade entertain with a bunch of other guests throughout the night. Tickets for the whole shebang are $35, but it'll only set you back $10 if you just want to see the movie.

As for other NYE shows, Cam Penner And The Gravel Road play the Ironwood Stage And Grill. Tickets are $50.

On the other hand, if you're completely broke, the Ship And Anchor has a no cover party featuring Gaye Rage and The Remones.

Rock fans have a few sweet shows to choose from. Helvis and The Hardtails ring in the new year with fury at The Castle Pub. Chixdiggit and The Mad Cowboys get it on at Broken City. Creature Republic, Order Of Chaos and Seven Deadly Grins play The Underground. And for those who prefer something a little more danceable, DJ Rice drops a special edition of Sunday Skool at the HiFi Club.

Well, it's been an awesome year for music in Calgary and 2007 promises to be even better. I'd like to send out a special thanks to Aaron Brophy and everyone at Chart for making my first full year as the Calgary Buzz columnist an exciting and memorable one. Have a safe and happy holiday and we'll see you back in January.

E-mail your Calgary music stories and New Year's resolutions to: trevor_monkey@hotmail.com