12/31/08 The Danger continued @ warehouse, Brooklyn, NY

The early hours of 2009 were spent much as the early hours of the year prior - in a sweaty warehouse dancing the night away. It was no match for 2008 though. The Danger never really recaptured the fleeting devil-may-care whimsy of One Night of Fire, try as it might.

12/31/08 Samson & The Folkadelics @ The National Underground, New York, NY

This was my debut on the microphone as I kicked some rhymes as the Folkadelics jammed. I wish they would have played straight through midnight though. Countdown over house music? Never again.

12/31/08 The Danger Masquerade Ball @ Pussycat Lounge, New York, NY

To round out 2008, we reluctantly went with The Danger's massive year end blowout, despite having been burned at their Halloween warehouse event. Stifling crowds and an early end, along with missed connections on multiple fronts left a sour taste, but previous successes beckoned us back.

This event was certainly a spectacle employing every cranny of the Pussycat Lounge's three floors, which seemed to be in the midst of renovations. Brass bands blared, limbo lines lurked, go-go girls gallivanted and spirits soared.

But the crowds swelled to an uncomfortable level well before midnight and we departed for a comfier locale.

12/31/07 The Danger's New Lost City @ 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY

So excited was I to rage a New Year's eve in style after having to sit on the sidelines the year prior due to Mono that I made a special trip to National Wholesale Liquidators to purchase ballons and other assorted toys. It was there that I found the giant bubble sword that would provide much entertainment that night.

That night, I took on the role of merry prankster, spreading love and light across the boros. My ridiculous attire included a thrift store tweed blazer and a grampa hat, augmented by my ludicrously large bubble wand.

Never before had my rage crew run so deep. My friend's twin cousins were in from Israel with their friends in tow. My some time NYC resident friends joined us. My friend came down from Boston and passed out drunk in the chill tent before we even arrived.

We missed whatever spectacle was planned for midnight, but apparently it involved instructions to kiss strangers, as every time I met someone there, I was warmly kissed.

The smallish loft area was packed beyond belief when we got there a little after 1am. Luckily, there was an outdoor area for blowing giant bubbles and other assorted merriment.

Later, the crowd thinned out a bit and we reveled in our ecstatic state until well past dawn. After the fire spinners and stiltwalkers and aerieal acrobatics dissipated, we danced the early morning away to a band fronted by a demented clown and intermittent burlesque.

Finally, I led a good portion of our troops back to our place in Queens for rest and rejuvenation. I'll never forget an apartment full of weary, yet fully satisfied party people lazily wasting a New Year's Day on my fold out couch.

12/31/07 The Join w/Marco Benevento & Joe Russo @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY

I almost skipped this show and I wish I had.

With the combination of the Benevento/Russo Duo and two thirds of The New Deal, this should have been a great show, but it had so many factors going against it. This incarnation of The Join was unfortuantely lesser than the sum of its parts. I guess their styles just did not mesh.

To add insult to inury, tickets were pretty expensive, which is to be expected on New Year's Eve in New York City, but still a con. We arrived late and missed the first set, which was our fault, but still on the list. Finally, the show ended at 12:30 on the dot, way too early for a New Year's Eve show. At least there was a nice balloon drop at midnight.

Despite all that, the night managed to be one for the books, thanks almost entirely to the events that transpired after this debacle of a show.

01/01/06 The New Deal @ BB King's Blues Club, New York, NY

Somehow, I ended up going to this show solo, on New Year's Eve (or Day, technically) of all eves.

My suburban friends stayed in the suburbs and my city friends went to a rooftop party in the Bronx. I almost joined them, but I couldn't muster the motivation. I almost stayed in and did nothing as a silent protest against the incessant imperative to party.

But I ultimately decided that, if nothing else, it was best to start the year off right by sticking to my original plans.

At approximately 10pm, I hopped on the train to the heart of the beast - Times Square.

It was a bit surreal sitting in a bar just a couple blocks from the so-called biggest party in the world.

There were about 30 people there and there was free champagne at midnight. I left shortly thereafter to score tickets to the sold out show.

Since they were still clearing the area, and I didn't have a ticket, the police wouldn't let me cross through at 42nd st, where the club is located. So I had to go a few blocks downtown and wrap around.

I was able to buy a ticket pretty easily out front from a group of Jersey heads thanks to one of their friends forgetting to pace herself. For lack of a better option, I decided to hang out with their crew for a bit and hit it off with one of the girls.

A guy behind us on line told us that the greatest writer ever was Tom Robbins, who I had not heard of at that point, but is now one of my faves as well.

The rest of the night was a delightful drunken bar. I remember dancing with my new lady friend and many other lovely people to sweaty breakbeats that only The New Deal can properly deliver.

At one point, I think I got into a verbal altercation with a bartender for reasons I cannot recall.

It was one of my most memorable New Year's and the fact that I had to go at it alone and nearly sat the night out just made it that much more of a triumph.

At some point, I guess I headed home.

Here's a classy shot of me decompressing the next day:

12/31/03 Disco Biscuits/The New Deal @ Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY

The New Deal opened and played an interlocking set; Set II was a Battle of the Bands with the Disco Biscuits taking the stage under different identities
Set I: Morph Dusseldorf1> Aceetobee, 42> Basis For A Day2
Set II: Basis For A Day3 4 5, Above The Waves6> Svenghali6 7, Svenghali6 7> Above The Waves6, Blame Canada10 8 9, Kyle's Mom's A Bitch10 8, It's Easy MMMKay10 8, Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)10 8, Fuck That Doll10 11, Sweating Bullets10 11, Frog Legs12, Pilin' It High12, Oname' Wa13, Ohio Gozaimasu10 13
Set III: Rock Candy> Voices Insane7> Pygmy Twylyte> Voices Insane7> Rock Candy, Munchkin Invasion14> 42
1 with "Hot Air Balloon" fake-out
2 segued into New Deal set
3 segued out of New Deal set
4 with new years countdown
5 band leaves stage and an emcee introduces the Battle of the Bands
6 Performed as "The Disco Biscuits"
7 dyslexic
8 Performed as "The Cartmans"
9 with Ericalynn Gruenberg on vocals
10 1st time played
11 Performed as "Fuck the Robots"
12 Performed as "The Perfume"
13 Performed as "Panda Power"
14 completes 12/30 dyslexic version

This was my first time seeing the band that would later become one of my favorites, but I went to see The New Deal. It was also my first New Year's Eve concert.

We drove into the city and had a few drinks at a friend's apartment, thinking we had some time to kill.

When we got to the venue, the line was practically around the block, so we sat down to kill some tallboys in the adjacent deli.

We finally got inside and found our balcony seats. My least favorite thing about Hammerstein is the inability to move freely between the balconies and the floor.

I think we caught the last several minutes of The New Deal's opening set, before they segued seamlessly into the Disco Biscuits. Either way, the only music I vividly remember is The Cartmans portion of the Battle of the Bands segment the Biscuits had concocted as a New Year's schtick. "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" and "Salty Chocolate Balls" were the only tunes I knew. I don't even remember what happened at midnight.

Talking to seasoned fans after the show, most were quick to tell me that the band should not be judged by this anomalous performance. Still, it would be a couple years before I would see them again.

Just prior to leaving, we struck up a conversation with some lovely Bisquettes in the balcony, when a young gentleman sat down in front of us regurgitating typical acid gibberish like "It doesn't matter, man!" Sadly, our lady friends jetted when the young spunion began to remove his pants. Shortly later, I saw him leaving the venue on a stretcher.