Dance — or rage — away 2016 with these New Year’s Eve concerts in the L.A. area
There are few years that music fans will be happier to see end than 2016, especially after the death this holiday season of George Michael. We don’t need to remind you of all the other reasons why 2016 was so heartachingly tough here. So if for no other reason, New Year’s will bring a momentary sigh of relief (and likely a lot of Michael, David Bowie and Prince cuts as the clock winds down).
Here are some of the best music-focused parties to say good riddance to what felt like an unprecedentedly awful year.
The best of the lot looks to be Lights Down Low’s scene-stealing showcase of pretty much every good DJ and promoter crew in town - Jimmy Edgar, Jaques Greene, Silent Servant are among the top-line talent, with the teams behind Making Shapes, Dublab, Dig Deeper and lots more in town. It starts just a bit before the stroke of midnight, and continues with plenty of time to start the new year on a positive note. Location upon RSVP; tickets are $25 plus fees and available online via Resident Advisor (www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?906146).
Minimal Effort — a well-backed, fast-rising production team behind some of the year’s bigger mid-tier dance music events — will throw its own comprehensive late-nighter at the Globe in downtown Los Angeles. The bill is strong: Forward-thinking techno acts like Recondite, Simian Mobile Disco, Francesca Lombardo, Audion and the extended Desert Hearts gang make for a varied but friendly mixed bag of sounds. The Globe (740 S. Broadway, Los Angeles); tickets are $79 — $149 plus fees and available online via Resident Advisor (www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?890416).
DJ Harvey’s Prototype shindig at Lot 613 takes a muscle-bear spin on similar house, techno and disco sounds, with Chris Bowen and Victor Rodriguez opening up. In the wake of the Oakland warehouse fire tragedy, Lot 613 is a test case to see how fully permitted venues can accommodate avant-garde sensibilities, and this party will be one of its most crucial yet. Lot 613 (613 Imperial Street, Los Angeles); tickets are $35 plus fees and available online via Resident Advisor (www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?900494).
For a more formal-club-style night out, Claude VonStroke and Green Velvet’s collaboration Get Real headlines Insomniac’s return to the underground with its Factory 93 series. Factory 93 (1756 Naud St., Los Angeles); tickets are $100 plus fees and available online via Resident Advisor (www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?898185).
For hip-hop in the heart of Hollywood (and all the clubland madness there), the deadpan menace of 21 Savage at Lure may not be the first thing you think of for ringing in the New Year, but he’s one of the year’s breakout rap talents. Lure (1439 Ivar Ave.); tickets range from $39 to $15,000 plus fees and are available online at JBPNYE (jbpnye.com/losangeles?null).
Not to be outdone, the teen-scene phenom Lil Uzi Vert hits the Novo downtown. Novo (800 W. Olympic Blvd. Suite A335); Tickets are $50 plus fees and available online at AXS (www.axs.com/).
DJ Mustard is a pop production savant, but on the decks, he adds heavy doses of trap, bass and throwback rap music as well at Playhouse. Playhouse (6506 Hollywood Blvd.); tickets range from $80 to $5,000 plus fees and are available at Eventbrite (www.eventbrite.com).
But if you want to take no chances, and remind yourself that some canonical rock acts did not die in 2016, X keeps up its long-running stand at the Roxy for an always-welcome, bracing hit of classic L.A. punk.
Who knows what fresh disasters 2017 will bring, but we’ll always have X’s “The World’s a Mess, It’s in My Kiss” for a reminder that it’s not just you feeling that way. The Roxy (9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood); tickets are $35 plus fees and available at Ticketfly (www.ticketfly.com).
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