The new year is arriving a bit earlier than usual; 12 hours earlier, to be exact, at least for attendees of the Noon Year’s Eve Dance in Santa Maria. Hosted by the Santa Maria Valley Senior Citizens Club, this annual celebration takes place at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event features live music from the Riptide Big Band (with special guest vocalists Bob Nations and Liz Douglas). This popular, local 15-piece ensemble performs a variety of dance, jazz, and swing tunes, ranging from the 1920s to the ’70s.
Admission to the concert is free, thanks to funding from the Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County. Refreshments at the event are also complimentary. The Elwin Mussell Senior Center is located at 510 Park Ave., Santa Maria. To find out more about Noon Year’s Eve, call (775) 813-5186 or visit riptidebb.com.
20/20 vision
Additional New Year’s festivities in the local music scene include the Lompoc Wine Factory’s Year End Barrel Bash Concert, which takes place on Saturday, Dec. 28, from 7 to 10 p.m. Attendees can expect to enjoy sets from a variety of acts, including Lompoc-based trio The Only Ocean, comprised of childhood friends Wesley Hill, Shae Kakos, and Alex Burdess. This three-piece performs its own unique blend of psych-pop, post-punk, and acid rock. It’s either a list of subgenres or rock candy flavors—who’s to say? Indie-folk artist Jacob Cole is also set to perform during the concert, as is local psychedelic rock band Pancho and the Wizards. Tickets to the group show are $10 in advance at lompocfactory.com or $20 at the door.
The Naughty Oak Brewing Company and Vino et Amicis Wine Bar are teaming up to host a 1920s-themed block party in Historic Old Town Orcutt on Tuesday, Dec. 31, scheduled from 8 p.m. to past midnight. The event will include live performances from Santa Barbara-based soul artist and former The Voice contestant Will Breman and local rock duo Bender and Jack. Naughty Oak also hosts a solo show with Jacob Marquez, lead singer from After the Smoke, on Friday, Dec. 27, from 7 to 10 p.m. Vino et Amicis hosts a performance from the NYC Duo the same evening, also from 7 to 10 p.m. It’s good to see competing neighbors join forces come New Year’s Eve though. Admission to all three events is free.
The Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez is joining in on the celebratory occasion as well with its New Year’s Eve Dance Party, which takes place in the resort’s Samala Showroom on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 9 p.m. The concert features not one, but two nostalgic cover bands, in the form of ’70s homage Boogie Knights and ’80s tribute The Spazmatics. Tickets to the show are $25 and are available online in advance at chumashcasino.com.
More music
Paradise Lost? If only there was some kind of road map (or GPS app nowadays) to help Adam and Eve find their way back into the Garden of Eden. On an entirely unrelated note, Paradise Road is performing at the Cold Spring Tavern off of Highway 154 on Saturday, Dec. 27, from 6 to 9 p.m. The tavern’s weekend lineup continues with Oddly Straight on Sunday, Dec. 28, from 1 to 4 p.m. Santa Barbara-based blues, Motown, rock, and soul band Do No Harm are next on the docket, with a performance the same evening, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Blues and rags duo Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan play their weekly gig at the tavern on Sunday, Dec. 29, from 1 to 4 p.m. The lineup concludes with a perfect bookend of sorts: a performance from blues, rock, and swing band Paradise Kings (not to be confused with the aforementioned Paradise Road) on Sunday, Dec. 29, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission to all of the venue’s concerts is complimentary.
Also in the Santa Ynez Valley, The Caverns perform at the Maverick Saloon on Friday, Dec. 27, from 8 to 11 p.m. The saloon also hosts country-rock band Pull the Trigger on Saturday, Dec. 28, from 8 to 11 p.m., and Falcon Heavy on Sunday, Dec. 29, from 1 to 5 p.m. Entry to all three performances is free.
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wrote this week’s Local Notes. Contact him at [email protected].
