The Eve Of Destruction The last word on what’s happening on the last day of the year. by Mark Jordan This is your last chance to party before the big one hits. Even if you’re the type who can chart Dick Clark’s aging down to the wrinkle because you’ve been watching the Times Square countdown for so many years in a row, you have to admit a strong desire to do something special on New Year’s 1999. Granted, we understand it’s not really the turning of the Millennium, but there is something heavy about the thought of the year turning up triple zeros. So what do you do to ring in the Millennium? What activity could you do, what event could you go to that could possibly match the gravity of the date itself? A mere $2,000-plus airfare will get you into the party at the top of the world — a climbing expedition that plans to spend the midnight hour in a monastery at 12,900 feet. You could plop down $2,500 to see Barbra Streisand perform in Las Vegas, or spend that much on airfare alone to see a concert featuring Sting, Peter Gabriel, George Harrison, and U2 at the Teotihuacan pyramids outside of Mexico City. And for $400 you could buy a choice seat at the Pyramid event in Egypt, featuring an elaborately staged opera by Jean-Michel Jarre. Or, and I’m guessing this is more likely, you could stay home. Or near it, at any rate. The good news is that everything you can do in Memphis this New Year’s is significantly cheaper than those other suggestions. (Our pyramid, for instance, costs a measly $101 to get into.) The bad news is: How do you decide exactly what to do? We can’t make that decision for you but what we can do is provide you with our handy guide to what’s what this New Year’s Eve. B.B.+Blues+Booze=A Ball Beale Street is undoubtedly the biggest party in town. City officials are expecting as many as 75,000 people downtown this New Year’s Eve, most of them centered on or near the historic district. That means the birthplace of the blues will also be home to the most democratic party of the year. If you don’t want to pay to go into any of the dozen clubs along the three-block stretch (and you’ll have to, since there are no all-inclusive wristband tickets this year), you can still enjoy some of the best music to be had in town for free in Handy Park. Crosscut will start things off on the Handy stage followed by bluesman Kenny Neal, Stax greats the Bar-Kays, and the King of the Blues, B.B. King himself. For more info, call 526-0110. Of course there will plenty going on in the clubs, too. Besides his Handy Park concert, King will be playing in his namesake club on Beale. The $400 ticket includes meal, champagne, and the chance to see King up close. The Beale Street Blues Boy’s performance runs from 8 to 10 p.m., but fellow Memphis blues guitarist Preston Shannon will be playing for revelers well into the morning. The other Handy Park headliners will be doing their double duty at the Hard Rock Cafe as the Bar-Kays play a party hosted by the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tickets are $300 and include food, drink, private parking with a shuttle, and special mementos. For more info, call 543-5300. Also on Beale, funk band A440 will be at Black Diamond; jam rock is on the menu at Blues City with the Ricos and FreeWorld; Spoonful James is at King’s Palace Cafe; it’s heavy rock night at the New Daisy with Triggerman Zero, Stoned at the Moment, Dead Tight 5, and Further; and the Boogie Blues Band will be backing up Rufus Thomas at Rum Boogie Cafe. Go Gala Gaga For those looking for an elegant and sophisticated New Year’s celebration, charity galas are always a good bet. The South’s Grand Hotel has traditionally been the place to be for New Year’s in Memphis, and though the hotel won’t be open to the general public this year (don’t even try), the glitz and the glamour remain in full effect. For the first time, The Peabody will be given over for a single event, the Junior League of Memphis’ Crystal Ball. The ball’s theme is “Around the World,” and, accordingly, most of the hotel’s common rooms will be done up with international flavor — the Continental Ballroom as London, the Hernando DeSoto Room as the Caribbean, the mezzanine ballrooms as Scotland, and the entire third floor as the Orient. Equally impressive are the numbers behind this event: 2,000 guests, 300 cases of champagne, 27 stages of entertainment, and 14 bands, including the Grammy-winning Commodores. Another couple of impressive numbers: $500 to $750 a head. Oh, and one last number: For more info, call the Junior League at 452-2151. While the rich and toney will be at The Peabody, the young and upwardly mobile set can bet found at Hands on Memphis’ Third Annual New Year’s Eve Gala at the Memphis Botanic Garden. This black tie optional event will take over two rooms and features musical entertainment by R&B group the Malemen and Clarksdale, Mississippi’s funky bluesman James “Super Chikan” Johnson. Nashville’s DJ Stash will also be spinning plenty of ’70s disco. Tickets are $125 a person and can be ordered on-line at www.handsonmemphis.org or by calling Hands on Memphis at 725-2132. The Club Scene With the big boys like The Peabody and Beale Street pulling out all the stops, most other music clubs around town are keeping it simple. Perhaps they are more keyed into the Millennium hoopla backlash we’ve been reading about. At the Young Avenue Deli, for instance, admission is free and Big Ass Truck’s Colin Butler will be deejaying through the night. The Flying Saucer downtown, likewise, will keep it simple with a deejay and a Mardi Gras theme. Four of the five Huey’s in town will have live music on New Year’s with Cooley’s House (formerly Brenda Patterson & the Campfire Boys) downtown, the Anthony Gomes Band in Midtown, the Witchdoctors out east, and S&S Express in Cordova. T.J. Mulligan’s downtown has Parasitic Draw, while the one out east hosts the Gecko Brothers. Also downtown at the Aristocrat Club (next to the bus station), soul divas Stefanie Bolton and Stacey Marino will be playing along with Pat Register and Kurt Clayton and the Just Be Friends Band, the Plaintiffs will be playing the High Point Pinch, Taquita Monique is at Precious Cargo, and Steve Reid is at the South End. Out east you can find Fall From Grace at the Bottom Line, C.O.D. at the Cockeyed Camel, Faye & the Yesterdays at Patrick’s, and Back Street Crawler is at Archie’s. The biggest show in Midtown will be the Pawtuckets at the Hi-Tone Cafe, while for a more mellow scene you couldn’t beat Di Anne Price & her Boyfriends at In the Grove. And the Sallymacs will help provide the spirit of drunken revelry at the Blue Monkey. One exception to the thinking-simple rule will be Newby’s, where they just finished installing a $10,000 light and video system. On New Year’s the band side will become Club Newby’s (our term, not theirs), with a deejay spinning tunes from all eras and a live simulcast of the Times Square ball drop on the giant-screen TV. Admission is $10. Meanwhile, the restaurant side of Newby’s will host a limited-seat, black-tie optional V.I.P. part that will include champagne, music by the Daddy Mack Blues Band, and a complimentary breakfast buffet. Tickets for the V.I.P. party are just $20 but there are only 150 passes available. For more tickets and info, call 452-8408. Passing On New Year’s Kickoff is at 4 p.m. New Year’s Eve for the 41st Annual AXA/Equitable Liberty Bowl pitting Colorado State against Southern Mississippi. Expect lots of Bulldogs to make the trip up from Starkville, but expect Colorado State to be well represented, and a number of Memphians are sure to turn out as well for what looks to be a heckuva match-up, not to mention the halftime show by B.B. King. Tickets range in price from $25 to $45. Call 795-7700 for more info. Betting On A Good Time It’ll be like New Year’s in Vegas circa 1962 at the Gold Strike. The Chicago Rat Pack — featuring impersonators of Old Blue Eyes, Dino, and Sammy — will play a dinner show in the casino’s ballroom. Tickets are $65 per person, $100 a couple. In addition, magician Brett Daniels will undoubtedly have some special tricks up his sleeve at his Millennial performance in the (appropriately enough) Millennium Theatre. Tickets for that show are $35. And then for a more crazy time there is Dr. Zarr’s Amazing Funk Monster performing at the Bullion Bar. For tickets and info, call 1-888-245-7829. The real event at Sam’s Town comes on January 1st, when B.B. King plays the River Palace Arena. But on New Year’s Eve you can enjoy Ricochet, winners of the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Vocal Group of the Year Award. For more info, call 1-800-456-0711 or for special event tickets call 525-1515. Hollywood Casino will feature a free concert by Sonny Turner’s Tribute to the Platters in the Safari Lounge. (Though not an original member of the group, this outfit is still more authentic than most “tribute” groups; Turner joined the band in 1961.) In addition, the casino is offering a midnight champagne toast and balloon drop and a Millennium buffet. For more info, call 1-800-871-0711. Concerts Worth Checking Out There is no better way to celebrate than with music, and with that in mind there are a couple of big music events on tap for New Year’s. At The Orpheum, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra will be staging its Once In A Thousand Year’s gala and concert. Broadway stars Kim Crosby, Chris Groenendaal, and Timothy Shew will team up with Vincent Danner and the MSO to perform selections from all-time favorite musicals such as Les Miserables, Annie Get Your Gun, The Music Man, and Man of La Mancha. Following the concert, the stars will join symphony patrons for a gala and auction, including a chance to bid on a weekend package to see Luciano Pavarotti perform in Nashville. Tickets for the event are $250 per person. For tickets and more info, call 323-0060. On the other side of downtown, The Pyramid will be host to some more modern sounds at the Capstone Blast. O’landa Draper’s Associates and deejays from K97, WDIA, and Smooth 101 will provide the music while comedians Prescott, Tony Tone, Bruce Bruce, and Arnez J keep the audience in stitches. Tickets are $51 (includes concert, midnight fireworks display, champagne, food, and party favors) and $101 (all that plus an upgraded menu, three drink tickets, reserved parking, and access to three party rooms featuring live music by Ricky Strickland & the Eye to Eye Band and one-woman band Lesa B.). Eat In The New Year Odds are you’re planning to resolve to go on a diet come January 1st anyway, so you might as well spend the last day of the year gorging yourself on a big expensive meal. Though virtually all of the city’s finer restaurants will be open New Year’s, a handful are planning something special for Millennium revelers. Bosco’s in Germantown is offering a special New Year’s package that includes a special gourmet meal, champagne at midnight, and music by the John Lux Trio. Oh, and we hear they have some pretty good hand-crafted beer, too. Tickets are $65 per person, and reservations are required. For more info, call 756-7310. At KoTo’s in Midtown, chef Jennifer Dickerson has planned a four-course meal that includes lobster, crab, oysters, truffles, and caviar. The meal starts at $100 per person but make reservations early, Koto has very limited space. For more info, call 738-3313. Finally, you can enjoy the evening with one of the finest views in the city at the River Terrace on Mud Island. Chef Spencer McMillin has also cooked up a four-course banquet, though his menu veers away from seafood to include choices such as peppered venison chop and Colorado rack of lamb. Meals start at $100 per person. Reservations can be made at 528-0001. Put the Art in Party Cooper St. Gallery will be hosting an event to create the “Last Painting of the Century.” Area artists are invited to join gallery owner Jay Etkin in creating a huge mixed-media artwork that will later be sectioned off and sold to benefit the artists and a local charity. The public is invited to attend this event, which runs from 7 p.m. to midnight. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. For more info, call 272-7053. Feting With The Family Let’s face it: New Year’s parties — with their alcohol, loud music, smoky rooms, etc. — are not exactly designed for families. Fortunately, there are several events this year that are decidedly rated G. The Children’s Museum will once again celebrate New Year’s at noon on December 31st. Besides an opportunity to check out the museum’s current Toolville exhibit, there will be games and activities for the kids and a noon countdown with punch, cookies, and party favors. Call 458-2678 for more info.