PLAYGROUND BOSTON

New Years Eve in Boston is always a great night for music, and this year is certainly no exception! Problem is – how the hell do you decide between so many great shows? Well, we can’t tell you where you should end up, but we can try to narrow down the list a little bit and give you our top 6 picks for the best NYE 2009 has to offer. Why top 6? Well, to be honest, I couldn’t narrow this down to a top 5. I had enough trouble getting to 6 from 10, give me a break here! Just check out the list and try to get out to any one of these shows – you will not be disappointed! Best part is, every one of these events will leave enough left in your wallet to ensure you’ll have plenty to spend at the bar and forget about all those nasty things 2009 did to you! Happy New Year everyone, we’re looking forward to plenty more PGB madness in the new decade!

The Upper Crust, The Gentlemen, The Motion Sick – Church, 69 Kilmarnock St. Boston

The Upper Crust blew our collective minds at the P-Town Festival earlier this year. Powdered wig and breeches wearing fops rocking your face off with aggressive rock riffs and clever Victorian-era lyrics? Yes please! These guys simply have to be experienced – no amount of writing will give their shows full justice. They don’t play out so much anymore either, so this is definitely a treat that they’ve put this show together – especially considering what a great lineup they’ll be accompanied by! The Gentlemen, who celebrated their 10th Anniversary in 2009, will also be bringing their nonstop jam-packed set to the crowd at Church. Here’s another example of a band that doesn’t play around here too often, as all of the members seem to be knee-deep in side projects and rarely have the time to come together as the original band. Rounding out the bill is The Motion Sick – Boston indie-pop at its finest. These guys have had an incredibly successful 2009 – music videos, Dance Dance Revolution notoriety, The Phoenix’s Best Local Rock Band award, mentions by every conceivable Boston press outlet – you name it! They’re currently hard at work in the studio but are taking time off from recording to rock out for the New Year!

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show. Get tickets here!

Forgetful Jones & Three Day Threshold – Olivers @ The Cask n Flagon, 62 Brookline Ave. Boston

Team Shred’s doing it up right for the New Year. The local super-promotions team is taking over Olivers in Kenmore Square for an incredible night of rock. Forgetful Jones has a clear funky reggae imprint on their hard rock style, whereas Three Day Threshold has more of a roots influence. These genres may seem like a bit of a clash at first, but rest assured the two bands work great together and will combine to give your ears everything they could have asked for this holiday season. (Well yeah, they asked for Q-Tips too, but your mom got you those for Christmas.) FJ has been a PGB favorite long before this website even existed, and 3DT’s New Years shows have been the stuff of legend in this town for years!

Feeling a little greedy this New Years Eve? A killer band lineup just won’t cut it for you? Well then, the party at Olivers will also feature a free champagne toast at midnight, a free buffet from 8-9:30, and drink specials all night. STILL not enough? How about some free hockey ticket giveaways going on all night? They’ve got tix for the Winter Classic at Fenway Park, the Legends Game, and the big BC-BU game coming up as well!

Tickets are $25 at the door. Tickets are no longer available online in advance, however there will be plenty of tix at the door if you want to just show up.

Township & Mr Brownstone – Paradise, 967 Comm Ave. Allston

Just want to rock the fuck out this New Years? OK, we’ve got that covered too. Or rather, Township and Guns ‘n’ Roses tribute band Mr. Brownstone have that covered at the Paradise. Township’s easily one of the best rock acts in Boston right now – shredding classic rock style laced with oh-so-much hair flying everywhere. The band recently added ex-Bang Camaro axeman Alex Necochea to the mix – and you thought they couldn’t get any more face-meltingly awesome. Think again. Necochea’s one of the fastest guitarists in the Boston scene, and has enhanced that 70’s classic sound with a little bit of 80’s hair metal attitude. New York’s Mr. Brownstone calls themselves “The World’s Drunkest Tribute to Guns ‘n’ Roses.” Axl’s voice wailing, Slash’s guitar screaming, alcohol flying everywhere – what more could you ask for on New Year’s Eve? You want hair too? This will undoubtedly be the hairiest NYE celebration in the city – I guarantee it. Satisfied now?

Tickets are $25. Get tickets here!

Bim Skala Bim, Have Nots, Morgan Knockers, Brunt of It – Middle East Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave. Cambridge

Calling all rude boys, rude girls, and anyone else who can appreciate some good ska-punk insanity. Bim Skala Bim are legends of the Boston ska scene – they played the ‘Throwdown with the Bosstones on Monday, but other than that this is their first show in over 8 years! The band has split up and various members have moved across the country and the world, so its a rare occasion for them all to be in the same city to be able to play one show, much less two inside a week! They’ll be joined on stage by PGB Favorites Have Nots, who have been touring nonstop (200 shows!!!) all year in support of their masterpiece Serf City USA – easily one of my top albums of the year. Morgan Knockers and Brunt of It are also can’t-miss acts from New England. There’s also talk of some more special guests TBA – as if this lineup wasn’t good enough, they’re gonna throw a few surprises at you as well!

Tickets are $20. Get tickets here!

Mean Creek, You Can Be A Wesley, Magic Magic, Earthquake Party – Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave. Allston

Without a doubt, this show is going to be about as Allston as Allston gets. YCBAW and Magic Magic are on the forefront of the indie pop scene, sporting irony and a little bit of awkwardness to go with their irresistably catchy dance tunes. Mean Creek was awarded the BMA for “New Act of the Year,” and have been catching some seriously impressive press across Boston and the country as a whole! Here’s your chance to see them before it catches on how good they really are! Rounding out the bill are the low-fi pop trio Earthquake Party, sure to mesh well with the underlying hipster theme of this party. This is the cheapest show we’ve found for New Years, and it just might be impossible to NOT have a good time at Great Scott, so if you’re in the area get down there and check it out!

Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 day of show. Get tickets here!

Waltham Back to the Future Bash – Harpers Ferry, Brighton Ave. Allston

The original lineup for Waltham is back together for the first time in 10 years and ready to rock out all night long at Harpers Ferry! They’ll be joined by a ton of local Boston heroes performing cover sets, including Jet from Sam Black Church, Duncan Wilder Johnson, members of Gozu, Haloburn, Mob Hit, Graveyard BBQ, and even more special guests. Cover sets will include Billy Idol, The Ramones, Van Halen, ZZ Top, Weezer, Katy Perry, and Pat Benetar! This event will also… wait, you know what? Forget it. This video will explain everything you need to know about this event, and the voiceover guy’s got a much cooler voice than I could ever aspire to, so here:

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