New Year’s Eve is synonymous with change. And sometimes change dumps you on your ass and leaves you holding a busted condom
It’s true that New Year’s Eve has always been synonymous with change, but change is all too often mistaken as a code word for some amazing, epic adventure where all your friends are gathered to hoist your legs in a keg-stand toast to advancement and revolution.
But, like shaving your legs or your face, change always comes at a cost, like an erstwhile cut, scab or scrape.
In fact, sometimes change dumps you on your ass and leaves you holding a busted condom.
My most memorable New Year’s Eve was also my most hated evening ever. I had just moved to Montreal during the Xmas holidays. But my sublet fell through and on New Year’s Eve I was out on scrounging for a couch to sleep on during one of the worst blizzards ever.
Several text messages later finally yielded a destination. A friend, who was out of the country at the time, had offered up her floor, but there was a terrible catch: Without a key I had to break in to her apartment. Ugh.
Crawling up the fire escape, which overlooked a busy street, I somehow managed to jimmy a window open and crawl inside. Unrolling a sleeping bag, I spread out over her hardwood floor while her cats prowled through the shadows, hissing at my unwanted presence. It was 10:30 at night. The New Year couldn’t come fast enough.
At that point I would have given anything to have stayed in Saskatoon, where there’s always something fun to do on New Year’s Eve. Sometimes change sucks.
Without further ado, here is Ominocity’s Guide to Partying in Saskatoon on New Year’s Eve.
The Hollows: Factor and Powder Blue
Factor and Powder Blue, who put out two of our favourite albums in 2013, will be providing the entertainment at The Hollows this New Year’s Eve. The show also talks about some special guests, and if you follow Factor on Instagram you’ll notice that he’s been hanging out with Kirby Dominant aka Paranoid Castle a lot lately…
The Odeon/O’Brians Event Centre: PLATINUM BLONDE and The Nightrain
Zuh? Platinum Blonde are still a band? Weird, but cool. Also, The Nightrain, a tribute to Guns N’ Roses, is opening. But if you’ve ever seen these guys live they are pretty much better than G’n’R at this point, so there you go.
Congress: Portal and DJ Market Mall
DJ Market Mall is the alter ego of Jason Hattie, who also plays in 911 Turbo and runs HairDu Records. He’ll be party rocking at Congress alongside pals Portal (Marc Collette & Jacqueline Woods), Jim Nellis, and Ryan Unger and Felipe Gomez (Bass Invaders).
Rock Bottom: Johnny Don’t
It often occurs to me that Ominocity doesn’t give enough love to Johnny Don’t – apparently they have a new album set for release in 2014 called “SEX BARBEQUE”. Whoa. What’s not to love?!
Tequila Nightclub: Mike Dubz & DJ Chan-L
Have you seen the Saskatoon-produced show Nightclub Confidential yet? In the first episode we are treated to an intimate glance inside the inner-workings of Tequila Nightclub and their struggles to stand out as a world class club. Who knew? It’s kind of goofy but the show works.
Village Guitar: SUPERBAND: Featuring members of The Strength, The Rebellion, and The Sex, and DJ Milton Hamfat
Bands are good. But what about the modern day mating call? That’s right, we’re talking about the secret art of karaoke. Because apparently that is also a thing at Village Guitar for this party.
Amigos: Young Benjamins, Pirate Fridays, and Mario Lepage
Indie folk popsters the Young Benjamins had a stellar year in 2013: their album Less Argue got a ton of great press and the band played a ton across Canada. So something tells me they want to celebrate that fact.
Vangelis: Classy Chassys, Jumbo and Blackwater
Rockabilly cats The Classy Chassys aren’t exactly reinventing the wheel. But they sure can make them spin. Who knew that one of the most party rockin’ New Year’s Eve shows belongs to a bunch of greasers and a cadre of ’50s inspired tunes.
Prairieland Park: Men Without Shame and DJ Anchor
Apparently “Saskatoon’s Largest New Year’s Eve House Party” is attempting to sell the sizzle by promising patrons their very own “PERSONALIZED RED SOLO CUP!” SO THERE!
Click here for more info.
– Featured photo from Flickr user “Sean MacEntee” – Creative Commons.