By Jhoni Jackson
If 2012 wasn’t your best year, there’s a way for you to close it out with at least a modicum sense of accomplishment: Conquer a New Year’s Eve challenge.
The entire city will be buzzing, of course, but East Atlanta Village is hosting particularly stellar trifecta of NYE parties. The EARL scored southern surf-rockers Man…or Astro-Man? and El Fossil, plus local rock ‘n’ roll act Tiger! Tiger! Around the corner at 529, Royal Thunder will bring the rough and heavy, and Spirits and the Melchizedeck Children will smooth it over with subtle spookiness. Just down the block, the Keep on Movin’ dance party is set to steam up the Basement with a mass of folks two-steppin’ to oldies jams. Make it to all three events—and end 2012 triumphant.
It won’t be easy. The neighborhood will be crowded. Parking will be rough. (Shouldn’t you be taking a cab anyway?) Rowdy revelers are a given. Someone might even spill a drink on you. But history has proven that a key component to a monumental New Year’s Eve is intensity. Your party efforts must be full throttle if you want to have a blowout of a night.
For Mike Morgan of El Fossil, pushing the limits made for one of his favorite NYE memories.
“Last year, we were playing at my friend JD’s house (Speakeasy #12) at the time midnight struck,” he recalls. “I think Clan Destined was playing in the living room above us while we were playing in the basement, and the ceiling was visibly shaking. I thought it was going to collapse and kill us all. But it didn’t, so that was the best New Years for me.”
Luckily for the infrastructure of the building that houses the Basement, Keep on Movin’ goes down beneath the Graveyard, not vice versa.
“The Atlanta monthly Keep on Movin’ has grown every single month and last time we had hundreds dancing all night long and really getting into the retro ‘50s/‘60s music vibe,” notes party founder Jacob Jones. “I have a feeling the NYE version of the party this year is really going to pop off and set a new standard.”
Man or Astro-Man? guitarist Brian Causey—better known as Star Crunch—had something to say about New Year’s too, but like anything the space-surf band says, it’s awfully cryptic.
“Man or Astro-Man? are travelers of time and space. Our favorite New Year’s actually happens in the future…Earth year 3999,” he says.
Can that shindig be topped by this year’s festivities?
“Unfortunately, it can’t, as that would interrupt your time-space continuum,” he explains. “Suffice to say, we will party like it’s 3999. We hope for a close approximation of the future.”
Partying with people from the future adds points to party intensity, right?
On Monday, Dec. 31, Man or Astro-Man?, El Fossil and Tiger! Tiger! play the EARL. Royal Thunder, Spirits and the Melchizedeck Children and Caltrop perform at 529, and The Basement hosts Keep on Movin’.
