Another long holiday weekend is upon us and we’re counting down the hours until it’s time to ring in 2023. As you could expect, there’s plenty of live music to choose from, especially on New Year’s Eve. We kept it to our standard format, only featuring one act of the big night, but you can always check out our full New Year’s Eve Guide for Portland, Maine, if you’re still trying to nail down those NYE plans.
Don’t forget that you can ALSO check out our Live Music Tonight calendar for the full list of live music in Portland.
THE HEADLINER
If you’re looking for one of the biggest live music acts in town to ring in the new year (and why wouldn’t you be?) get yourself over to Bayside Bowl for Antibalas’s two-night New Year’s Eve run!
Founded in 1998, Antibalas is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat collective of 14 musicians that have made a name for themselves by modelling their style after Fela Kuti’s Afrika 70 band, and mixing in elements of jazz, funk, dub and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa. The horn-driven beats have brought Antibalas around the globe to perform alongside the biggest bands in the afrobeat genre.
They’ll kick off the weekend on Friday, December 30th with opening act Royal Hammer, and they’ll be back to count us down to 2023 with openers SeepeopleS on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31st.
Get your tickets for one or both nights now!
LIVE & LOCAL
Beginning on Wednesday, December 28th, and lasting through Friday, December 30th, you have three chances to catch local jazz musicians who have returned to their hometown, Portland, for the holidays, and are making special appearances at the Portland Conservatory of Music, for their “Dimensions in Jazz: Home for the Holidays” concert series.
Each night, beginning at 8:00PM, catch a collection of homegrown jazz musicians who have left the area to spread their musical wings, and want to show you what they’ve been up to since.
Despite the name, these concerts will not feature traditional holiday music, but will focus on contemporary jazz standards and improvisations by some of the best jazz musicians to come out of the area in the last several years.
Get your tickets now for any or all events.
MID-WEEK MUSIC
Catch one of the best tribute bands of the one of the biggest names in rock over the last sixty years at Aura this Thursday, December 29th with “107.5 Frank FM Presents Tusk: “The World’s #1 Tribute to Fleetwood Mac.”
With a rich history stretching over four decades, these five musicians have the chemistry, synergy and intuition to set them apart from other Fleetwood Mac tributes, for a combined sound and presentation that would impress Stevie Nicks herself.
From ‘Dreams,’ to ‘The Chain,’ to ‘Landslide,’ you’ll hear all your favorites from this legendary band with an accuracy and enthusiasm you’ll be hard-pressed to match with any other tribute act. Get your tickets now for what is sure to be an unforgetable evening.
STAFF PICK
If you’re looking to kick off the weekend with some underground punk rock and ska, there’s no better place than Free Street this Friday, December 30th.
Portland’s own punk/ska rockers Sonic Libido presents: “Sonic Libido’s Hunky Holiday,” featuring an all-star lineup of the best ska and punk that New England has to offer.
The entire line-up features PWRUP, el Grande, Sgt. Scagnetti and of course, hometown boys Sonic Libido. If you’re looking to start your New Year’s celebrations early with some thrashing, moshing, and maybe even some skanking, there’s no better opportunity than Hunky Holiday.
Show starts at 8:00PM, and you can expect to pay a $10 cover to get in the door.
There’s so much live music happening around the city at any given time that we’d never have the time to list them all here.
Check out our Live Music Tonight page for a full calendar of live events happening in Portland, Maine.
