NYE in LA?

December 30, 2010 1:23 PM

How can I find out what's going on in LA on New Years Eve/Day?

I'm new to this fucking fair city, and I don't have a lot of local friends or a significant other to turn to. I'm trying to find something fun/interesting/very strange to go to, possibly All By Myself.

I'm interested in both:
A. sources of information that tell me what is going on and
B. suggestions of things to go to.

However, I am not interested in things that have
A. lines forever/huge waits
B. much of anything to do with film or pop culture.

I am looking through the resources mentioned here.

posted by fake to sports, hobbies, & recreation (12 answers total)

Maybe this is obvious, but: LA Times.
posted by something something at 1:37 PM on December 30, 2010

The Rose Parade is probably the biggest event--you can stroll along Orange Grove the night before and admire the floats, and camp out on the streets if you chose. Sure, it's sort of kitsch, but it's our kitsch. It's the closest thing to watching the ball drop in Times Square as there's no one central gathering place in LA.
posted by Ideefixe at 1:38 PM on December 30, 2010

Maybe this is obvious, but: LA Times.

I've been pretty disconnected/work obsessed since I've been here, so it is not too obvious for me. All resources welcome, the more specific the better, and if you have personal experience or LA-specific stuff like Ideefixe mentions, that's perfect.
posted by fake at 1:45 PM on December 30, 2010

HiddenLA.com from MeFi's own misslynnster has a list of events for that day. Thai Elvis, LACMA's Pay-what-you-wish night, others.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:03 PM on December 30, 2010

Thai Elvis is so great! Such a weird experience.
posted by something something at 3:51 PM on December 30, 2010

OK, I'm trying to use HiddenLA.

The front page says nothing about NYE.

If I go to the "Calendar of Events" I get an error page.

If I click on "local interest" I get only one article.

The little calendar widget seems to work alright, but it's a long, long list without any specifics. What am I doing wrong? How do I get to the heart of HiddenLA?
posted by fake at 4:03 PM on December 30, 2010

LA Weekly (there's also Pasadena Weekly, and I'm sure other-areas-Weekly) has calendars for many different types of events.
posted by so_gracefully at 5:47 PM on December 30, 2010

looks like LA Weekly has the most comprehensive, easily-scannable entry so far.
posted by fake at 5:54 PM on December 30, 2010

Yeah, the HLA stuff is about as scatterbrained as misslynnster herself, but generally the facebook page has the fastest flying relevant information. She linked two posts calling for NYE events recently: 1, 2

Freaky stuff mentioned in those threads:
Together As One (dance music aka RAVE)
Vendetta put on by LADEAD (Prohibition-era theme party, presumably with alcohol)
Some dude's OC mansion party (sketchy to the extreme, likely sausage party)
Lockdown (hip hop party in DTLA)
Fast & Loose put on by the Sacred Fools Theater (8 short plays written in 24 hours, followed by cast & crew party to celebrate NYE)

And here's a website that seems to be listing parties and events.
posted by carsonb at 8:39 PM on December 30, 2010

regarding the rose parade, i once had a fabulous time inadvertently lost in the 'formation area' (see the map on ideefixe's link) on the afternoon of december 31. you get to see the floats being finished, without the parade crush. bonus: combination wells-fargo/starbucks!!!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 9:19 PM on December 30, 2010

Lemme know what you wind up doing. I'm jealous you're going out; The Hun and I are laid up with flu nasty.
posted by carsonb at 8:27 AM on December 31, 2010

On the evening of the 30th, there was a freak turn of events and I ended up meeting the RVIP crew and I built a set of disco ceiling lights for their new RV. Then I went out with them last night -- we toured Los Feliz, WeHo, etc picking up people along the way. It was pretty damn excellent.

Now just sitting and hacking at my bench. Hope you guys feel better soon, and thanks for all the suggestions.
posted by fake at 4:46 PM on January 1, 2011