Wringin' in 2003New Year's Eve is not a night when there's much to do for free. It's the night the local nightclubs jack up the cover 350-percent and justify it by handing you a chilled $9-bottle of Korbel. It's the night you wait an hour to get served at your favorite bar because a couple hundred stay-at-home types decided to live a little. It's the night you get flicked off by adolescents riding in the back of a stretch Hummer. It's a night that can be downright humiliating if you haven't found somebody to kiss come midnight. And it all adds up to an anxious buzz best channeled by crashing every damn party you can.
And there are a lot of parties to crash.
If your neighbors are having a little get-together they didn't invite you to, crash it. If somebody's church is having a really cool recital with punch and cookies, crash it. If you see some high school kids making their own kind of party in the Winn-Dixie parking lot, crash that thing.
What have you got to lose? Your dignity? New Year's Eve is not a night for dignity.
Now, if you've got some guts (and maybe some booze in you) and you're up for crashing a real party, start in downtown St. Petersburg.
The 10th annual First Night New Year's Eve family celebration is a no-alcohol event with 10 music stages and live entertainment (mostly indoors) at venues such as the Museum of Fine Arts, The Pier and stages set up throughout downtown. You need a button ($10 at the event) to get into these venues, but just work your magic and see if you can't check out some live music without one. And if you get rejected, just stroll along the seawall in Straub Park. After all, do you really want to pay to hang out somewhere on New Year's Eve where you can't drink?
If alcohol is what you want, though, look no further than Ybor City. Expect every club on Seventh to be offering incentives for paying their massive covers. Just remember that complimentary doesn't mean free.
That said, the major clubs are putting on some cool shows.
John Santoro's Ampitheater (1609 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City, 813-248-2331) is putting on a night called Cirque Nouveaux, featuring aerialists and stilt-walkers, special performances by the club's dancers and high-energy sets by resident DJs X and Mondo. Cover costs $25, or $40 per couple, and VIP packages start at $400 with a two-bottle minimum.
And DJs Tony Faline, Fredy Fernandez and Mike Anthony are providing the soundtrack to a Heaven & Hell theme party at Twilight (1507 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City, 813-247-6234), complete with dancing angels in heaven and fire dancers in hell. Cover costs $20, $30 for VIP.
There's absolutely no chance of crashing these clubs, though, so if you're balling on a budget, you might want to call it a night at some point, put a bottle of Moet on your credit card and lounge in front of the TV. New Year's Eve isn't about copping out, but it's also not about getting DUIs and passing out in someone's yard. That's Gasparilla.
This article appears in Dec 25-31, 2002.