It’s time to start planning how you want to wave goodbye to the old and say hello to the new.
Yes, Dec. 31 is right around the corner and a bountiful crop of top musicians and comedians are hoping that you’ll consider spending the last night of 2022 with them.
As per usual – well, not counting the lockdown year of 2020 – there are many intriguing New Year’s Eve concerts and shows going on in the Bay Area.
The musical offerings run the gamut from punk rock and Latin jazz to electronic dance music and blues-soul-R&B, while there are also several popular comedians who will be yukking it up around these parts as 2022 comes to a close.
Here’s our roundup of 12 of the top NYE shows going on in the Bay Area.
Social Distortion
Say goodbye to 2022 in legendary punk rock fashion as Mike Ness and company set up shop at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Social D — which ranks among the best SoCal punk acts of all time — should deliver a sensational soundtrack for the occasion, one likely filled with such standout cuts as “Story of My Life,” “Bad Luck” and “Ball and Chain.” And perhaps they’ll save the rowdy “Ring of Fire” — aka the greatest punk cover of a country song — for when the clock is about to strike midnight.
Details: 9:30 p.m. Dec. 31; tickets start at $125; livenation.com (note: Social D also performs Jan. 1 at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park; guildtheatre.com)
Kaskade
The Chicago native closed out 2021 in festive fashion with a big New Year’s Eve concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Now, he’s set to give 2022 a similar sendoff on Dec. 31 at the same venue. It should be quite a party as electronic dance music fans turn out in force to groove along to the work of this acclaimed artist, who has twice been named “America’s Best DJ” by DJ Times. Kaskade has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, including earning two nods for best dance/electronica album — for “Fire & Ice” in 2013 and “Atmosphere” in 2014.
Details: 9 p.m. Dec. 31; $129.95-$229.50; apeconcerts.com.
Nick Mullen
Having gotten his start performing in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area as a teenager, Mullen has gone on to achieve success as a podcaster, comic writer and stand-up comedian. He’s opened gigs for such acts as Dana Gould, Jim Norton, Patrice O’Neal and Hannibal Burress as well as performed at the Laugh Detroit festival and at comedy showcases held during Southwest by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mullen is known for his celebrity impressions, which reportedly have included such well-known characters as Dwayne Johnson, Joe Biden, Jon Hamm, Ice-T, Gene Hackman and Donald Trump. The comedian closes out 2022 by performing five shows in three nights at the Improv in San Jose.
Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 29, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Dec. 30, 7 and 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31; $25-$85, improv.com/sanjose
Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band
Sanchez is a towering figure in jazz, having performed with Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaría, Hugh Masekela, Freddie Hubbard, Clare Fischer, Dianne Reeves and other greats while releasing dozens of acclaimed albums over a career that stretches back to the mid-1970s. The acclaimed conguero, who was born in Texas and raised in Southern California, should have fans dancing to some delightful Latin Jazz grooves on the last two nights of 2022 at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley.
Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 30-31; $40-$105, thefreight.org
Seth MacFarlane with S. F. Symphony
The multitalented MacFarlane, who could likely buy a fleet of Lamborghinis with the money he’s made as the creator and star of TV’s “Family Guy,” is ready to croon away 2022 in a special New Year’s Eve program with the S.F. Symphony. The remarkable vocalist — who released his seventh studio album, “Blue Skies,” in May — will deliver a big band-era performance of jazz standards and holiday favorites for fans at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31; $79-$229, sfsymphony.org
Fantastic Negrito
The Oakland soul-blues-R&B singer-songwriter has had an incredible run of success at the Grammy Awards, winning three trophies for best contemporary blues album in a five-year span. He first took home the award in 2017 with “The Last Days of Oakland,” then followed up with victories for “Please Don’t Be Dead” and “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?” in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Negrito — whose latest album is “White Jesus Black Problems” — performs a New Year’s Eve gig at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park. The Monophonics are also on the bill.
Details: 9 p.m. Dec. 31; $80-$120, guildtheatre.com
Boney James
The Grammy-nominated smooth jazz saxophonist is still going strong, having just released his 18th studio album, “Detour,” earlier this year. The set follows 2020’s “Solid,” which turned out to be James’ highest-ever charting release on the pop charts, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard 200. In other words, James just keeps adding to his already impressive legacy, which, among other things, includes having sold more than 3 million albums in a recording career that began with 1992’s “Trust.” James closes out 2022 with five shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland.
Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 29, 8 and 10 p.m. Dec. 30, 8 and 11 p.m. Dec. 31; $99-$149, yoshis.com
John Mulaney
The stand-up comedian and TV personality, who first made his name in the business as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” 10-plus years ago, is sure to get big laughs when he performs a New Year’s Eve gig at The Masonic in San Francisco. His impressive body of work includes such specials as 2009’s “The Top Part,” 2012’s “New in Town,” 2015’s “The Comeback Kid” and 2018’s “Kid Gorgeous.” Outside of television, Mulaney made his big screen debut as the voice actor of Peter Porker/Spider-Ham in the 2018 animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
Details: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 31; tickets start at $59, livenation.com
Monsieur Perine
The acclaimed act must have had a really good time ringing in the previous new year at the SFJAZZ Center, because it’s back again this year. The Colombia troupe, which won the 2015 Latin Grammy for best new artist, is set to perform another five shows in four nights at the marvelous music venue in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood. So come on out and dance 2022 away to Monsieur Perine’s mix of contemporary Latin American pop, Django Reinhardt-rooted jazz and traditional rhythms.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29-30, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31, 7 p.m. Jan. 1; $25-$105; sfjazz.org
Meredith McHenry
It’s a huge hometown show for the Livermore native, who will croon through a diversely appealing set of music — ranging from Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald to Tool and the Weeknd — during her New Year’s Eve show at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. McHenry and her band will be joined by Bay Area vocalist Meshach Jackson and West Coast swing dancers Ben and Cameo McHenry, who happen to be Meredith’s brother and sister-in-law.
Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 31; $20-$50, livermorearts.org
Drama
The Chicago R&B-dance music duo, consisting of producer Na’el Shehade and singer-songwriter Via Rosa, headlines a cool New Year’s Eve show at the Independent in San Francisco. The group will likely be showcasing music from the 2020 full-length album “Dance Without Me,” as well as perhaps offering up material from the EPs “Gallows” (2016) and “Lies After Love” (2018). Nasaya and MPHD are also on the bill.
Details: 9 p.m. Dec. 31; $125, apeconcerts.com
Greg Proops
One of the Bay Area’s favorite funnymen returns for a year-end run of shows at the Punch Line in San Francisco, where he has performed the New Year’s Eve show on many an occasion. Proops, who was raised in San Carlos and attended both the College of San Mateo and San Francisco State University, is known for appearing on both the U.S. and U.K. versions of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 29, 7:30 and 9:45 Dec. 30, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Dec. 31; tickets start at $25, punchlinecomedyclub.com
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