Category: Nightlife

Music, comedy and more for New Year’s Eve

Send off 2021 in style with music, comedy and more on Friday, Dec. 31. Know of a party not mentioned here? Let us know at music@hippopress.com.

• 603 Bar & Lounge (368 Central Ave., Dover, 742-9283) A night of DJs offers Sex on Decks with support from DJ Deja and Pete Vitello. 9 p.m.

• 815 Cocktails & Provisions (815 Elm St., Manchester, eventbrite.com) $100. The theme at this downtown speakeasy is Red Carpet — think Music Awards, and the fun wardrobe that goes with that. Open bar, eats, dancing, unlimited photo booth, midnight Champagne toast. 9 p.m.

• Alan’s (133 N. Main St., Boscawen, 753-6631) NYE with Stray Dog, $15 per person, 8 p.m.

• American Legion Post 47 (551 Foundry St., Rollinsford, 742-5833) Acoustic Radio fifth annual bash with opener Aunt Peg, $15, with prime rib dinner available. 7:30 p.m.

• American Legion Post 70 (169 Walton Road, Seabrook, 474-2430) Ghost Riderz rock in the New Year, $20 per person. Starts at 9 p.m.

• American Legion Post 98 (43 Baboosic Lake Road, Merrimack, 429-0343) Kid N’ Play Style New Year’s Eve Bash with a mix of ’80s/’90s hip-hop and R&B music. 9 p.m.

• Angel City Music Hall (179 Elm St., Manchester, 931-3654) Rock in 2022 with Everybody Wants Some – A Tribute to Van Halen ’78-’84; The Hellion – Judas Priest Tribute; and Caliente Pistolas. $50 dinner buffet by Chef Sean, Champagne toast at midnight. Starts at 7 p.m.

• Area 23 (State Street, Concord, 881-9060) With edgy new song “Deathmask,” Faith Ann Band performs, joined by special guests Alfredo Benavides and Ben Harris. 7 p.m.

• Ashworth by the Sea (295 Ocean Blvd., Hampton, 926-6762) Party with a live band, hors d’oeuvres and a seated surf & turf dinner, a cash bar, late-night snack, midnight Champagne toast, and fireworks on the beach. DJ dancing. 6:30 p.m.

• Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, 622-6564) Stuck In Time Band performs ’60s, ’70s and ’80s covers, with free buffet and midnight Champagne toast. 8 p.m.

• Backstreet Bar & Grill (102 Plaza, 76 Derry Road, Hudson, 578-1811) DJ Bobby Lane leads a dance party. 8 p.m.

• Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, eventbrite.com) $45 to $90. Shuttavac NYE Spectacular is inspired by the bold speakeasies of the Roaring 1920s to the iconic New York nightclubs of the 1970s, where people escaped to celebrate in inclusive, bold and glamorous worlds. 8 p.m.

• Belmont Hall & Restaurant (718 Grove St., Manchester, 625-8540) New Year’s Eve dance party with DJ Hustle Boy, $55, cash bar. 7 p.m.

• Blue Ocean Music Hall (4 Oceanfront North, Salisbury, Mass., 462-5888) The tradition continues with a New Year’s Eve bash starring The Fools & Psychedelic Relics, with optional dinner buffet. Champagne toast, party favors and midnight balloon drop. Dinner and show $92; show only $28 general admission. 7 p.m.

• Bonfire Restaurant & Country Bar (950 Elm St., Manchester, 217-5600) Martin & Kelly perform country rock. 9 p.m.

• Boston Billiard Club (55 Northeastern Blvd., Nashua, 943-5630) Live music from The Apathetics, $10 cover. Reserve a pool table for the night for $175. Includes an appetizer platter, bottle of Champagne and the cover is waived for up to four people in your party. 9 p.m.

• Breezeway Pub (14 Pearl St., Manchester, 621-9111) Drag Roulette Fridays. 8 p.m.

• Bridgewater Inn (367 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-3518) Mystical Magic performs downstairs, with DJ upstairs spinning all night long. $45 per person includes buffet (5:30 to 7:30 p.m.) and party; $20 for party only. Hats & tiaras, noisemakers, beads and Champagne toast. 8 p.m.

• Buckey’s (240 Governor Wentworth Hwy., Moultonborough, 476-5485) Red Hat Band plays its traditional NYE set. 9 p.m.

• Cask & Vine (1 East Broadway, Derry, beerfests.com) Celebrate this gastropub’s 10th year with its NYE masquerade party. $25 deposit will be applied to the bill. Includes midnight Champagne toast. 6 p.m.

• Castleton Banquet and Conference Center (58 Enterprise Dr., Windham, eventbrite.com) $200. Dress to impress with three-course meal, open bar all night, 50/50 raffle, Joey Dion from Main Event Entertainment, photo booth, midnight Champagne toast. 7 p.m.

• Central Ale House (23 Central St., Manchester, 660-2241) Gatsby Gala Midnight Masquerade with 1920s style dress code, midnight Champagne toast. Starts at 6 p.m. Email info@centralalehouse.com to RSVP.

• Cercle National Club (550 Rockland Ave., Manchester, 623-8243) Drink specials, party favors and Plan B playing rock covers at this members club. 6 p.m.

• Chen Yang Li (520 South St., Bow, 228-8508) Great Gatsby party hosted by DJ Kenny P. 8 p.m.

• Chop Shop (920 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 760-7706) An evening of active rock with Leaving Eden and Band, Inc., led by 18-year-old singer and bassist Giuliana Amaral. 6:30 p.m.

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua, headlinersnh.com) Two events: Comedy with Matt Barry, James Dorsey and Greg Boggis in one room, Dueling Pianos in another. $30 each show, 7 and 10 p.m.

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, headlinersnh.com) Two events: Comedy with Joe Yannetty, Joey Carrol and Mark Scalia in one room, Dueling Pianos in another. $30 each, 7 and 10 p.m.

• Coach Stop (176 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 437-2022) Pete Peterson performs an early set. 7 p.m.

• Common Man (88 Range Road, Windham 898-0088) Singer-songwriter Karen Grenier performs an early set. 6 p.m.

• Concord Holiday Inn (172 Main St., Concord, 224-9534) Comedy with Mike Donovan and Amy Tee, dancing and toast — with dinner and room $276 per couple, dinner-only $188 per couple, $94 single. 8 p.m.

• Copper Door (41 S. Broadway, Salem, 458-3033) Jodee Frawlee plays an early set. 3 p.m.

• Copper Door (15 Leavy Dr., Bedford, 488-2677) Jordan Quinn plays an early set. 3 p.m.

• CR’s (287 Exeter Road, Hampton, 929-7972) Rico Barr Trio playing holiday hours 5 to 11 p.m.

• Crow’s Nest (181 Plaistow Road, Plaistow, 974-1686) DJ Golo provides the music with prizes, giveaways and extended hours. 9 p.m.

• Derryfield (625 Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-2880) Chad LaMarsh rocks the party. $20 a ticket includes admission to see the music, Champagne toast at midnight and party favors. 9 p.m.

• Farm Bar & Grille (1181 Elm St., Manchester, 641-3276) The Gold Everything Party: Jam’n 94.5’s DJ Sammy Smoove and Boston’s DJ Real Ace spin top 40, hip-hop and Latin hits. Gold attire is encouraged but not mandatory for entry. $25. 8 p.m.

• Flying Monkey Movie House (39 Main St., Plymouth, 536-2551) Comedian Bob Marley is back, performing three times, at 3, 6:30 and 9 p.m. Tickets start at $39.50. 8 p.m.

• Fody’s (9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015) Joe Wedge Experience performs. 9 p.m.

• Fody’s Derry (187 1/2 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946) Pop Roks plays fun covers. 9 p.m.

• Fratello’s (155 Dow St., Manchester, 624-2022) Clint LaPointe plays. 8 p.m.

• Fratello’s Italian Grille (194 Main St., Nashua, 889-2022) Justin Jordan entertains. 9 p.m.

• Gibb’s Garage Bar (3612 Lafayette St., Portsmouth, portsmouthnh.com) Elijah Clark plays an early set at this throwback automotive-themed restaurant. 7 p.m.

• Grill 28 (200 Grafton Road, Portsmouth, 766-6466) Dave Gerard of Truffle plays an early set. 6 p.m.

• Headliners (700 Elm St., Manchester, 988-3673) Open after a long hiatus, with three comics and DJ spinning in the ballroom. Packages include food, drink and dancing, starting at $40. 8 p.m.

• High Octane (1072 Watson Road, Laconia, 527-8116) Masquerade party with EXP Band playing, best mask cash prize, Champagne toast as this Lakes Region club celebrates its first anniversary. 8 p.m.

• Hillsboro Moose Lodge (15 School St., Hillsboro, 464-6024) Cellar Dwellers, Superbug and Probable Cause perform, with a Champagne toast at midnight plus snacks, appetizers and food. $10 in advance, $15 at the door. 6 p.m.

• Homestead (641 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 429-2022) Ralph Allen performs. 6:30 p.m.

• Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club (135 Congress St., Portsmouth, ticketmaster.com) Grammy-winning jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri & La Perfecta Big Band perform. $375 to $425. 7 p.m.

• Jocelyn’s (355 S. Broadway, Salem, 870-0045) Brian Walker performs an early set. 6 p.m.

• L Street Tavern (17 L St., Hampton, 967-4777) Craig LaGrassa performs. 8 p.m.

• LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898) New Year’s Eve dinner with Freese Brothers Big Band followed by a stroll through the LaBelle Lights. $121.50. 9 p.m.

• Lynn’s 102 Tavern (76 Derry Road, Hudson, 943-7832) Sindicate rocks in the new year. 9 p.m.

• Murphy’s Taproom (494 Elm St., Manchester, scampscomedy.com) Dancing Madly Backwards follows a comedy show with Dave Rattigan, Chris Cameron, E.J. Murphy and Casey Crawford. $22. 8 p.m.

• Music Hall (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, themusichall.org) $38, Champagne Pops, Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra led by special guest conductor Dr. Dirk Hillyer and guest vocalist Jacyn Tremblay, performing selections from Frozen, The Greatest Showman, Cabaret, Chicago, The Godfather, West Side Story and a collection of Gershwin swing favorites. 8 p.m.

• Nan King Restaurant (222 Central St., Hudson, 882-1911) Patty Shock’s Energizer Karaoke provides entertainment. 8 p.m.

• Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588) Recycled Percussion is again home for the holidays — ring in 2020 with junk rock. Two shows, 4 and 7:30 p.m. $35 to $45.

• Pasta Loft (241 Union Sq., Milford, 672-2270) Fatha Groove fills the dance floor. $10 includes Champagne toast at midnight. 7 p.m.

• Pats Peak Ski Area (686 Flanders Road, Henniker, 728-7732) New Year’s fireworks (slopes close at 10 p.m.) and dancing to The McMurphys in the Sled Pub. 6 p.m.

• Penuche’s Ale House (6 Pleasant St., Concord, 228-9833) NYE party with Felix Holt. 9 p.m.

• Players’ Ring Theatre (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, 436-8123) Lady Ro drag show is back after two years. 10 p.m.

• Portsmouth Gas Light (64 Market St., Portsmouth, 430-9122) Boston Circus Guild – Welcome to The Show. Cirque du Soleil-inspired evening with live entertainment and DJ music. VIP packages available by emailing brandonburke@portsmouthgaslight.com. 8 p.m.

• Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St., Manchester, 668-5588) Juston McKinney’s Year In Review comes to Manchester, $35 (also New Year’s Day). 8 p.m.

• River Hill Grange (32 Horse Hill Road, Penacook, penacook.org) Midlife Crisis album release party with K Daver, Kinetik, Mass Militia, Livid Rhymer and Quincer. $20 includes free drinks. 7 p.m.

• Rochester Elks Lodge (295 Columbus Ave., Rochester, 332-9700) Bill Vendasi performs at a Mad Hatter’s party, $45 per person includes cocktail hour with appetizers, prime rib or chicken cordon bleu dinner, dessert and midnight toast. 9 p.m.

• Saddle Up Saloon (92 Route 125, Kingston, 369-6962) Bite The Bullet Band plays fourth annual bash, $55 tickets include buffet from 7 to 9 p.m. and a late-night pizza buffet, Champagne toast and party favors. 7 p.m.

• Salt Hill Pub (2 W. Park St., Lebanon, 448-4532) 19th annual New Year’s Eve party featuring Vermont and New Hampshire’s only cowpunk-thunder boogie band, Road Trash. $10 admission, 8 p.m.

• Sawbelly Brewing (156 Epping Road, Exeter, 583-5080) Parker Richards, back for the holidays from Nashville, performs an early set. 5 p.m.

• Shaskeen (909 Elm St., Manchester, 625-0246) Lock The Doors Bash is reprised with limited $50 tickets covering a food buffet, midnight Champagne toast, giveaways, Chris Bennett, a.k.a. DJ Myth, spinning and open bar. The club will be closed to anyone without tickets (21+ only). 8 p.m.

• Sheraton Hotel (250 Market St., Portsmouth, eventbrite.com) Mark Riley, Ryan Gartley and host Steve Scarfo provide the laughs at the 12th annual show presented by Live Free and Die Laughing. Early show $28 (8:30 p.m.), late show $38 (10:30 p.m.).

• Soho Bistro (20 Old Granite St., Manchester, 222-1677) $20 for starters with up to $600 for VIP packages gets you into an elegant NYE party. 9 p.m.

• South Side Tavern (1279 S. Willow St., Manchester, 935-9947) Cox Karaoke hosts with dancing, party favors and Champagne toast at midnight. No cover. 9 p.m.

• Stone Church (5 Granite St., Newmarket, 659-7700) Club d’Elf with special guests John Medeski & David Tronzo. $75. 6 p.m.

• Stonecutters Pub (63 Union Sq., Milford, 213-5979) KJ-Dave O hosts New Year’s Eve karaoke with spot prizes for ugly sweaters and much more fun in store. 9 p.m.

• Stumble Inn (20 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, 432-3210) Swipe Right Band performs. 8 p.m.

• Sweeney Post #2 (251 Maple St., Manchester, 623-9145) The Lexi James Band, with lots of food, lots of great music and lots of fun. 8 p.m.

• The Big House (322 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 767-2226) Back in the Day plays this Weirs Beach room at 8 p.m. $10.

• The Goat Hampton (20 L St., Hampton, 601-6928) Alex Anthony performs at Hampton Beach’s only country bar at 8 p.m.

• The Goat Manchester (50 Old Granite St., Manchester, 603-4628) NYE party with Those Guys at this club family’s newest location at 8 p.m.

• The Goat Portsmouth (142 Congress St., Portsmouth, 658-4628) Chris Toler plays early. 9 p.m.

• Thirsty Moose (21 Congress St, Portsmouth, 427-8645) Connecticut pop rock band Mattson performs in the basement music space while great beer flows on both floors, 9 p.m.

• Tower Hill Tavern (264 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 366-9100) $10. Resident DJ Kadence hosts a karaoke NYE party, 8 p.m.

• Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100) Adam Ezra Group and opening duo Sirsy play with a four-course dinner at 5:30 p.m. for $95; 8:30 p.m. show only is $40, and all tickets include a Champagne toast.

• Tuscan Market & Village (9 Via Toscana, Salem, 912-5467) The Deviant (Mindset X leader Scott Haiduchuk’s acoustic alter ego) performs. 8 p.m.

• Veteran’s Club (118 John Stark Hwy., Newport, 863-3945) $10 for Talkin’ Smack, a popular cover band playing the hits. 7 p.m.

• Village Trestle (25 Main St., Goffstown, 497-8230) Paul Lussier plays an early set. 5 p.m.

• Wally’s Pub (144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton, 926-6954) Boston based rock/pop cover band Down A 5th performs at this party. 9 p.m.

• Waterville Valley Ski Area (1 Ski Area Road, Waterville Valley, 236-8311) Gabby Martin at T-Bars and Henry LaLiberte at Freestyle, with fireworks at midnight. 3 p.m.

• XO Bistro (827 Elm St., Manchester, 560-7998) Acoustic Moxie performs an early set. 6:30 p.m.

• Yankee Lanes (216 Maple St., Manchester, 625-9656) Roll New Year’s Eve three-hour bowling party $99.95 per lane for up to six people. 9:30 p.m.

Featured photo: Courtesy image.

Gift ideas for music fans

Books, box sets, baubles, even bespoke action figures are all good ways to make the music fan in your life feel special — and if those don’t do it, there’s always concert tickets. Here are some gifts that are sure to provoke a positive response.

Keep the holiday spirit alive all year with singer, songwriter and artist Dan Blakeslee & the Calabash Club’s joyful album, Christmasland Jubilee, available in a deluxe green and gold accented splattered vinyl edition that includes a silkscreened jacket, lyric book and original sketches from the New England treasure, who frequently performs in the Granite State.

Celebrate multiple New England Music Award nominee Liz Bills by purchasing her latest CD, Liz Bills & The Change, or grabbing a ’60s themed poster marking the same release.

Sepsiss took home their second NEMA in October, for Hard Rock/Metal Act of the Year. The New Hampshire rockers are ace branders as well, with a merch store offering puzzles, dog tags, red starred socks, stickers and even a signed Polaroid, along with T-shirts and caps. One of the best items is a fleece blanket with the image of lead singer Melissa Wolfe.

Not content with doing standup comedy and performing power pop with his band Donaher, Nick Lavallee began crafting made-to-order action figures of cultural icons a while back, including a dual set with Chance the Rapper and Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Tom Hanks in his Castaway role, Tenacious D and the priceless Mahket Basket clerk (actually $65). See pics on Instagram @wickedjoyful or purchase at wickedjoyful.bigcartel.com.

Peter Jackson’s mammoth documentary Get Back had Beatles fans atwitter over Thanksgiving; some loved it, others were put off by its eight-hour length. For fans, there’s a deluxe vinyl box set of the Let It Be album that includes all the superior Glyn Johns mixes, or a Get Back coffee table book. For brevity lovers, it’s perhaps a better idea to grab a pair of tickets to watch Ringo Starr & His All-Starr band open Bank of NH Pavilion’s 2022 concert season on June 4.

For the concert fan who can’t decide, there’s always the gift card option. Many area venues offer them, including Tupelo Music Hall. The Derry venue has upcoming shows from Marc Cohn, The Alarm, Rick Springfield, Tower of Power and ex-Eagle Don Felder, along with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, so it will surely get spent.

Supply chain problems preclude anyone from having the 30th-anniversary box set of Nirvana’s earth-shattering Nevermind on vinyl until next May, so if preordering won’t work, there’s a five-CD version with the remastered album and complete recordings of four concerts, as well as a Blu-ray disc of the HD Live in Amsterdam video, and a 40-page hardcover book.

Speaking of books, several fine reads for the rock fan were published this year, including Rock Concert by Marc Myers, an oral history with memories from artists, fans and industry figures. It’s packed with fun facts, such as that the first stadium concert was promoted by Kay Wheeler, the teenage president of Elvis Presley’s fan club. Her letter writing campaign in 1956 managed to fill the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

For the classic rock fan, Hollywood Eden by Joel Selvin traces the roots of the 1960s California Sound to University High School in Los Angeles, where teens like Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean spent their days in classes and their nights making hit records. It includes the bizarre story of a plot to kidnap Frank Sinatra Jr. to revive a flagging career.

At the intersection of rock and fantasy, Z2 Comics offers graphic novels based on music from artists from All Time Low to Yungblud. Among the best are one that combines the I Love Rock and Roll and Bad Reputation albums by Joan Jett into one book, and another based on Judas Priest’s Screaming for Vengeance. The latter comes in a $500 deluxe version.

Featured photo: Dan Blakeslee vinyl. Courtesy image.

Black Violin transcends genres

Black Violin earned a Grammy nomination for its 2020 album, Take The Stairs — a fitting title, given the band’s challenging journey to success.

Led by Kev Marcus on violin and Wil Baptiste on viola, the group mashes up classical music and hip-hop. They invented their innovative genre years before YouTube, Twitter and TikTok virality existed, when making it in the world of music came from wearing out shoe leather, not web clicks.

Their first big break came as the new millennium was unfolding, and it’s illustrative. Hoping to perform at basketball star Allen Iverson’s birthday bash, they got a meeting with the promoter of Teasers nightclub in Miami.

“He laughed us out the door,” Marcus said in a recent phone interview. “He said, ‘What am I gonna do with violins?’”

Their irate manager responded by opening the back of his Ford Expedition, cranking up the sound system, and instructing the pair to play on the sidewalk in front of the club. A crowd quickly formed that soon included the shocked promoter. He got it, and agreed to hire them — as long as they promised to stay in flow.

“We needed to create a set for the DJ to mix in [so] our music didn’t stop everyone dancing,” Marcus said. “It’s the same kind of hip-hop music, except now you’re hearing violins, and you’re like, where is that? Then once they see us, they start crowding around. That was sort of the beginning.”

A couple of years later, they earned a spot on Showtime At The Apollo, a talent contest famous for unforgiving audiences.

“They boo you off the stage if they don’t like you,” Marcus said. “I mean, they are legendarily ruthless.”

The two waited in the green room as four acts went out ahead of them and were quickly dispensed by the crowd.

“A guy called the Sandman jumps from his box, hits the stage, and starts tap dancing you off,” Marcus said. “I remember being underneath … and just seeing the dust fall from the green room ceiling.”

Staring down at their violins, the two feared they’d been set up. But that feeling soon vanished.

“We walk on stage and we never lose,” Marcus said. “We won four straight competitions, we got standing ovations. It was the ‘we call home and quit our jobs’ moment. … If this crowd is gonna take us, then any crowd is gonna take us.”

The spark for their unique sound came when Marcus and Baptiste were in high school together — via a Sony Ericsson cell phone.

“Before ringtones, you could program notes,” Marcus said. “Busta Rhymes took the theme from Psycho and made a hip-hop beat, and it was the No. 1 song in the country…. I thought that was cool, so I created the notes for it and put it in my phone.”

When it rang in orchestra class, Marcus’s teacher predictably confiscated it, but not before his intrigued fellow musicians started replicating the digital sounds on their own instruments.

“The violinist next to me started playing the notes from my phone, and he went, ‘What if the violinist played?’ The next thing you know, the whole orchestra is playing,” he said.

Although Black Violin’s first Grammy nomination came for Best Instrumental Album, there’s an uplifting lyrical message throughout Take The Stairs, particularly on “Impossible Is Possible” and “One Step.” The latter song was made into a hard-hitting video, reminiscent of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”

C&I Studio CEO Joshua Miller wrote a short film that touched on racial profiling, the immigration crisis, and the scourge of gun violence in schools.

“We wanted it to be really controversial,” Miller said in a ‘making of’ video. “Our whole pitch was really telling the story of what’s happening in America right now.”

“One Step” had been written two years earlier, with a different message in mind, Marcus explained, but they also felt a need to update it for the present moment.

“Everything you see in the video … we’re dealing with directly,” he said. “We wanted to show our reality, and if we can’t do that within our own art then we’re in the wrong business.”

Black Violin

When: Sunday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.
Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord
Tickets: $35 and up at ccanh.com

Featured photo: Black Violin. Courtesy photo.

Christmas at The Rex with Morgan James

From her debut album, a live tribute to Nina Simone, to recreating Joni Mitchell’s iconic Blue track by track a few years back, Morgan James relishes a challenge. Her guiding lights are interpreters like Simone and Aretha Franklin, who “get a hold of a song, and the original goes out the window,” she said in a recent phone interview.

In 2019 James set out to make a throwback soul record with vintage equipment, backing from a rhythm section used by Al Green, and a bevy of veteran session players. Named for the studio where it was recorded, Memphis Magnetic is an R&B celebration. Alas, it came out weeks before the pandemic hit, so a planned supporting tour had to be scrapped.

She responded by returning to Memphis to make the live-in-the-studio A Very Magnetic Christmas. Incredibly, it’s even more soulful than its predecessor, with skillfully curated nuggets like William Bell’s “Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday” and “Backdoor Santa,” the latter unearthed from the 1968 Atco Records holiday compilation Soul Christmas, along with some seasonal standards and a few winning originals.

The Clarence Carter track about a Santa with more on his mind than gift-giving — “I make all the little girls happy while the boys are out to play” goes the chorus — was memorably sampled in 1987 by Run-DMC for its “Christmas in Hollis” and is a standout track on an album already packed with them.

“I do straight-up classics like ‘White Christmas’ and ‘O Holy Night,’ of course,” James said, “but I wanted to do a couple that people might not expect me to sing. I think that song turned out so great. It’s so fun to sing, and it’s so funky; we had the best time making that.”

James and husband guitarist-producer Doug Wamble co-wrote “Long As I Got You,” which she called “a little love song about winter,” adding, “when people are complaining about the weather, we’re not … we love being cozy.” Another delight from the couple is the bouncy “I Wanna Know,” which echoes Natalie Cole’s hit “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).”

Idaho-born and California-raised, James set her sights on New York City after high school. She applied to Juilliard and was initially declined, but kept at it, eventually persuading the prestigious school to open up an extra vocalist slot for her.

“It tells you all you need to know about my personality,” James said with a laugh. “I’m very stubborn, and if I have a vision for something I don’t really take no for an answer.”

Later she performed on Broadway, notably playing Teena Marie in The Motown Show, where she caught the attention of Berry Gordy Jr. He became her mentor and helped guide her to a major-label deal with Epic Records.

“He really encouraged me to write and have a stake in my own music,” James said. “The best advice he ever gave was he reminded me to always do my best work and always go with my vision, whether or not I’m reaping benefits from it. One day he said to me, ‘You know, Morgan, a star is a star even when it’s light out. When the sun goes down, we can see the stars, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there in the daytime. You are a star all the time, so act like a star.’”

James’s Magnetic Christmas tour stops in Manchester on Dec. 4 for a show at the Rex Theatre. How does she feel about being back on the road after a two-year break?

“We are getting all our ducks in a row, and there’s a lot to think about,” James said. “We’re going to have to get used to the lifestyle again [but] we’re so excited to see everybody, and play music, and be in a different city every day. We start the day after Thanksgiving, and go all the way up until Christmas. It’s going to be so joyful and celebratory; that’s what we want from the shows.”

Morgan James – A Very Magnetic Christmas

When: Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester
Tickets: $25 and up at palacetheatre.org

Featured photo: Morgan James. Courtesy photo.

Yngwie Malmsteen hits Tupelo

When he’s not revving his Fender Stratocaster at impossible speeds, shredding with a fury that other guitarists aspire to, Yngwie Malmsteen likes to drive Ferraris — he owns five, all of them red. During the pandemic Malmsteen had a lot of time for both endeavors. What resulted was a tour de force album, Parabellum.

Like his fiery playing and his fast cars, Malmsteen’s mind moves at a frenetic pace. A year in the studio, something he hadn’t experienced in decades, was a unique challenge.

“I learned a long time ago to be careful with having too much time,” he said from his home in Miami. “I had 80, 90, 100 ideas; I only took the most inspired things and refined them.”

Malmsteen pointed to Van Halen’s early albums as a source of inspiration.

“They were done very spontaneously in the beginning,” he said. “I keep that spontaneity. … Every time I come up with something new I record it right away, and usually I keep that take.”

Malmsteen played every instrument on Parabellum and sang on the non-instrumental tracks. He once hired guest singers but stopped using them a few records ago.

“That’s definitely a thing of the past,” he said.

When Malmsteen’s first tour since early 2020 begins, a band he calls “a good group of guys” is expected to learn the new songs, and expect surprises.

“We go through the songs at soundcheck; that’s all they get,” he said. “Here’s another thing I do — half an hour before show time, I call them in and we put a setlist together. Then we go on stage and I play different songs anyway! They just gotta know it.”

Malmsteen has long sneered at the idea of collaborating with other musicians, and his history helps explain why. Swedish-born, he grew up in a musical family.

“Everybody was very artistic, which was unusual there in the ’70s, because it was a socialist country [that] didn’t allow that. God bless America, man,” he said.

Classically trained from the age of 5, Malmsteen discovered rock music when he saw a clip of Jimi Hendrix smashing his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival that accompanied a news report of his death in 1970. Later came blues from John Mayall, and hard rock via Deep Purple.

As soon as he could, Malmsteen headed to the United States.

“I took my guitar, my toothbrush, and I got on the plane,” he said. “I had a plan — my plan was to not live in a socialist welfare Marxist bull—- country.”

Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, he joined Steeler, a rising glam rock band. His first gig with them attracted a small crowd, but the following week at L.A.’s Troubadour, Malmsteen looked from his dressing room and saw a line stretched around the block.

“I said to someone working there, ‘Who’s playing tonight?’ He points at me and says, ‘You are.’ It was pretty crazy,” he said. “I was 18 years old, and all of a sudden people were digging it.”

He was in Steeler long enough to appear on their lone album, then joined another metal band, Alcatrazz. His stint there lasted less than a year, an exit hastened by onstage clashes with singer Graham Bonnet after Malmsteen received a solo offer while the group was on tour in Japan.

A reunion is, emphatically, not in the cards.

“When I left, they fell into obscurity, but I kept on going, kind of like rising up, I never stopped,” he said. “These guys … they’re selling car insurance; I don’t know what they’re doing. They asked me so many times to join, and I’m, ‘No, I didn’t sit on my ass for 40 years.’”

Malmsteen insists, “I don’t have a chip on my shoulder; the only person I feel have to prove something to is myself,” and on one of Parabellum’s standout cuts, “Eternal Bliss,” he expresses gratitude for his continued success and life’s blessings.

“I have the most beautiful wife in the world, I have a great son, nice house, I’ve played music I want to play and I never compromise,” he said, citing two reasons for his longevity. “One, I find it exciting and challenging, and only because I improvise all the time. If I were to play the same thing over and over that wouldn’t do it. Also, to quote Paganini … one must feel strongly to make others feel strongly.”

Yngwie Malmsteen w/ Images of Eden and Sunlord

When: Friday, Nov. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry
Tickets: $45 and up at tupelohall.com

Featured photo: Yngwie Malmsteen. Photo by Austin Hargraves.