If
you’re looking for a big bang for your buck, Boondocks Lounge, 3306 N.
First Ave., is a pretty safe bet. Your ticket–$15 in advance, or $20 at the
door–entitles you to a full dinner buffet starting at 7:30 p.m. After that,
stick around for a dance party featuring Amo Chip Dabney’s AmoSphere with a special
guest, blues-guitarist Bryan Dean. Expect to hear both covers and originals in
a variety of genres including funk, reggae and Cajun. For more information,
ring ’em up at 690-0991.

Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.,
can always be counted on for a great theme party, and tonight is no exception.
Since we all know the end of days is happening in 2012, what better way to ring
it in than a party called Aztec Apocalypse? The hotel promises Aztec warriors
and voluptuous Aztec maidens, live covers by 80’s and Gentlemen, dance music in
Club Congress, and a virgin sacrifice at midnight. Tickets are $20 in advance
or $25 at the door–but be warned: This event sells out every year. A $100 VIP
package that includes an open bar and buffet is also available. Doors open at 8
p.m. Call 622-8848 for more information.

If Latin rhythms are more your thing, the Rialto
Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., is where you’ll no doubt find yourself.
Tucson’s own indie-mambo kings, Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta featuring Salvador
Duran, will crank out original songs as well as covers by the likes of Agustin
Lara and Pérez Prado all night long, so throw on your finest vintage or formal
duds before heading out the door. An added bonus: You only have to be 18 or
older to enter. Showtime is 8 p.m., and tickets are $20 in advance, or $25 at
the door. A VIP package that includes floor seating and a private bar is
available for $40. Call 740-1000 for more information.

For the Westward Look Resort, 245 E.
Ina Road, 2012 isn’t just any old year. Like Arizona itself, the resort will
celebrate its 100th anniversary in the new year, and they’ve put together what
looks to be a lovely night to celebrate. Guests can choose between a
three-course dinner at GOLD starting at 6 p.m., or a three-course banquet and
live music in the Santa Catalina Ballroom from 7 to 9 p.m. Both packages are
$85 per person and include admission to a party in the Sonoran Ballroom
featuring live music from classic rock and blues band East2West. Several hotel
packages are also available. Call 297-1151 for reservations.

Casino del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia
Road, recently opened its long-in-the-works hotel, making a rather sprawling
complex even bigger. So it makes sense that they’d have a little something for
everyone tonight. Baby boomers might want to pick up tickets for the party
happening in the casino’s new Event Center, where a seated dinner begins at
7:30 p.m. At 10 p.m., none other than ’70s hit-makers KC and the Sunshine Band
will be your boogie men for a night of disco-dancing. A dinner-and-show ticket
runs $125 per person, while $75 gets you into the show only. If Tejano is more
your thing, the casino’s Bingo Hall will feature a free show featuring Tejano
legend Ruben Ramos, La Diferenzia, La Maldad, and Tucson’s own La Familia
Yucupicio. Meanwhile, over in the Paradiso Bar and Lounge, Mezzo Forte will
keep you dancing to soul, R&B, hip-hop and oldies favorites. Admission is
free. For more information, call (800) 344-9435.

In what should prove to be one of the night’s
most-highbrow offerings, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra is joining forces
once again with the Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St., for a Moveable Musical
Feast. The night begins at 6:30 with an open bar and hors d’oeuvres in the
Flandrau House Courtyard, and then moves inside for a multicourse dinner served
in intimate dining areas throughout the inn. At various points throughout the
night, enjoy music courtesy of TSO members–everything from Beethoven and
Rossini on horn, cello and piano, to a percussion ensemble performing Sting and
Frank Zappa, to an African-music jam. After dinner, attendees will be treated
to swing and Latin-dance music courtesy of the TSO’s SwingN’ the New jazz ensemble,
featuring vocalist Ben Sorenson. Tickets are $199 per person. Call 882-8585 for
reservations.

For the sixth consecutive year, the JW
Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa, 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd., is teaming up
with the Tucson Jazz Society for an event called All Jazz, All Night.
Starting at 8 p.m., guests will enjoy a gourmet four-course dinner followed by jazz
music all night long from trumpeter and vocalist Rick Braun, who will be joined
by a lineup that includes Euge Groove, Jonathan Butler, and Sylvan Street.
Tickets start at $199, and hotel packages are also available. For reservations,
call 903-1265.

Monsoon Night Club in the Desert Diamond
Casino,
1100 W. Pima Mine Road, will play host to a Latin-dance party featuring local
favorites Los Gallegos performing the best in Norteño and Tejano. Doors open at
8 p.m., and tickets are $25 per couple, or $20 per person, which includes a
drink ticket. For more information, call 294-7777.

A trio of fine local bands will ring in the
new year at Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., at an event that doubles (triples?)
as a CD-release party and a masquerade ball. Blind Divine, a self-described
“art music” act that performs sensual, Gothic-inspired music and enjoys a sense
of the theatrical, will be releasing a five-CD box set containing 100 new songs
for the occasion. Also on board for the night are the similarly dramatic
Ensphere and the rock ‘n’ roll of HAIRSPRAYFIREANDGIRLS. The action begins at 9
p.m., and admission is only $8–or $6 for those in costume. Call 798-1298 for
more information.

And for the punk-rock-lovin’ cheapskates, The
District Tavern, 260 E. Congress St., will feature a bill that includes The
Besmirchers, Cadillac Steakhouse (with two drummers) and DJ Buttafly. Admission
is free. Call 791-0082 for details.

This article appears in Dec 29, 2011 – Jan 4, 2012.