Ring in the new year in Long Beach

Historic Pine Avenue will ring in 2010 with live music from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s along with food, drinks and a view of the waterfront fireworks spectacular planned for midnight as estimated crowds of up to 50,000 come to Downtown Long Beach to celebrate New Year’s Eve, said Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) President & Chief Executive Officer, Kraig Kojian.
Named one of Southern California’s Top Ten Restaurants Rows by ABC7 TV, the Pine Avenue Dining & Entertainment District will draw thousands of event-goers for a line-up of live performances that will highlight three eras of music history.

Knyght Ryder, the local 80s tribute band that has almost every energetic sing-along-song from the era in their repertoire, will kick-start the night at 7PM. Their body of work includes songs from legends like Journey, AC/DC and Michael Jackson, among many others. The band has local notoriety and a passionate following of Long Beach fans. Their energy will be the perfect segue to the next act, local funk-inspired DJ Abel, who will be spinning to a live televised feed of Red Bull stunt man, Travis Pastrana’s world-record-breaking car jump off the Pine Avenue Pier, featured on ESPN from 8-9PM.

Praised to be the best Beatles tribute band by the original Beatles promoter, Sam Leach, American English will take the stage at 9:30PM portraying the famous band in both look and sound. Their work spans the entire Beatles anthology from 1963 to 1970. At their inception they were voted “number one” by Beatles fans as winners of the Sound-Alike Contest at Beatlefest®, and they held that award for three consecutive years. They have played alongside legends such as Three Dog Night, The Doobie Bros, and Eric Burdon, among others.

At 11PM, get ready to break out the funk and get down with the Disco Kings. The local 70s tribute band is all about having fun with their outrageous time-warp clothing, funky beats, and way-out-there hair. The hilarious band members bring their wild and spontaneous performances combined with genuine representations of the 70s to keep everyone shakin’ it until the fireworks start sizzling above. They will be followed for a last performance by DJ Abel to close out the night.

Parking & Transportation
There are many options for getting to and around Downtown Long Beach on New Year’s Eve and the DLBA is working closely with the City to ensure that the experience is smooth and straightforward.

VIP parking available for purchase via an online reservation system featured on the DLBA website at www.downtownlongbeach.org. Also available on the organization’s website for download is a detailed parking & transportation map with driving directions and parking costs for 19 parking lots and/or structures throughout Downtown.

Long Beach Transit service will be free on New Year’s Eve from 6PM until 2:30AM, offering 24 routes that stop at the Long Beach Transit Mall near the intersection of 1st & Pine. All Passport Shuttle routes will also be offered free of charge to and from Downtown. Additionally, the Blue Line operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) will offer extended hours, operating throughout the night with uninterrupted service.

The entertainment on Pine Avenue is part of a super-trio of New Year’s Eve events in Downtown Long Beach. The Waterfront area will host the highly-anticipated Red Bull New Year: No Limits event featuring Travis Pastrana’s jump off the Pine Avenue Pier over 250 feet of water and landing on a floating barge. The Waterfront activities will begin at 6PM and will end at 2AM. Downtown’s eclectic East Village Arts District (at 1st & Elm) will offer the Rock Bottom Beer Garden and Indie music gems beneath the firework-lit sky from 8PM-1AM.
For more information, maps, directions and/or to make reservations please log on to: www.downtownlongbeach.org or call (562) 436-4259.