That Millennium Can Wait

What’s all this excitement about the approaching millennium? Depending on which year you believe opens the next thousand--2000 or 2001--there are still a few New Year celebrations left in this millennium. Let’s enjoy them.

Music has been the heart of human celebration for thousands of years and this New Year’s musical events are especially era-conscious: Dixieland from the ‘20s, swing bands of the ‘30s and ‘40s, rock from the ‘60s and disco from the ‘70s.

So pick your party.

NAME ENTERTAINMENT

One of the New Year’s biggest musical parties--one in which the music will be as grand as the occasion--is at the Newport Dunes Resort (next door to the Hyatt Newporter). Saxophonist Eric Marienthal and keyboardist Jeff Lorber will open for a soon-to-be-named headliner to replace John Tesh, who pulled out of the lineup Wednesday because his father is ill. Pianist David Benoit will also make an appearance. $150 includes dinner buffet, (714) 650-5483.

Join the tribe crying for “Mandy” when Barry Manilow croons at the Universal Amphitheatre, $35-$125, (818) 622-4440; or call for rowdy blues and ballad diva Etta James to “Get down!” as she bares her soul at the Club Caprice, $85-$100, (310) 316-1700. And even though the ‘80s are long gone, Pat Benatar can still hit you with her best shot at the House of Blues, $100-$125, (213) 848-5100.

Or go way back. Remember Three Dog Night? Original members Cory Wells and Danny Hutton will have the Cerritos Center singing “Joy to the World” just before midnight, $50-$68, (800) 300-4345 (after midnight the party continues across the street at the Sheraton Cerritos Hotel with dancing, contests and a buffet, $40).

Want to get the kids in on the fun? There’s no better way to combine New Year’s entertainment and family than at First Night Fullerton, the annual alcohol-free event held in the around Wilshire and Harbor boulevards in downtown Fullerton. Dozens of pop, blues, jazz and golden-oldie bands are scheduled to appear at various venues, and there’ll also be clowns, magicians, a hypnotist, rides and games. The festivities are topped off by midnight fireworks choreographed to music. Sponsored by the Fullerton Museum Center. $12, children 12 and under $8. (714) 738-3167.

The area’s family attractions will conduct business as usual with special events scattered around the park at Disneyland, with a big fireworks display planned for midnight--open till 3 a.m. for your New Year’s celebration, (714) 781-4565. Knott’s Berry Farm will host “Praise ‘98,” a festival of contemporary Christian music, along with its usual attractions, (714) 220-5200.

SWING TIME

You can’t top the Lindy Hop. Swing dancing, that great 20th century invention, continues to be big this year. The grand ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point will host the Wayne Foster Orchestra, a group that not only swings but plays for more formal ballroom dancing and disco as well. $250 includes a five-course dinner and drinks. The Ritz offers a more intimate affair in its Club Grill & Bar, with Gayle & Co. performing for dining and dancing; $195 includes dinner. Reservations required for both events, (714) 240-5008.

Grease back your hair and cut a rug with the Jumpin’ Jimes swing band at the Derby, $35-$500, (213) 663-8979. Or head downtown to the Park Plaza Hotel, where the “Swing Bash” hosts the Eddie Reed Swing Band, Jump With Joey (with head swingster Joey Altruda) and other bands playing three ballrooms, $85, (310) 829-0123.

GET JAZZED

With the 20th century the jazz century, what could be more appropriate than jazz from all eras at the three-day New Year’s Jazz at Indian Wells party, at both the Renaissance Esmeralda and the Hyatt Grand Champion resorts in Indian Wells? Headliners include B.B. King, Maria Muldaur, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and Poncho Sanchez. In addition, there’ll be a host of Dixieland, swing, bop and salsa bands and dancing, dancing, dancing, Dec. 29-31, $40-$250, (562) 799-6055.

Jazz clubs? Singer-pianist-lyricist Dave Frishberg at Catalina Bar & Grill, $95 includes dinner, (213) 466-2210; pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba at Jazz Bakery in Culver City, $65-$110 includes buffet and beverages, (310) 271-9039; keyboardist Don Randi and Quest at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood, (818) 980-1615; saxophonist Teddy Edwards at the Club Brasserie in West Hollywood’s Bel Age Hotel, no cover, (310) 854-1111.

ROCK ON

Rock, that other great music of the later 1900s, is represented by Great White, who will swim into the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, (714) 496-8927; Reverend Horton Heat fires up at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; Country band the Nightriders are in the saddle at the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana, (714) 549-1512.

Little Chris & the Nightcrawlers play the blues at Steamers, (714) 871-8800. Bistango in Irvine will entertain diners with the James Exchange, featuring Jimmy Felber, (714) 752-5222. The Warehouse in Newport Beach will crank up four floors of dancing with deejays and a live band to be announced, (714) 673-4700.

More music: Coal Chamber plays the Whisky in West Hollywood, (310) 652-4202; Duke Daniels and Harry Dean Stanton sing the blues at the Mint in L.A., $20, (213) 954-8241; Russian rockabilly band the Red Elvises play Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier, (310) 393-7437; and the Atomic Punks play an “early” Van Halen tribute at the Country Club in Reseda, (818) 881-7081.

And it’ll be hard to believe the lizard-king poet of L.A. rock has been dead more than 25 years, or dead at all, when Doors-tribute band Wild Child helps to break on through to ’98 at the Normandie Casino, (310) 352-3428.

TO THE BEAT

Samba lovers can follow singer-dancer Christiane Callil and her hot Brazilian revue, the Girls From Ipanema, as they open the evening with 8 and 10 p.m. shows at L.A.’s Atlas Bar & Grill, $50-$55, (213) 380-8400, then move on to Crustacean Restaurant in Beverly Hills where they’re scheduled to ring in the new year with an 11 p.m. show, $100, (310) 205-8990. Johnny Polanco y Su Conjunto Amistad add salsa to your new year at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, $75 includes buffet, (310) 450-8770.

MAKE ‘EM LAUGH

Jack Coen ushers the new year in with a smile at the Irvine Improv, (714) 854-5455, while Mitch Mullany, Mary Ellen Hooper and Jimmy Fallon stir up the fun at the Brea Improv, (714) 529-7878. Both clubs offer 7:30 and 10 p.m. shows; $35 for the early show, including champagne, or $55 including dinner; $65, for the later show, includes a fruit-and-cheese board and champagne, or $120 per couple.

ET CETERA

Singer Karen Benjamin and pianist Alan Chapman play at a Monte Carlo night party at the Irvine Barclay Theatre that’s a a fund-raiser for the theater’s arts-education program and other activities. Beginning at 9 p.m., there’ll be gaming tables, cabaret entertainment, dancing, a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres, champagne toast and breakfast buffet, $100, (714) 854-4646.

All kinds of music, and a sizable crowd a la Times Square, can be found on Pine Avenue in Long Beach, where they close the street, open the doors to the area’s restaurants and bring bands to an outdoor stage. This year, Little Richard and the Coasters headline, $30, (562) 437-7700. Nearby on the Queen Mary, seven rooms host seven bands--from rock to country--and party-goers will have the run of the ship. There’ll be fireworks as well, $49.98, (562) 435-3511.

Or if you’re looking for a more serious crowd, Picasso, Hemingway, Arthur Miller and Anais Nin are on the guest list when the Actors’ Gang hosts a “Paris Soiree,” with the Actors’ Gang Theatre turned into Gertrude Stein’s salon. All kinds of libations and activities (Tarot readings!) are planned and attendees are encouraged to dress in costume, (213) 465-0566.