Kick off the New Year in Evanston with music and dance

The past year has been unique in many ways, and we experienced our share of turmoil in Evanston. Our local music scene was a dependable bright spot as we slogged through our local and national dramas. The musical uplift continues, and we can bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2025 with some musical celebrations in our town. Here’s a rundown on some music and dance choices for New Year’s Eve.

First Night Evanston, 8 p.m. at Music Institute’s Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave. First Night Evanston was an alcohol-free, multifaceted festival in years past. The volunteer organization booked several musical acts along with magicians, jugglers and other artists to celebrate the New Year at venues throughout Evanston. The First Night group sponsored New Year’s Eve events from 1992 to 2006 and attracted a massive turnout of an estimated 15,000 people for the celebration of the year 2000. The Great Recession of 2007 caused funding to dry up and led to a decision to disband First Night Evanston. The organization was reincorporated in 2013 and has resumed the annual celebrations, albeit on a more modest scale. The line-up for this year’s First Night event brings back some of the artists who have performed at past New Year’s Eve events in Evanston. Corky Siegel will headline the show again this year. Siegel is “Mr. New Year’s Eve” in Evanston and is a frequent performer in our town. He is an internationally renowned harmonica player, vocalist, pianist and composer and founded the innovative Chamber Blues group in 1988. Siegel celebrated his 82nd birthday in October and has been playing professionally since 1964 when he joined forces with Jim Schwall to form the Siegel Schwall Blues Band. This energetic octogenarian always puts on a great show. The other musical act on the program is The Chip Covington Crew, an Americana quartet featuring Covington and his son, Harris. Covington is a local bluegrass/folk/country music star as a musician (banjo) and a producer and promoter (he produced many bluegrass concerts in Evanston and Chicago and also owned the great Biddy Mulligan’s blues bar in Rogers Park that closed in 2003). The Covington Crew is an all-acoustic group with a repertoire that includes bluegrass, folk, classic country and more. In addition to Covington’s banjo and son Harris’ guitar and vocals, the group includes bassist Dan Kristan (bassist for the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band) and Caleb Peters (from the Lucky Pickers group) on guitar and mandolin. The opening act on the program is Christopher Carter, a mentalist that gives the impression to audiences that he can read minds with his combination of magic tricks, hypnosis and the power of suggestion. Read more about him in Belinda Clarke’s piece. $40 in advance/$45 at the door. Tickets.

One of the Girls, 9 p.m. at the Celtic Knot Public House, 2022 Central. On Dec. 12, owners Patrick and Liz Breslin celebrated the one-year anniversary of the re-opening of the Celtic Knot. This Evanston institution has re-established itself as the premier spot in town for Irish food, drinks and music. One of Chicago’s top acoustic Irish folk bands will help patrons greet the New Year at the Knot. One of the Girls has a grand time bashing out up-tempo Irish ditties and drinking songs. The band has been performing around Chicago for over 20 years, and the Celtic Knot has booked them often. The One of the Girls’ ensemble can be large — the band lists eight musicians on its web site. Since the stage at the Knot is very small, it will be interesting to see how this group will squeeze into the limited space. This could be a high-energy New Year’s Eve celebration, fueled by Guinness and Jameson. Fun fact — there are no females in One of the Girls. There is a story about that. Free.