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One way to select a New Year’s Eve music event in Indianapolis is to gravitate to your favorite decade.
The 1970s are looking good at Regions Tower and the Rathskeller, where disco-themed parties are planned on Dec. 31.
The 1990s are en vogue at Black Circle Music Bar, where Indianapolis band Lisa Frank & the Trapper Keepers will play covers from the decade of Nirvana and Oasis.
And the 1920s are prime for cutting the rug at McGowan Hall, where the Naptown Stomp Lindy Hop Society is organizing the party.
Plenty of other options dot the local calendar, and the question of “What to wear?” may factor into your choice of New Year’s Eve destination.
Comfort will likely reign at the Mousetrap Bar & Grill and Slippery Noodle Inn, where jam bands will serve as headliners.
Attendees at the New Year’s Eve edition of the “Melt” dance party are more likely to dress to impress.
At the goth-meets-industrial dance party Spellbound, a safe wardrobe choice is probably anything in black.
If you’re perplexed, there’s always the example set by members of Lisa Frank & the Trapper Keepers, who are pictured above in the ultimate faux formal fit: tuxedo T-shirts.
Check out 10 events where music will accompany the arrival of 2025:
1. Lisa Frank & the Trapper Keepers
8 p.m., Dec. 31, Black Circle Music Bar, 2201 E. 46th St., $10 to $50, blackcirclebrewing.com
The male musicians of Lisa Frank & the Trapper Keepers named their band in honor of Frank, an entrepreneur known for adding multicolored dogs and surfing dolphins to notebooks and stickers sold in the ’90s. The Trapper Keeper binder, of course, is an icon of school supplies.
2. ‘Melt’
8 p.m., Dec. 31, Fountain Square Theatre, 1111 Prospect St., $50 to $250, eventbrite.com
Previously a dance party presented in conjunction with the Butter fine art fair and the NBA All-Star Game, “Melt” will make its New Year’s Eve debut in Fountain Square. The party is organized by GangGang, the cultural development and social justice organization that supports Black artists and the creative economy.
3. Hyryder
8 p.m., Dec. 31, Mousetrap Bar & Grill, 5565 N. Keystone Ave., $25, trapindy.com
New Year’s Eve will serve as the culmination of a two-night run of Hyryder playing the music of the Grateful Dead at the Mousetrap. Tickets also are available for the Dec. 30 show.
4. ‘Ciroc the New Year’
9 p.m., Dec. 31, Regions Tower, One Indiana Square, $125, cirocnewyears.com
Adopting a “Disco Soiree” theme to correspond with the arrival of 2025, this party sponsored by Ciroc vodka features a DJ lineup of Lockstar, Mae, Action Jackson, Annie D, Lemi Vice, Hector Ordaz and Jesus Ramirez.
5. ‘Spellbound’
9 p.m., Dec. 31, 416 Wabash, 416 E. Wabash St., $30, spellboundindy.com
This year-end bash doubles as a eighth-anniversary celebration for “Spellbound,” the dance party that specializes in goth, industrial, punk, electro and dark alternative music. The DJ lineup includes A-Squared Industries and Evil Twin.
6. The Elect
8:30 p.m., Dec. 31, Slippery Noodle Inn, 274 S. Meridian St., $30 or $25 if purchased in advance, slipperynoodle.com
Advertised as Indiana’s oldest continuously operated bar in the original building on the original site, the built-in-1850 Slippery Noodle Inn will present long-running Indianapolis band the Elect on the main stage and the Late Night Revelators in the front room.
7. ‘A Roaring ’20s New Year’s Eve’
8 p.m., Dec. 31, McGowan Hall, 1305 N. Delaware St., $65 or $55 if purchased in advance, naptownstomp.org
This party presented by the Naptown Stomp Lindy Hop Society will turn back the clock for old-school dancing. A live band will provide the soundtrack from 9:30-11:30 p.m., and a DJ will usher in 2025 at McGowan Hall—a structure built in 1922.
8. ‘New Year’s Eve Disco Bash’
6 p.m., Dec. 31, the Rathskeller, 401 E. Michigan St., $65, rathskeller.com
High-profile party band the Doo! headlines a bill that includes former Roadmaster vocalist Frank Bradford performing 7-8:45 p.m. With “Disco Bash” part of this event’s title, it’s a safe bet the Doo! will cover hits such as “Boogie Shoes” and “How Deep is Your Love” when the band arrives onstage at 9 p.m.
9. ‘Tito’s NYE 2025’
8:30 p.m., Dec. 31, Indiana Roof Ballroom, 140 W. Washington St., $100, ccasocial.com
Sponsored by Tito’s vodka, this party presented by adult recreational sports organization Circle City Athletics features DJ Cool Hand Lex and percussionist Joe Meltdown. This event features casino games blackjack, craps, poker and roulette.
10. Rod Tuffcurls & the Bench Press
8 p.m., Dec. 31, The Vogue, 6259 N. College Ave., $40 or $35 if purchased in advance, thevogue.com
Broad Ripple’s Vogue, the former movie theater that became a music venue on Dec. 31, 1977, will host Chicago’s Rod Tuffcurls & the Bench Press. The party band’s repertoire spans “American Girl” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers to “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus.
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