performing Sunday at Northrop Auditorium "The 1984-85 New Year's. I did nine 'Tonight' shows in six months with Johnny Carson. This was a dream come true, especially returning to Minnesota after that and performing for the hometown fans who welcomed me with open arms."

performing Sunday at the Varsity Theater "Hands down the weirdest New Year's Eve I ever spent was I believe in 1995. At 8 p.m., Dan Geller [of Kindercore Records and I Am the World Trade Center] and I emptied out the entire contents of my rehearsal space, leaving only a red light bulb and a balloon. We set an alarm clock for 4 a.m. and spent the next eight hours in a vacuum of total silence. Talk about a Dharma Quest ... or maybe just Geek-A-Palooza ... I tell ya, that brown acid is something else!"

spinning Sunday at the Varsity "I signed on to DJ a NYE gig at one of the mansions in Uptown where the crowd was supposed to be black-tie and middle-aged. I came heavily armed with '70s and '80s tunes only to find out upon arrival that it was 95 percent 21-year-olds! The requests for Nelly, Justin and Britney were pouring in. To make a long story short, let's just say the kids got a music history lesson that evening, and once the booze kicked in they actually enjoyed it."

Vita.mn sex columnist "I celebrated the millennium curled up in my bed crying while my then-boyfriend got drunk with my then-roommate and her two obnoxious girlfriends in the living room. I was pissed off at him for recently cheating on me, disgusted with myself for taking him back, and I couldn't stand my roommate, her pet rodents, her filthy hygiene habits or her loser friends. I didn't even drink that night."

proprietor of Le Cirque Rouge burlesque troupe "It was New Year's Eve 2003 and Le Cirque Rouge played First Avenue. We did a scorching two-hour set, then drove over to our 'club' [the former New French Cafe] to do another show. We were all pretty lit, in more ways than one. I distinctly remember walking in, falling onto the dressing-room floor and kissing it rather lustily. At midnight everyone piled onstage and heartily counted down from 100. The place exploded; bottles popping, champagne everywhere, big wet kisses all around and back again. Certain cast members used the occasion to settle any sexual tension built up over the last six months. This was back when LCR had just started and the mood within the cast was so decadent; it had such pure excitement and creativity. I think we all felt like it was the greatest New Year's Eve ever."

owner of Loring Pasta Bar, Kitty Kat Club and Varsity Theater "The worst: NYE 2005, trying (unsuccessfully) to open the Varsity and being stood up by my Miss W at midnight. Not too dramatic sounding, but it was the pits."

drummer, performing Friday with Halloween, Alaska at First Avenue "The worst would have been 1987 into '88. It started out cool. My girlfriend and I went to a bar in Riverplace where I knew the musicians and they got us in (we were 17!) and we hung out. Then we went to a friend's house (she was an older friend of my girlfriend's who had her own place) and we were going to stay the night there but we got in a fight and she went home. I blew the 17-year-old dream New Year's Eve! I don't remember what the fight was about. I was kind of jealous though, and I know she really thought Larry Mullen Jr. was hot and I didn't look anything like him.

"The best? Really none of them have been very fun. 1999 to 2000 was fun because I was envisioning some of my more mainstream relatives hunkering down in bomb shelters with bottled water and transistor radios and shit. Playing with 12 Rods at the 400 Bar 2001 to 2002, where the confetti bomb went off early, was pretty funny though."

Minnesota Public Radio "I remember a New Year's Eve dinner party when we spent the entire evening toasting all the notable people who had passed away that year or in previous years. We had fun trying to outdo each other in paying homage to the most obscure, deceased celebrities we could think of, and some who weren't so obscure. Hour after hour, toast after toast, the spirits started gathering in the room. Paul Lynde of 'Hollywood Squares' fame. Milky the Clown. We had an impromptu moment of silence when someone mentioned Ed Platt. Platt played the chief on the '60s spy spoof TV series 'Get Smart.' The chief was an irascible fellow, even under the Cone of Silence, but he always had Max's back. Happy New Year, and may Ed Platt rest in peace."

owner of Kieran's Irish Pub and the Local "It was New Year's Eve 1977 and I had just returned home to Ireland to spend Christmas and New Year's with my family and friends. I was traveling by car and the weather conditions were very Minnesotan. Normally I would have pulled over and booked into a bed and breakfast but I had a big date for the New Year's Eve party in my hometown and she was a great motivator, so we soldiered on. We were about 50 miles from home when the conditions got the better of us and we crashed through railway crossing gates -- unharmed, but the car was a total write-off. We eventually made it home at 7 a.m., by which time my date was already in love with one of my friends. They eventually got married and are still married today. As I want to remain friends with the couple involved, I'm not going to indicate whether it was the best or worst New Year's Eve, but I do have an opinion and I'm not exactly crying in my Finnegan's Irish Ale."

First Avenue "The most fun and most painful New Year's Eve was 1975. At a friend's house party at about 11:55, I was carrying a full eight-gallon keg down a flight of stairs and I dropped it on my right big toe. Needless to say, the beer was all shook up, and I lost my toenail.

"Perhaps my most pleasant New Year's Eve: I had a nice dinner with my landlords and then decided to walk downtown to First Avenue. While walking from Northeast along the river, I didn't see a soul. I stopped at the burial site of my recently deceased cat Truman and drank a half pint of Jim Beam and remembered the good times we had shared. I proceeded to the club, walked in the door at the stroke of midnight and rang in the new year with my co-workers and dear friends."