Vomitorium leads great list of musical options for Wednesday night

It’s almost time for another edition of Dean Falcone’s Vomitorium at Cafe Nine in New Haven. It’s almost time for another edition of Dean Falcone’s Vomitorium at Cafe Nine in New Haven. Photo: Contributed Photo: Contributed Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Vomitorium leads great list of musical options for Wednesday night 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> The night before Thanksgiving is always a pretty good night for music, with lots of current and former locals home for the holidays, but this Wednesday night seems to be a particularly good one with Dean Falcone’s annual Vomitorium celebration of musical excess at Cafe Nine joined by Deep Banana Blackout at Toad’s Place and Eight To The Bar’s 40th anniversary celebration up at Infinity Hall in Hartford, among other things.

The Vomitorium: Where attendees get to “overcook perfectly good songs and violate them!” as Falcone describes it - is at this point sort of the granddaddy of Greater New Haven holiday celebrations. This year’s model, billed as “The ’80s Edition,” will feature Ed Valauskas (Gravel Pit, Juliana Hatfield), Jim Balga, Falcone and Rick Mealey as the core band, although you can always expect an all-star cast of good friends and guests to show up.

“Come hear your favorite ’80s songs slaughtered and massacred the way they deserve in this festive American holiday tradition where friend and foe come together and then attack each other with blows of ’80s tunes,” Falcone said in a press release. “Will Madonna finally take down Phil Collins? Or will Rick Astley finally be put in the cauldron while Simple Minds provide the soundtrack? ... You never know who is going to show up or what they’re going to play - and often we don’t, either, until it happens.”

That said, this year, performers include Jennifer D’Angora (Jenny Dee & The Deeliquents, Downbeat 5), Shellye Valauskas, Dave Schneider (The Zambonis), Brian Stevens (The Cavedogs), Elaine DiMasi, Josh Lattanzi (The Candles, Norah Jones), Kyle Summer, Lys Guillorn, Paul Belbusti, Rich Dart (the Monkees), David Sieser, Corrine Sieser, Kierstin Joy Pupkowski, Christina Maria, Bruce Crowder, Loralee Geil, Al Lotto, Caroline Schmidt, Lola Galla, Tom Hughes and others.

Showtime is 9 p.m. (doors at 8.) Admission is a mere $5 in advance at www.cafenine.com or at the door. Cafe Nine is at 250 State St.

Falcone, who has played over the years in any number of bands, including The Manchurians and The Shellye Valauskas Experience, Dean and the Dragsters, One Hundred Faces and The Excerpts, puts on a good show and, generally speaking, his friends tend to be pretty good musicians. It’s well worth a visit.

Deep Banana Blackout: If your taste veers more toward high-energy, shake-your-bones New Orleans-style funk, Toad’s Place may be where you want to be, as Deep Banana Blackout, one of the biggest things ever to come out of Bridgeport, makes its annual appearance at Toad’s Place - and one of only a couple of times it still plays around here each year; the other guaranteed one being during the summer at Gathering of the Vibes.

DBB was formed in the summer of 1995 when members of two bands, Tongue & Groove from Connecticut and Pack of Matches from Long Island, hooked up to create something bigger than them both. The band went hot and heavy for a number of years becoming a major force in the jam band scene, but has come together only occasionally in recent years.

With a full horn section, and fronted as always by hard-working vocalist Jen Durkin, they’re an impressive - and always fun - act to behold.

Frank Viele and the On the Spot Trio will open the show, which begins at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 day of show, available at the Toad’s box office, 300 York St., www.toadsplace.com or 203-624-TOAD. Toad’s tickets also are available from etix.com, Rubber Match, 101 Whalley Ave. in New Haven, or FYE locations in Manchester, Meriden, Milford, Torrington, Trumbull, Waterbury and Waterford.

Eight to the Bar: You may think this band has been around forever, but it’s really only been 40 years. You can help celebrate each of those years Wednesday night when Eight to the Bar throws a 40th anniversary party at Infinity Hall - Hartford, featuring sets by both the current lineup and the 1985 lineup.

ETTB, led all these years by Cynthia Lyons, and always featuring great players and singers, is always entertaining and always puts on a great show. Drawing musical influences from all across the universe of American roots music - swing, boogie woogie, rhythm & blues, soul, Motown - it’s a Connecticut institution. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $29-$44, available in advance at www.infinityhall.com or 1-866-666-6306. Infinity Hall is at 32 Front St. in Hartford.

The Ballroom at the Outer Space scholarship benefit: The Ballroom will feature a Night Before Thanksgiving celebration with the Noel Smyth Band, The Royal Swindle, Hissyfit and Tilted. It’s a benefit for the Jonathon Patrick DeMatteo Scholarship Fund at Hamden High School. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Admission is a $10 donation at the door. The Ballroom at The Outer Space is at 295 Treadwell St.

Call Mark Zaretsky at 203-680-9393.