It's the Saturday before New Year's Eve, and conventional thinking has it that you're going to sit home and go out Tuesday to trip the night fantastic, pop open the Tattinger's, and sing "Auld Lang Syne" in some festive environment as this dreary, messed-up year winds down. But maybe you're not. Maybe you subscribe to the New-Year's-Eve-as-amateur-night theory, or maybe you're (prudently) agoraphobic and wary of the estimated 900,000 people (many of them suburbanites!) likely to flood downtown Tacoma for "First Night" festivities. Maybe you're the type who is thinking "Hey, let's do something tonight" and stay in and cuddle Tuesday away from the madding crowds. Saturday night would in fact be a good time to take in the "Almost 2014 Masquerade Ball" at The Social Bar & Grill. DJ Midnight will supply the beats while you swirl around this modern dining spot, tossing back Latin fusion delights and $4 Svedka vodka drinks all masked up like Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut. Parties are more fun behind a mask.

ALMOST 2014 MASQUERADE BALL, 8 p.m. The Social Ball and Grill, 1715 Dock St., Tacoma, no cover, 253.301.3835

See Also

Calendar: Arts and Entertainment

Calendar: Music and Nightlife