There certainly isn’t all that millennium pressure to organise a big New Year’s Eve celebration this year, but the Mean Fiddler Organisation is reviving its 1998 Temptation party at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Called Resolution this year, the all-nighter will feature live performances from Primal Scream, Ian Brown, and Asian Dub Foundation. Resolution is a five-room event of three halls and two lounges with an indoor fun fair, chill-out spaces, etc.

The 12,500-capacity venue will see in the new year with an event that could herald a new concert era for the building. Built in 1873, set on 196 acres of parkland and known as the Peoples Palace, it is undoubtedly a great venue, and recent improvements mean that it is better geared to hold concert and live events than in the past.

Meanwhile, another somewhat underused London venue south of the river has also announced plans for a New Year’s Eve bash. The Millennium Dome might be closing its doors at 6 p.m. on December 31, but at the “babydome” next door, DJs from the Ministry of Sound will be setting up for a big party.

An event for 16,000 will feature a lineup including DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, Artful Dodger, and Radio 1’s The Dreem Teem.

Japan

December will also be a good month for guitar gods, especially if they’re graduates of The Yardbirds, whose records continue to sell well in Japan more than three decades after their demise.

Jeff Beck, who was just here a year ago, will be doing another tour in the opening weeks of December, including four big auditorium shows in the Tokyo area (December 1, 2, 4 and 9). Beck, whose stoical dedication to old-fashioned guitar pyrotechnics has made him a perennial superstar in technique-mad Japan, will likely sell out all his shows, as he usually does.

Right on his heels will be Jimmy Page, who will be tearing apart the Led Zep catalog with the help of The Black Crowes. If Page’s star has never been as high as Beck’s in Japan, it’s only because he’s seen as more of a hired hand, though that didn’t prevent the promoters from setting up two concerts at Budokan (December 11-12) that will probably sell out as well.

Nevertheless, neither Beck nor Page ever does as well as that other Yardbird alumnus Eric Clapton, who comes to Japan every other November and quickly sells out seven or eight Budokan shows. It pays to learn those chords.

Australia

Silverchair will play its only show for the year on New Year’s Eve at the Falls Festival in Victoria. Bass player Chris Joannou said the band’s plan to take 2000 off wavered because “we started to miss making music.” Rehearsals for its Rock In Rio set in January got it keen to do another show, which is why it eagerly grasped the chance when Falls organisers put out feelers.

The most recent additions to the Falls bill are The Superjesus, sonicanimation, 28 Days, John Butler Trio, Skulker, Pre-Shrunk, and Honeysmack. Usually, the festival includes international acts – Iggy Pop agreed immediately some years ago after seeing a video of the picturesque site. But the Australian dollar’s all-time drop to 52 cents to the greenback has made that very difficult.

Vietnam

Authorities in Vietnam are clamping down on foreign artists. Songs performed live by visiting acts must first be reviewed by officials to ensure they are “politically and culturally appropriate.” Censors will also check songs to assess their “moral fibre.”

The new decree by the Information and Culture Ministry follows regulations requiring promoters and performers to obtain licenses from the Ministry of Planning and Investment or from local people’s committees. Licenses will be terminated if performers stray from their approved program.

Under the licensing procedure, artists must send a videotape of their act together with the lyrics to individual songs for review. Classical performances are unlikely to fall foul of the new law, which is aimed largely at rock and pop performers. In 1994, a concert in Hanoi by French singer Patricia Kaashich was halted by riot police for allegedly inciting youths. The last major international act to visit Vietnam was Canadian boy band The Moffatts earlier this year.