Let post-holiday letdown loose on the dance floor

For the past few weeks, everybody’s been asking everybody else: Are you ready for Christmas?

Sorry but here’s the inevitable follow-up question. Are you ready for post-Christmas?

When presents and hugs have been distributed, the crumpled wrapping swept away and the big meal consumed — there they still are, staring you in the face: Your relatives. Your routines. Your responsibilities. Your life. Oh my.

That’s why getting out was invented. If your big holiday windup has given way to a big post-holiday crash — or you’re just desperate for something different to do, someplace different to go — check out the following tips and listings for the time after the most wonderful time of the year.

Blues singer

To turn sadness into smiles, try adding a soulful groove and cranking the volume up to 11. The Cascade Bar and Grill will host one of the Portland area’s premiere soul-and-blues singers, Andy Stokes, the night after Christmas.

New blues fans may know Stokes because he was featured in the King Louis Blues Review during Portland’s 2015 Waterfront Blues Festival — and then belted out the Star Spangled Banner before the festival’s fireworks display. Seasoned blues fans have caught Stokes alongside everyone from Curtis Salgado to Michael Bolton to the Temptations. Stokes, who’s been called our region’s own “pied piper of funk,” was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2009 with his band, Cool’R.

But Stokes’ truly showbizzy claim to fame is that he voiced one of the California Raisins for a 1989 television special.

Billy Blues

The former Halftime Bar and Grill on Hazel Dell Avenue was purchased in December 2013 and transformed into Billy Blues Bar and Grill. New owners Kodi and Bill Gianeukakis added a new stage and new lights and started lining up live music six nights a week.

Two bands will serve up classic rock at Billy Blues in the next few days: The 24-7 Band on Dec. 26 and The Spellbound Band on Dec. 30. Plus, every Sunday night at Billy Blues is Youth Jam Night. Get out your axe — or your whole group — and come on down. “It’s very family oriented,” Kodi said, and open to everyone.

New Year’s Eve

Or just rest up for New Year’s Eve. Are you ready?

Celebrate early at the Luepke Senior Center, which hosts its annual “Swinging in the New Year” party featuring light refreshments, sparkling cider, party favors and the return of the Beacock Music New Horizons Band. No bubbly will be served, but the event starts at 7 p.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m., so you can still get home in time for a toast of your own.

Cascade Bar and Grill will host “Catch 22,” a party featuring two nationally known cover bands that worship the women of rock: Barracuda, a Heart tribute from that other Vancouver, and All Fired Up, cranking out the music of Pat Benatar. The first 90 guests will get onstage seating and there’ll be a champagne toast at midnight. The place recently upgraded its sound and light systems, so New Year’s Eve there should be one spectacular occasion.

Billy Blues in Hazel Dell will feature The Strange, a rocking Vancouver dance band.

But arguably the biggest New Year’s Eve bash in town will be the return of Blake Sakamoto’s annual spectacle at the downtown Hilton Vancouver Washington — called The White Ball this year. All the talent will be decked out in white from head to toe; your attire needn’t be white but should befit “a once in a lifetime experience,” featuring:

• Dance music across the decades from The Nu Wavers, My Happy Pill and Michelle DeCourcy and the Rocktarts;

• “Accordion punk” from Jet Black Pearl;

• Guitar and piano heroics in jazz, classical, flamenco and rock styles from Nick Gimarelli, Steve Adams and Ed Bisquera; and

• Gravity-defying acrobatics from Aerial Muse Collective.

Doors open for dinner at 6 p.m. and entertainment begins at 8 p.m. Depending on your budget, you can buy tickets that include VIP seating, dinner, champagne at midnight and numerous gifts and goodies; or you can opt for general seating and appetizers only; or you can show up at 10 p.m. just to dance.

Best of all, this extravaganza is a benefit for a good cause: Share Vancouver and its efforts to feed and house the hungry and homeless in our community.

Happy New Year!