Revelers can celebrate the countdown to 2023 on New Year’s Eve at Bremerton’s Roxy Theatre with Heart by Heart, a high-energy rock band that features two members of the legendary group Heart.
The band will ring in the new year playing Heart hits like “Crazy on You,” “Barracuda,” “Straight On” and “Magic Man,” promises bassist Steve Fossen, co-founder of Heart. Drummer Michael Derosier also played with Heart.
“You could say we are tribute band on steroids because we have original members who actually recorded the songs and toured behind them back in the day,” joked Seattle-born Fossen.
Festivities begin in Quincy Square at 7 p.m. with DJ Joe Frank hosting a dance party under the Roxy marquee. Local performer Joey James Dean and Bootlegs begin the live music in the theatre at 9 p.m. Heart by Heart takes the stage at 10:30 p.m.
This is the second-consecutive year Heart by Heart has played New Year’s Eve at the historic Roxy Theatre.
“Last year’s Roxy’s show was a lot of fun. It was a very intense party. It did everything that you want New Year’s to do. You got to drink, listen to music, hang out with your friends and have fun. That’s what it’s all about,” Fossen said.
“We have tons of fans on the peninsula. We enjoy it over there a lot,” he said.
Heart by Heart – which plays up to 60 dates a year – has appeared at several local casinos, including 7 Cedars, Point Casino & Hotel, and most recently at Clearwater Casino Resort.
Heart by Heart musicians pride themselves on playing Heart songs just as they were written.
“We perform the hits the way the original songs were conceived and recorded,” Fossen said. “When people hear Heart by Heart play, they get nostalgia and can relive their experiences from when they heard the songs when they were younger.”
Playing classic Heart songs as they were first recorded does impact fans.
Following a recent show the band played on a KISS Kruise, Fossen recounted, “We had grown men come up to us after the show with tears in their eyes, thanking us because we brought back all of these memories that they had we they were younger.”
“Mike [Derosier] and I are proud of what we did with Heart and the years we spent there. We are really proud of the fact that all this music survived all these years and is still getting a lot of airplay on classic radio. I’ll hear it in the grocery store when I’m shopping and in the mall.”
Heart by Heart’s lineup features Fossen and Derosier, on bass and drums respectively. Vocal duties fall to Somar Macek (Fossen’s wife). Rounding out the band is guitarist/keyboardist Lizzy Daymont and guitarist Chad Quist.
Super-group Heart had its beginning in 1967 when Fossen, a student at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, formed a band with Roger Fisher, who would later become Heart’s guitarist. After name and lineup changes, the group settled on the Heart name in 1969. Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, raised in Washington state, joined the band in the early 1970s.
Derosier stepped into the band in 1975, following a Heart appearance at the Aquarius, a vibrant club on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue. Later that year, the budding rock group recorded its first album, “Dreamboat Annie.” After a string of multiplatinum albums, Heart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
Proceeds from the New Year’s Eve event will go to the Roxy Bremerton Foundation. The nonprofit, which operates the theatre, has already raised more than $1 million to refurbish the building and eventually acquire the venue, said Steve Sego, foundation president.
The Roxy Theatre is part of the conversion of Bremerton’s 4th Street to a musical, cultural and arts space to honor the legendary Quincy Jones, who many believe discovered his musical soul in Bremerton.
Tickets for the New Year’s Eve party are $50-$125. Reserved donor seats are $250. Advance tickets can be purchased at roxybremerton.org.
