Dueling downtown events on New Year's Eve

Only 52 days until New Year's Eve, and downtown Los Angeles is already getting crowded.

Uber-promoter Giant is bringing back Giant Maximus, with heavy hitters such as Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip and Kaskade to its circus-tents-in-a-parking-lot spectacular. About 10,000 are expected for the dance music event to be near the intersection of Figueroa and 8th streets, and the general admission tickets are going for $80.

But hipster hero Steve Aoki is getting into the act too. The guy formerly known as Kid Millionaire brings a lineup heavy on electroclash-or-whatever-you-call-it-in-2007 to downtown's warehouse district (on Imperial Street, just west of the 6th Street bridge) for an inaugural event known as Hard NYE. Justice will do a DJ set, supplemented by the likes of 2 Live Crew, DJ A-Trak, Peaches, Whitey and Aoki himself. GA tickets are going for $60.

Elsewhere, there's no official word yet from the promoters who brought the Killers in to headline an event at Paramount Studios last New Year's Eve. But I'm told something is in the works.

And for folks Of a Different Sensibility -- and we don't say that disparagingly -- there is OCNYE, which this year moves south from its former fairgrounds location to the Oaks Blenheim Events Center in San Juan Capistrano. The third annual affair, which features a pyrotechnics-filled "Orange Drop," features Third Eye Blind, the Psychedelic Furs, Berlin, the English Beat, a handful of tribute acts and some local acts too. GA tickets are $55 until next Thursday; $65 if purchased before Dec. 15.

Photo of Z-Trip from djztrip.com