Our Friday best: Thomas Rhett & NHL Winter Classic, Charlie Parr, Cactus Blossoms & more

It's been awhile since the Twin Cities has been host to a big name on New Year's Eve. Saturday's NHL Winter Classic with the Minnesota Wild playing the Blues at Target Field —including a free fan festival before the game — helped draw Rhett to the Twin Cities. The country star will perform at the game, but the night before he'll give a full show at the Wild's usual home, Xcel Energy Center. The son of '90s Nashville star Rhett Atkins, Rhett has scored more than 15 No. 1 country hits, including "Die a Happy Man," "Marry Me" and the latest, "Country Song." Cole Swindell and Conner Smith start the NYE party. (8:30 p.m. Fri. Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, $55-$275, ticketmaster.com)

JON BREAM

Twin Cities music lovers weirdly look forward to January, thanks to St. Paul's warmest music room and its annual run of monthlong residency shows. Every Sunday this month will feature acoustic blues/folk wizard Charlie Parr, who returned to the road this fall with another masterful album, "Last of the Better Days Ahead." He has Portal III also lined up for Week 1 (7:30 p.m., Turf Club, 1601 W. University Av., St. Paul, $15-$17, first-avenue.com). On Mondays, the Turf welcomes back sibling harmonizers the Cactus Blossoms and their ace twang band, who are previewing a third LP due out Feb. 11 and have Brianna Kočka opening their first set (7:30 p.m., $20-$25).

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Have canceled New Year's Eve plans got you down? It's a bummer but hey, we've been here before. Never fear, Shannon Blowtorch has got you covered by DJ-ing the night away over a live stream. There's no need to brave the cold or omicron; Blowtorch will have you dancing in your living room for New Year's Eve and you can party away all night. It's on Twitch, which you can stream whether you have an account or not, so tune in and turn it up. (9 p.m. Fri., twitch.tv/shannonblowtorch).

SHEILA REGAN

Grab the clan and bring in the new year with outdoor fun. Three Rivers Park District hosts an afternoon of sledding fun. Dress warm for the thrill of careening down snow-laced hills. Warm up by a fire and make sticky and sweet s'mores. (Noon-4 p.m. Fri., Richardson Nature Center, 8737 E. Bush Lake Road, Bloomington, 763-559-6700, threeriversparkdistrict.org)

The Minneapolis Institute of Art's stellar exhibition "The Contemporary Print: 20 Years at Highpoint Editions," which showcases 175 prints in a variety of styles and techniques, closes Jan. 9. The show is a celebration of Minneapolis' achievements in printmaking, and signifies a monumental acquisition for Mia that includes work from 40 artists such as Julie Mehretu, Julie Buffalohead and Dyani White Hawk. Highpoint Center for Printmaking is a unique, community-oriented organization that has made printmaking more available in the Upper Midwest. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Wed. & Fri.-Sun. 10-9 Thu., 2400 3rd Av. S., Mpls., $16-$20, free for 17 and younger, artsmia.org, masks recommended.)

ALICIA ELER

Yes, the Minnesota Orchestra opens its Sibelius Festival on New Year's Eve, but perhaps you'd like to cuddle up at home and toast the New Year with the area's other world-renowned orchestra. Friday night's livestream (and 10:30 p.m. replay) will feature performances from the SPCO's free online concert library. After movements from serenades by Dvorak and Brahms and quintets by Felix Mendelssohn, Mozart and Arthur Bliss, the party will conclude with Beethoven's pulse-quickening Seventh Symphony. (7 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, free, thespco.org)

ROB HUBBARD

The powerhouse drummer, coming off an exhilarating four-night stand with his retooled Bad Plus, shows he's still got gas in the tank by stepping as a last-minute substitute on New Year's Eve. (Fat Kid Wednesdays had to bow out when King's sometime drum partner JT Bates had a breakthrough COVID case.) Bassist Erik Fratzke and tenor sax man Brandon Wozniak will help King ring in 2022. Earlybirds can catch a bonus dinnertime set by the Chris Bates Trio. (9:30 p.m. Fri., Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls. $30. icehousempls.com)

Nicolas Roeg's chilling, time-bending 1973 classic features Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as parents, grieving the loss of their daughter, who escape to a vacation in the spookiest possible place: Venice. Soon, they're haunted by visions of their child, crones and a specter that means them harm. (Showtimes vary, Sun.-Tue., Trylon Cinema, 2820 E. 33rd St., Mpls., $8, trylon.org)

CHRIS HEWITT