Calling all goths! While everyone else is out buying overpriced flowers or booking last-minute dinner reservations for a certain Hallmark holiday, the “darkest dance party Vermont has ever seen” is here to blacken your heart. At least, that’s the intention of the folks behind Wicked Game, a “gothic promenade” happening — when else? — this Friday the 13th at the Stone Church in Brattleboro and Saturday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day proper), at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in South Burlington.
Hosted by the twisted minds at Green Mountains of Madness and curated by Night Protocol’s Matthew Binginot, Wicked Game is a smorgasbord of dark delights, featuring music from Tennessee goth punks Academy Order, along with Vermont acts Night Protocol, Dutch Experts, Vetica and Clock Serum (Brattleboro only). The event also includes DJs, pole and burlesque dancers, a “Prom Court” complete with a costume contest, and Vermont vendors selling their gothic wares.
“The whole idea of this event is to go beyond music or performance and truly create an immersive and interactive experience,” Binginot wrote in an email. “To transform the space and construct an atmosphere that is dark, romantic, intriguing and mystical.”
Binginot plans to make the goth prom a recurring series and is already plotting a Halloween party. For tickets and more information, visit stonechurchvt.com and highergroundmusic.com.
New band alert! James Kochalka is set to debut the Small Potatoes at Standing Stone Wines in Winooski on Valentine’s Day. The group, a separate entity from his James Kochalka Superstar brand, premieres under a veil of mystery: Kochalka won’t reveal the rest of the lineup until the night of the show.
“All members but one are Burlington musicians from bands famous enough to have international reputations and to have toured overseas,” Kochalka told me when I pressed him for details. “But part of the premise of this first show is that we want people to try and guess, and then come to the show and find out!”
Kochalka said the band has 16 new songs, which he described as “emotional, funny, wistful, hilarious, joyful and political, by turns.”
One of the flyers for the show features Kochalka with Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, but I’m going to assume the British rock star is not in the Small Potatoes. I actually have no intel, but to avoid looking like a failure of a music editor, I’m going to say I heard a rumor that it’s Phish backing up Kochalka — with Luis Guzmán on backing vocals and Rusty DeWees rapping.
There aren’t many acts in the scene like Plattsburgh, N.Y.’s Famous Letter Writer. Consisting of married couple M.I. and Ru Devine, the duo specializes in a vibrant blend of art rock, poetry and high-concept, borderline-academic thought exercises, wrapped in tongue-in-cheek musical chaos. Famous Letter Writer released Dadamama (i) in December, the first part of a concept record and a follow-up to 2020’s excellent Warhola. A second installment is expected to drop this summer.
The band has released several videos to promote Dadamama (i); the most recent, “Me, You, and Everyone We Know,” premiered in January. A moody, slow-burning track about family “moving on, growing up, getting older,” the video is available on YouTube.
Though they’ve left Vermont for New York City, All Night Boogie Band are still near and dear to the Green Mountain scene. The retro-loving band’s brand of classic rock, R&B, swing and good ol’ fashioned blues made it a favorite on the live circuit, with vocalist Jessica Leone’s powerhouse vocals leading the way.
The band’s third full-length record is due this summer. The first advance single, “Keep On Rolling,” drops this week. A soulful number that starts off a cappella before erupting in a rock revival complete with a horn section, big slide guitar breaks, boogie-woogie piano and a rousing, sing-along chorus, the tune captures a band in ascendency. It hits major streaming services on Friday — check out allnightboogieband.com for more info.
The band celebrates the release with a show that same evening at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in South Burlington, opening for Grateful Dead tribute act Dobbs’ Dead.
New Release Radar
Five recent or upcoming releases from Vermont artists
- Greaseface, Brick & Mortar (January 23, post-punk)
- WiseAcres, Ballast (January 28, indie rock)
- Emma Cook, Of the Morning (February 24, folk, pop)
- Dwight + Nicole, Day or Night (March 20, R&B, soul)
- Carling & Will, Oh, Mongoose! (May 16, folk)
This article appears in February 11 • 2026.
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