I love Halloween. Like, it’s my absolute favorite holiday. And, yeah, I know I probably say the same thing about a handful of other fun dates throughout the year. But for me, there is Halloween, and then everything else.
The great thing about All Hallows Eve is that it doesn’t come with any of the baggage accompanying almost all the other big holidays. There are no religious overtones as with Christmas or Easter, no family obligations as with Thanksgiving, no overhyped expectations as with New Year’s Eve, and no overblown patriotic nonsense as with Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. Halloween is all about dressing up like an idiot and attending fantastically absurd parties. And eating candy. That’s it. And this year, since Halloween falls on a Sunday, we get three full nights of ghoulish revelry before we even get to the actual day/candy. Responding in kind, area clubs are seriously ramping up the spooky fun this week. Here’s a blow-by-blow.
It all starts Thursday with disco-rock sensations Heloise and the Savoir Faire at Club Metronome. I’m really curious to see how this band will outdo their already glamorous attire for Halloween. Hell, their regular outfits would likely win most area costume contests. Speaking of which, this is a costume party. Dress up, dammit.
Things really get cooking on Friday, as Nectar’s hosts local Dead acolytes Blues for Breakfast. This one’s a costume party, too, and it has a theme: Dress as your favorite Grateful Dead band member. Now that’s fucking scary.
Meanwhile, at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, get your freak on at Dragula, the evening’s marquee costume party featuring, sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, more sex, and, um, did I mention sex? The show also features the ass-shaking exploits of Victoria Demeanor, Celeste LaRue, Fonda LaCox and DJ Precious, who’ll be spinning house hits all night long.
Back in Burlington proper, the cool kids with Bonjour-Hi! welcome rising hip-hop electro-punk impresarios Ninjasonik to Parima. These cats have been pulling some serious love around the blogosphere — and at CMJ last week, actually — and for good reason: They’re fun, funny, socially conscious and, best of all, they straight up rock. Hard.
Not to be left out of the fun, Montpeculiar has its share of cool happenings Friday as well, including the Vacant Lots, just back from Brooklyn, at Langdon Street Café. There’s nothing specifically Halloween-y about this one. But the Vacant Lots rock, and well, I guess they’re kinda scary in a druggy psych-rock kinda way, right? Moving on …
Saturday is, of course, the main event. LSC hosts its annual Halloween Masquerade Ball with local electro-rock outfit Durians and They Will Hate Us — more on the latter below. Meanwhile, the good folks from Halogen Records give the capital city a taste of Burlington Rock City with Rough Francis, Villanelles and Casio Bastard at Positive Pie 2.
Heading north again on I-89, the belle of the Burlington ball is undoubtedly Carnivale Nocturna, a party in both rooms at Parima. The lineup features local funk-rockers Funkwagon, hip-hop up-and-comers Lynguistic Civilians, DJ Frank Grymes, Mushpost’s DJs Sycofont and the Orator as well as Thelonius X. Oh, yeah, and the provocative body-painting stylings of the Human Canvas.
One quick note about Saturday: Don’t sleep on the always-entertaining Halloween bash at 242 Main. If you’ve never been, local bands dress up as their favorite nonlocal bands and cover their songs. Unfortunately, no word on the lineup just yet.
Last but not least, the Halloween weekend concludes at Club Metronome Sunday night, where prodigal Afro-rockers Rubblebucket kick off a two-night stand at the reinvigorated rock haunt. Sunday the band will be joined by Roxbury, Mass. Full Tang. And on Monday, locals Bearquarium and BTV art-rock royalty Swale handle opening duties.
BiteTorrent
Listening In
And once again, this week’s totally self-indulgent column segment, in which I share a random sampling of what was on my iPod, turntable, CD player, 8-track player, etc., this week.
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