Ghosts, Ghouls, and a Good Time: Halloween Shows
Halloweekend is usually packed to the brim with shows, here are just a few I was able to attend and the lasting impressions I was given by our local artists.
I started off the festivities with a house show featuring The Crooked Rugs, The Etiquettes, and The Sum Beaches titled ‘Trash Trove’. The night was brought to an early close by a noise complaint, but I still was able to enjoy the music of Sum Beaches. Dressed as the characters from Adventure Time, they have a wide, drippy sound like whiskey in sunlight. It is Wheatus-esque in its whimsy and chewy guitar tone and I hope to hear more from them. Their album, Retrofit Sick, came out in July and captures the lightweight feel of their music very well.
Friday night brought on another house show featuring local bands playing covers with Ducki as The Cranberries, Bitchflower as The Misfits, Autumnal as Big Thief, Jesus Christ Taxi Driver as The White Stripes, and The Crooked Rugs as The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The show was put on by Sun Spot and Fifth Sign Collective, who quite literally welcomed us into their living room with open arms, and titled ‘Deadman’s Disco’.
I was able to listen to Ducki again, I got a taste for them this summer and have been borderline stalking them in the meantime. Within the chaos of the crowd, the three of them became blurred shadows as they played The Cranberries hits. I watch a girl in pink velvet, bell-bottoms sway to their dripping wet vocals, flattened by the reverb of the room. The range of opportunity in Ducki‘s sound is expansive, their muffled guitar and sharp vocals blend into the soft indie songs they seem to be best at, but I could also see them excelling at some power-pop crunch. Someone dressed as a witch moves in front of me, her cloak covered in fake stars and blocking the majority of my view of the band, yet the fuzzy music fits the visual well.
No one captured the spirit of their ‘costume’ quite like Bitchflower did with The Misfits though. You could feel the music beyond your skin, you could feel it in your bones, as they played covers and some songs of their own. They made the entire living room a wave of shoulders and costume hats, the man next to me pining me between the couch and a pirate as he drunkenly yelled at just how good the band was over and over. In a rare turn of events, the obnoxious drunk man at a concert is right, it was a set to remember. Their lead vocalist, Brooke, was iconic in all her screaming glory. I had seen them before at Endless Fest, but watching them play as Misfits was really like watching a different band. Their sound crunches between your back teeth. The hair and makeup begin to blend together, mercy to the movement of the band.
Deadman’s Disco needed a moment of solitude after it, the venue opening and welcome, the setlist well created and balanced, and the crowd that showed up was upbeat and excited.
Saturday was the precipice of Halloweekend, there were several events that night but I personally chose to go to ‘Badass Babe Fest’ at Washington’s with the Music District, the poster promising the ultimate 90s to 2000s hits and a great time featuring Alysia Kraft, Neoma, Lolita, Vivian, Mystee, Robot Tennis Club, Taylor Shae Band, Elke, and DJ Bro Short. Robot Tennis Club created a bit of a supergroup for the night, borrowing a member from both Jesus Christ Taxi Driver and Robert Shredford, and their energy was one of the highest for the night. The highlight of the night was Taylor Shae Band for me, her vocals were marshmallowy soft and smooth, a confident ease to her presence on the stage, with a pink cowboy hat to top it all off. Her song ‘Small Town America’ is a bit of a hidden gem, the vocals and melody capture you in sticky sweet and remind me a bit of Kasey Musgraves.
The finale was Sunday at The Coast with MODRN, Funscreen, Goodnight Native, Creek, and Mood Swing Misery. It is one of my favorite small venues in town, the bartender has a bit of a heavy hand and the people are always welcoming and kind. I went for MODRN, you can expect to hear more from them in their full interview, and their set that night was the strongest I’ve seen them play, perhaps due to their respective costumes. Their take on pop is refreshingly unique and the duo are incredibly laidback about their talent on stage. I was pleasantly surprised by Funscreen, a band I had seen before but whose sheer skill made me do a double-take that night. I should’ve been tipped off by the medieval outfits – not a costume but a year-long commitment for the band, as such whimsy is usually followed by the most out-of-pocket skill. They balance the moments of melody and chaos equally well in their songs, creating a balance between their members and allowing them to expand their sound to something explorative and enjoyable at the same time. I think I might just have a soft spot for drummers, but their drummer, RJ, was truly a sight to behold that night and someone I will definitely be keeping an eye out for. I hope to see them live several more times.