Halloween Covers 2017

I went to a Halloween covers show on Saturday, October 14th. I usually miss these for various reasons, but I really wanted to see the bands at this show. Also, many of my friends were playing, so I knew it would be fun.

I wore a costume that was like a vampire/sorcerer/masquerade attendee. I brought a red masquerade mask, but I did not wear it. Someone compared me to a character from The Lost Boys, which was kind of what I was going for. Originally, I had wanted to create this alien costume I had in mind, but I could not find most of my makeup or some of the prosthetics I would need. It was interesting to ride my bike wearing a cape, skirt, and high-heeled boots.

I got to the show right on time, and the first band to play covered the Cranberries. I am not a huge fan of the Cranberries, though I don't hate them either; I'm just neutral on them. I felt the same way about this. They did a good job with the covers, though I wish there was a full band to add to the sound, especially for songs like "Zombie". Instead it was just two acoustic guitars and two singers. It's tough to get Dolores O'Riordan's vocal style right.

The second band (SFX + Weird Paul and Greg Cislon) covered Pavement.I actually didn't really know any of the songs, or I at least couldn't make them out. I have only heard the first Pavement album though. I liked seeing Weird Paul as a shout-y background vocalist. It was a fun set to see even if I didn't know what they were playing.

The third band was like a supergroup and covered The Donnas. I liked this set. The Donnas have the same kind of sound as The Ramones, The Runaways, and Shonen Knife, all of whom I like a lot. Everybody looked the part here, and they had funny stage banter. I will have to check out the real Donnas more.

The fourth band covered Ween. Their bass player didn't show up, so my friend Mae filled in. She was flawless. The band was really exciting to watch, and I liked the goofy costume and the spot-on vocals. It was another really fun set.

The fifth band (holy cow! and there is still one more!) covered Def Leppard. This band was The Telephone Line, whom I had first seen at Ladyfest this year. They had some really funny costumes with the big hair that everybody expects for a band like Def Leppard. The singer sounded amazing! I was so impressed when she hit all of the high notes, low notes, long notes, and all of the other notes.

Finally, Dumplings (and friends) covered The Damned! This was the set I was most excited to see, and it did not disappoint. It even exceeded my expectations. Jon looked very, very much like Dave Vanian, and the band sounded very good, very close to the real Damned whom members of Dumplings and I saw earlier this year. The crowd was so energized by this performance. People sang along and slam danced and all of that stuff. I hope that Dumplings cover some of these songs in their normal sets.

The Halloween cover show was really fun. It was very laid back and just generally a good time with all very good bands. It was fun to wear a costume too. I had some ideas for playing at this show actually, earlier in the year, but they all fell thru. Maybe next year I will get something together.