Hello Halloweeners
NOW PLAYING | Tom Irwin
Welcome ghouls, goblins, guys and gals to the terribly terrifying world of the Springfield bar music scene during Halloween season. I say season, because with the Friday night appearance of the haunted holiday, clubs (beat me up, Scotty) are hosting Monster Mash bashes Thursday through Saturday. Let’s go visit the ghost-ess hostess with the most-ess, or something like that.
Donnie’s Homespun leads off with an extra-scary extravaganza in store for you miniscule mortals beginning with a beastly Thursday featuring Wanna with Bo Lowder, Psycho Fight, Dog of Panic, Dead Zebbra, Spun and Polarity. On Saturday, more Halloween-hosting happens with Spread and Aaron Kamm and the One Drops. In between comes the big, bad, horrible and horrific Hobgoblinspookadelic on a fateful and frightful Friday night. Hosted by NIL8 for many years in many places, the name comes from the fearsomely fertile mind of Jeff Curtis Williams and once was simply a NIL8 song. Now the word, though still difficult to say without practicing and without taking a breath, describes the longest-running Halloween show in the Springfield area.
I don’t know when it all started, but on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006, NIL8 played a Marly’s Pub late show and an all-ages-allowed, early performance at Skateland South. You can see the actual posters and hear live audio of the gigs at somethingscantbeignored. wordpress.com. For awhile, I believe, Viele’s Planet, or just The Planet, as it was known by then, hosted the event. This year, Robbie Kording of The Timmys obsessed wonderfully on the making of the 2014 Hobgoblinspookadelic, offering more entertainment excitement than ever. Along with music groups NIL8, The Timmys, The Misfarts (Misfits-like band), Bad Banshee, King Worm and Evan Mitchell’s Ukulele Party, riotous Robbie wrought a slew of extra stuff such as standup comedian Brandon Judd, sideshows, plus a costume contest with a trophy and a $100 cash prize. The last few years, our friends over at the Black Sheep Cafe hosted the sinister show. With the move to Donnie’s Homespun, all ages are allowed, but the execution of legal drinking practices will be upheld.
Another exciting Halloween happening happens on our fearsome Friday at the calamitous Curve Inn with ominous Off the Wall celebrating their anniversary as a bone-chilling, blood-curdling band at the evil event known as a Spooktacular Halloweengoblinapalooza. The scary, spine-chilling spooks at the Curve offer a gruesomely good time with free chili and dogs while they last, plus drink specials and over $500 in prizes for costumes. I would not “boo” that. Plus, you can hear Best of Springfield winner DJ Mikee blast the hits until 3 a.m. after the band finishes celebrating.
Where else do Halloweeners gather to petrify, terrify and horrify? IT’s pub crawl lists just about every joint around going scary on Friday. Nefarious New City Road drives into malevolent Mowie’s Cue. Hellbent Hipbone Sam devours Decatur’s AIW hell Hall. Putrid Porkpie and the nasty North End All-Stars slither into the tragic Trails End Saloon, in cutthroat Curran. Here’s a scary thought: KFD plays a final show on Halloween at the Longbridge Golf Course Clubhouse with special guests the Shunpikers. That ends a four-and-a-half-year run as one of the top bands in town. That deserves a “boo” as in “boo-hoo.”
But perhaps the scariest, most truly horrendous happening doesn’t occur until Saturday, Nov. 1, when Brutality Fest hits the Tin Can Pub. This foul, vile, despicable and destructive demonstration of devilish behavior features What Thou Will, Dead Shore, Porno Virus and Angelust, specializing in spastic, spine-chilling, spooky sounds of bestialitybent, bands of brutality. It’s nice to know these guys act like this Halloween or not.
Please take the hopefully judicious use of adjectives in the spirit sent.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
