Welcome to the terrorizing time of Halloween, the Devilish Day of the Dead and the most frighteningly fearsome event of all, the upcoming 2016 election. But we’re here to talk about music, and this week brings us a catastrophic cacophony of wacky wonderment, meant to entertain, scare, frighten and, otherwise, remove the bejesus out of you.
A new event in town called “Witches Night Out” is prepared and well set to become an annual tradition as a popular Halloween happening. Based on a successful sister event held in Joliet, it’s simply a “costume party fundraiser by women, for women in need” as explained by the notfor-profit organizers, Events for a Cause.
Thursday, Oct. 27, is the night; tonight for you hot-off-the-press readers, too late for the rest of you sad sacks. The Expo Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds is the place, with The Girl-A-Thon Band and The Suburban Mystics supplying live music. Other highlights include a costume contest, an art gallery, psychic readings, a “Witches Bazaar” area for women vendors and more. Only those of the female persuasion 21 years and older are allowed inside (no, you can’t dress up like a girl and get in, guys), other than fellows working at the show. Proceeds are split between four local charities deemed best to help women and children in our community. So you “witches” now have a cool place to hang out and help out every Halloween from this one forth, thanks to some thoughtful, hard-working folks.
Forward we go into the darkness of the Halloween weekend as experienced by bar goers of the scary Springfield scene. Nothing says “BOO!” more than NIL8’s tradition of the Hobgoblinspookadelic (someday that word will be in Webster’s), a demonizing experience of such amplification as to rumble about the ether of eclectic enterprises like a fly around Dracula’s sunburn. Many years in the making and held in several different locations, this Hobgob comes complete with nasty rumors of drummers and guitarists from NIL8’s past coming back to haunt the stage at Bar None, Saturday, Oct. 29. Also included in the horrific happening going down before the bewitching hour are petrifying perpetrators Boon and terrible terrorizers Livin’ Thing. Check out other eerie areas for blood-curdling contests, bone-chilling bands and plenty of hair-raising Halloween thrills as listed in your ooky and spooky Pub Crawl.
David Shaw, a longtime drummer on the scene, recently went and started something by creating and initiating the Central Illinois Drumming Collective or CIDC. Locally progressive and intent on improving the condition of areas drummers by investing in knowledge and skills, the group is dedicated to helping others and is counting on a healthy event turnout to make it all work. The CIDC’s inaugural moment occurs Wednesday, Nov. 2, as the organization and Shaw host Todd Sucherman for a drum workshop and drummer gathering at the Route 66 Hotel and Conference Center. It all starts at 6:30 p.m., and the CIDC asks a $10 admission fee to defer the cost of hosting “one of the best drummers on the planet” and other costs generated by putting on an event. Don’t be a deadbeat, go learn a new beat.
Hope everyone enjoys the “Best of Springfield” edition while learning to love the best without forgetting the rest. Simply put, some people get more votes than others, but mostly this is a way to bring our community together, not tear it apart. I sincerely think we can all agree on that point. And this is coming from someone who didn’t win anything this year, but made the finals a few times. There’s always next year, as those former Lovable Losers used to say.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
