Hitting up a Halloween hoedown

IN a city as large, diverse, and exciting as Montreal, there are undoubtedly going to be more than a few Halloween parties for the average university student to attend. Of course, every bar and club from Ste-Catherine to Crescent to St-Laurent boast costume parties, prizes and ghoulish decor. But if you’re a musikoid, then you’re looking for more than just a dress-up party.
If karaoke is your kind of treat bag, then look no further than La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) on Oct. 31, better known as All Hallows’ Eve. Registration for songs begins at 8 p.m. with the party getting officially started an hour later. The evening features a live band that karaoke singers get to perform alongside, making it way cooler than your average karaoke party.
“[It’s an] alternative event for people who want to do something different,” said POP Montreal spokeswoman Sarah Shoucri. “Singing in costumes will never be so huge!” Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.
But if you’re better at listening to music than you are at making it, you should consider checking out the Halloween party going down at The Movement Space Loft (321 Chatham) on Oct. 29. The event features dub-hop-step trio FM HI Low, zombie surf-rock band Les Zorbits, and the “one-man drum insanity” known as Chatham Hunter. There will also be live DJ sets and free beer on tap all night! And if beer doesn’t turn your crank, you can B.Y.O.B. (in plastic containers only, please). So get your costume and practice your best monster mash moves, because according to Fraser MacDougall of FM HI Low, “it’s going to be a full on bloc party,” with other loft residents opening up their doors to ring in the spookiest holiday of the year. Bring $15 to cover the live music and show up anytime after 10 p.m.
Adding more mystery to an already mysterious evening, the creators of Smiths Vs. Misfits Party and Rock N’ Roll High School (the concerts) are hosting “a Halloween bash to end all epic Halloween bashes” on Oct. 28. Ahoy Division! (featuring members of Black Feelings, Grand Trine and Mannequin) will be covering Joy Division all night long and will be playing with Warriors On The Edge of Time (featuring members of High Rise 2, TOPS, Hammond Ri, Waupoos, Sunken Skulls, Gym Sweat, Andy Boay, Tonstartssbandht and Julian Garcia) who will be covering classic space rock tunes by the English band Hawkwind. There will also be DJs Annie Q, Ralph K and more! Here’s the catch: if you want to go to this party, you’ll have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt. A riddler rep for the party gave us one hint: “It’s at the old Hotel2Tango on Van Horne, east of Parc. Find it.”… if you dare! Admission is $5 with a costume, $75 without.
Le Piranha Bar (680 Ste-Catherine W.) has taken the guess work out of Halloween planning. They are hosting Halloween-themed parties for three straight nights! Oct. 28 is their $5 Rock Halloween party, featuring Sister Hyde, Les Johnny Kings, and Chris Danger & the Heroin Hayride. For Saturday (Oct. 29) they switch up the theme for their Halloween Goth Party ($8 at the door), which boasts new-wave post-punk duo Dark Digital, alongside Beautiful Sadness, and Silent & Cold. Finally, for $5 you can hit up Piranha’s purely punk/rockabilly Halloween Party on Oct. 31, featuring French rock quintet Dionysos, Irish Nails, Joel Kaiser and Hellbound Hepcats.
For more event listings, check out the back page of this paper!