Is anybody playing a Halloween gig in costume this year? I'm not currently in a band, but in the past clubs have always "encouraged" the band to show up in costume. Last year I went as Fred Flintstone. My girlfriend is dragging me to a Halloween party tonight, so I told her I'd go only if she'd be a whacked out Anna-Nicole Smith in a bath towel and bad clown makeup and I could be Howard K. Stern chasing her around with a giant hypo. I don't think she's gonna go for it though...

Many years ago I had a halloween Orchestra gig. I came as Hannibal Lechter. I had the stagehands roll me out on stage on a dolly while I wore the little mask.

I went to a party at a nightclub one year as a conehead Ray Charles. Won $10 for "costume in poorest taste".

At bowling last night this couple attached single serving boxes of breakfast cereal to their shirts, inserted knives into the boxes, and put fake blood where the knives went in. They were "Cereal Killers". Won a prize.

I don't dress up, never liked it.

Did you guys see The Office last night and what Michael Scott's costume was for a kids Halloween? Hysterically typically poor taste.

That show is still on?

Uh, yeah.

I played last night as The Abominable Dr. Phibes and did the Vincent Price monologue during "Thriller" with a torch on my face and all the house and stage lights off.
It was killer fun

I had another idea for a quick and cheap outfit. A large cardboard box and one tap shoe. The concept? (former) Senator Larry Craig in an airport mens room stall.

My son (in college) called home to tell us his roommate is dressing up as a giant penis for Halloween.

Now I really feel old, because it's been an awfully long time since I was arrogant, bold and stupid enough to be willing to do something like that.

Well, we already dress up for all out shows, so we have to try to look like our dressed up selves, dressed up.

This year we're each picking an 80's "icon". Bass player is dressing as Paul Stanley, Guitar Player as Slash, I'm gonna be the guy from Flock of Seagulls with the weird hair. Not sure what the other two are doing - I'm sure our Singer will be Madonna or something.

In the 80s, he was sans makeup, right?

Dan, I'm surprised nobody in the band decided to dress up like Boy George.

Yeah - I brought up that exact point. Problem is, without the makeup, nobody would know he's dressed Paul Stanley. I think he just wants to be Paul Stanley and That's That.

And ProfD, we have enough audience members dressed like Boy George - we don't need to. Last night there was a gal dressed like Madonna. Our bass player turns around and asks "Is that a dude?". Once he asked, I started wondering myself. Turns out the Bartender thought the same thing. But apparently it was a gal.

I'm not very creative in costume-space. I basically always go as a pirate. Hey, it's easy, and it works.

My Santana Tribute Band had a Halloween gig on the books, and I turned down a couple of pickup gigs that could have been at least mildly fun. Then, the club discovered they had double-booked us, and re-scheduled us.

Well, on the bright side, at least they figured it out before two bands were trying to load-in together.

I'm told that the townhouse complex where our new home is doesn't get kids trick or treating on Halloween, so we're going out. We're actually going to Home Depot, we figure the place will be slow enough that we can actually look around for stuff, for once.

--Dave

There are friends in our neighborhood that do Halloween every year, and get over 1000 kids. They count them. There are cars lining the streets. That's the part that gets me. People driving their kids to go trick or treating. I don't know if that's because of all they attract or it's common now.

I play in Tom Kubis's Goldenwest big band. Tom is one of the heavy arranging greats out here. Every year on Halloween, he has his band come over to his house for a party/potluck/gig of sorts, and we all play for the neighborhood for a couple hours. Or so I'm told. This will be my first one, and I leave in about an hour. Even though it's actually a free gig, it should be a blast and I'm excited.

I'll probably wear my Scottish outfit, I just can't figure out how cold it's going to be. Last night was really cold but today it's been like mid 80s. Freaking Cali weather.

I played a jazz trio gig last night and went as Thelonious Monk, so naturally I had to do my best Monk licks and dance counterclockwise around the piano. The drummer in my trio went as Peter Criss (from Kiss) and the bassist was Big Bird (on upright).

Needless to say, it was an interesting visual and I had a hard time not breaking out into laughter each time I looked over and saw Big Bird sounding just like Ron Carter and hearing Elvin Jones style drums coming from a fully madeup Peter Criss.

A wider stance than a piano sound in stereo

Went to my cover band gig as a vampire – simple, low-maintenance, nothing covering my face or hands. Unfortunately our band leader didn't choose so wisely. He had a zombie costume that obscured his entire face, so a lot of the visual cues he gives were a little ragged tonight.

The highlight of the gig was, believe it or not, the intro to "Jump." I played it on a layer of synth brass and pipe organ, segueing into it from the "old school" Phantom of the Opera theme, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (though I played it in C minor). Didn't warn anyone about it in advance, of course, but the band and the audience loved it.

^lol awesome!

I did my standard mad scientist costume-- it wasn't much this year: white clothes, a white lab coat with the band's logo on a name tag, and some strange glasses.

The guitarist came dressed as a Ramone, and brought nice big sharpie charts for "I Wanna be Sedated", which he sang. The audience freaked out.

I played with John Lee Sanders on Hell-o-ween. The wife painted me up as the "Day of the dead"






Ron

As opposed to your regular stage hair?

I don't know, it was pretty weird...