Screaming Females Headlining Dark City Entertainment's Halloween Show at Convention Hall

Screaming Females at Starland in July.

Convention Hell

I'd heard rumors about this, and I'll admit that I was a little skeptical. How could Dark City Entertainment's totally local (and totally fun and totally sold out) Halloween covers show get so much bigger after just one year? Well, you've got to hand it to Christine Feola. She announced something really big for this year's show.

New Brunswick's Screaming Females will headline this year's event, which takes place at Asbury Park's Convention Hall on Halloween Night, Saturday, October 31st. Dubbed "Convention Hell," the show will feature Screaming Females performing both their own originals and covers of songs by X, a Hall and Oates set from members of The Bouncing Souls and The Parlor Mob, Lost In Society doing The Clash, members of Ether Sunday and Yawn Mower performing as Nirvana, Dentist covering Green Day, and Des and The Swagmatics giving their take on Stevie Wonder.

The Battery Electric performing as The Misfits at last year's Dark City Halloween show.

That adds up to lots of our friends and favorites coming together for what sounds like a super fun Saturday night Halloween party.

Tickets for the 21 and over event go on sale this Friday, 9/11, at noon via Ticketmaster; but you'll also be able to grab tickets at Wonder Bar during Happy Mondays while they last.

And, and, and...  ...You can catch Screaming Females for FREE in New Brunswick's Boyd Park when they headline the Don Giovanni Showcase with Downtown Boys, Electric Trip, Izzy True, Wild Rice, Glazer, and Delucy this Saturday at noon.

We're Ghosts Now, Des and The Swagmatics, Morningside Lane Played Happy Mondays, 1/19/15 (PHOTOS)

Bergen County's Morningside Lane kicked off a fine Happy Monday last night.

Healthy, Holiday, Happy Monday

I know it's not always thrilling when I write about dad problems here. Hey. That's the brand, man. "Dad" is right there in the title.

Anyway, both cooldaughters have been laid low all weekend by some bug that causes sore throats, fevers, lots of dramatic acting. CoolDaughter 2 is on the mend and at school this morning, while CoolDaughter 1 continues to suffer in front of the TV today.

I had to get out of the house last night. As luck would have it, it was a Monday night and The Wonder Bar had a particularly strong Happy Monday on tap.

Bergen County's Morningside Lane started playing their awesomely Jersey brand of rock and roll to a relatively sparsely populated floor in front of the stage. By the end of their set, though, people had crept up front. The band engaged the crowd throughout their set, even employing Jeff Crespi as a human mic stand for part of one song. They passed out freshly-burned CDs containing both of their Pete Steinkopf-produced EPs as well as an earlier collection.

Morningside Lane gave way to Asbury's Des and The Swagmatics. The band burned up The Wonder Bar with an abundance of positive energy. Their performance of "Sunny Side" was just what I needed after a dreary couple of days. They closed things out with a faithful cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" that had everyone moving.

Freehold's We're Ghosts Now ended the evening with their blend of pop punk, indie rock and Americana. Guitarist Ben Resnick broke his G and B strings early on, but he pushed through with a healthy dose of power chords. Nobody in the audience seemed to notice or care about the missing strings.

When it was all done, I was exhausted but exhilarated at the same time. Morningside Lane's energy eventually brought the crowd around. Des and The Swagmatics kept up the high and even raised it a few notches. We're Ghosts Now overcame some small difficulties and turned in a great set.

At the end of it all, Speak Into My Good Eye's Chris Rotolo gave me a holiday / birthday gift. It's a shot he took at the Titus Andronicus / Screaming Females / Diarrhea Planet show we both attended back in 2012. As I've said many times, that's the first thing I ever wrote about here; and, as it turns out, it's the first known instance of Chris and me at the same show.

It's going on three years here at CoolDad Music since that show, and I'm still in awe of the ease with which we can find great music like what went on last night to lift our spirits when we need it. The blog is where it is today thanks to all of those musicians and venues and thanks to people like Chris who helped me reach a wider audience early on. I'm looking forward to continuing with everyone -- after recovering from the inevitable, debilitating illness that should hit me by the weekend -- in a big 2015.

Here are some shots from last night. The rest, as always, can be found in the Flickr galleries.

Some Pics from the Local Legends Halloween Bash at The Wonder Bar, 10/31/14

The Wonder Bar was packed by the time Amy Malkoff and The Moonshines hit the stage as Black Sabbath.

Cover Me

It seems like trick or treating starts earlier and earlier every year. When we were kids (goldarnit!), I feel like we didn't go out until dark and then bothered people late into the night. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure we didn't ever go right after school.

This new thing, though, worked out well for me this year. CoolDaughter #1 headed out with her friends right after school; and CoolMom, CoolDog, and I escorted CoolDaughter #2 around our block. We all got back together for a quick visit with some friends whose street is one, huge block party on Halloween. Then I headed to Wonder Bar for the Local Legends Halloween bash featuring local bands performing as their favorite acts.

The Wonder Bar was sold out by the time The Moonshines took the stage, and they blew away the packed house as Black Sabbath. I had visions of bopping around Asbury among the many different things that were going on; but with the line out in front of The Wonder Bar, there was no way I'd be getting back in if I left. Things were still going strong even when I took off a little early to get some sleep before our 7am swim meet the next day. It was really great to see all these bands play to such a large crowd. They all took the chance and ran with it.

I managed to get pictures of the sets by Hot Blood as Minor Threat, Des and The Swagmatics as Prince, Amy Malkoff and The Moonshines as Black Sabbath, and The Battery Electric as Misfits. Congrats to Dark City Entertainment and all of the bands on a hugely successful night. I think we have the beginnings of a new Halloween tradition in Asbury.

Here are highlights. The rest of the photos are in the galleries.