The Rundown: Halloween Poster Madness!!!

Gotta make this quick — I’m off to get pizza for a small-ish horde of midgets in costumes — but damn, there is a ton of cool shit going on this Halloween & following weekend. Before I go on, though, I’d like to call a Momentary Gripe Interlude: what the fuck is with this bizarro Halloween / Christmas mishmash we’ve evolved to? I mean, I’m hardly a “They’re killing Christmas!” Chicken Little, but the two holidays seem to be blending lately. My wife came home with Halloween eggnog the other day, for crying out loud…

Luckily, you can avoid drowning your sorrows in holiday ‘nog and/or piles of crappy candy. While poor saps like me will be spending tonight shepherding kids around the ‘hood in silly costumes, you fortunate folk have your pick of freakin’ cool stuff to check out. And yes, it feels like I’ve seen posters for a bout half of all the good shows going on this weekend. Here’s what I’m liking off the list — not a whole lot in the way of elaboration, I’m afraid, but if it shows up below, you can assume that means I think it’ll be worth your time:

Fri., October 31:
Long Live the Dead, featuring Dannzig (Misfits/Samhain/Danzig tribute), The Monocles, News on the March, Wild Moccasins, & Young Mammals @ Walter’s on Washington
Indiehouston.org show, featuring listenlisten, Benjamin Wesley, Phillip Foshee, Robert Ellis, Bootown, & Scatter! @ Caroline Collective
Cornbreadd/Dunny Osmond/Courtesy + Yppah/Dick Almighty @ The Mink
Clandestine @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Dreaming of June/Mooney Monday/Another Run/Brown vs. Board/A Dream Asleep/Legacy Fails @ Fitzdown
Skankin Monsters & Rockin Bones Halloween Party, featuring Los Skarnales, Pi&ncirc;ata Protest, DJ Big E, & Pin-Up Pilot (CD release) @ Fitzgerald’s
Creepshow II Halloween Party, featuring Hollywood Black, The Goods, & Slivered @ Rudyard’s
Rusted Shut (12″ release)/The Homopolice @ Sound Exchange (8PM, free)
Rabbit in the Moon/Kit Likwid/Wes Walz/0045/Damon Allen/Gritsy/South3rn/SDF-One/Page/Jae Swope/John The Third/TDBZ @ The Meridian

Sat., November 1:
The Hates/The Delta Block/Anarchitex/Room 101 @ Rudyard’s
Keep your eyes peeled for a review of the new-ish Room 101 disc, going up on the site real, real soon…
Pale Young Gentleman/Chase Hamblin @ Avant Garden
AfterWeen Party, featuring Halffnelson, Wolves at the Door, Desmond Zavala, & Female Demand @ 15255 Gulf Freeway, Suite 148a ($5 w/costume; 8:30PM)
Jerry Jeff Walker/The Flatlanders @ Miller Outdoor Theatre (7:30PM)
Why isn’t this plastered all over the place? Why did I only hear about it by accident? Yeesh… I loathe most country, but Jerry Jeff Walker is pretty badass.
2nd Annual Autumn Bottom Shakefest, featuring L.L. Cooper, Tody Castillo, Dr. Rick and the Burners with Teri Greene, Lisa Novak (CD release), & Rich Hopkins @ Last Concert Cafe
Dia de los Muertos Festival, featuring Sister Sister y los Misters, Vital, Trio Guadalajara, Mariachi MECA, The Jive Sisters, Harry Sheppard, Espiral, & more @ MECA
GoGirlsMusic Fest 2008 Benefit for United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), featuring Laura Marie, Celeste Terrell, Soul Fixx, Robin Kirby, The Snake Charmers, Spare Parts, Hidden Agenda, Collective Hallucination, PJ Flowers, 71 Stars, & Osirus @ Last Concert Cafe
The Beach Boys @ Moody Gardens (Galveston)
Yeah, yeah — they’re doing a damn good thing, here, folks. I’ve gotta support ’em…
Darwin’s God/Southern Backtones @ D.B. Cooper’s Mansion (Spring)
No, I have no clue where this is, but any show in a “Mansion” sounds cool. And besides, hey, I love the Southern Backtones even more after seeing the video they shot at Foodarama.
The Metal Show II, featuring Born 2 Nothing, Swinging Teresa, Cain Was Able, Demon Driver, The Brace, Consumned, Davy Demon & The Hellrazors, Napom, & Threnodic @ Texas Star Casino (Freeport)
Again, no clue where this is, but hey — it’s at a fucking casino! How metal is that?

Sun., November 2:
The Pink Spiders/Cruiserweight/Mondo Primo/Another Day/The Reign of Kindo @ Walter’s on Washington
Not entirely sure what to make of this one — isn’t “Another Day” the band of that guy from The Buzz? — but screw it; Cruiserweight are worth the price of admission on their own.
South Austin Jug Band @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Sideshow Tramps/Leopold and His Fiction @ Rudyard’s

That’s it. Get on out there, eat some candy, then go rock out, dammit.