Halloweekender

Thursday 29

* Lupe Fiasco Congress Theater. 7pm, $30–$35. All ages. Lupe Fiasco’s 2007 record The Cool may have been a little spotty, but have you heard “Superstar”? Yeah, it’s fantastic. Fiasco continues to showcase his brilliant rhyming techniques, quick delivery and genre-bending, from guest spots on Bun B records to a new single “Shining Down.” It will most likely appear on the upcoming Lasers, which we are all anxiously awaiting.

A Perfect Circus Debonair Social Club. 10pm; $10, free before 11pm with R.S.V.P. to info@debonairsocialclub.com. Debonair’s third anniversary bash brings this all-star cover band, boasting members of Local H, Kill Hannah and Alkaline Trio.

Voltaire + The Hellblinki Sextet darkroom. 9pm, $15. Folk and rockabilly fans like to get goth too, as NYC’s Voltaire and Asheville, North Carolina’s Hellblinki Sextet are here to remind us.

Clubs
Haunted Mansion Funky Buddha Lounge. 10pm; $10, free all weekend with R.S.V.P. to rsvp@funkybuddha.com. Decked out to its ghoulish best, Buddha celebrates Halloween all weekend long with resident DJs 33 1/3, Mark Fullaflava and company keeping the club beats rolling.

FREE Only Children of the Corn innjoy. 9pm. The cheeky Only Children DJ crew— consisting of Bald E, Dinoscopy and Mister Wolf—spin funk, soul, disco and more for those of you who want to get the jump on Halloween. Costumes are encouraged.

Friday 30

Black Angus + The Midnight Shows + Catfish Haven + Viceroy + Blackbox + Hobo & Boxcar Double Door. 9pm, $12. Many local acts embrace Halloween as reason enough to whip up a batch of covers and play dress-up for a day. This year brings Black Angus as Black Sabbath, the Midnight Shows as Huey Lewis and the News, Catfish Haven as Nirvana, Viceroy as Cheap Trick, Blackbox as Snoop Dogg and Hobo & Boxcar as the White Stripes.

* Chromeo + Crystal Castles + Boys Noize Congress Theater. 7pm, $35–$60. 17 and older. This haunted electroclash blowout promises plenty of blog-baiting monster mash-ups.

* Dan Deacon + Nuclear Power Pants Logan Square Auditorium. 8pm, $10. All ages. It turns out Dan Deacon’s breakthrough, Spiderman of the Rings, was just the tip of the iceberg, as the Baltimore nut’s ambitious full-band project Bromst at least matches if not tops that disc on every front. Equal parts anarchic early Eno and more considered Philip Glass minimalism, the music’s as manic as ever but surprisingly beautiful, given all that’s going on. And boy, is there a lot going on—especially live, when living cartoon Deacon takes the stage and demands audience participation.

Hanzel und Gretyl + Green Jellÿ + Sheriff Scabs Reggie’s Rock Club. 10pm, $15. 17 and older. NYC goths Hanzel und Gretyl try their darndest not to crack a smile during a supporting set from regrouped comedy rock forerunner Green Jellÿ (née Green Jellö).

Johnny and the Limelites Hideout. 10pm, $8. Shameless pizza-philes Johnny and the Limelites are the main attraction at tonight’s Enchantment Under the Ground Prom. Also on is neurotic vampire comedian “Gory” Morey Lestat, plus more music from Rutherford B. Bloodbath and His Halloween Band and Laurie’s Planet of Sound DJs. A moratorium on Misfits covers is guaranteed.

Lazerhawks + Virtual Vertigo + 1773 Morseland. 10pm, $5. DJs Trew and Moral One anchor Ground Lift Media’s spooky showcase, Bump in the Night.

Penthouse Sweets + Pleezer + Broken China + Phil Angotti + Chris Dorf & Friends + Benge & Short Abbey Pub. 8:45pm; advance $10, day of show $12. The Halloween tribute bandwagon rolls on, this time bringing back the Sex Pistols care of the Penthouse Sweets and Weezer from Pleezer. Also on board are Broken China as the Bangles, Phil Angotti as Squeeze, Chris Dorf & Friends as R.E.M. and Benge & Short playing Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe.

* Type O Negative + Destrophy + Seventh Void Metro. 6:30pm, $25. All ages. Type O Negative has managed to outlast many of its spooky-metal peers of the early ’90s, partly due to the steady stream of hilariously caustic and often self-deprecating witticisms issued by pro-wrestler-size frontman Peter Steele. The music hasn’t slacked either, though: Type O’s latest full-length, 2007’s Dead Again, is a deeply satisfying, proudly over-the-top helping of the band’s patented gothic doom-thrash. Among the openers is Seventh Void, which includes Type O guitarist Kenny Hickey and drummer Johnny Kelly.

Clubs
Sasha & Hernan Cattaneo House of Blues. 10pm, $39. 18 and older. Alongside John Digweed, Sasha played a key roll in ushering in rave culture here in the States. Best known for his Global Underground and Ministry of Sound mixes, he's now a label owner and has started incorporating deeper elements of techno and house into his sound. Another veteran DJ, Argentine Hernan Cattaneo joins for this Vision-sponsored Halloween dance party.

Chromeo + Crystal Castles + Boys Noize Congress Theater. 7pm, $35-$60. Fresh off a delicious mix for the esteemed mix series, DJ Kicks, tongue-in-cheek '80s channeling dance duo Chromeo tops the bill of this hipster halloween event to top all others. And what better accompaniment to this monster mash than the deeply melancholy electro noise of Crystal Castles. German electro-tech sensation Boys Noize is also on board, alongside DJ sets from local freaks Matt ROAN & E6, Hiroki, Loyal Divide, Kid Color and Rob Threezy.

Halloween House of Horrors enclave. 10:30pm, $20-$35. Morphing this super lounge into an 8000 sq ft haunted house for the weekend, soap star and winner of the twelfth season of The Bachelor hosts a costume contest on Friday night, but Saturday is all about the devilish delights with a premium open bar for early ticket buyers.

Naked: Leather and Lace Halloween Party Sound-Bar. 10pm; $20, R.S.V.P. through sound-bar.com for discount admission before midnight. Costumes are encouraged, especially skimpy leather and lace numbers, we've heard—with some portion of $5,000 being divvied up among the best. This being River North, skin will be in. NOR DJs, Dannyboy, Inphinity, Mark Centennial, Polbeeta and Billy the Kid keep the house, techno, Eurobeats and hip-hop blazing on both levels.

Soul Train Halloween The Shrine. 10pm, $10. Bigging up the Blacksploitation theme, The Shrine does Halloween '70s style. Bust out your polyester leisure suits and your afro pick and head to the South Side for this costume party with celebrity DJ Mick Boogie, who's helped produce mix tapes for everyone from Jay-Z to Talib Kweli.

FREE Studio 1444 Sonotheque. 9pm. As a Halloween homage to the late great discotheque, Studio 54, Sonotheque refashions itself with all the glitz and glamor of the original, but—thankfully—with out the exorbitant cover charges and obnoxious door policies. So dress in your best '70s drug-addled party starter outfit and let DJ Joe Jellybean impress with his slick collection of disco jams.

Thriller Halloween Party Le Passage. 9pm, $20. This posh basement venue in the Gold Coast pays one final tribute to the mighty MJ. Featuring a midnight parade of models donning the King of Pops many eccentric outfits while the resident DJs spin club-worthy beats.

Saturday 31

Arriver + Rabid Rabbit + Den of Vipers Hideout. 9pm, $8. The beloved honky tonk hosts the second installment of this haunted headbanging hoedown.

* Detholz! + Bobby Conn + Loto Ball Show Lincoln Hall. 9pm, $10. 18 and older. Hometown oddballs Detholz! celebrate the tenth year of its Jukebox of the Dead program, wherein the band—already known for its sharp arrangements—dissects a new trove of covers each year. Demented cock rock support comes from dynamic local rock dude Bobby Conn.

Día de los Muertos Halloween Ball SPACE. 8pm, $20. Evanston gets ghoulie, Mexi-style, with a Day of the Dead fete.

* Electric Frankenstein + The Wanderers + The Geezers Beat Kitchen. 9:30pm, $10. Punk with a hard rock bent—or hard rock with punk leanings—Electric Frankenstein plays like a cross between, say, the Misfits and AC/DC, to name just a couple of the myriad influences swimming around in the band’s stream. In other words, it’s cartoon riffage at its best, with an extra pair of balls.

Harlan Flo + Dolly Moses Heartland Café. 9pm, $5. Harlan Flo digs into ,,e soundtrack at a dude-abiding Halloween revue in which the local group dresses the part, too.

Hirudin + Bully in the Hallway Ronny’s. 9pm, donation. Hirudin regroups for a tribute to ’90s punk stalwart J Church.

Love Me Electric + Color Radio + Plunket Metro. 6pm, $11. All ages. Metro gets into the Halloween spirit with its first annual tribute show. LME takes on Blink 182, Color Radio gives its best Radiohead and Plunket brings back, sigh, Limp Bizkit.

* FREE Peggy Sue The Whistler. 7pm. Rosa Rex and Katy Klaw’s winsome harmonies steer lovely U.K. combo Peggy Sue, livening up melancholy neofolk with thumping rhythms. The Brit bunch plays live at a Halloween dance party guided by Smashing Time DJs Mary Nisi and Carrie Weston.

Scientific Map Morseland. 10pm, $5. Local fusion workhorse fires off covers from Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson’s sizeable singles stable, in a program somewhat morosely dubbed a “tribute to the fallen masters of the 20th century.”

The Shaking Hand + Tomorrow the Moon + Androgynous Mustache + The Delafields + The Webstirs + Tiny Speakers Abbey Pub. 8:45pm; advance $10, day of show $12. The north side tavern’s “Halloweekend” wraps up with another lineup of masquerading locals, featuring the Shaking Hand as AC/DC, Tomorrow the Moon as the Psychedlie Furs, Androgynous Mustache as the J. Geils Band, the Delafields as the B-52’s, the Webstirs as Fleetwood Mac and Tiny Speakers as the Everly Brothers.

Sixteen Candles Cubby Bear. 10pm, $10.

Clubs
* FREE Bump in the Night Lava. 10pm. Covering all variety of dance and edm that he's championed over the years, Zebo takes over the quaint confines of Lava for this free, All Hallows Eve bash.

FREE The Canary Murder Case Red Canary. 8pm. Red Canary's '20s motif sets the stage for its fright night festivities. Gangsters, flappers and all sorts of dapper ne're-do-wells serve up specialty Halloween cocktails while DJ Merk1 of the Dirty Social provides the soundtrack.

* Coven The Underground. 10pm, $20. Jumping on the much hyped vampire bandwagon, Undergound morphs into a bloodsucking den of undead on Halloween night. With everyone from Sookie Stackhouse to Vlad himself represented, the fangs are out in full force while DJs Jordan V and Jayson Rose spin electro and club remixes.

Eyes Wide Shut Lumen. 9pm, $20. The sleek, steely confines of this Fulton Market lounge get a steamy Halloween treatment, covering the place in vintage rugs, candelabras and elaborate floral bouquets. Chicago's leading burlesque performer Lady Jack hosts the night, joined by a harem of masked—and scantily-clad—modes roaming the space while Kubrik's cult flick is screened.

Frenemy Halloween JBar. 10pm, $TBA. Svedka cocktails (like the John & Kate) and photobooth give you a chance to make up with your frenemy or maybe you’ll dance to the sounds of DJ Keven Taek or screen Mean Girls.

* Halloween at Sub 51 Sub 51. 10pm, Table reservations are required and can be made at sub51.com. With an over abundance of leather and lace or pimp and ho Halloween parties kicking about, Sub 51 keeps it wholeseome, inviting nightlifer’s to dress up as what they always wanted be growing up. There’ll no doubt be a few too many sexy nurses in the crowd but with model-turned-DJ Sky Nellor on as the guest DJ, the sex appeal was getting turned up already.

Halloween Boogie Ohm. 10pm; $5, free before midnight. The oversize Ohm space gets the Halloween treatment from Alfie of Doin' Doin' It Productions. The brains behind Wicker Park's longstanding midweek house parties, he brings the bouncey vibes to your haunted weekend with the juke styles of Gant Man, the classic and jacking house of Lego and the sultry body n' soul sounds of Craig Alexander.

Pimp and Ho Halloween Party crobar. 9pm; $15, $10 before 11pm. Not only should some club traditions die an agonizing death, some just should have never been born at all. That's our take on the Pimp and Ho concept, which invites terrible costumes, leopard print and feather boas, all of which have seen their day. But nine years running, it's a huge draw for amateur weekend. Still, there's a grand out there for “the biggest pimp and the finest ho.” Mark Roy, Sebastian R, Martin Stoy and Gavin Marks supply the trance-tastic soundtrack.

Red Carpet Massacre Spy Bar. 10pm, $10. Myspace-sensation-turned-playboy-centerfold, Christine Dolce a.k.a. Forbidden hosts this haunting Halloween romp with beats provided by residents Dino G, Mixin Marc, DJ Inphinity and Kalendr.

FREE Rich as Fuck Halloween The Burlington. 10pm. With the Burlington's “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” DJ crew—a.k.a. a cross section of Burlington's resident DJs—on hand to supply the rock-leaning tunage of the night, head to Logan Square dressed as your favorite rich person, respected or despised.

FREE Speakeasy Crimson Lounge. 8pm. Sax Hotel's Crimson Lounge gets a prohibition theme for Halloween 2009 featuring a live performance from Sullivan and the Tommy Guns early on and DJ Evil One supplying the club feel for the rest of the evening.

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