It’s almost Halloween and that means one thing: One of the biggest nights for live music.
That doesn’t mean a lot of Halloween songs, though.
This weekend, you could dance to “Ice, Ice, Baby,” maybe while wearing a costume from “Frozen,” as the rapper Vanilla Ice plays a Halloween bash at The Whiskey Baron in Colorado Springs.
Or, you could dress up like a cowboy for a country concert at the Grizzly Rose in Denver.
The Long Run, the local Eagles tribute band, is inviting people to “come as your alter ego” for their annual Alter Eagles show at Boot Barn Hall in the Springs. For the band’s Halloween trick, they’ll play no music by the Eagles.
The only thing these shows will be missing? Halloween music.
As Tyler Stephens, a country singer based in Nashville, thought of ways to shake up his set list for a Halloween ball at the Grizzly Rose, he didn’t come up with much.
“It’s different from Christmas when you can have rock and country versions of songs,” he said. “Halloween is out there on its own. It’s kind of awkward.”
He and his band plan to get into the spirit by dressing up as the members of Kiss. In past Halloweens, he’s noticed it helps if the band plays along.
“Seeing the band on stage in costume lightens the load,” he said. “People are less nervous about their costume because we’re all in this together.”
As for their show, one of four nights at the Grizzly Rose, he said, “we’ll probably stay true to country music.”
Lee Gladney, the lead singer of the Triple Nickel Band, can relate to the trickiness of Halloween shows.
“It’s one of the most fun nights to play,” he said. “It brings out more people than usual who want to see live music. But they’re not really looking for Halloween music all night long. That would be kind of weird.”
People are looking for a party, which is why Gladney tends to go all out with his costumes. He once bought a replica of the skeleton costume from the movie “Hocus Pocus” to wear on stage for a concert in Fort Collins.
The country cover band, with members from all over the Front Range, is taking a break this year from a Halloween show. Gladney says the band learned “Monster Mash” to play next time.
“I just think about old school stuff like that,” he said. “Other than that, what songs out there are about Halloween?”
If you really want to find Halloween music, it seems you have to go outside the box.
Just ask Romeo Uncaged, who had to find more than 20 songs to go along with performances for a spooky season-themed burlesque show from Peaks and Pasties.
“There’s just not a lot of it out there, besides the obvious ones,” he said. “It’s a difficult task.”
Obvious ones include “Thriller” by Michael Jackson or “I Put a Spell on You” by Bette Midler.
He scoured YouTube, searching keywords like “scary” and “nightmare” to come up with a playlist full of songs that have spooky vibes but maybe were not intended for Halloween sing-a-longs. It includes songs like “Toxic” by Britney Spears and “Disturbia” by Rhianna.
“That’s kind of what you have to do, because Halloween music is pretty bad music,” he said. “It’s not great.”
This content was originally published here.