Halloween Guide Dead souls rise up: A roll-call of local Halloween tribute bands

In the music world, Halloween is a magical occasion during which musicians rise up to not only dress up like the bands they most admire, but also perform earnest tribute sets to them. This year, the one-off tribute-band phenomenon finally catches up with the excessive spirit of Halloween in Madison: Local blog Dane101 has expanded its annual tribute-band night at the High Noon Saloon to two nights, and The Frequency, Barrymore Theatre, and Mickey's Tavern (among others) also have local bands preparing to do cover sets. With the options ranging from Joy Division to The Allman Brothers Band to Alice Cooper, The A.V. Club compiled this survey of who's stepping up to cover what.

Mickey's, Oct. 23
The Midwest Beat as Creedence Clearwater Revival
Real band: Madison band The Midwest Beat's own songs rely on harmony-blasted garage pop and soul, but there's enough rough-and-tumble twang in the mix that the group should be able to grasp Creedence's distinct country-pop sound.
Essential selections: "While there's the hits, of course, the albums have a shit-ton of good stuff, too," says Beat bassist Logan Kayne. "'Wrote A Song For Everyone' [from 1969's Green River] and 'Effigy' [from 1969's Willy And The Poor Boys] are both crucial."
Learning curve: "While the songs seem pretty easy, all being blues/country three-chord standards for the most part, the hardest part has to be trying to emulate John Fogerty," Kayne says. "What most people don't know is that besides writing and singing the majority of their material, he also played lead guitar. Add that to the fact that he is, in our opinion, a monstrously great and effective lead player, and it makes for a tall order for [Beat guitarist-vocalist Matt Joyce] to fill, but he can do it."

Sticks N Stones as Alice Cooper
Real band: Milwaukee's Sticks N Stones already have the grimy garage-rock energy that an Alice Cooper tribute requires; now they just need to amp up the theatricality. To that end, "There will be chickens, bloody heads, bell bottoms, Jack Daniel's, and a whole lot of makeup," drummer Jon Heibler promises The A.V. Club.
Essential selections: "We kinda skipped over the first two albums, focusing on Love It To Death, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies, and School's Out," Heibler says. "So you'll get all the rockers like 'Long Way To Go,' 'Be My Lover,' 'Elected,' and 'School's Out,' of course. No '80s stuff here."
Learning curve: "We know we arent good enough of musicians to sound exactly like the Alice Cooper Band, so we are just doing our best and having fun," Heibler adds. "We think the hardest part will be dressing up to look like them."

High Noon Saloon, Oct. 30
Lip Service as Elvis Costello And The Attractions
Real band: Singer-songwriter and Kissers member Sean Michael Dargan leads Lip Service, backed with local jazz drummer Michael Brenneis, pianist Andrew Rohn of VO5 (who also co-wrote and composed the musical comedy Walmartopia), and bassist Chris Boeger of The Cash Box Kings and The Old Tin Can String Band. While Dargan’s smoothed-out vocal delivery proves quite effective on his own material, The A.V. Club hopes that he’ll reach those hiccups of anxiety that Costello is loved for during this tribute set.
Essential selections: “I haven't really found an era of EC's work that I don't enjoy, but I definitely gravitate toward the first seven albums," Dargan says. "The Attractions seemed to bring out the very essence of his writing. Some of my personal faves are 'No Action,' 'Accidents Will Happen,' 'New Lace Sleeves,' and 'Beyond Belief.' I tried to include a balance of actual hits, deeper cuts, and personal favorites.”
Learning curve: “The thing about Elvis' songs is that they are not typically obvious in their pop construction, but still seem to sound immediately familiar on first listening.”

Gold Rush as Neil Young
Real band: Madisonian singer-songwriter John Statz is planning to do a solo set of Neil Young songs and avoid the Crazy Horse era all together. However, Statz did mention the possibility of finding a second guitar player. Statz wears his influences on his sleeve, from twangy hints of Townes Van Zandt to more delicate, Sufjan Stevens-recalling numbers, so he might be able to find his inner Young somewhere in there.
Essential selections: "You have to do one or two for everyone, so I'll be playing ‘Heart Of Gold,’" Statz says, "but I also will do some of my favorite less-popular songs, like ‘Don't Let It Bring You Down.’"
Learning curve: “Neil has a very distinctive voice and a very high range, so it’s tricky to hit those high notes. If I were doing the full-band Crazy Horse thing, there would be a whole set of new challenges, especially with those longer tunes like ‘Cortez The Killer’ or ‘Down By The River.'"

Also paying tribute: VO5 (local disco cover band), Dead Zeppelin (members of Helliphant and more as Led Zeppelin), Bingo Hand Job (members of Tangy and Digibot as R.E.M.).

Barrymore, Oct. 30
Clovis Mann as The Allman Brothers Band
Real band: Clovis Mann already jams through a lot of steadily chugging blues-rock, so its set at the Barrymore's annual "Night Of The Dead" simply draws on what's already its biggest and most obvious influence.
Essential selections: "'Statesboro Blues' and 'Whipping Post' are always the first and last songs we do, respectively," guitarist Dan Walkner tells us. "Historically, the original lineup always did it that way, so it's a tip of the hat to the first, and arguably best, lineup. We love doing 'Hot Lanta' and '[In Memory Of] Elizabeth Reed,' mainly because they give each guy a chance to shine. Both of those songs have drum solos, and the crowds really respond to the double-drum-set bombast. Plus, it wouldn't be an ABB show without an instrumental or two."
Learning curve: "The biggest challenges are keeping true to the original versions of the songs while putting our own slant on the solos," Walkner says. " People come to expect certain songs to be played certain ways. We do our best to keep it close, but over the years some of the Allman arrangements have changed, so we pick which version we like the best. Also, the live versions stretch further than the album cuts, so we base our versions off of the live ones, particularly the At Fillmore East live album versions."

Also paying tribute: The Grasshoppers as Pink Floyd, and Baghdad Scuba Review playing a variety of funk covers.

Frequency, Oct. 31
Leaders Of Men as Joy Division
The locals: Madison trio The United Sons Of Toil's sound is on the harsher edge of the post-punk spectrum, but guitarist-vocalist Russell Hall considers himself a Joy Division "fan boy," and certainly has an ear for the bleak shockwaves that Joy Division's music continues to radiate. Still, since Hall's vocals are more of a Steve Albini scream than an Ian Curtis moan, the band has recruited friend Chris Vance to sing.
Essential selections: "No we are NOT doing 'Love Will Tear Us Apart.' Suck it," Hall tells The A.V. Club in an e-mail. Instead, the set will favor Joy Division's more abrasive numbers, including the furiously creepy "Colony" and "Shadow Play."
Learning curve: "[Bassist Bill Borowski] has to learn how to play his bass with a pick instead of his fingers" to nail the melodic sting of Peter Hook's bass lines, Hall says.

B'dum B'dum as The Buzzcocks
Real band: Bucky Pope of Madison hardcore landmark Tar Babies fronts B'dum B'dum, playing rhythm guitar and straining to reach Buzzocks frontman Pete Shelley's weirdly tricky combination of nasal melodies, falsettos, and (on "Get On Our Own," at least) yodels. Drummer Zac Schroeder (of local grunge-monster The Arge) and bassist-vocalist Steve Lewis (who also played in Tar Babies) "are the two that really enable us to be convincing Buzzcocks impersonators," Pope says.
Essential selections: "One song I've avoided is 'Orgasm Addict,'" Pope says. "It would be a great crowd pleaser, but the lyrics creep me out ('Johnny want fucky always and all ways'). It's certainly not a morality hang up, it just conjures up disturbing images. However, for Halloween, we'll probably open with it."
Learning curve: "The bassist and the drummer have the toughest assignments in a Buzzcocks cover band," Pope adds, but lead guitarist Jim Merett (of The Apologists) showed a strong feel for the cool little hooks of songs like "Ever Fallen In Love" and "Autonomy" at a recent show, which also counts for a lot.

Warm Wet Rag as Ween
Real band: Warm Wet Rag draws three of its six members from local fusion, funk, and/or jam bands: One from Elf Lettuce (guitarist Alex White),one from Phish tribute act Phun (bassist Alex Hartzheim), and one from Nuggernaut (drummer Kelby Kryshak).
Essential selections: "It honestly depends on the mood and sound," says vocalist Robin Lee. "'Piss Up A Rope' is always a pleaser, though."
Learning curve: "A lot of their tunes are more technical than people give credit," Lee says. "They make many subtle changes that only the most dedicated Ween fan would notice."

Also paying tribute: The Misfigs (Members of Way Off The Horse as The Misfits).

High Noon Saloon, Oct. 31
Trick Or Treat as Cheap Trick
Real band: The members of Madison cover band The Low Czars will probably not be pulling out five-necked guitars and painting checkers all over their gear for this nod to Cheap Trick. According to guitarist-vocalist Aaron Scholz, the group—which recaptured the Kinks with ease at last year's Dane101 Halloween party—will be steering clear of all of the Rockford legends’ cheeseball '80s material. No word yet on whether or not Scholz has bleached his hair or invested in a new cowboy hat.
Essential selections: “The biggest ones would obviously be 'I Want You To Want Me' and 'Surrender,' since they were huge hits," Scholz says. "There are plenty of songs on their first few albums that are as good as, if not better than, their most famous songs. 'Dream Police' wound up being the biggest earworm, as I get that one stuck in my head for days and days after we practice.”
Learning curve: “The songs themselves are not that challenging to play, but they’re hard to pull off with half the gusto of the band," Scholz admits. "There's tons of live footage around of these guys in their heyday and you can see how amazing they were in concert. Singing as well as Robin Zander has been a major challenge, as well.”

Bon Squad as AC/DC
Real band: Bon Squad—which boasts members of Brass Tacks, Skintones, Brainerd, Helliphant, and Whore Du Jour, as well as High Noon owner Cathy Detmers on bass—has more than five years under its belt buckle of imitating the sexed-up screeches, leg-skipping guitar solos, and rudimentary rhythms of early AC/DC. Honestly, The A.V. Club couldn’t think of a more qualified cast of elder scenesters for the job.
Essential selections: Anything recorded before original vocalist Bon Scott's 1980 death. Dethmers tells us in an e-mail: "Bon Squad only covers Bon Scott-era songs, because we all love them the most—sorry, Brian [Johnson]!"
Learning curve: “Guitar solos are probably the hardest part," Dethmers says. "Luckily, our Angus Young lives, eats, and breathes AC/DC. So he's got that covered.”

Also paying tribute: The Boo Fighters (The Usual Things as Foo Fighters), Cupcake (members of Marcus King And Thee Royalty and The Shabelles as Cake), and The Jett Blacks (The August Teens and Erika Zar as Joan Jett And The Blackhearts).