Dylan Metrano & Paper Birds + Castanets

Seven Sirens

Live Reviews

Halloween Dance Party

Portland brought out its dead for SPACE Gallery’s annual Halloween smash on Friday. Our town’s finest channeled their terrific displays of costume-creativity and ironic dance moves while on stage, notable local bands covered indelible national acts.

North Haven’s Toughcats, who took home the title of “Best Roots Act” at the Portland Music Awards this year, transformed themselves with not just their garb, but with a genre leap. Moving from northern Maine roots-music to 1980s bubble-gum pop — quite the changelings — the band covered Cyndi Lauper with an unforgettable Emilia Dahlin as the blonde, boisterous Cyndi.

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But everyone was on stage, at least metaphorically. I saw Mr. Peanut pounding beers, Arrested Development’s Tobias painted blue, and a cardboard robot doing the Robot with the Utz potato-chip girl.

“Its nice to see you all in the flesh,” said the suave vampire frontman of the Misfits cover band, which consisted of variegated Portland-rockers. After opening with “Monster Mash,” they sought to raise some more hell by deviating into good old party-style punk rock. Then Popeye raised his beer, turned to me, winked, declared “Ah Ga Ga Ga Ga,” and leapt into the circle pit that was beginning to break out. Happily for all of us, the only blood shed at this dance party was fake.

View the evidence at SPACE’s blog, havefaithinworthlessknowledge.com.

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