Cover bands The Marilyns, Help Desk and Countdown to Erection brought hits from rock classics Megadeth, Foo Fighters and Misfits to the High Noon Saloon on Nov. 2 as part of a ‘Halloween Hangover.’
The venue was alive from the beginning. Many members of the crowd rolled in wearing casual concert wear, but there were a couple pirates, skeletons and witches sprinkled in the mix.
The first band up was Countdown to Erection, who injected energy into the crowd straight away with Megadeth covers. In classic metal fashion, the lead singer headbanged with a wig resembling Megadeth lead singer Dave Mustaine. The bassist and drummer stood out in songs like “Tornado of Souls” and “Rust in Peace…Polaris.”
Help Desk covered Foo Fighters, and their performance started off with one minor complication. The lead singer of the band fried their voice the night before and wasn’t able to perform. Help Desk came up with a creative fix to this problem, however. They had audience members sign up at the bar to sing Foo Fighters karaoke. This immediately became the highlight of the show. People brought their friends onstage with and belted the lyrics to songs like “The Pretender,” “Learn to Fly” and “Everlong.” The audience hyped them up the entire time.
If you know anything about Misfits, you know that the rock horror band has an iconic punk style while also being comically jacked. So it was a funny surprise when The Marilyns walked onstage wearing muscle shirts and wigs. They performed a lot of their biggest hits, like “Helena,” “Saturday Night” and fittingly, “Halloween.” The lead singer of The Marilyns was Kelly Doolan, and it was cool to listen to her covers considering the lead singer of the Misfits, Glenn Danzig, has a deep voice. Her vocals especially stood out during “Skulls.”
It’s hard for a show with impromptu karaoke to be a bust. The Halloween Hangover concert was a fun, goofy show, which was exactly what it needed to be. There were some great cover bands and a lively crowd to boot. They did Halloween, and they did it justice.
