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It's almost Halloween, and in New York that means costume parades, spooky parties, horror film screenings and a full bill of concerts. From haunted mansions at our favorite DIY venues to Willy Wonk tributes, musicians around town are getting into the spirit of the season. One time-honored Halloween tradition that we love is the covers gig, where for one night local bands perform as other (usually well-loved, classic) bands. In celebration of that All Hallow's Eve musical institution, we bring you five of this weekend's best covers shows.
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1. Halloween at the Cake Shop; Oct 31
Everybody's favorite bake shop–basement venue hosts a killer lineup playing an eclectic mix of classic punk, indie and alt-rock favorites. Clean Girls plays blink-182; Vomitface plays Nirvana; 999999999 plays Television; Alien Trilogy plays Devo; Tape Deck Mountain plays Daniel Johnston; Death to Slater plays the Beach Boys, and Schmear plays the Meat Puppets.
2. Halloween Forever at the Silent Barn; Oct 31
The DIY mainstay gets in on the covers-show action with a ‘90s-heavy set: Dear Leader plays the Neptunes; Delicate Steve plays the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Heeney plays Weezer; Banned Books plays the Pixies; Max Almario (Celestial Shore) + Jordyn Blakely + Kegan Zema (Journalism) play blink-182; Advaeta and Dara Hirsch (Journalism) play Hole, and Sam Miller plays music from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
3. Halloween Party at Glasslands; Oct 31
This is the last Halloween show ever for the beloved Williamsburg venue, and luckily they're doing it right. Mutual Benefit plays Beck's One Foot in the Grave in its entirety; Emily Reo plays Lana Del Rey and Conveyor plays Buddy Holly.
4. Ramses Halloween Show at 338 Moffat Studio E; Oct 31
This Bushwick show features some really top-flight local bands getting into the Halloween spirit: Beach Fossils, with members of Wild Nothing, play Devo; Celestial Shore, with members of Deerhoof, plays T. Rex; Beverly plays the Pixies, and Roya plays the Television Personalities.
5. Misfits and Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribute at Arlene's Grocery; Nov 1
This show actually takes place the day after Halloween, but undoubtedly embodies the macabre mettle of the season. Working a little differently than the other shows we've listed, this lineup features Big Ultra, Trip on Gravy, Atom Strage and Bombadiers paying tribute to both the original New Jersey horror punks and everybody's favorite shlocky B-movie horror musical.