Double Door Sure Knows How To Do Halloween Right
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 31, 2005 10:37PM
This year’s Double Door Halloween show seemed a little bit weirder than previous incarnations. It could’ve been because Chicagoist decided to stay stone cold sober to really see what the show was really like, or it could’ve been the girl in the stall of the men’s room exhorting her date to “Stick your finger all the way to the back of your throat and just get it all out.” Irregardless we had a great time.
The highlight of the evening had to be Giant Step’s full-on inhabitation of The Kinks. The faux-Davies brothers argued and fought in a way that made Oasis’ Los Bros Gallagher look like the neophytes they are when it comes to sibling rivalry. The tunes were spot on and a welcome bevy of Go-Go dancers invaded the stage for a surreal version of “Girl You Really Got Me” that morphed into The Knack’s “My Sharona. Reportedly the band figured that the general crowd would have no idea that the song was by an entirely different band so why not throw it in?
The Last Vegas turned in a convincing Jane’s Addiction impersonation circa 1991 complete with Christmas lights strung all about the stage. Their new singer really sold the set since by doing a terrific impersonation of Perry Farrell. Musically the set was solid even if some of the more manic drum fills were missing and there was no vibrator assisted guitar soloing. A number of technical difficulties caused the guitar to drop out a few times but the band was so deeply in character they handled it without missing a beat.
NESS turned in an entertaining Smiths tribute marked by some particularly vicious guitar work by John San Juan. The Eighth Grade’s Bob Seger imitation was so perfect is was creepy but that owed much to the lead singer’s throaty tenor carrying the songs and injecting them with a bona fide sense of Detroit blue collar desperation.
Headliners Local H tackled what we thought would end up being the most challenging group to channel, Hall & Oates, with style and professionalism that surprised even us. The band was augmented by a number of musicians complete with a line of backing singers and a seriously funny G.E. Smith handling lead guitar. With Double Door owner Sean McDonough playing radio announcer Rick Dees in-between songs the set was constructed to mimic an early eighties radio program. While Scott Lucas and Daryl Hall could hardly have voices that were any more different but Lucas managed to convey the sense of the songs while still maintaining his trademark sweetly sandpaper laced vocals. While we genuinely enjoyed the set we were disturbed by how realistic Cisco Pike frontman Pat McIntyre’s commitment to his role as a female back-up singer was. If Halloween is all about one’s transformation into something unrecognizable, McIntyre succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Come to think of it we think that holds true for the evening as a whole.
Chicagoist would like to extend out congratulations to Double Door for another all-around memorable Halloween show. This year we can say this with absolute certainty since we actually recall the entire evening sans blackouts!
P.S. We didn't mention that whole Iggy Pop/Darryl Hall "Lust For Life" duet at the end for a reason. We're just trying to pretend it never happened.