Dress Up And Get Down At Our 7 Favorite Halloween Concerts

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 29, 2015 2:44PM

Halloween is our favorite holiday of the year, and judging by the number of events and Halloween related goings on around Chicago, we're not alone.

If you're looking to add a little live music to the mix, you can't go wrong with any of the shows below.

Double Door's Annual Halloween Bash
Both floors of Double Door get into costume while the main stage hosts the headlining acts and the downstairs Door No. 3 will transform into CBGB’s. There’s a ton of great bands playing in costume and performing covers as other bands, including Archie Powell & The Exports as Tom Petty, with Valaska as The Cure, The Noise FM as LCD Sound System, MTV Ghosts and Kangaroo as The Hives, The Locals as The Ramones, The Sweeps as Talking Heads, Absolutely Not, The Iceberg as Blondie, and Black Bear/Brown Bear as The Stooges.

Double Door is the granddaddy of Halloween shows, the template from which almost every other club in Chicago has followed when it comes to putting bands onstage for a night of costumes and covers madness. Tickets are $15 to $25 and going fast. This show always sells out so if you want to go, grab tickets now.

Clam Sabbath VII at Cole's Bar
This Logan Square event at Cole's Bar (2338 N. Milwaukee Ave.) is probably the most likely to be filled with ironic costumes built around copious amounts of facial hair, but if that's your thing (and sometimes it is ours) this should be a blast. It's also 100 percent free, which means you'll have plenty of cash to spend on cheap drinks. The line-up is pretty exciting too, with The Clams as Black Sabbath and Jamie Rojo as They Might Be Giants. But the act we're most excited about is Brother George as Hall & Oates because it's Hall & Oates! The shindig starts at 9:30 p.m.

Rocktapussy will play the Undead Disco

Undead Disco at Virgin Hotels Cerise Rooftop
Local DJ duo Rocktapussy joins other DJ acts including DJ sets by Holy Ghost, Cosmic Cherry Disco, Nick Castle, Will Galvan, and Mamabear for what is sure to be one of the sexier spooky events happening in the Loop. Not enough for you? Pop on down to the intimate space on the 25th floor for a live set from New York City disco-rockers Escort. Get a taste of the sounds you can expect buy downloading Rockatpussy’s It's the Great Pumpkin, Rocktapussy mixtape here. Tickets are $40.

Promontory Halloween Block Party
While we feel Halloween truly is Christmas for grown-ups, let's not forget about cool grown-ups with kids, right? Those folks will love this daytime block party at Promontory (5511 S. Lake Park Avenue West) on Halloween from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Chic-A-Go-Go is hosting a dance party and taping an episode featuring T. Valentine, The Cavedwellers and Fast Decay. While we're sure the kids will like the music, there's lots of other stuff for them to do including decorating pumpkins and spooky yoga. Sign us up for that yoga.

From the flier for Halloweekend at The High Hat Club

Halloweekend at The High-Hat Club
This two night affair at The High-Hat Club (1920 W. Irving Park Rd.) features full line-ups on both Friday and Saturday. This is a bill laden with longtime scene veterans, so you can expect the sets to be tight and the renditions to be pretty spot on. Highlights from each evening include The Webstirs as Devo and Ellis Clark at The Velvet Underground on Friday, and Decoy Prayer Meeting as Echo and the Bunnymen and Androgynous Mustache as Joan Jett on Saturday. Admission is $10 each night.

Freaky Deaky
This EDM event moves to a much larger venue at Toyota park this year and spans the whole weekend with acts including Bassnectar, Armin Van Buuren, and Pretty Lights in the headline slots. And let's not kid ourselves; if you're looking for a bunch of people losing their minds dressed as a legion of "sexy [insert noun here]s" then this is your ticket to a good time. With three stages of entertainment to choose from, you're probably not going to get bored at this thing. Tickets are available as three-day passes and single day admission.

Members of Girl Group Chicago will play the Exquisite Corpse Ball

The Exquisite Corpse Ball at Beat Kitchen
O.K., this is the night before Halloween, Oct. 30, but the line-up at Beat Kitchen (2100 W. Belmont Ave.) is terrific, and all proceeds from the event go to support Intonation Music. Intonation provides classes to make music accessible to children in low-income neighborhoods, providing them with instruments, instruction, and chances to perform on various stages throughout Chicago. So you can dress up as a sexy pizza rat AND feel good about it! The bands include Hayward performing The Last Waltz), Vaya as Talking Heads, Kid Million comes out of semi-retirement to perform as The Doors, The Daytonics will be the Bee Gees, and members of Girl Group Chicago will transform into The Bangers to play a "Motown Revue with a twist." Tickets are $10 to $12.