Dressing Up 

Time for a costume suggestion. We all know about David Bowie's various personas, the most famous of which was Ziggy Stardust. There was also Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke and Jared the Goblin King. But for a brief moment during his fascist Orwellian masterpiece from 1974, Diamond Dogs, the world got a taste of Halloween Jack. Complete with red mullet from the Ziggy-era, but with an eyepatch and, in some cases, the airbrushed lower body of a Doberman. Weird shit — Google it. The unusual album was the last from his glam era and opens with a monologue describing the apocalyptic urban decay of Hunger City, where "fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats" and the remaining humans formed dense warring tribes beneath the high rises like something straight out of a J.G. Ballard novel. If nothing else, it underscores the death of the hippie fest of the '60s, ripped to shreds by the avant-queer iridescence of the postmodern '70s, free love fueled by freebase and a sense of decadence on par with the last days of an exploding star. The title song roars out of the gate with the snarled declaration "This ain't rock 'n roll! This is ... genocide!" a sentiment that carries a deep perverse murmur in the tachycardia patterns of today's news cycle. We are given a glimpse into a world where the collapsing gray decay of fascism is overrun by a nihilistic collective mania whose practicing hysterics are fueled by rebellion and mass death. Along with his previous glam records (my favorite is Aladdin Sane) Bowie made a world full of paranoid danger seem supernaturally glamorous and then killed it all brutally with the warhead cudgel of an authoritarian death drive. All in glory, no one was saved.

So, yeah. Maybe see if you can throw something like that together out of the wardrobe. If not, there are always other options. Snoopy's a perennial favorite. Have a Happy Halloween. Thursday

Longtime readers might remember my review of The Handshakers' debut record a few years ago, where I was smitten by the group's excellent mix of acoustic country and folk songwriting married to superb and tasteful playing ("The Handshakers Find Their Place," March 21, 2019). Those of you who enjoyed that project will want to listen up, as the majority of those musicians have formed a brand new group, built around an Americana sound with a nod toward the music of New Orleans. The New Pelicans will perform their debut concert at Wrangletown Cider, with doors at 6 p.m., music at 7 p.m., and a $10 admission. Barn Fire's Turtle Goodwater will join this cast of local all-stars so this is going to be a special night.

Friday

Body Academics is a queer multimedia collective from Portland that will be taking over the Miniplex tonight for a double-feature showing of the group's original sci fi musical Evil Babylon. The film, which I have read involves an evangelical race car driver whose interplanetary travels help unbind him from a background of religious repression, stars many luminaries from the Portland drag scene, and will play at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. There's an electro dance and house-heavy afterparty with DJ Rosé, Kid Telex and Husbands, as well as a lot of accompanying local and out of town drag performers leading the bounce. Costumes are encouraged (don't forget this weekend is Halloween-plus for many of us). It's $10 for the whole shebang and this show is not for anyone under 21, so make sure you have I.D.

Saturday

Hey, hey, another milestone holiday, which (generally) means another installment of the ever-loving vinyl dance celebration called Soul Party. Join DJs Red, Funky T Rex, King Maxwell and Philly Fresh for a night of spooky, groovy, soul shakers from the wax vaults of yesteryear. This one is starting at 9 p.m., a little earlier from previous installments, so that $10 admission gets you even more fun.

Sunday

The Hot Buttered Rum Duo features Erik Yates and Nat Keefe, two members of the venerable San Francisco bluegrass band with the same name minus the duo part. Tonight they'll be pickin' and grinnin' at the Trinidad Town Hall, where the warm wooden acoustics of the room are just about perfect for some guitar, dobro vibrations, and banjo slaps. Doors are at 6 p.m., music at 7 p.m., and $30 gets you lots of good sounds.

Monday

This is the last Metal Monday of the month at Savage Henry Comedy Club and it's looking to be a heavy one. Texas math and grindcore band The Sound That Ends Creation fills the touring band slot, and local support comes in the form of Grug!, Satanicus Sarcophilus and Racket, which balances nicely across the punk to grindcore spectrum. As always, the gig is an all ages one, so bring an I.D. to drink something fermented, and get there around 7 p.m. with $5 to $10 in hand, personal budget depending.

Tuesday (Halloween)

Here it is, the spookiest of (American) holidays on perhaps the most underwhelming day of the week. That's OK, you can still have some fun. There are a lot of haunted events going around, so rather than do a round up, I'd rather promote a show I hinted at last week. Outlaw country-tonk band Barn Fire will be bringing down the house at the Logger Bar for a free Halloween party show that starts at a work-week friendly 9 p.m.

Wednesday (All Saints' Day, Day of the Dead)

Considering the paucity of gigs today and the fact that I have pushed a lot of movie nights lately — Jurassic Park at the Arcata Theatre Lounge at 6 p.m., $5-$9 if you're still into the big screen — I'm going to suggest a night off for reflection, prayer or whatever you like to help bring us toward the outer track of autumn brought on by the coming time change on Sunday. It's been a long year that's showing no sign of letting up.

Collin Yeo (he/him) has heard it called "the year of the scavenger, the season of the bitch." He lives in Arcata.