With a costume contest and frighteningly good music, WRIR’s 9th annual Monster Mashquerade on next weekend is the Halloween treat you’ve been craving.
With a costume contest and frighteningly good music, WRIR’s 9th annual Monster Mashquerade on next weekend is the Halloween treat you’ve been craving.
Whether you’ve decided to shave your head, wear a hospital gown and channel your inner “Eleven” or you’re dressing up as Donald Trump’s hair (wig, hairpiece?) bring your “A” game because the bash will feature both a costume and mask contest with some sweet prizes.
Those with the best, scariest, or most creative costume and/or mask will win gift certificates for local restaurants or record stores.
Lindsey Spurrier, WRIR FM’s Event Coordinator, has seen some pretty amazing costumes in years past. Last year, for example, she saw a couple dressed as Disco Barbie and Ken, still pristine in their commercial boxes.
“It’s the stuff that you can tell people spent a lot of time making,” said Spurrier. “The crowd definitely isn’t burning for the people who look like they purchased their costumes, and they really appreciate that it looks like it took some time and energy.”
The Mashquerade’s music lineup shows off several awesome Richmond music projects like Dazeases, League of Space Pirates, and Pete Curry. WRIR FM DJ Jamie Lay will spin records in between sets, showing off some spooky grooves to celebrate the season.
RVA lo-fi pop artist Dazeases is celebrating the release of her new album, Crumbs and will premiere the music video for her song, “Medusa” at the Mashquerade,
Local favorite Pete Curry will give a solo performance, playing the entirety of his new album Night Logic from start to finish.
And finally, League of Space Pirates [https://leagueofspacepirates.bandcamp.com/] will take a stop on their galactic tour to give one of their distinctive performances, contributing their electronic rock and roll to the evening. The band’s lineup features Captain Orlok (Noah Scalin) on vocals, Raith Pittas A.K.A. Parrot (Alasdair Denvil) on keyboard, MUNGO the meat creature (Amanda Cleland) on bass, Chroma (Jen Deo) on backup vocals, Rusty Shields (Bruce McCraw) on guitar, and a robot named P1-KLS or “Pickles” (Steven Warrick) on percussion.
League of Space Pirates is just as interested in telling a story with their performances as they are in playing music. The concept began with a collaborative science-fiction universe that Scalin, lead vocalist, was working on with a number of other people. The setting featured an actual league of space pirates using a band as a cover story in their fight against ultra-powerful corporations.
Since the premise is just as important as the music, League of Space Pirates immerses their audience in the concept, performing in costume and including a few dramatic flairs. “We want it to be something that’s really fun and something that’s not really what a typical rock and roll show would be,” said Scalin. “We’re more in the vein of GWAR shows in terms of the storyline, the costuming, the character development.”
Scalin, who has volunteered at the station repeatedly since its inception, is thrilled to support WRIR FM with a live performance. “I think it’s an amazing resource for the city,” he said. “The fact that we can have so many people from the community, such diverse voices on the air, that music is played that really just doesn’t get heard otherwise- it’s just amazing, it’s exactly what the city needs.”
WRIR takes care to highlight local performers, featuring pieces on local bands and putting their recordings on the air. The studio has a dedicated performance space for live broadcasts, but takes steps to keep their track listing local, as well.
“Every week we come out with the top ten most played songs on air and there are at least three or more Richmond bands that are on the top ten most played,” said Spurrier. “Which I think is amazing, because it’s not like that for other radio stations.”
The 9th annual Monster Mashquerade will be held at The Camel next Saturday, October 29th. Doors open at 8:30 PM and the music starts at 9. There is a $5 to $10 recommended donation at the door. All proceeds going directly to benefit WRIR FM 97.3.
