Annual Halloween Block Party offers lots of entertainment
The show must go on despite the delays and drunken antics that are expected for the annual Athens Halloween Block Party.
This weekend’s music included oldies and electronic dance music, which was performed by 10 bands and several DJs who populated Court Street’s three stages.
The parking lot between Lucky’s Sports Tavern and Attractions was filled early in the evening with a crowd eager to hear performances from the Lokoween Stage.
Glow sticks were thrown to the crowd, which turned the property into a large dance party.
“Probably around 8 p.m., the whole place was full, like three thousand people crowd surfing and bouncing around,” Brandon “DJ B-Funk” Thompson said. “It was a party inside a party, which was awesome. We were very happy with that turn out. I think the people really enjoyed the DJs. They stayed all the way (until the end).”
The costume contest started at 9 p.m. at the Lokoween stage, where Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders took first place and the group won $200.
The female prize went to a costume of “the car that ran into the C.I.” The male contest winner dressed as Smaug, the dragon from The Hobbit. Both won $100 each.
There were children uptown enjoying the show until it got dark, said Jonathan Holmberg, chairman of the Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee.
“That means a lot to me that the community feels that it’s safe enough to come up and hang out until a certain point,” he said. “That’s something we work toward.”
Thompson later performed at the North Stage, located at Court Street and State Street. This stage had a little bit of everything.
Backwords, a band who had its first gig in 1985, sang “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes and “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones.
“We had a great reaction,” said Lou Horvarth, frontman and guitarist for Backwords. “People know the songs. No matter how old they are, they know the songs and sing along.”
As the night progressed, different styles of music and creative performances had the crowd racing up and down Court Street to see all three stages.
The performance by Bright at Night included a lit-up hula-hooper dancing for the crowd from on top of a speaker at the front of the stage. Her tricks, combined with the energized band, captivated the audience’s attention and left the crowd dancing and cheering for more.
Emerson Bartlett, frontman for Bright at Night, said he enjoyed jumping around in bunny suits as well as getting on stage to perform with his bandmates while family members and friends occupied the front row. He also played a set earlier in the night with SassafraZ.
“I jumped on (stage) for a couple of the songs that we used to do together,” Barlett said. “It was cool – a little blast from the past. The first time I ever played with those guys was three years ago at Halloween.”
Other well-known groups brought originality to the stage. SassafraZ threw its albums into the crowd after shouting “free CDs.” Then Manitoa, a local group, brought interesting visual elements to the stage such as acrobatics. Skashank Redemption’s set included an enthusiastic crowd moshing and dancing throughout the entirety of the show.
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