Halloween weekend shenanigans with yours truly!

THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO THIS WEEKEND, MADISON (and outlying areas).

I'm not even going to pretend to mention the myriad options you have outside of stuff I'm involved in, though, because it would take forever and who are we kidding, this post is all about self -promotion.

But I'm not lying when I say that Dane101's annual FREAKIN' HALLOWEEKEND shows at the High Noon Saloon both Friday and Saturday night are always always always an absolute blast, regardless of my own involvement in them.

Basically, we get a bunch of local bands/super groups to "dress up" as other bands to perform tributes to them for one night. This year we have everyone from David Bowie to Boston, and it's going to be bananas. That's right, I said it: BANANAS. Yours truly will be drumming for a Hole tribute band on Friday night, and then pretending to be a lead singer for a Bikini Kill/Le Tigre tribute band on Saturday. To wit:

FRIDAY: Show at 8 p.m. - $8 and 21+
8:15-9:00pm Sons of Atom as Minute Men
9:15-10:00pm The Heroins as Hole
10:15-11:00pm The God Damns as The Stooges
11:00-11:30pm Costume Contest Giveaway ($200 cash prize for winner)
11:30-12:15 Bexorcist (The Usual Things) as Beck
12:30-1:15 The Violators as Depeche Mode
(Facebook event | Tickets) 

SATURDAY: Show at 8 p.m. - $8 and 21+
8:15-9:00pm The Acony Bells as Gillian Welch
9:15-10:00pm Mauston as Boston
10-15-11:00pm Le Swimsuit Manslaughter as Le Tigre/Bikini Kill
11:00-11:30pm Costume Contest Giveaway ($200 cash prize for winner) 
11:30-12:15pm Hung Americans as David Bowie
12:30-1:15am Gimmie the Car as Violent Femmes
(Facebook event | Tickets)

AND THEN I'm going to be spinning an opening DJ set for the DIAMOND RINGS show at the Frequency on Sunday night (which I am insanely excited about), and if you're at all into danceable electro, you should probably come. Dance like there's ass in your pants. That show starts at 8 p.m. (10/28) and is just $10. Also performing is Gold Fields. You can stream the brand new Diamond Rings album here, and I highly recommend it. (Facebook event)

So get on it!

Ode to the Fire Ball

Over the weekend, I helped throw the second annual Fire Ball at the High Noon Saloon - and was exceedingly pleased to have it be a smashing success. We nearly packed the place with fabulously dressed people, enjoyed excellent performances from several talented folks, and then had ourselves a killer dance party courtesy of DJ Chen-Cheng (currently fighting for the position of My Favorite DJ in Madison).

I was also psyched because I got to perform an act with my very own sister. And thanks to my good friend and near-constant filmmaker Rob Matsushita, the performance was recorded for posterity:

The whole thing was great fun--exhausting, of course, but great fun nonetheless--and I'm confident that we'll be able to keep throwing this event every year for a while yet. Madison seems to enjoy it, and I know I do, too.

Now mostly recovered from my big weekend, I've been slowly getting into the groove of being self-employed. Next week, you can expect regular Lost Albatross updates to begin in earnest, including what I hope will be a helpful series of tips and tricks for other people looking to do freelance work, as well as more personal, (hopefully) humorous stories about every day life outside of the cubical.

(Many, many more photos from the Fire Ball are available at Dane101.com)

Fire Ball success!

Another day, another fabulous party! Actually, I'm not sure I could do this sort of thing full-time. With all of the organization, PR, and general stress work that goes into putting on a successful show, I think twice a year is plenty for me. But it is a great feeling when one of these things goes so well, and it always makes me intensely happy to both help provide a venue for talented performers, and entertainment for my fellow Madisonians. And we managed to raise some money for local theatre, which is also fabulous. So really, I can't (and have no desire to) complain. Maybe I do have a future in this somewhere....

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Fire Ball, and especially large doses of gratitude to the performers (Nick Nice, Foxy Veronica's Peach Pies, Graydancer, Madtown Hellcats Burlesque, and Ashar Dance Company), the High Noon Saloon, and my fellow organizer, Jesse Russell.

If you missed it and are curious to get a small taste of the fabulous mayhem (or were there and want to relive some of it), please check out some of the photos taken and articles written about the affair:

• Phil Ejercito for dane101.com
• Craig Cady for The Daily Page
• Fire Ball Flickr pool

And you can be sure we'll be doing another Fire Ball next January! Now, some time to reorganize my thoughts and energies, and then back to your regularly scheduled blogging. Oh and, I hear there was some sort of big sporting event over the weekend. Anyone know what happened? ;)

Win tickets to the Fire Ball!

Being one of the key organizers for this Saturday's big masquerade party, the Fire Ball at the High Noon Saloon, you may notice some blog slacking on my part this week. Things are pretty busy around the farm as we work hard to put everything in place to make sure the event is as fabulous as it can be.

I'll be doing my best to keep up the content here, but in the meantime, I wanted to take the opportunity to give away two pairs of tickets to the Fire Ball. To win, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post that says "I would love a pair of tickets to the Fire Ball!" (making sure to either leave your full name, or some way for me to contact you to get your full name, so I can put you and a +1 on the guest list). The first two people to respond will score free entrance for them and a friend/date to the winter's hottest event! (must be 21+ to play)

Then just scrape together your finest duds, maybe a mask, and get your butt over to the High Noon this Saturday at 9:00p.m. Read more about the Fire Ball here.

Even if you don't win tickets, please come check it out anyway. It's just $7, and a portion of the proceeds will go to benefit two of Madison's best local theatre companies (Mercury Players and Stage Q).

See you there!

The Massacre begins tonight!

If you haven't already seen the buckets of press about it, "Massacre (The Musical)" has its world premiere tonight, 8:00PM at the High Noon Saloon. I'm shamelessly plugging the heck out of this because 1) it's a super fun, super indie horror musical comedy, 2) I helped create the soundtrack and did some grip work on it and 3) my band, Aporia, is playing after the screening. And hey, the whole evening will only cost you $5, a portion of which will go to benefit Second Harvest. Good times, all around.

Read all about it!

Today's issue of the Wisconsin State Journal features a big article about it on the cover of their Art section. You can read it online here.

This weeks' issue of the Onion's AV Club (in Madison) features an article about it, too.

This weeks' issue of the Isthmus also includes a nice article about the premiere. I wrote an article for their online edition, if you care to read it, here.

Christmas Craftacular

I wandered over to the High Noon Saloon to catch the first day of Glitter Workshop's "Christmas Craftacular," a fair full of goods for sale by local/area artists. I love this stuff. I love finding awesome little goodies to give as gifts for the holidays in lieu of mass-marketed stuff that may or may not be useful to the person.

Anyway, definitely consider checking out the event, which runs through tomorrow (Sunday) at 4pm. It doesn't cost a thing to go in and browse, but you might find something to buy once inside. Items run the gambit from magnets and coasters made from recycled bottlecaps, maps, and scenes from children's books that my generation for sure would recognize (think Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George and the like), hand screen printed and regular clothing for adults and the fashionable infant, hand made cards and blank books, decorative items, super cool ties, etc.

I picked up a few odds and ends (which I wasn't expecting to do) and enjoyed the scene. There seemed to be a good turn out, with people shopping, drinking and chatting all over the spacious club. I've been extremely happy to see that Cathy has made a point of renting out the space to non-music events during the day (and sometimes evening) on a regular basis. Smart business, and great for the community.