Features

10 Memorable Musical Costumes from the Past Decade

6. Deer Tick, New York, New York, Halloween 2009 Songs of the Sex Pistols

At the Brooklyn Bowl in 2009, Deer Tick turned in their folk-rock sound for punk rock, opting to play an entire set of music by the Sex Pistols, complete with the same style and attitude of the band. Deer Tick played the hits, including “My Way” and “Jonny Corndawg.” Dead Confederate, who opened for Deer Tick, covered the music of Sonic Youth.

7. String Cheese Incident, New York, New York, Halloween 2001 A Subway Tour of New York City on the A Train

String Cheese Incident’s Hulaween show in 2001 at Madison Square Garden had the band conducting a tour of New York City along the A Train, complete with narration by John Barlow as Walt Whitman. The band got creative and performed songs like the Harlem Globetrotter’s theme “Sweet Georgia Brown” (representing the Harlem/125th Street stop), John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” (representing The Dakota/72nd Street stop), Harry Belafonte’s “New York, New York” (representing the 42nd Street stop) and Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn” (representing the Canal Street stop), among others. Download here

8. Lotus, Baltimore, Maryland, Halloween 2009 “Protein Pills in the Labyrinth”

Lotus has performed several themed shows (“Live Fast Die Young: The 27 Conspiracy” in Halloween 2008, a robot theme on New Years 2008, Video Game themes in 2010) and Halloween 2009 was no different. The band got creative with their costumes, each dressing up as a different David Bowie character (including Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke and Jareth) and opened with Phish’s “David Bowie.” Lotus performed songs like “Under Pressure,” “Fame,” “I’m Afraid of Americans,” “Space Oddity,” “Let’s Dance” and others, interspersed with original material. Lotus brought out Mario D’Ambrosio on saxophone and had percussionist Chuck Morris on vocals for several of the Bowie tunes.

9. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Denver, Colorado, Halloween 2010 A Heroic Halloween

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe paid tribute to the heroes during their Halloween show in 2010 by both dressing as various superheroes as well as performing heroic-themed songs. The band teased themes from Batman and Spiderman but also played “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath, “Superhero” by Jane’s Addiction, “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters and “Heroes” by David Bowie, among others. While fans were probably surprised by the song choice, KDTU put their signature funk on the classic rock and alt-rock song choices. KDTU will be performing the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers this Halloween.

10. The Motet, Boulder, Colorado, Halloween 2010 The Motet Plays Earth, Wind and Fire

After setting the bar high with Halloween shows billed as “A Tribute to Michael Jackson” and “A Tribute to Sly and the Family Stone,” the Motet continued with tradition and performed the music of the 1970s funk band Earth, Wind and Fire in 2010. As a 13-piece band, which featured three lead vocalists, four horns, two guitars and percussion, the Motet played songs like “Shining Star” and “Let’s Groove.” This year, the Motet will play the music of the Grateful Dead.