With the Halloween season upon us, the Champaign-Urbana music scene is rising to the occasion to provide frighteningly good entertainment for individuals of all ages.
With a horrifying amount of events, you can indulge in the diverse sounds of jazz, bluegrass, hip-hop and pop music all Halloweekend long.
Whether you enjoy local music or national hits, The DI is here with a list of Halloween-inspired music events to get you in the spooky spirit.
Scooby-Doo!’s Haunted House Party
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To start Halloweekend off, The Canopy Club is hosting a Scooby-Doo-themed haunted house party with DJ Rollie on Oct. 27. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. in The Canopy Club Small Hall.
Partygoers must be 18 and over to enter. Tickets can be purchased for $10 online in advance, $15 at the door or won through The Canopy Club’s Spooky Season Giveaway on its Facebook page.
“Scooby-Doo!’s Haunted House Party” will include a medley of pop, hip-hop, EDM, rock and “all your favorite Halloween bangers,” according to The Canopy Club event webpage.
This themed party is included in the “Spooky Season: Celebrating 25 Years Under the Canopy” event collection which aims to promote The Canopy Club’s presence in the C-U music scene.
Free parking is available for attendees in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts parking garage starting at 5 p.m.
More information on the party can be found here.
Neil St. Blues: Halloween Party
Building on the Halloween spirit, local soul food restaurant Neil St. Blues is throwing a Halloween party on Oct. 28. Doors for the event will open at 10 p.m. and a $10 cover charge will be required for entrance until 11 p.m.
The ghostly gathering will include music from DJ SILKEE and DJ SLIM, regular hosts of musical events in the C-U area.
The restaurant’s soul food menu will also be available for partygoers to order from and enjoy during the event.
In short, the “kitchen will be open (and) drinks will be flowin’,” according to the Neil St. Blues event website.
More information on the party can be found here.
HIDEOUT Halloween Takeover
On the official night of fright, look no further than The Canopy Club’s Oct. 31 takeover by hip-hop collective HIDEOUT to get your rap fix. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and music starts at 8 p.m.
Attendees must be 18 or over to enter. Tickets are available for $10 online in advance, $15 at the door, or can be won through The Canopy Club’s Spooky Season Giveaway on its Facebook page.
The takeover will feature acts by SXRE, APOQHIX, Graffiti Hiraeth Ink and Redwater HHC Showcase, with DJ sets by JRJOOS+ and Matthew! inside the club’s Red Room.
Free parking is available for attendees in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts parking garage starting at 5 p.m.
More information on the takeover can be found here.
University of Illinois Steel Band
For live music fans, University of Illinois student musicians will be performing on steel percussion instruments in Smith Memorial Hall on Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is free for this event and individuals of all ages are welcome to hear these musicians inside the recital hall.
The University’s Steel Band, directed by Ricardo Flores, is composed mainly of percussion majors within the School of Music who are willing to play unique instruments, according to the ensemble webpage.
The Steel Band performs a variety of musical pieces, but they draw the largest inspiration from “calypso, soca, jazz, and popular repertoire,” according to the ensemble website.
More information on the performance can be found here.
Bones Jugs
If you love folk music, check out Bones Jugs’ spooky performance at the Rose Bowl Tavern on Oct. 31 from 8-10 p.m.
This event will be free to the public, but donations are encouraged and a change bucket will be available. Attendees are also encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to celebrate the season.
Bones Jugs is a folk artist who produces music with “quirky songwriting, blazing xylophone, jug and kazoo buzzing (and) banjos galore,” according to the artist’s Facebook site.
The singer’s most popular albums on Spotify, entitled “Rag Day II” and “Don’t Waste a Drop,” utilize a variety of instruments, like horns and bells, and an uncommon lyrical style.
More information on the performance can be found here.
