Beware the headless mad scientist

If you live in Austin, you know that Halloween is a really popular holiday here. None of this "Halloween is for kids" bunk - people of all ages decorate and dress up in these parts!

It's a lot of fun to see people get so creative and be so uninhibited (Note: People who dress up are way more fun than people who won't because they're afraid of looking silly. Just FYI.), but I'll admit, it can be a bit of a distraction when you're trying to perform - not because people are looking at other people instead of you, but because YOU are looking at everyone, and it's very easy to find yourself suddenly wondering, "Wait - what song are we playing again?"

I had a moment like that this past Friday night.


We were playing at Latitude 30, which is just off of 6th Street, and while Friday wasn't technically Halloween, the weekend before Halloween is when a lot of Halloween parties happen and also when people test drive their costumes out in the clubs, just in case they don't make it out on actual Halloween.

So, not only did we give a show on Friday night, but we got one as well. My "moment" happened when, just as we started one of the songs I sing lead on, an 8-foot bloody headless mad scientist, carrying his own head, entered the club. It was an amazing costume. People were all taking pictures with the guy, and I hoped he wouldn't leave until we finished our song so I could take a picture, and that's what I was thinking about when we came out of the guitar solo bridge - you know, when I should start singing.

It took me a second, but it finally dawned on me, "Oh, I should be singing!" I got my wits about me, but unfortunately, by the time we finished the song, the guy had left, so I couldn't get a picture. But I did snap a few of others in the audience when we finished our set. Here are just a few of the costumes we saw:

A girl boxer, a girl with no costume (I think), a guy with a mullet (a rock star
perhaps?) and Snoopy. You think the boxer is supposed to be Laila Ali?

One of the Mario brothers dancing with a ballerina.

Marilyn Monroe with...a girl in her bra.

And my personal favorite, Dumb and Dumber (and
some guy with blue eyebrows - I don't know what that's about.)!

It made for a fun night seeing all the people dressed up and having fun with another. For instance, there was a pirate girl with a sword, and I saw her threaten Spiderman, who used his wrist to throw an invisible web at her. As he should!

And there were some costumes that were meant to be clever, but we couldn't quite get what they were. But all in all, a good time. Even if I did forget to sing at times.