Punk Rock Halloween As Never Before Seen

Sham 69: United the Kids for Halloween

It really can't get any more punk rock than this year's Halloween party at Rockstar Bar in Williamsburg was! The charming pub on Kent Ave. and South 5th Street hosted about 20 bands with big names, among them Roxy Music, Slaughter and the Dogs, Sham 69, Rudimentary Peni, Black Flag, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Velvet Underground, AC/DC and ZZ Top. Cover charge was one dollar, and the musicians had to pay that, too, ha! I of course took advantage of the occasion and generously paid the entrance fee for at least five girls, all in great Halloween costumes. On the tiny stage were a couple of amps, somewhere stood a lonely PA. All the bands used the same backline, played three songs and then had about two minutes to clear the stage for the next great act in Rock'n'Roll. Boy, was I glad this Ziggy was not David Bowie, this Jimmy Pursey was female, this Lou Reed had no attitude: These bands were better and certainly fresher than the originals. The audience thanked the bands with wild pogoing, the kind of which the world hasn't seen since '77. Among the highlights: The utterly convincing HeadQuarters as Ziggy and the Spiders and the one true punk queen of Williamsburg, Alana Amram, who not only organized the party, but who also played in an all female Sham 69 and had the whole packed room shouting "If the Kids Are United..." And, for an exuberant night, we were.

Ziggy and the Spiders in the HeadQuarters at Rockstar Bar