Masquerade: A Halloween Costume Ball & Dance Party for KCRW

The most striking thing about KCRW’s first ever Halloween party, other than the awesome music of course, was the incredible creativity of the costumes. I didn’t see a single Balloon Boy, Swine Flu, or Thriller-era Michael Jackson in the bunch. No, this group was far better than that. My favorites were a few couple’s costumes – brightly-colored jellyfish who swam through crowd, two gals dressed like the twins from “The Shining,” an Alice in Wonderland and a Mad Hatter and a big group inspired by “A Clockwork Orange.”  There was also a lamp (better than it sounds), a Tropicana showgirl, lots of vampires, a few Octomoms, actress Olivia Wilde as a Bloody Mary, complete with celery, many impressive hand drawn skeleton masks and a Santa who was pretty much mobbed most of the night by folks who seemed equally naughty and nice. Anne “Elvira” Litt lived up to her nickname as the sexy queen of the night and Liza Richardson truly was a “diva of death.” Garth Trinidad parted the crowds as Moses, Tom Schnabel was a sheik from the Middle East, and Eric J Lawrence went all the way as Teen Wolf, letterman’s jacket and all.  

It was hard to stay in one place for more than a minute with so much going on in five rooms. The venue is not only beautiful and impressive architecturally, but it has a lot of history – as both the backdrop for many films and a dance club destination in the 80’s. The dancing ghosts were summoned to life last night, as if by Ray Parker Jr. himself, whether it was the captivating and haunting electronica of Gothenburg’s Little Dragon, the mixmaster DJ Shadow, or the DJs holding down the Grand Ballroom -- with Jason Bentley, Raul Campos, and Anthony Valadez on the turntables.  Anne and Liza kept the Terrace Room moving between sets from the very best of LA’s indie rock scene: first, a stunning jam from LA’s own Sea Wolf, in matching skeleton costumes. It was my first time hearing some of their new songs live and they absolutely killed it. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have been drawing sold out crowds in their recent local shows and Halloween was no different. The room was PACKED with revelers joyfully blissed out on their feel-good vibes and folk-rock tunes. The hippie ensemble scored big with this crowd.  

Last but not least, the food trucks! I sampled TWO myself, which is pretty impressive in one night. Since the Grilled Cheese Truck just launched this week, I thought I should sample the goods and was thrilled with my simple sharp cheddar. For a nightcap, I tried out the Border Grill for some delicious tacos. Korean mobile vendor Kogi also made an appearance, along with a couple trucks for those with a sweet tooth – gourmet cupcake bakers Sprinkles and Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches.  

Overall it was an incredible evening. If you were there, we would love to hear your thoughts on it!  

View the video montage below from Masquerade. Video courtesy of Smash LeFunk from sinninginla.com

Read the Pop & Hiss blog post by The Los Angeles Times here:
Live review: KCRW's Masquerade with DJ Shadow, Sea Wolf and more