Halloween falling on a Wednesday this year isn’t the best for spooky partying, but it’s ideal for hitting up a Halloween concert. The year the slate of Seattle rock shows on Oct. 31 is ridiculously loaded, so here’s a quick guide to help you choose the best way of closing out Rocktober (yeah, some of these are already sold out, but it’s 2018 and the secondary ticket market exists).
Mitski
To put it simply, Mitski’s Be the Cowboy is the best album of the year to date. Over the course of 14 songs, the New York singer-songwriter solidifies her place as one of indie rock’s most vital voices by taking things in complex directions. While her prior record, Puberty 2, served as her breakout, Be the Cowboy is fully grown up in its approach to rock and experimental pop. Mitski is still able to pour out buckets upon buckets of emotions, but do so with an unflinching and alluring confidence that gives everything an added weight. Showbox SoDo, Sold Out.
TacocaT
No one in Seattle puts on a pop punk party like TacocaT (see the band’s prior Halloween and Valentine’s Day shows at Chop Suey for evidence). With a wide catalogue of blissed out tunes (including new ones from a TBA 2019 album), the quartet always generate dangerously fun levels of dancey energy. The wild local game show The Future is 0 takes on hosting duties for this evening, one that also features Mirrorgloss and Sleepover Club. On top of all that, this show will likely be the highest concentration of candy and candy out of any of the Halloween concerts. Chop Suey, Sold Out.
Joyce Manor
Armed with fiercely emotional and passionate punk tunes, Joyce Manor’s stop at the Neptune is most likely to result in a sing-a-long of people dressed as monsters… a monster mash, if you will. The band just put out its fifth LP, Million Dollars To Kill Me, a further example of the group’s continual growth and maturity (thankfully not too grown up to move past the cathartic communal screaming though). The Neptune, $17–$21.
La Luz
There’s always been a heavy underlying darkness and sinister quality to La Luz’s surf rock. It’s 2013 debut LP (It’s Alive) alone features the fantastic eerie bangers “Big Bad Blood,” “Its’s Alive,” and “Pink Slime.” The former Seattle band returns to its birthplace for a evening of fuzz-drenched creepy California doom-wop (including cuts from its new album, Floating Features) and always-entertaining dance segments the band initiates. The Crocodile, $20.
Tokyo Police Club
Ontario indie rock quartet Tokyo Police Club has been one of the better Canadian bands since the release of its scintillating debut A Lesson in Crime in 2006. After nearly breaking up following its previous album cycle, returned this month with the release of its new album, TPC. While the general perception is that Canadians aren’t as into Halloween as folks from the States, perhaps TPC can do something to change that belief. (It should be noted that the band itself wants to sneak away to the Joyce Manor show, and its also playing a second show at Barboza on Nov. 1.) Barboza, $20.
The True Loves
Are all the above rocking choices leaving you a little cold (and not in the holiday appropriate shivers-up-the-spine way)? Perhaps soul will help you connect with the spirits of the night. Few acts consistently deliver Seattle soul like The True Loves, so even though it may not be the best sonic fit for Halloween, the band’s concert with Mother of Pearl and Emerald City Soul Club should provide a less rambunctious—but still amusing—party vibe. Neumos, $15.
