Culture staff reporters talk to out-of-towners, Ohio University students and performers about how the Athens Halloween Block Party turned out.
Papier maché dragons, a squid, jellyfish and more took over Court Street on Saturday during the Honey for the Heart Parade to kick off the beginning of the 41st annual Athens Halloween Block Party.
At about 12 a.m., it started to rain, but that didn’t bother the partygoers in the slightest. Many still gathered at both stages through the night. Here is a breakdown of the music and entertainment-related events that took place throughout the night.
6:30 p.m.
North Stage: Blond
The crowd grew from a small group of about 10 people to more than 60 during Blond’s set. The band entered the stage dressed up as girls as a tradition from last year.
Hailey Spivak, a junior studying health communication and public advocacy at Ohio University who was dressed as a “condom fairy,” spent a majority of the set dancing around the stage and said the band put on a good show.
Guitarist Rourke Papania, a senior studying global political sociology, said, “Since we were the first band to play, we thought we wouldn’t get any attention, but I’m really, really happy with that happened.”
— Elizabeth Backo | Staff Writer
Lokoween Stage: Mac Carter
Nolan Johnson, a senior studying economics and finance at OU, dressed up as Bruce Jenner with his 1976 Olympic uniform.
“I feel like Caitlyn (Jenner) was a bit more offensive than this one,” Johnson said. “I didn’t want to offend too many people, and so people like you would get great entertainment. I had the wig, but the wig wasn’t cutting it.”
— Joe Cooke | For The Post
7 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Alex Fear
“I thought (my set) went great, just looking out in the crowd and seeing people just bouncing, it was awesome,” Alex “DJ Alex Fear” Fiehrer said.
Fiehrer said this is his sixth year at the Athens Halloween Block Party, and “it’s a party that you can’t mess with.”
— Alex Darus | For The Post
7:30 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Ghostowl
Madi Buck, an undecided freshman at OU, said she thought Harrison “Ghostowl” Mbemba’s performance was upbeat and that he got the crowd involved in his set.
"I feel f--king amazing. When I was up there, I played mostly originals and remixes,” Mbemba said. ”The crowd was able to get what I was playing. They were sending good vibes tonight."
— Hannah Wintucky | For The Post
7:45 p.m.
North Stage: Watch Them Rot
During the show, Demari Muff, a junior studying strategic communication at OU who dressed up as a zombie, said the crowd was pretty crazy, and the costumes were pretty creative.
— Mae Yen Yap | For The Post
8 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: DudeManBro feat. Echo Mecca
Although a light rain began midway through the performance, Hannah Mullin, a sophomore studying journalism who was dressed as Kim Possible, said she was enjoying the DJ.
“They play really good music,” Mullins said. “(I’m at HallOUween) to have a good time.”
— Rachel Hartwick | For The Post
8:30 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Freddie D
“It’s going a lot better this year considering there seems to be a lot less people here right now compared to last year,” Carli Troiano, a sophomore studying retail merchandising and fashion product development at OU, said. Dressed up as one of the members of “The Average Joe’s” from the movie Dodgeball, Troiano and her seven other teammates were enjoying the Freddie D performance.
— Sarah Franks | For The Post
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="e5e3aca8-80ab-11e5-bdf4-cbcc7bc76a28"}}
9 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Easty
The last set before the costume contest, Matthew “Easty” Roberts started off his set by telling attendees to stay off the stage. He then proceeded with his set, which included songs like an EDM remix of “The Circle of Life,” from The Lion King.
— Sean Wolfe | For The Post
9:15 p.m.
North Stage: dadARM
dadARM is from Athens and played at Halloween once before, two years ago.
“It’s surreal to see everybody dancing in the street wearing their costumes,” bassist Corliss said. “There’s nothing quite like it.”
Andrew Kelly, a freshman studying visual communication at OU, said his favorite part about the night was the music, and he enjoyed the Lokoween Stage performances.
— Alexis Eichelberger | For The Post
— LynAnne Vucovich | For The Post
9:30 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Costume Contest
Katie Clarke, a 2013 alumna of OU, was one of the winners of the costume contest who dressed as one of the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus with two other people.
“It was a couple month’s process,” Clarke said. “This is one of those things, where if we did it, we had to commit. Not just putting purple and green on for each character, but devoting the details and effort. We knew we were gonna go all out for it.”
— Schuyler Morris | For The Post
10 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Black Rabbit
Chad “Black Rabbit” Vasquez said it is his third year performing and performing for a crowd of thousands “never gets old.”
“This guy is blowing my mind, when the beat drops this place goes wild,” Kody Cummings, a visitor from Dayton, said.
— Austin Erickson | For The Post
10:30 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Ape Mode
“I love this type of music so it’s like coming to this is f--king amazing,” Andrew Farber, a freshman studying environmental geography at OU. “I’ve heard better, but I probably would see them again.”
Isaiah Kessler, a freshman at Kent State University studying biology and pre-med, said the block party was the “best college experience” he has had so far.
“I have never been to a (show) like that they were handing out LED wands for free and it was great,” Kessler said.
— Margaret Mary Hicks | For The Post
— Jessica Hill | For The Post
10:45 p.m.
North Stage: LARRY
Bill Harmon, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at OU, stood in the crowd at LARRY’s concert dressed as a chili pepper.
“I came here to watch this band slap the bass fiddle,” Harmon said.
— Hallie Kile | For The Post
11:10 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: 2 High Crew
J.P Rehak, an undecided freshman at OU, was at his first Halloween in Athens.
“The atmosphere was unique, like something I have never seen before,” Rehak said. “The rain even made the experience better in my opinion.”
— Tony Heim | For The Post
11:40 p.m.
Lokoween Stage: Get Weird
Garrett Dildine, a freshman studying environmental studies and civil engineering, not only experienced his first Halloween in Athens, but also his first concert.
It was an experience, he continued, referring to witnessing “horses trampling people.”
Ali Lahooti, Dildine's guest from Ohio State University, said the later part of the night lived up to his expectations. However, he said, "OSU does it almost as good."
— Grace Hill | For The Post
12:10 a.m.
North Stage: The D-Rays
The crowd wasn't necessarily mosh pit worthy, but there were plenty of people getting down to the energetic surfer rock.
“Yeah, I'm just glad they had something on a college campus other than the typical EDM. It was crazy out here,” Chris Boles, a visitor from Pittsburgh said.
The band had at least two to three “last songs” as it couldn't put the instruments down.
— Brandon Smith | For The Post
Lokoween Stage: DJ B-Funk
“It’s cold and wet,” Megan Domkey, a sophomore from OSU, said. “It’s putting a damper on things to enjoy like the DJs and just having fun. But I still am having a great time.”
Even though the crowd began shouting at Brandon “DJ B-Funk” Thompson to play one more song as the night was coming to a close, he chose to end the night with a proposal. Dressed as the Man in the Yellow Hat, Thompson got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend Katie Hensley, who was dressed as Curious George.
She said “yes,” and Thompson added that she was caught completely off-guard.“We met in front of The Pub, so it's that hometown connection in Athens, and we live here now,” he said. “I thought Halloween would be a great place for her and for her friends to see. Everyone has been giving me high-fives and congrats.”
— Candice Wilder | For The Post
— Elizabeth Backo | Staff Writer
