The 2016 Athens Halloween Block Party includes well-known Athens acts and only two stage.
The lineup for the 2015 Athens Halloween Block Party was released Wednesday morning and includes a list of 16 acts, ranging from bands to deejays.
Set times will be available at a later date, but Jonathan Holmberg, a chairman of Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee, said music will be begin at about 6:30 p.m. and end at 1:30 a.m.
Brandon “DJ B-Funk” Thompson will be performing again this year and said while choosing other acts, he wanted to incorporate people who had a connection to Athens, whether it is someone who went to Ohio University or works Uptown.
“It’s a show for everybody in Athens,” he said. “We just want to get as many people involved an have as much fun as possible.”
Some more familiar acts include local DJ Easty who performed last year at IndependentFest . Also, Chad “Black Rabbit” Vasquez is an alumnus of OU and a former 110 member.
Likewise, the North Stage’s lineup, which was compiled by Holmberg, includes local acts.
The North stage will begin with Blond, a reverb rock band, has played around Athens and Columbus. The band LARRY includes a mixture of people who also play in other bands.
Dadarm, a more traditional rock ’n’ roll band has played during Halloween before and is returning again this year.
Watch Them Rot, a metalcore band, recently played a show at Casa Nueva.
The headline act on the North Stage is “surf-rock” band called The D-Rays, Holmberg said. The group originated in Athens but has played shows around Cleveland and in Morganton, West Virginia.
Only two stages will be present on Court Street, unlike last year’s set up. The Lokoween Stage will be located at the intersection of Union Street and Court Street. Last year it was located in the parking lot between Lucky’s and Attractions.
“The Lokoween stage became very popular with the college crowd, but we didn’t really like how enclosed it was,” Thompson said.
Because the stage was in a parking lot, Thompson said there was concern that is could be dangerous. To avoid any problems, Thompson said he thought it was best to make the stage more accessible for everyone.
The Lokoween Stage is continuing to be a stage for deejays, Thompson said. This year it will include house, trap, hip-hop, techno and progressive.
“It’ll be very similar to what people have seen in years past with music, but if people are looking for more of the DJ stuff, they’ll have the chance to hear that stuff later into the night.”
Usually, the Lokoween stage didn’t go as late into the night and bands were the main focus, but Thompson said this year the stage will be open until 1:30 a.m.
The Lokoween stage will have the biggest sound and light show that has ever taken place at a Halloween show, Holmberg said.
The North Stage will be near Courtside Pizza and will have a mix of rock, metal and jam music.
“It should be the same mayhem as always,” Holmberg said.
Halloween is one of the reasons Playboy finds OU so attractive as a party school. Holmberg said. He added that he’s proud that OU has that title.
“To me, it makes our efforts worthwhile,” Holmberg said. “We worked hard to try to make the party much more accessible to people who want to enjoy themselves, dress up and enjoy Halloween. It’s a tradition we’re proud to keep.”
