Bazaar SkateShop Halloween Celebration
Fosh-All Photos Evan Swartz
Halloween is a season when we are confronted, directly or indirectly, with the concept of mortality. The seasons change, and the green starts to die, ushering in this beautiful natural cycle of color. Our costumes for the holiday, serial killers, zombies, vampires, and movie monsters, serve as memento mori and, in small part, celebrations of death dealers. And of course, on one night a year, the divide between Earth and Hell cracks. However, what happens when the mortality of something you love is on the line? Pillars of certain communities are often so present within them that it becomes hard to imagine a world without them. Exploring that future could send a shiver down most spines. This has become the reality, this holiday season, for Bazaar Skateshop in Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of the marble pillars of the hardcore community in the area.
On September 23, they asked for that community's help in an open and honest Instagram post, explaining the situation and announcing a Halloween Hardcore cover show. An event featuring prominent area bands, each donning their own haunted Halloween masks, to help an integral part of the community.
The event took over Doug's Board Room in Kingston, Pennsylvania, on October 18th, turning it into a zombified congregation point for all kinds of horrific creatures, who could be seen skating and tailgating outside. Its entrance had been turned into a haunting threshold; black sheets draped over the doors led into a small pocket of horror. Skeletons hung menacingly, purple lights crafted a dark haze, and a VHS tape of Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula played on a fuzzy TV screen as The Craft sat on standby. Passing through another veil of black sheets opened into the venue's main staging room, populated by hellish costumes, including Michael Myers, The Crow, and Joshua Graham from Fallout: New Vegas, among others.
The first band to be possessed by the spirit of their victimized subject would be Fosh, playing a set of Green Day covers that included “American Idiot,” “Welcome to Paradise,” and “Holiday,” waking the crowd from the dead.
A local favorite, Lowdown, took over next, inhabiting a resurrected liveliness and costumes of their own. The group played covers of Black Flag’s “My War,” “Nervous Breakdown,” “Black Coffee,” “Rise Above,” and “Louie Louie,” brewing a ghostly All Hallows Eve magnitude that would inhabit the boardroom like a haunting poltergeist.
The Peace Corps, another staple of the area's current music scene, took the mantle as Bad Brains. The set served as both a mix of Bad Brains songs, such as “Attitude,” and original tracks from the band, crafting this hellish conjoined twin that twisted, crawled, and cried out.
Pollen configured next, playing a Nirvana set that included the beloved “School,” “Territorial Pissing,” “Lithium,” and “Aneurysm.” Onlookers clawed and scratched at the mic like Trick R’ Treaters diving into a bucket of candy, taking over for the band and screaming along to these beloved flannel jams.
One Step Closer transformed into Turning Point. Slinking to the front of the room to perform a loving tribute to the band, performing “Behind This Wall,” “Thursday,” “Shadow of Lies,” and “Broken,” encouraging those in the crowd to start bands and support the scene.
Serving as a grand conclusion, Purple Lung donning Misfits face paint, lunged for their instruments. Halloween and the music of the Misfits are inseparable; the attitudes and imagery of both feed off each other as creator and creature. Purple Lung took the mantle of the timeless horror-themed band and delivered ghoulish, yet romantic holiday corruption, summoning the likes of “London Dungeon,” “Some Kinda Hate,” “Astro Zombies,” “Halloween,” “Hybrid Moments,” “Where Eagles Dare,” and “Helena.”
Purple Lung—All Photos Evan Swartz
In the days following this post-Halloween pre-game daze, the event has been dubbed a success. The Bazaar Skateshop perseveres, announcing the opening of the new skatepark in Scranton and an opening ceremony event on November 1st. The holiday creatures that attended wait in stagnation, awaiting the one night a year when they can creep and crawl openly. If you ever find yourself destitute in Scranton, find your way to Bazaar Skateshop, a sanctuary and a place of commerce with a wide and unique selection for all your skating needs. By supporting them, you support the music and the people of the local witch’s coven, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hardcore.
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