The creation of recent Halloween pop-up bar Black Lagoon, like all good concepts, was natural. At Tales of the Cocktail in 2019, Erin Hayes (Three Dots and a Sprint and the now closed Misplaced Lake) and Kelsey Ramage (Trash Collective) merely wished to throw a celebration within the French Quarter to flee the chaos of the annual cocktail conference. Paradoxically, The Dungeon, a 50-plus-year-old dive bar, was their oasis. “It’s an unimaginable metallic bar that’s dungeon themed,” mentioned Hayes. “And it’s simply in contrast to wherever else within the Quarter. Very a lot our vibe, performs our sort of music, and it’s an important place to go unwind.”
Resonating With the “Unusual and Uncommon”
Their wildly profitable bash made them understand their concept for a Halloween pop-up with a Dungeon-inspired soundtrack had legs. And for his or her first pop-up effort in Toronto in October 2021, they have been in a position to attract hordes even with out publicity. “We had traces wrapped across the block each night time of the week,” Hayes mentioned. “Folks simply cherished it, loved it, had a good time and loved the cocktails and advised all of their buddies, which was superb.”
This 12 months Black Lagoon is hitting the street, touring U.S. cities that have been handpicked for his or her sturdy counterculture scene and cocktail neighborhood. “We wished to work in communities the place there have been cocktail fanatics and folks that might be enthusiastic about ingesting Kelsey’s and my cocktails for this celebration of Halloween and the whole lot sort of horror macabre,” Hayes defined.
Playlists for Innately Darkish Emotions
And for a soundtrack, as a substitute of monster mash hits similar to those who often get radio airplay this time of 12 months, Black Lagoon’s music stays very true to its Dungeon origins, that includes the likes of Black Sabbath and Pantera. Nonetheless, merely one playlist wouldn’t do. Hayes created a playlist for the beginning, center, and finish of the night time, in addition to a celebration playlist and a best-of record.
- Early: “The early playlist is extra vibey. There’s some rockabilly/psychobilly music, just like the Cramps and HorrorPops. There’s a bit extra goth rock, like Sisters of Mercy and Kind O Unfavorable. After which a little bit little bit of the extra melodic metallic.”
- Mid: “I wish to name the mid playlist, the ‘Women of Steel’ as a result of there are a number of women-fronted bands, which is de facto enjoyable.”
- Late: “The late-night playlist is certainly the heaviest. And I believe that that’s for the nights when you’ve got the actual metalheads within the constructing.”
- Celebration: “[It’s] hilarious to place collectively a playlist that’s for events that has Slipknot and Deftones. So we’ve bought that one which’s extra designed for these Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights when individuals are out to have an actual good time celebration.”
- Solely the Hits: “It’s a piece in progress. It’s so arduous to cease including music as a result of that is the music that I hearken to. So I’m all the time like, oh, what about that tune? What about that tune?”
For a tune to make it onto any of the lists, Hayes says, “It has to have that innate darkish feeling.” It doesn’t should be of the goth style as even rockabilly tracks can evoke that broodiness. “‘Cry Little Sister’ from Misplaced Boys,” she says, “that tune will not be essentially goth in nature, nevertheless it’s paying homage to that film, which is paying homage to a time and a sense.”
All Are Welcome
Subsequent 12 months, Hayes and Ramage are planning to deliver their Halloween metallic vibes to 25 cities world wide, although it’s a vacation that’s even much less celebrated internationally than Christmas. “We simply need this to be a secure and inclusive neighborhood house for everybody,” Hayes mentioned. “This can be a pop-up for the bizarre. This can be a pop-up for the oldsters that really feel like cocktail bar experiences may not be so welcoming to them. We would like this to be the cocktail bar expertise that makes them really feel tremendous welcome.”
