A previous question, about the bartender who occasionally raps into a microphone while strutting across the top of the circular bar: That’s Woody’s in Bayport.
A previous question: Where can you go to find a charismatic bartender who alters his name tag, to jokingly make it “Sketchy” or “Reckless.” That’s Darren at Green Mill, and now for several years The Village Inn in North Hudson.
Here is a listing of some of the best Halloween partying to be done in Hudson and the surrounding area:
– Why enter the Halloween costume contest, or just watch the fun, at Ellie’s on Main on Saturday night? Owner Gregg Ellstrom says there are no shenanigans, and people say they like the bouncers and how they conduct themselves in what is a fun and friendly atmosphere. The big patio, complete with roof and bar, doesn’t hurt either.
Prizes for costumes get into triple digits: $100 cash for first, $100 bar tab for second, and $25 cash for third. The deejay again will determine the winners, based on crowd reaction, near the end of the evening.
Last year, there were 25 to 30 contestants, and the place was very near capacity all night, as people checked out the costumes. Check with the deejay to register.
– In the party at Guv’s Place, which gives the option of a Friday night contest, about 90 percent of the people typically show up in costume and its packed.
The band Off the Record will play from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and prizes are given by categories such as best costume or most creepy attire; the exact types of categories differ each year and are finalized on the night of the party.
Prizes are in cash or bar tabs, some are given out to patrons selected at random, and there are drink specials.
– Manager Chuck McGee said Halloween parties at Dibbo’s, for $400 in prizes, are fun because people are very bold and often sexy in how they dress up, and can be quite creative — or downright weird, in a good way. It’s obvious that they put time and energy into making the costumes. We both remembered the guy at a Dibbo’s party who dressed up as a “shower,” complete with a curtain hung by rings encircling his head and a faucet right next to his nose. And there always seems to be someone dressed as a member of KISS, and they do it well because they already have the gear, or as a Playboy Bunny.
The band Gel will play all during the Saturday night party. They are veterans at Dibbo’s, having been booked regularly for years, and play a wide variety of ’90s and current rock, without relying too much on the overplayed standards. Think Fuel, Weezer, Bush, Candlebox, Disturbed, Nine Inch Nails and Green Day. They always bring a crowd.
Dibbo’s encourages people to put that effort into making costumes with prizes that include $250 for best costume, $100 for second and $50 for third. There is no cover charge and there of course are Halloween Horror drink specials.
– Trips to Cancun, Hawaii and Vegas and big cash prizes are on tap at the annual Halloween Bash at Junior’s Bar and Restaurant in River Falls on Saturday, starting at 9 p.m. and hosted by radio station KDWB in a 21-and-over event. Fifteen dollars gets patrons all they can drink on rails and selected taps.
The sexiest costume wins the trip to Cancun, and the best costume a trip to Hawaii, with the second place finishers in each category also going to Vegas, and three winners chosen at random during the course of the evening getting trips to Vegas, as well. The best group gets a $500 bar tab.
Join Crisco and KDWB, and indulge in some of thousands of jello shots for $1 each. There is free “wop” when you walk in the door, while it lasts. Junior’s is at 414 S. Main St. in River Falls.
– The New Skinny, a rock band of Hudsonites, will play at the Halloween Party at Dick’s Bar on Saturday with a Superheros theme, and drummer Brando got in the act early last weekend by donning a flowing and flaming red cape with a Jagermeister logo. That should fly well and give Superhero status in St. Croix County, a place where more Jag is consumed per capital then anywhere else in the country. A costume party will be offered. Then next Wednesday on Halloween itself, music will be provided by Brian Naughton.
– An appearance by Live Mix 105 radio is a highlight of the free pumpkin party at Camp St. Croix on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There also are many other activities, including horse drawn wagon rides and pony rides, petting zoo, a magician and pumpkin decorating. At 11:30 a.m. there is a pet costume contest, and at noon the kids get their costume contest.
With Halloween on the horizon, here are some of the most interesting things seen as a precursor.
– What would Halloween be without an alien item? Sue at the Village Inn always teases me about when I plan to do my expose on the object that fell from the sky a few miles northwest of here and plunged to the bottom of a lake. TV news outlets broke the story, and even said a government UFO team was called in to check just what the object happened to be. However, there never was a followup story on what they found, although it seemingly was not Chicken Little. This caused this intrepid reporter to suggest that it was Brett Favre’s private jet flying through to the Twin Cities, and dropping a refrigerator full of beer to lighten the load. (It was about the time Favre signed with the Vikings). To this day, most times I see Sue I suggest a solution.
– Back at Guv’s Place in Houlton, the “Guv” himself has set the bar high for costuming and will have trouble this year beating what he did in an earlier Halloween. He shaved part of his head and styled it to look like that of a monk — to the point that some regulars didn’t even recognize him. Then there’s Duke, a salesperson who frequents Dick’s Bar, and says that in his youth he also had an everyday, non-Halloween Mohawk that raised his height a half-foot.
– Guv’s has its share of patrons who are subbing at professionally-done haunted houses and other such attractions in the Cities. Recently, one guy who was still in his mask, pressed his face against the glass door and scarily rubbed it around before making a more conventional entry. (At which time, fittingly, a song by Rob Zombie was playing on the jukebox). He also carved a pumpkin to give it a grimace and had it spewing seeds out of its mouth, like someone who’s imbibed too much.
– At Hefty’s Roadhouse, a new place in Bayport that formerly housed Captain’s, one of the servers plans to dress up as the cartoon character Jasmine, although she adds her outfit will be too sexy for some of Jasmine’s young fans. Kind of like her namesake at Green Mill, who was stunning last year as the leatherclad Olivia Newton-John character in Grease.
– Also at Green Mill recently, a male patron got a head start on the holiday by donning a blond wig — and constantly tossing his hair — all while playing the hair band Poison on the jukebox. This led the slightly balding guy across the room to say he wished he had some of those locks. None of them, however, can compare to the waist-length blond hair of their server.
– Back at Hefty’s, one of “Jasmine’s” co-workers said the theme of a recent Halloween party in her family was — what else — dress up as another family member. The other day, she was dressed in what looked like the outfit of the spokesperson for the new Farmer’s Daughter beer, although adding that wasn’t by design since she had heard of the brew, but had never seen it offered. That could be a theme, since recently at a place that does serve plenty of it on tap, but temporarily ran out, the plastic cup that was put over the top of the lever to show it was unavailable would not fit. The top was square, and this literally was like putting a square peg in a round hole.
– This Halloween sign hung on the door to a men’s bathroom says it all: “Insane Asylum.”
These are happenings of Halloween-type activities past:
– Call this the Halloween haunt of a Houlton hottie. She was doing a photo shoot in a river in upstate Minnesota last Halloween on what was a very cold day, but that wasn’t the worst of it. When posing, she came across a big hole in the bank and surmised it might house a big animal, like a badger. Whatever it was, it apparently didn’t like being disturbed from its lair and gave chase.
– After an Ozzfest show in Somerset, it was time for breakfast before hitting the road in a tour bus. Heavy metal icons Ronnie James Dio and Slayer stopped at the truck stop in the town of Hudson, not long before dawn. I’ll bet their eggs weren’t made sunny side up.
– After other Ozzfests, Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister and his band pulled through Hudson and the musicians jammed with the house band at Dibbo’s, while Snyder slept it off on the tour bus. He isn’t always a party pooper when in the Hudson area, however, having eaten dinner at San Pedro. A worker, Matt, said that Snyder enjoyed the food so much that whenever he’s in the area on a gig, he calls from the coast to make dinner reservations. I wonder if San Pedro has his number on caller ID?
– Speaking of Dio, and as a Black Sabbath frontman virtually a spokesperson for Halloween, does anyone remember when his songs were frequently covered by Decibel, one of the hardest rocking bands to play regularly at Dibbo’s? Decibel also did lots of Queensryche and other old school metal, perhaps the most seen on the scene except for the former Lasher, which dared to try — and pull off — covers of Iron Maiden.
– Did I invoke Maiden? I love singing all that old stuff, and apparently others feel the same, as one guy spotted me $20 to sing all the Judas Priest on the karaoke playlist at the Corner Bar in River Falls on Wednesdays — one of the things that gained me the nickname The Count. (OK, I don’t really understand that one either). A similar request I received at an open mike session at Dibbo’s was to shout out Mother by Danzig — and gain a $5 bill and a free drink. The literally big and scary guys of Ultra Mega hosted the open mike, as they have now done at the Blue Fox in the Cities for quite some time. But not all goes that well. Again, at the Corner Bar, a regular patron and I discussed getting the two of us on stage to sing Living After Midnight. I said I didn’t know it, but my new-to-be bandmate was insistent and corrected my every (wrong) word in a make-do rehearsal done at the bar rail. Needless to say, once I actually got up on stage with the band, it was a train wreck.
– What’s this, death metal in Hudson? Yep, a while back some of the leading practitioners from the active New York scene joined those of the burgeoning local scene for a gig at Dibbo’s. They were joined by locals Devitalize, whose frontman was known for whipping himself into a frenzy by wrapping up in barbed wire, and performing better because of the fervor. It was a night of fast-running slam dancing done by dozens of people, and surprisingly clear instrumental and lyrics. Some of these were surprising for being silly in a sappy way. Similar events have been held periodically at the Corner Bar.
Go into Guv’s Place in Houlton these days, and you will see lots of creatures with skeletal hands, many of them entangled in — or hanging from — spider-like webbing and holding outdated, creepy weapons.
Some heads also dangle from the ceiling, hung up by things such as their tounges or lips.
This is the seasonal contribution of bartender Jess Thompson.
Her love of putting up Halloween characters began when the kids came along — they’re now about 18 years old.
So that makes her a veteran, credentials that are enhanced by the five-year-anniversary of the startup of Guv’s, and its fourth Halloween party. This also has served as an anniversary party, and most every year the haunted offerings grow more extreme.
“This year I didn’t go as all out, with the bridge being closed,” she said of the span across the St. Croix River at Stillwater. “Still, people keep on bringing me things to put up.”
In the past, a lot to them have gone to also fill a big tent in parking lot, but this year the goblins have taken a break from that extra source of fright, since the patron level had temporarily dropped off. Thompson had purchased “trees” with creeping branches, and they were put inside the tent, prompting many people to take pictures with them as a backdrop.
Still this year, that doesn’t mean that characters such as “Uncle Charlie,” who is almost six feet tall, don’t hang out inside the bar.
What is Thompson’s scary style of choice? (Aside from dangling body parts).
“My favorite are creepy clowns. I find them amusing,” she said. They reside mostly in the corners of the bar, and are joined on the northwest end by a poor soul on a gurney who is being electrocuted.
Some of her co-workers have said they’re a little freaked by the clowns — as well as Death looming over an entryway to a back room — when closing up under dim lighting at night. “People tell me that they’re creeped out. They’ve said they have glowing eyes. I find that all a little funny,” she said about the fear inspired by those blinking windows to the soul.
Do Thompson’s co-workers tease her? “Oh yeah. Oh yeah. All the time,” she said.
And does she feel a bit guilty? “Nope,” she said without remorse. “But every year they give me crap.”
So she continues to add more things each Halloween.
No such pretense is needed at Season’s Tavern in North Hudson, or at some entertainment haunts along the main drag in downtown Hudson, such as the new tenants of the basement of the old Opera House, or various places high and low in the Dibbo Hotel.
Maybe it’s the history of this being a more rough-and-tumble area when a 1800s outpost town, but workers insist they have seen ghosts, or at least things such as plates or silverware moving about because of them.
At Season’s, the ghost is known to most longtime workers. It hangs out in one of the northern, back corners of the lower-level and is said to have a plaid lumberjack shirt, and be accompanied by a just as dead dog. Part of the theory about why this soul is so restless is that there’s a cave-like maze off the south end that led to his death in pioneer days.
To get there, you have to go through the kitchen, which is where he plays an occasional practical joke on staff members and makes things tip of shelves.
There should be a proviso here to diners. It’s very unlikely that you’ll have your meal disrupted by the ghost since he only comes out right before closing.
I guess last call even applies to the undead.
Jeff Loven shows off his guitar expertise in front of a crowd at Dick’s Bar and Grill on a Sunday night
The one-man-band performances of Jeff Loven in the St. Croix Valley are a combination of virtuoso guitar work, versatile singing of many styles and pitches, comedy and showmanship.
In his guitar work, Loven inserts a few extra fills and squeals into even the most difficult solos. “I always try to capture the solo’s main riff and melodies,” Loven said. “If you’re gonna play a song by Hendrix, Van Halen, AC/DC or Guns and Roses, stuff like that, people want to hear the solos played correctly but it still is always fun to break it up a bit and throw some of your own stuff on top.”
Loven not long ago was picked by rock guitarist Steve Vai as winner of Kahler’s International Bridge to Stardom guitar solo contest in Guitar Player magazine. Around that time, he got photographed with Eddie Van Halen, and there was a bid locally that called for Loven to open for that other guitar wizard when his band came to town.
Most of Loven’s songs are rock that’s not too hard or too soft, blues and a few original tunes that are funny because of both the words and the use of a quirky lead instrument, often an accordion. A drum and bass track is used, and beyond that the show is truly a one-man band — although he plays a lot in western Wisconsin, he’s dubbed the best such performer in “Minnesota.” Loven often strolls through the crowd with his guitar, strumming and singing while not missing a beat. In one case, while in the next room over at Dick’s Bar, Loven threw the guitar strap back over his shoulder and handed the ax to an up-and-coming former local, blues guitarist Brandon Scott Sellner — all while in the middle of a solo. Sellner then picked up the tune made famous by someone who’s no slouch, Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Right before Christmas, Loven shot a video in Hudson that included pyrotechnics for his original song Heavy Metal Polka. “My friend Brynn Arens came up with the idea of shooting the live video of me playing with a polka band in a VFW setting and also with a metal band with a full-on rock show and mixing the two,” he said. “The crowd interaction on this song is outstanding when I play it nightly and I’m looking to tap into the energy of a great crowd. We’ll also be doing some bits with the people that show up as inserts.”
Take after take was done for hours at Uncle Mike’s, with some handpicked people really whooping it up in the polka part of the video at a front table. Loven, wearing an elf costume for a good part of the shoot, almost had the video blow up in his face, literally, as he once strummed a little too close to an explosive pot and ended up falling backwards. Uncle Mike’s had to get clearance from local fire officials to do the shoot, and it helped that they have a very high ceiling.
Loven often brings up a number of different people in bands and other prominent individuals for cameo performances of what has become their signature song. Prominent among them is Geno from the band Saving Starz, who once showed up with the same green-colored, canvas tennis shoes as Jeff. (Is that as much of a social blunder as when two women show up at a party in the same dress?)
I even am occasionally asked to sing some Jimi Hendrix or Clash – as long as I don’t get carried away and hold a note way too long over his guitar solo.
Loven plays all over the Twin Cities metro area, and across the St. Croix Valley. Regular gigs have included those like that at Dick’s, where Loven had played every Sunday night for more than 10 years. He got his start with bands such as the Kilowatts and in the ‘80s a speed metal outfit called Obsession, which held a reunion show at the Cabooze in the Twin Cities a few months ago. The now family man readily notes in teasing fashion that “he was great in the ‘80s, was hot with the ladies, played in a band with Tom Davies and is now just making babies.” The banter had a more serious nature a couple of years ago when his wife was battling cancer and scores of those people who have done cameos over the years turned out at a benefit at Throwbacks in Maplewood, Minn.
One-man-band contests are held nightly to name a tune based on his playing the first couple of notes. (People like yours truly who play the game like ringers are teasingly “put on a 30 second hold)”. Audience members get to cheer to choose the decade of the song being guessed, and it usually seems to come out – you guessed it — the ‘80s. If people have celebrated too much, they sometimes forget and “vote” more than once, so Loven has to jokingly chastise them. Prizes always include “a brand new car,” in reality a vintage Matchbox, and a free drink.
“I like breaking up the night a bit with a ‘Name That Tune’ car giveaway or sometimes I’ll have someone come up and take the Cowbell Challenge, (or tambourine playing),” Loven said of the silly bits where someone gets “Lucy Goosey” and does their best Will Ferrell impersonation as accompaniment. “The cowbell thing is lots of fun because I usually pick someone who has never seen me before but the audience is in on the gag. I guess we use it as an initiation of sorts.” He gleefully tells his cohort that the best way to ring the cowbell is to hold it upside-down and clank on the very edge of the rim.
Besides the Dick’s Bar shows, Loven also plays on a regular basis at Pub Monique in Stillwater and Meister’s Bar in Boardman, as well as having shows at other local venues. People can check the schedule at www.jeffloven.com.
These are Joe Winter’s picks for fun things to do with Hudson-area nightlife in the coming week.
– Longtime crooner Dave applauds his friend Lori for adding more Josh Turner
and even Weird Al Yankovich to her karaoke play list. Her act can be seen at
Ellie’s on Wednesday nights, the Bungalow most Fridays and Shooter’s in River
Falls many Thursdays. Also check out Bo’s ‘n Mine in River Falls on Thursday
nights, for a very crisp and clean sound, the Corner Bar in River Falls on
Wednesday nights, for the noteworthy lighted list of singers that can be
regularly edited, and the Hudson Bowling Center, home of one of the longest-
running years of karaoke you’ll see.
– On weekends at Dick’s, dance mix is on tap. On Friday nights, the deejay is
Eric Bolden. (For a long time, I thought people were saying Burden, like the
singer for The Animals!) On Saturdays, the deejay is named Bob, and the word is
he’s really into funky Michael Jackson (think Thriller).
– Across the way at Ellie’s, there also is a weekend deejay, who spins a little
of everything and is good about requests.
On Thursdays at Ellie’s, there are acoustic guitar soloists and duos, who play
diverse styles of music that include more laid-back covers of rock songs that
originally were chock full of power cords.
– Epic 5 plays Dibbo’s on Saturday night, sporting a wide variety in its song
mix that includes dance-able rock. The group is billed as playing very tight and
with a lot of professionalism.
– At Uncle Mike’s, its B-Bourbon on Friday night and Alley Rats on Saturday,
and the following Tuesday features the return of an open “Mike” night that
includes some bluesy musicians in the house band who have done this for years. I
got my start in singing Hendrix with this crew way back around the turn of the
millennium. The open jam is every other Tuesday from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
– On Friday at the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt, its the Bootlegg Brothers
band, and then on Saturday, it’s Blind Dog, a band that’s well-known regionally.
“They’re really fun,” said a bartender, adding they’re widely renowned for that.
– The Viking cheerleaders will hit Woody’s in Bayport from 6-7 p.m. on Friday,
to help you forget the current Purple Pain. Then, from 7-8 p.m., is a party
featuring Batch19, a rediscovered beer from pre-Prohibition days. The old recipe
was found in a brewery logbook, and it is described as “a hoppy yet surprisingly
balanced lager” from Coors Brewery Archives.
– Country will also hit River Falls on Friday night. The Corner Bar is
featuring the party country band Daisy and the Dukes, and at Shooters’s its the
black-hatted 2 Mile Final.
– Still the best place to watch the Packers, if you like the most TV screen for
your money, is the Village Inn and its 20-plus televisions when the Green and
Gold play again Sunday at noon.
These are a random collection of quirky occurrences seen while covering the Hudson
entertainment scene. There are plenty to be found; just make a showing and keep
your eyes and ears open.
– Local people who work there are still talking about the appearance of Van
Halen at the Afton House Inn. (OK, it was more than an appearance, they holed up
there for almost a week after a recent show in the Cities, and spent loads of
money in the lounge). A noteworthy fact that was discovered: The bands
dog-walkers get $68,000 a year, and there’s more than one of them. Workers also
took the boys in the band over to Woody’s in Bayport just to get them out of the
house, so to speak. No word of if they ever made it to Hudson to party, like
when Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down and Gregg Allman, on separate nights, did when
they closed up at Pudge’s.
– A local man was a principle in redoing a mansion for Prince, down to the fact
that there were 16 showers installed with two shower heads each. He told me over
a beer that Prince can be someone with whom you can get along, but when first
getting to know him, just be all business and don’t look him in the eye. Do this
and eventually, he will open up to you at least a little bit. It turns out that
Prince, in a way that is unusual for a singer, has streaks where he hardly ever
speaks, rather relying on telepathy.
– I have my own Prince story. At an area gas station, I met a very well-dressed
man whose car had broken down and he needed a ride. He seemed harmless, so I
concurred. Hence, he told me that aside from his day job, he was a guitar player
in Prince’s backup band while the Purple One was on tour at the height of his
popularity. The man gave me his card and was adamant that we do lunch. Alas, and
I regret it, I never called him back. Too busy with deadlines such as this, I
guess.
– A sassy blonde friend of mine came to the rescue of one of her girlfriends,
when they were on the tour bus of the heavy metal band Lacuna Coil after their
most recent show in the Cities. It seems one of the musicians was getting way
too cozy with her friend. Reminds me of that song, Once Bitten, Twice shy, and
the deeds of the drummer: “I got there in the nick of time, before he got his
hands across her state line.” Incidentally, another local friend who looks quite
similar could find herself in the same situation; she has been dating the
manager of Five Finger Death Punch, who she met at a St. Paul concert.
– A noteworthy presence in downtown Hudson bars has come from two regular
patrons who are ordained ministers, but took a white-collar and blue-collar job,
respectively, rather than pursuing a career with the cloth. Suffice it to say
they won’t be giving any sermons.
– (First, a disclaimer. I try not to look at anyone while they are in a
bathroom stall, but sometimes you just have to look through the crack — pardon
the pun — to see if the stall is occupied). You think that people overuse cell
phones late at night, or while behind the wheel? I recently had to wait quite
some time to use the facilities while someone was texting on the toidy!
– The weather is getting cool, so you don’t want to get wet. But you would have
during our first cold snap if you parked your car along the spaces between
Lakefront Park and First Street. The city had their sprinklers on and they were
raining down on the front hood, the windshield, the back window — you get the
picture. I know the city is energetic in keeping people out of the park at
night, moreso and moreso, but this is ridiculous.
– Seen at the counter of the Village Liquor store: The book, “How to cook with
beer.” Wouldn’t you know it, this literary masterpiece was an inch thick! Only
in Wisconsin, where there are seemingly a gazillion ways to make beer-cheese
soup.
– To further that note, patrons at Guv’s Place in Houlton were prompting a cloth
monkey dressed as a Viking to drown its head in a beer glass. The shocked bartender
(OK that’s an over-statement), rescued it and lightly slapped the perpetrator
with the monkey. One has to wonder, would any of this have happened if the
monkey could hold his beer like any self-respecting Wisconsinite?