The timing of Halloween meant there were costume parties on both Saturday and Wednesday, with deejays and bands packing the various houses quite full of creatures dancing, which tended to be more along the lines of silly-quirky than the hot-sexy that has been the norm for the past few years.

Gel got the crowd going at Dibbo’s, although the biggest numbers of the costumed minions were at Dick’s, which had The New Skinny playing on Saturday and Brian Naughton on Wednesday. No matter where you chose to party, it was hard to go wrongwith finding lots of the undead.
The scene at Dick’s on Saturday, and again on Wednesday, was dominated by the stuff on people’s heads. One woman wore a headdress almost a foot high that was chock full of vegies, fruit and straw, and four days later there was a carbon copy sported that had mostly bananas and other big fruit.
On Saturday, a very tall man was one of two sporting a sombrero, and that was a good thing since the brim was so wide it could conceivably have sliced someone — although you must admit that would be fitting for Halloween. This biggie was tried on by several patrons, some of whom were just as tall. That same big guy changed it up a bit by having a baseball hat underneath the Mexican hat.
On Saturday, there was another sombrero, this one with colorful flairs along the brim. It is fitting that the Megatouch video game played at various bars had a trivia question about the Golden Sombrero, which is when a baseball player strikes out four times in a game. These costumes definitely didn’t strike out, although some did sport that other baseball cliche, The Collar.
At the Halloween party at Guv’s Place in Houlton, in this case held on a Friday, scare-fest Jess had the costume of the holiday. She put on tons of foundation makeup to essentially push her face forward, which allowed her the facial room to create an empty eye-socket look with no eyeballs. A finely made mesh at the forefront of the eye sockets enabled her to “see” who she was dancing with, although she said she had no peripheral vision.
Jess spent a lot of time dancing to the tunes of the band Off The Record with fellow bartender Cheri, who was dressed as what was described by various people as a duchess, countess or other royal figure. Her headgear, again, was tried on by many others, including a “priest” who had a hat of his own.
A last oversize head-enhancer was at the Dibbo’s party, a more than two-foot-wide, fittingly black hat that was studded with metal clips and other embellishments. Perhaps this witchy woman should have met up with the leather-and-metal-clad Edward Scissorhands, who was looking quite creepy at a place a few doors down. Another woman went that costume route with just the extended fingers — although hers were made of cloth.
Back at Dick’s, a man and a woman who were walking past one another noticed that they had the exact same oversize glasses, so they swapped these as well. Coming in the door was a woman dressed up as a bride, and although that’s not so noteworthyin itself, what got attention is that she was with a whole group of “bridesmaids.”
On Halloween night, a man put on the face of a bull, complete with big widespread horns and the biggest nose ring you’ve ever seen. Again, don’t poke anyone with those!
At Green Mill, a heavy metal rocker wore a guitar slung across his back, like the famous album cover by The Boss, but it was smaller than a regular instrument in order to fit the length of his torso. Think the size of a mandolin. Then on Wednesday at Ellie’s, Batman walked in with Batgirl, presumably to do battle with the already there Hannibal the Cannibal. But wait, that’s when The Joker was called up to do some karaoke, but not quite in time to elude the timely-entranced Caped Crusaders.

Meanwhile, at Woody’s in Bayport, the deejay wore a huge box on his head, looking like the “I’m Sexy and I know It” band member, but that wasn’t noticed by the “blind ref” who was getting the most out of his costume by agitating — poking around at people’s feet with his walking stick.
There were two super sexy costumes of note, which bucked the trend of the night. One, at Ellie’s, was a police woman with only a little leather here and there, which meant lots of bare midriff and even more skin showing on the back of her cutout chaps. The other, at Dick’s, was a Catwoman whose costume was dead-on for that worn by Halle Berry. Good thing she wasn’t at Ellie’s to meet up with The Bat Couple.
Combining sexy and quirky, but still mostly the latter, was a guy whose shirt was on a hanger that was draped across the back of his neck and head. The tag said “well hung” and the hanger was fittingly heavy-duty, made up of small pieces of pipe attached together.

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.

Loven’s Guitar Wizardry is Only The Start

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.