Halloween in Santa Fe

Standing by the graveside of Billy the Kid, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. "He Died As He Lived", carved into the marble. That's about all we can ask for, in the end. So I toss a quarter to the grave…for luck, or inspiration, or maybe just because it seems like the thing to do. And then we drive on across the sun-blasted plains.

Halloween in Santa Fe – we came up with the idea of being…a 1950s band dressed up as classic monsters. So – matching black shoes and pants, white shirts. Jesse as the wolfman, me as the mummy, Robby as Dracula, Colin as Frankenstein, and Justin as a classic Halloween witch. It is definitely difficult to play music with about 25 strips of cloth tied around your head. Also difficult to breathe. Drinking is tough, but I managed somehow.

It was surreal for me, playing a big show, dressed up, in a town where we don't really know anyone. And then a KISS cover band plays after us…which is cool. I never was all that into Halloween as a kid, or even as an adult – it was usually a party I skipped or ignored. But it was fun to play.

Halloween is such a strange and interesting holiday. One night, where people basically confront their own fears, desires…the extremes of the human psyche. All wrapped up in one bacchanalian celebration. I realize that most people probably view it as "get dressed up and drink a lot" – but getting to watch it from the outside (ie not knowing anyone around me), I felt like I saw it from a slightly different perspective. But it could have just been the cloth strips around my head.