MADISON HALLOWEEN

State Street and Halloween.

It is a phrase that sends anticipatory shivers up the spines of Midwestern college students. The tradition of crazy costumes, excessive consumption of all things legal and otherwise and drunken acts are a draw for thousands of partiers across the region. And news cameras and photographers chronicle it all.

State Street is fun if you are a student, still wish you were a student or just want to see all the costumes people will be wearing. But if you don't fit into one of these categories and have grown tired of the same old Halloween scene, there are many other celebrations in Madison being thrown this Saturday.

Leading the way is the HalloQueen indie Queer Costume Ball. This first all-ages indie Queer Madison party will be held at the newly reopened Majestic Theater on Saturday night, Oct. 27. Indie Queer, or iQ, started in 2006 in response to the minimal queer entertainment scene in Madison. iQ organizers wanted to offer a place where queer and straight people of all ages could dance. These downtown parties have become a popular alternative at the King Club to other dance clubs in the area.

indie Queer Madison coordinator Liz Tymus notes that iQ nights are focused on the tunes. "Nick Nice and the Real Jaguar will be providing the music, and as demonstrated in the Madison's Favorites poll, these guys are the best DJ's in town," she says. "They will absolutely be playing the best of indie dance music out there."

The costume ball has been in the works for the past two months and will include MC Pierce Bottoms and a drag show put on by UW-Madison students. Tymus encourages people to come out and see the costumes the queer community will showcase.

"HalloQueen will be a sophisticated event, whereas other Halloween festivities will be plagued by the drunken debauchery that Madison is known best for," she says. "We'd like to change that, sass it up a bit and throw the hottest costume ball the city has ever seen."

Tickets for HalloQueen are $8 in advance and $10 at the door, and a limited amount of VIP tickets will be available at the Majestic Box Office Saturday for $25.

If HalloQueen isn't your thing, here are some other downtown events:

• The Maximum Ink Halloween Party with Mr. Brownstone, Turbo, Straight to the Stone Age. This annual bash at High Noon Saloon will feature costumed cover bands playing tunes by Guns’n’Roses, the Cars, and Queens of the Stone Age, with a headlining performance by Chicago glam metallurgists Cealed Kasket. The party starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $10 at the door.


• A costumed Halloween Spooktacular at the King Club will feature samba-influenced pop Pagee Go-Go, along with energetic punk by Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons and The Facesteak. The party will be capped by caburlesque from Foxy Veronica's Peach Pies. The fun begins at 9 p.m.


• The Vampire’s Ball will DJ:EYG and DJ Siberia marks the return of the CHROME dance party at the Inferno. This Halloween celebration also features a costume contest. The hard beats begin at 9 p.m., with a $3 cover starting at 10 p.m.


• Wonders Pub is the site of the second annual Halloween Rock 'n' Roll Fundraiser for the Goodman Atwood Community Center. Music by The Sigourney Weavers, The Murder Primates (nee The Motor Primitives), and the triumphant return of the disco band VO5. The show starts at 8 p.m., and admission is $10 in costume and $15 without costume; all fees will go directly to the community center.


• The King lives again at the Crystal Corner, where Pupy, make that Elvis Costello & His Big City Halloweenies will be playing their regular repertoire along with classic Elvis covers. The band will be in costume as Elvis as you knew him -- Hawaiian, Leather, Vegas, and Graceland -- with giveaways and a contest for the audience in this Halloween Spooktacular. The show starts at 8 p.m., and the cover is $8.


• This month's DJ Foundation show at the Mercury Restaurant Lounge will be a Halloween edition known as H3LLB4SS. The beats will be provided by DJ Hush, the Paradox Twins, and Doctor Jonez starting at 10 p.m., and with no cover.


• If you're looking for what could be the polar opposite of the party on State Street, the Chicago popsters Head of Femur will be playing Kiki's House of Righteous Music at 9 p.m. Madison's own National Beekeepers Society starts the show.


• Finally, Honor Among Thieves will be hosting a costume party at the Harmony Bar. Cover for the 9:45 p.m. show is $8 (or $6 in costume).

More Halloween fun and parties can be found in The Daily Page listing of Halloween events around Madison and in The Guide.