Saturday night marked yet another Moonfest, Clematis Street's annual Halloween free-for-all. For the first time in the event's 20 year history, there was a cover fee, but luckily that resulted in a safety facelift and solid lineup of local acts, not a lack of bodies and boredom.
On the hunt for the cleanest place to pee, New Times made a break for Longboards and ran into West Palm Beach band Raggy Monster's lead vocalists, Billy Schmidt and Rachel Duvall. With a big gig and video shoot coming up next weekend, it was the perfect time for a little chat.
This Friday, November 2, Raggy Monster is headlining Speakeasy Lounge
in Lake Worth with support from Boca reggae act Fireside Prophets and metalheads the Toilets.
Halloween is getting a special extension this year, as Raggy Monster encourages guests to come dressed in their best zombie garb for free
admission.
Noah Frank of Delray Beach, who produced the video for Lavola's "Vereen,"
will be shooting the final scene of their first-ever music video, for
"Cannibal," off their self titled debut album. The 5-piece band will be
capitalizing on The Walking Dead hype and perform as zombies to a
crowd full of zombies as they overtake the stage during the final minute
of the song.
When asked where the idea for the flesh-eating song
came from, Billy told us that "It was actually a crazy, terrifying dream
I had where I was hiding in the bushes and attacking and eating joggers
on Palm Beach Island. When I got too full, I took the rest home and
barbequed them." The result is a hypnotizing song with a sweet keyboard
hook and an ominous vibe.
In addition to prepping for the shoot this
weekend, Raggy Monster was asked just the day before to lend their
talents to the Moonfest lineup and opened the show on the main stage.
Rachel's glorious and winding voice caught the attention of none other
than headliners Bow Wow Wow. Famous for their 80's hit "I Want Candy,"
Bow Wow Wow's lead singer Annabella Lwin was shockingly not present for
the gig because her fear of hurricanes forced her to stay home in Los
Angeles and left the rest of the band to fend for themselves. They gave
Rachel an offer she couldn't refuse and asked her to join in and take
Lwin's place in the spotlight for their biggest hit.
Bow Wow Wow
called Rachel on stage for their highly anticipated closing song as the
band let it be known that they had gone over set time and would be
severely fined if they kept on playing. The costumed crowd went nuts,
demanding to hear the song we all came for. As if they were playing a
not-so-funny joke on us, the band finally ripped into their signature
jam with the addition of Rachel's wail. About 5 seconds
later, the mics went dead and the plug was pulled. The headlining act
left the stage with no lead singer and never played their hit song. It was a disappointment that was easily forgotten though as the street party was happening and there was plenty of undead
inspiration for this weekend's Cannibal Night.
Cannibal Night with Raggy Monster
with Fireside Prophets and The Toilets Friday, November 2. Free admission if you dress like a zombie for the music video, otherwise it's $5
for 21 and older. Visit Facebook for more information.
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