Chappell Roans, with wild red hair, bedazzled Western wear and drag makeup, performed not at the Pink Pony Club, but at last year’s LAVA Halloween Extravaganza in Norfolk.
The family-friendly event returns Saturday to Toast and Perro Blanco on the corner of Colonial Avenue and West 24th Street for its ninth year of food, drinks, a costume contest and live music. This year, local artists are channeling performers such as James Brown, Rage Against the Machine, Heart and Smashing Pumpkins.
“This is a showcase of our local music scene coming together to do something truly cool,” said Josh Coplon, owner of LAVA Presents, which produces the show.
The setlists are random, covering different decades and genres. The covers are used so that the crowd can sing along. The event is a boost for artists' visibility, often one of a band's biggest shows of the year. More than 1,500 people are expected to attend this weekend. People come year after year to see their favorite artists and discover new ones.
“It reaches a much broader community,” Coplon said, and people increasingly learn “about our local music community and cool events going on.”
The first year, three bands played their own music in a warehouse. There was little signage, and the event was largely word of mouth. The next year, Coplon switched to one-night cover sets. With everyone singing and dancing to familiar favorites, it was “one of the most epic nights we've ever had.”
He thought: “This is what we gotta do every year for the Halloween show.”
Some full-time bands learn a new set list together, while others are a hodgepodge of musicians collaborating specifically for the show. One limited-edition ensemble this year is the all-female Wheezer cover group, Sheezer. One member, Ana Velez, has attended the LAVA Extravaganza since the beginning.
“I was so blown away by all the talent,” she said of the first event. Each year, she recognizes musicians she knows professionally, as friends, and those she’s a fan of after attending small shows in Norfolk.
“It's cool that there's these even larger events happening now, too.”
Velez is a singer, guitarist and bassist for her band, Community Witch, and has her solo venture, Grass Maiden. But playing new music with new bandmates takes two months of practice, during which she learns and contributes to the vibe that makes the Extravaganza special, she said.
The whole point is “just for people to enjoy themselves and to kind of forget about life.”
The Extravaganza evolved into a block party after 2022, when Toast was so crowded that organizers had to turn people away at the door. Perro Blanco sits beside it and the expanded capacity comfortably hosts more than 2,000 and has the room for more food trucks, vendors and a merch table selling posters and T-shirts.
The costume contest raises money for the nonprofit Wings Over Leukemia & Lymphoma, and people go all out, Coplon said.
“It's just exciting to see people have such a fun night and get so excited, and … for the bands to play a big show.”
Visit lavapresents.com for tickets and more information.