31 Days of Hallowe'en: Dracula's Ball

Well, we were going to tell you about Dracula's Ball, the regular Goth event that happens to occur on Hallowe'en every year (what a coincidence!), but then we had a bright idea: Why do all the work when we can have someone else tell you all about it? So we traded some emails with promoter Patrick Rodgers of Dancing Ferret, and he graciously agreed to answer some spoooooky questions.

(Incidentally, that's not Patrick to the right. He's a lot more... bearded, for one thing. It's the singer of Collide, from last year's show.)

Phillyist: How did Dracula's Ball get started, and why?

Patrick: Dracula's Ball was started after I came to the realization that I'd attended (and even promoted) too many shows where a talented band that was not very well known was playing to far fewer people than they should have been. I wanted to create something that would bring people out to see a band perform, even if they weren't familiar with the band at all. Dracula's Ball was the result: an event designed to showcase bands, without itself being a band-centered event. We gave the Ball its own identity that didn't depend on the bands who were performing, and as such, the Ball developed its own following and its own fan base. Now we can host an unsigned local band or we can fly in a major act from Germany and put either one of them in front of over a thousand people.

Phillyist: So, who are you, and what the heck is Dancing Ferret?

Patrick: Dancing Ferret is a small group of companies that are involved in various aspects of the music business. We started about ten and a half years ago with Dancing Ferret Concerts, which promotes concerts and club nights at various venues around the city, including our quarterly Dracula's Ball event, and our weekly Nocturne Wednesdays party at Shampoo, which we believe to be the longest-running weekly club night in Philly. Dancing Ferret Discs is our record label division, which is home to 18 talented bands from around the world. Earlier this year we signed our first and only Philadelphia band, Carfax Abbey. Dancing Ferret Retail is responsible for our shop, Digital Ferret, which is on 5th Street between South and Lombard. It also publishes our annual magazine, Asleep By Dawn, which has over 35,000 subscribers.

Phillyist: Can you tell us a little bit about the atmosphere at Drac's Ball?

Patrick: As the name suggests, there's definitely a dark and mysterious vibe to it. About half of our crowd travels two hours or more to reach the Ball, which means that there are always a lot of new faces. I think the Ball imparts a sense that guests are in a setting removed from their normal routine, which is something that can never be achieved with a weekly event at a local club with the same crowd. While there is no dress code, many people put a lot of effort into their clothes for the event, and I think people get a kick out of having a party they can really dress up for. It certainly makes for great people-watching as well. Because there are so many different people from all over the place, the social atmosphere is very open. People know they are going to meet new friends and they're excited about the prospect. DJs and bands love the event because people are extremely receptive to new music. Our doors open at 9pm and the dancefloor starts hopping by 9:15, and the bands always have a huge crowd of people in front of the stage.

Phillyist: What if I'm not a goth? Will I still have a good time?

Patrick: It would be pretty hard not to have a good time. We have three DJs working on three separate dancefloors, as well as two live bands playing. If you don't like what you see in one room, move to one of the other rooms. Dracula's Ball is definitely paced for the MTV generation. Things move very quickly. The bands are kept to short sets and the DJs mix up their playlists, so things are constantly changing. While the goth scene has been extremely supportive of the event over the years, a lot of other subcultures have gotten hip to the event as well, which has given us a wonderfully diverse mix of guests. Our Halloween event is even more accessible than our other events, since a lot of people who just want something different and exciting to do for Halloween will show up. That said, if you think any music that isn't played on the radio just sucks, and you are disturbed by seeing a girl in a chainmail bikini or a guy wearing eyeliner, then this event might not be your cup of tea.

Phillyist: Who do you have DJing this time around?

Patrick: We don't have any resident DJs; we always bring in guests for each event, from all around the world. For the Halloween Ball we have DJ Kantrip from South Carolina, DJ Rev. Brian from Connecticut, and our third DJ, Dave Ghoul, is from right here in Philadelphia. The music runs the gamut from synthpop, gothic, alternative, metal, world music, industrial, new wave, medieval, trip hop and more. If it's dark and groovy and you can dance to it, one of our DJs will be playing it.

Phillyist: What about the musical acts?

Patrick: We have two favorites returning this Halloween. Voltaire has appeared at several Dracula's Ball events before. Musically, his style is best described as "gypsy rock" as he incorporates a string section (professional classical musicians who slip away from the Orchestra to moonlight as rock stars) into very catchy pop-rock songs. He's a devastatingly brilliant lyricist, with strong tendencies to biting and sarcastic songs about love and other stupid things that people do. He even engages in a little comedic banter between songs that borders on stand-up comedy. We also have The Cruxshadows [pronounced Croo-shadows - Phillyist], who played a Ball about seven years ago, before their career exploded. For the past few years they've been playing 100-150 live shows each year, all around the world. They just finished three months of touring in Europe and are now on the road in the US to support their recent DVD release, Shadowbox. Their live show is one of the most high-energy, exciting shows in the music industry today, period. Their music incorporates elements of 80s style synthpop (think Depeche Mode) with a dark twist (think more uptempo 4AD material) and some modern industrial dance beats to keep the dance floor moving. We're very pleased that they had a break in their schedule that allowed them to play for us again.

Phillyist: Is Voltaire an actual person, or really a staff of a dozen different talented people masquerading as a single human being?

Patrick: I sometimes wonder the same thing myself. My theory is that this guy has discovered a twenty-fifth hour in the day and the greedy b*****d won't share the secret with the rest of us. At our retail shop, Digital Ferret, we sell his CDs, his books, his comics, his action figures...pretty soon the guy will have more merchandising than Krusty the Clown. I'm a bit apprehensive about the Voltaire Home Pregnancy Test. Given his warped and very sharp sense of humor, it wouldn't surprise me if he was working on one right now.

Phillyist: OK, so bottom line this for me: Why should I spend my time and money to go to Dracula's Ball instead any of the other bazillion Hallowe'en-y things going on around Philly?

Patrick: If, god forbid, you had a heart problem, would you go to a family doctor or would you go to a cardiologist? We've done thirty Dracula's Ball events so far, and every one of them has essentially been an exciting and fun Halloween party. Think of us as Halloween specialists. Sure, there are a lot of clubs having "Halloween parties" where they staple a few cardboard black cats to a wall and have the bartenders wear pointy hats, but it's really just the same people at the same club listening to the same music. Halloween, more than any other occasion, is about doing different things, about being different. Dracula's Ball gives people that opportunity to experience something unusual, to broaden their horizons, to try new things and meet new people...or for the less adventurous, a chance to just peer out from the shadows and live vicariously through others.

Dracula's Ball
Monday, October 31st, 2005, 9pm-2:00am
Shampoo Nightclub, 7th & Willow Streets, Philadelphia.
All ages welcome.
$13, available through Ticketmaster, Digital Ferret or Isotank

Photo credit: Kyle Cassidy