Tricks and Treats this Halloween Weekend

ROCK ’N’ SKULL: If you’re uncertain how to spend your Halloween weekend, Santa Barbara’s music venues offer many opportunities to get your ghoul on. Over at Velvet Jones on Friday, the comical rocker/rapper and all-around prankster Smoov-E will deliver both tricks and treats with hits like “Mr. Biscuits” and “Dick Like Mine” (423 State St., 8pm). A few blocks farther north at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club (1221 State St., 9pm), the 15- to 20-piece act Vaud and the Villains kick off the weekend with its theatrical take on New Orleans big-band jazz. Billed “American Noir meets Moulin Rouge,” the flamboyantly dressed assortment of musicians will be the perfect musical accompaniment to all of us costumed in sexier versions of someone else’s day-job uniform.

If EDM is more your style, We the Beat hosts the summery sounds of Viceroy for its Freak the Beat dance night at El Paseo (813 Anacapa St., 9pm), where the Indian summer heat shall rise once more in the form of dance-floor perspiration. Elsewhere that night, over at Center Stage Theater (751 Paseo Nuevo, 8pm), Zombie Rock: Open Mic Night for the Undead, a rock musical written by members of indie-rock band The Agreeables, continues its run through Halloween.

On Halloween itself, The Olés play at Pure Order’s Halloween Party (410 N. Quarantina St., 12-7pm). We at The Santa Barbara Independent recently deemed them one of the area’s best up-and-coming bands, and we can think of few better ways to ease into the night than by enjoying some free-flowing, reggae-inspired vibes with a side of good beer. Having gotten a little tipsy, one could glide like a ghost over to SOhO for The Molly Ringwald Project that evening — recommended especially for those who are going for an ’80s costume (9:30pm).

Having no doubt sweated through your kit on the dance floor, you can also find a musical cleansing on Sunday at SOhO when Pure Bathing Culture soaks us through with their Portland-brand indie synth-rock (9pm). They have a song called “Pray for Rain,” which hopefully will encourage a wet and watery winter ahead.

ROCK ON WATER: Speaking of water, CEO/musician/philanthropist Pete Muller rocks for a cause on Wednesday, November 4, at SOhO when he plays a dual album release and fundraising benefit show for MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation (7:15pm). Sales for his newest album, Two Truths and a Lie, are helping fund charity: water, an organization dedicated to providing accessible water to villages and communities around the globe. He and his eight-piece band are playing a string of concerts around the nation in support of the new material, with each concert also raising funds for a different charitable cause in each city.

An early supporter of MOXI along with his wife, Muller felt the upcoming science museum was a natural fit for his charitable musical quest. “We love living in Santa Barbara, and we’re totally excited to be able to perform in support of an institution that’s going to make Santa Barbara a better place,” he said.

The title of his newest album points to the songwriting process. “Songwriting needs to be centered in truth, but sometimes the truth needs a little help. Sometimes it’s okay and desirable to embellish a bit,” he said. He hopes his music helps others find their inner truths. “If you pick up my message, it’s to figure out what your passion is about and to do it with your full heart. Life is great when you do that.”

For more information and tickets, click here.