Philadelphia’s maximalist grimecore duo Ghösh dropped into O’Brien’s Pub on Thursday, 27 October 2022. It was a night of blue lights and bass drops, turning the “no-frills bar” in the bowels of Allston into a pop-up rave shop. Triff, Homeworld, and FEARDOTCOM played in support.

Colorful costumes streamed in and out of the venue. The psychedelic accents of the electronic scene mixed with stray souls wending their way to early Halloween parties. But what counts as ‘early’? 

The length of the spooky season varies by location. Neighborhoods designed to squeeze the most dollars out of their university students, like the undergraduate haunts of Cambridge or Somerville, will grind out themed Halloween parties all weekend. Suburban enclaves at the edge of Boston, like a Brookline or Roslindale, take the most doctrinaire approach, legislating the trick-or-treat fun to certain hours on a certain day. In the yuppie silo high-rises springing up around town the holiday lasts roughly 90 minutes, just enough time for the childless denizens to remember it’s Halloween, and then forget again.

Allston, though, in accordance with the better angels of its nature, celebrates Halloween all year long. It’s the neighborhood in which you’re most likely to attend a costume party in July. The masqued balling at O’Brien’s Pub, then, was more or less par for the course.

Early standout of the night FEARDOTCOM impressed with his set. When it came time to take the stage, he delivered a banquet table’s worth of electronic gear to the stage. It was a lovely, chaotic mess that only the artist could make head or tail of. With the proliferation of plug-n-play DJ gear on the market, it’s a real head turner when an artist builds his own rig from the ground up. And you can hear the difference in the sound. FEARDOTCOM crafts heavy, aggressive electro hardcore grinds that flirt with pure noise at times. 

In fact, the centerpiece texture of the first song was a sonic sample that strongly resembled the buzzy hiss of cheap, poorly assembled electronic music equipment. Think: the harsh zap and ear-crunching crinkle of a loose cord in a PA setup. It’s the sound guy’s worst nightmare, but FEARDOTCOM runs toward this hostile groove. He played with some of the harshest tones available, and made it into music.

Ghösh reset the needle of the night back to a pop sensibility after wading through the noise-filth waters of FEARDOTCOM. The Philly duo came dressed to press: one a neon cowboy, the other a human-sized hot dog with over-stuffed Mickey Mouse-style white gloves. The set delivered rapid-fire digital hardcore ditties. The neon cowboy handled the sampler while the human-sized hot dog focused on the vocals, a mix of rhymes and flint-edged speak/shout. 

The songs built up steam quickly, and hit their wall just as quickly, as Ghösh raced through its setlist. You can imagine the duo rewiring their songs for “extended dance mixes” in a more dancehall setting. They have that kind of reversible DJ/rock act vibe. But in the VFW hall-ambience of O’Brien’s Pub on a Thursday night, Ghösh played more the fast and dirty punk set expectations.

The venue emptied in a flash after Ghösh played their last number. Either people have work in the morning or they had to hoof it to a late night Halloween party. Though the pub is listed as open until 1am, it was clear the crew was calling it a night before the midnight hour. The pub, like its acts, keeping it fast and dirty.