Only at Ulalume Festival will famous musical acts perform for a zombie skateboarder, the Super Mario Brothers and a 10-foot yeti.
MTV took over Merriweather Post Pavilion on Friday to present this first annual Halloween event, the Ulalume Festival. Named after a particularly gloomy Edgar Allen Poe poem and headlined by bands AFI and Paramore, Ulalume was a slightly spooky and exciting night to remember.
At 4:30 p.m, the gates opened and attendees dressed in ghoulish costumes piled onto the grounds covered in stringy cobwebs and ominous fog. While waiting for the sets to start, people wandered through fake cemeteries and a haunted house called the Clown Asylum, got a rush of adrenaline on rides (although you had to be 18) and played carnival games. Expensive carnival food and merchandise from the performers were a plenty.
Two hours after opening, the Merriweather stage decorated with spooky trees was lit and hip-hop newbie Kid Cudi stepped out in front of the audience. Accompanied by a D.J., Cudi got the party started with a short set that included his breakthrough hit “Day ‘N’ Night” and up-coming single “Pursuit of Happiness.”
Next up was Dead by Sunrise, a side project band started by Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington. Playing songs from their new debut album (released Oct. 9), the band’s entire set consisted of grungy guitar riffs and Bennington’s notorious yowls.
In between acts, text messages sent in by audience members were displayed on screens, saying things like “Paramore rocks” and the occasional “Will you marry me?” (Whether the questions were real or just a joke, no one will ever know).
While the music stopped between sets, a costume contest kept guests entertained. The first prize winner, the yeti, took home $2,500 and two lawn seat tickets for every concert hosted at Merriweather in 2010. Who wouldn’t want to spend a ton of money on an intricate costume to win a prize like that?
AFI later pumped up the volume with an energized performance. Frontman Davey Havoc flew, flailed, and danced around the stage while singing hits from their new Crash Love album. The biggest rouse out of the crowd came at the end of the set, when hits “Medicate” ( the band’s latest single), “Love Like Winter,“ “Miss Murder,” and “Silver and Cold” were played one right after the other.
Paramore closed things out with a fiery, hour-long set that further proved the group’s dominance on the music scene. The performance included songs from all of the band’s albums, included their latest, Brand New Eyes, which was released late September. New songs from the album like “Careful,” first single “Ignorance” and “Looking Up” provided variety in a set that included popular hits such as “Misery Business” and “CrushCrushCrush.”
Paramore ended the spooky festival with the audience singing along loudly to their next single, “Brick By Boring Brick.”
But fear no more! You can experience the concert one more time when it it airs Oct. 30 at 9 pm ET on mtvU.
