Okay Bar in Bywater will host eight bands and roughly 40 musicians on Oct. 31 for the 16th annual Halloween cover show benefiting the New Orleans Community Printshop & Darkroom. Doors open at 7 p.m.; tickets cost $10 to $20. This year’s sets span Nirvana, Hole, Daniel Johnston, Spice Girls, Jim Croce, Soundgarden, Beastie Boys and Linkin Park.
Proceeds from the cover shows support the printshop, Gambit reports. The organization describes itself on its website as a volunteer-based collective offering the greater New Orleans community access to affordable printmaking, darkroom and art-making equipment, training and services. It says it aims for a transparent, non-hierarchical structure. The Franklin Avenue space has Thursday open hours, when artist members help people use the shop, according to Gambit.
A Tradition Rooted in 2012
The printshop’s cover-show series began in 2012 and now has two editions each year, with the second usually held before Mardi Gras, Gambit reports. Anthony Ford credited Rachel Speck with helping establish the events as recurring dates on the local Halloween and Carnival calendars. The shows have taken place at venues including the Allways Lounge, Saturn Bar and Poor Boys; this year’s event is at Okay Bar, 2701 Royal St. in Bywater, according to LocalGroove.
The shows typically bring together about eight bands and 40 musicians, Gambit reports. Their repertoire has ranged from Alice Cooper and Enya to Billie Eilish and Neil Young. The spring 2024 edition included a group playing music from Grease, while Laura Fisher and Sasha Masakowski performed their St. Vincent set at the Joy Theater that year. The spring 2025 bill also covered System of a Down, Green Day, The Clash, The Strokes, Alan Jackson, Sparklehorse, Billie Eilish and Neil Young.
Musicians Return Year After Year
Gambit reports that Laura Fisher has returned for sets covering King Crimson, Tom Waits and Radiohead. She later formed the math rock and alt-pop band Matron with Bobby Burvant, Jordan Bodzin, Phil Stafford and, later, Adam Keil. Kerem Ozkan has performed sets devoted to Blink-182 and Portishead; he and friends formed LSD Clownsystem in 2018 to cover LCD Soundsystem, and the project continues to play locally and on the road.
The bill has also attracted performers from outside New Orleans: Gambit reports that a Minneapolis band once routed its tour through the city to play a Wipers set. Local acts that have appeared regularly include Nail Club, Berlin Taxi, TV Pole Shine, D. Sablu, Mango, Gold Connections, Oh Dang and Plomo, according to Ford’s account relayed by the outlet.
Funding a Volunteer-Run Art Space
Organizers open applications for bands one or two months before each show, and the available slots usually fill within 24 hours, Madeline Deller Smith told Gambit. Smith described the event as volunteer-run; the outlet reports that its proceeds help the printshop keep its doors open. The shop has also partnered with Girls Rock New Orleans, a music education summer camp for girls, transgender and gender non-conforming kids and teens.
Access, Costs and Grant Eligibility
The printshop’s open-shop information lists screen rentals and emulsion at $7 each and a cup of ink at $8. Its membership page says members work 12 hours a month, pay $50 in monthly dues and attend the monthly meeting. The site does not specify how much of the Halloween show’s proceeds go toward the organization’s costs. Arts New Orleans says its City-funded Community Arts Grants support 501(c)(3) arts nonprofits domiciled in Orleans Parish. The program information does not establish that the printshop has applied for or received a grant.
The Halloween show pairs a neighborhood-bar bill with support for the printshop’s community art space. Gambit reports that proceeds help fund the shop, but the amount raised by the event has not been specified.
