Recording: Blonde Elvis

Artist: Blonde Elvis

Song: Life on Mars [David Bowie cover]

Recorded at The Dance Cave (DEATH TO T.O. V), October 30, 2015.

Blonde Elvis - Life on Mars

For its massive fifth year of Hallowe'en covers, DEATH TO T.O. upsized from its home at The Silver Dollar/Comfort Zone to Lee's Palace and the Dance Cave. That allowed it to keep its sprawling two-stage upstairs/downstairs dynamic even as it accommodated a bigger crowd than ever. Besides curating no fewer than seventeen (!) short sets, Dan Burke and Elliot Jones also kept things running on schedule, with one set starting quite crisply as the one on the other stage ended for nearly the whole night. And as always, the bands put in a lot of work — not just musically, but a lot of the time in trying to capture the look and mannerisms of the band they were covering.

With his full-immersion history of committing to cover sets, Jesse Laderoute didn't disappoint as he took the stage in Ziggy Stardust-era getup. The musical selections ranged beyond that, from an electrifying "Moonage Daydream" to start, reaching a little deeper with "Look Back in Anger" and "Sons of the Silent Age" before pushing forward "Modern Love" — songs presumably selected to maximize the effect of guest saxophonist Colin Fisher, who augmented the band alongside double-dipper Paul Elrichman on guit.