by Inlander Staff & r &





It's Classier This Way





Among the litany -- the sheer tonnage -- of bars and clubs having Halloween parties this week, we thought we'd point out two. While any sucka can throw up some cobwebs, promote a PBR special and let the flesh-hungry mob eat each other alive, it takes work to class up All Hallows Eve.





Step 1: Rename your shindig "Masquerade Ball," rather than "Halloween Party" as the Blvd. (Thursday) and Raw Sushi (Friday) have. Step 2: Come up with a thematically coherent slate of music (funk from the just-convened Spokane Funk All-Stars at the Blvd., and DJ spinistry from James Pants, Breezy Brown, Doorman & amp; Supervillain at Raw). Step 3: Throw up some cobwebs, promote a PBR special and let the flesh-hungry mob eat each other alive.





Alternately, you can class it up by 1) calling it a Masquerade Ball and 2) charging $75 to get in, as CenterStage's Odyssey Masquerade (a GLBTQA benefit) is doing Saturday. Seventy-five bucks keeps the riffraff out.


Primal Fear





It's spookily fortuitous that James Pants' twice-monthly Tuesday gig at the Baby Bar falls on Halloween, because it allows us to soak in what we're sure will be an inspired theme set while getting drunk on the claustrophobic adrenaline rush of a room packed full of sweaty peeps with impaired reflexes and no fire exit.





Empyrean Shuttered


Monday morning, we arrived at Empyrean to find the following taped to the front door:


Arrivederci





In Boca al Lupo


Molte Grazie





Con Affeto


Empyrean





That's Italian. It means, basically, "Thanks, but we're done."