Halloween with the Red Elvises
A Belated Field Report
By Christina

I was on my way out of the WOW hall in Eugene Oregon after a Five Iron Frenzy concert when I saw a cool-looking red poster with four crazy guys. I thought to myself, "The Red Elvises, huh? I might have to check that concert out." Unbeknownst to me, it would be a concert that led to an adventurous night I wouldn't forget.

I had heard of the Elvii a year before that when my high school drama teacher put on an album of theirs for us to listen to. I heard bits and pieces and thought they were pretty cool. So when I saw that a band I had actually heard of was playing the WOW hall (this is a rare occurrence), I assumed that I should go. My friend Kirsten, her boyfriend Ben and I all got on the city bus and showed up to the October 31st concert about half an hour before show time and killed time by checking out the wild costumes some people were wearing: there was everything from a fairy princess to a pair of pro-wrestlers (whose costumes consisted of capes and speedos) to Kirsten and Ben, who showed up as Peter Pan and Wendy. And for those of you curious, yes, she got him into the green tights.

It took all but five minutes of the Elvises rockin' music, amazing rhythms and fun atmosphere for me to decide I would spend the rest of my days as a die-hard RE fan. They did everything from "Sad Cowboy Song" to "Scorchie Chornie" and everything in between. And I couldn't help but noticing that Oleg was making eyes at girls standing near the speakers, which I was one of. (Of course, when I moved closer to the center of the stage and another girl took my place near the speaker, she also took my place as Oleg's focus point…sigh…) But back to the concert.

It was intermission and about 11:10 pm. The last city bus was scheduled to leave at 11:40, and I was starting to realize that if I stayed through the end of the concert, I wasn't going to make it to the bus station on time and would be somewhat stranded. Kirsten and Ben were beginning to realize this too and decided to take off. They tried to convince me to go with them since I had just moved there a month prior and have no sense of direction besides. But I of course told them that there was no way I was leaving and I would figure something out. I took the breaktime as an opportunity to try and figure out a way home back to campus. I called Saferide, a rape-prevention service that would pick up and drive college females home late at night so as not to risk a possible attack; I called DDS, which is another ride service usually for those who have had too much to drink. That wasn't my situation, but I tried anyway, neither one to any avail. They were both booked for the whole night. As I weighed my options, I asked a girl taking tickets how to get back to campus. She gave me directions and it sounded easy enough, so my mind was made up: I was going to stay.

I hung out for the rest of the awesome concert, and even got a couple stickers signed by the guys. When it was about 1:00 am and time to go, I reluctantly stepped outside and tried to remember the route home. I wasn't sure of the neighborhoods I would be walking through and didn't realize how long of a walk it was. As I moved quickly down the shadowy streets I kept my mind on the concert and getting home, the two best things I could think of. About an hour later, I was starting to get concerned if I had somehow passed the campus all together, but just then I saw the familiar Starbucks sign that decorates the corner near the school. With a big sigh of relief, I put out of my mind the fact that not only my feet were killing me and I was numb from an hour walk on the freezing late October night, but I was damn lucky I didn't have any encounters with weirdos of the Halloween Kind.

When I got back to my dorm room, my roommate's boyfriend was waiting for me. He was assigned the job of keeping watch for me if I came home while my roomie and our neighbor went cruising the area between campus and the WOW hall in her car for the second time. Kirsten and Ben thought I might have been in a gutter somewhere because I didn't get on the bus with them and I didn't call. I did eventually wind up home safe though, which was bound to happen eventually. Thinking back on it now, there isn't another group of people I would repeat that act for. Only the Elvises!