Whether you were hot glue gunning a witty outfit for months, or managed to hastily Google “cheap easy costumes” before heading out on Oct. 31, Halloween sure showed up fast. And Halloween on a Friday was prime time for all the boys and ghouls of D.C. to party. Arguably, the top party was RL Grime performing at 9:30 Club, recently a finalist for the “Best Club” of 2014 Billboard Touring Awards. RL Grime on Halloween is a testament on the growth of DC’s nightlife.

Party-goers were dressed up as their favorite TV characters, monstrous villains, or even went as “just themselves”, which might be the scariest option of all. But no matter what the costume, as one of the concertgoers who drove from Philadelphia said, “Any city would fight to host RL Grime on Halloween, you could not ask for a better show to go to on Halloween.”

We arrived around 10:00 pm, and already there was a line to get into the venue. People were dressed up as zombies, naughty nurses, and even a FHRITP Fred. Walking in, we were greeted by Montreal DJ Tommy Kruise who was warming the crowd. He would get on the microphone to energize the crowd as we await the man of the night.

Branchez came along next to keep the night going. Branchez has been rising up the ranks to become a household name. He was turning to his jams and the crowd’s response was amazing.  Branchez played a few months ago just down the street at Flash Nightclub, but this was a quick step up to be at 9:30 Club.

As Branchez said goodbye, the attendees started chanting “RL GRIME! RL GRIME!” The stage coordinators were running to make sure everything was ready to go the main act.

Where there used to be a black curtain turned out to be a pyramid of light fixtures. With his album VOID releasing on November 17, RL Grime opened up with his single “Scylla.”

It was happening. We were experiencing the sound of RL Grime on Halloween. For the past two years, only a select few could. While fans are screaming, chanting, and dancing to song after song, RL Grime made the most of it by keeping our attention. At one moment, he played the Ghostbusters theme song in the spirit of Halloween, then switched over to Rustie’s record Slasher.

As the clock is ticking towards 2:00 am, RL Grime finished his set. However, the attendees were not having ready for it to end. Everyone started to chant “ONE MORE SONG! ONE MORE SONG!” RL Grime returned to the decks and told the fans that we would honor their request and played– yes, one more song. We could not have asked for a better song than “Tell Me.”

An amazing end to 2014’s Halloween night.

Article and photo by Karl-Eric Lerebours