Among the businesses of downtown Augusta who celebrated Halloween, one in particular focused on saluting the spooky holiday with a punky live music event.
Grantski Records, at 1151 Broad St., hosted its annual Halloween Show on Thursday night, featuring music from local artists in a pleasantly gritty atmosphere.
Grantski is an independent record store in Augusta specializing in new and used vinyl, also offering CDs, cassette tapes and collectible toys and figurines. In keeping with the spirit of all things music, the store’s back half serves as a stage and dance area for live performances.
The Halloween Show began with music by Eighth House, a shoegaze band from Columbia, S.C.
Following Eighth House were hardcore punk performances by Augusta’s own Pull the Trigger, goth and hardcore punk music by Philadelphia-based group Academy Order and hardcore electronic music performed by Folktech.
On the dance floor
The store was filled elbow-to-elbow with enthusiastic guests; Two of these, lifelong best friends Makaiya Michel and Abby Goode, have made it a mission to go to the event annually, having attended together for the past four years.
“It’s really fun because the community itself is very loud and very excited to be a part of the music and very excited to be there,” said Goode. “And it’s nice seeing a bunch of local bands as well.”
“I’m just excited to be back in [this] environment and just actually be able to dance around and scream and just have fun for Halloween,” added Michel, who said she has a love for live music.
Michel and Goode brought with them a mutual friend, Mackenzie Morgan, a first-timer to the event and to the store as a whole.
Morgan said before the event began that she was ready to experience it for herself.
“I’m excited to see a show here and see kind of what the environment is. I’ve heard good stuff about it.”
More from Grantski’s live stage
Grantski has another live music event upcoming on Nov. 7. A full list of future events can be found on the store’s website.
