In the wake of the Halloween celebration, many Madisonians are looking for a solution to the problems that have plagued the weekend. This year, the city allowed a few bands to play on Library Mall Saturday night in a celebration deemed the Killer Party.
The idea behind the Killer Party was to provide some entertainment for the evening festivities. Instead of a large gathering of inebriated students, there could be entertainment to prevent or curtail destruction on last year's scale. The Killer Party brought local bands The Dorothy Heralds, Lesser Offense, Kingfinger and Room Service together for Saturday's festivities.
Band members said their shows went well and they were impressed with the turnout Saturday night.
Will Komassa, lead singer of Room Service, said the evening was a success for all the performers.
\I think [the shows] went really well,"" he said. ""All the bands sounded great and everything, I think, went really well.""
Other band members were satisfied with the turnout despite the rain.
Kevin McLaughlin, who is on vocals, guitar and violin of Lesser Offense, said the crowd was good even with the conditions.
""Considering it was fairly early in the night and that the weather wasn't so great, we were pretty pleased with amount of people that did show up,"" he said.
McLaughlin and Komassa both stated the crowd at the show was very active but also restrained. Komassa said he stopped his band a few times throughout his set to make the crowd calm down.
While the Killer Party was a successful event that had few problems, there was some speculation that the crowds from the show may have contributed to the atmosphere on the 500 block of State Street.
Members of the bands disputed that speculation and said their performances were not part of the problem of the Halloween celebration.
""It's really unfortunate that that inference is being made,"" Komassa said.
Komassa also stated the Killer Party wound down a little after 1 a.m. and the crowd dispersed from the 700 block of State Street shortly afterward. He pointed out that most of the destruction occurred around 3 a.m., two hours after the show wrapped up.
Kelli Kaalele, manager of The Dorothy Heralds, said the intent of Killer Party was well-intentioned and should not be judged by the events on State Street.
""I know The Dorothy Heralds were glad to be a part of something meant to be positive,"" she said. ""It's unfortunate that, at the end of the night, a group of people couldn't control themselves or their actions.\
