Wisconsin State Journal

Happy Halloween.
Wait. It s the fourth Thursday of November.

The smell of large, plucked fowl dunked whole into vats of searing oil is probably wafting through your neighborhood, but this is Madison, and for some reason we can t shake the idea that if it s a holiday somebody must act like someone else.
To that end, every holy season the Madison club scene seems compelled to supply tribute bands - many tribute bands. So on this great day of thanksgiving, I d like to say once again: Happy Halloween.

One of the Madison area s most entertaining and musically accurate tribute bands, Pink Houses, will perform John Mellencamp tunes at the Dry Bean, 5264 Verona Road, Saturday night starting at 9:30.
Tom Reitz, an Edgerton dentist, formed the group four years ago, and he handles lead vocals. The band features every aspect of Mellencamp s career - even the Hoosier s cover tune selections are done in Mellencamp s style.

Also keeping a familiar sonic roof over listeners heads will be Houses in Motion, a danceable Talking Heads tribute band, on Friday at the High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington Ave.
As a talented drummer for a handful of Madison bands including NoahJohn and MaeRae - and a sometime fill-in at Gomeroke - Kaesberg is usually at the rear of the stage.

But he s no slouch as a frontman, either, and his vocal impression of Young is dead-on.
The show starts at 10 p.m.

Cover is 5.
Also on Friday at the King Club, 114 King St., will be heavy metal tribute bands Grinder (Judas Priest) and The Bon Squad (Bon Scott-era AC/DC).

Each band goes all-out in their quest to look as well as sound like the original. The members of Grinder cover themselves with spiked leather and biker hats, while The Bon Squad has the required schoolboy outfit. A bare male chest or two is probably assured as well.

Hard rockers Brainerd open the show at 10 p.m. Cover is 5.

Of course, for those who don t enjoy watching people get onstage to sing and act like other people, there are plenty of shows with original artists this weekend.
Saturday, newly founded hip hop indie label Got Soul Entertainment will host a MySpace social and label launch party at the Annex, 1206 Regent St.
Rob DZ will be the featured performer for the evening as well as other Got Soul artists Felicia Alima, Rach, L.

U.V. and D.

L.O. The show starts at 9 p.

m. and the cover is 5 before midnight, 10 after midnight.
Appleton band The Wan dering Sons play laid-back Americana soul with a polish.

Their song If You Come Home was used in a recent commercial for Jimmy John s (and, yes, the band gets sandwiches for life). Even though the band will headline theater-sized venues in Rockford, Ill., and Appleton in the near future, Madison audiences will have a chance to see them in the relatively cozy confines of Cafe Montmartre, 127 E.

Mifflin St., on Tuesday.
The show starts at 9 p.

m. with Madison electronic duo Ellestel, who s Already Haunted EP will remind listeners of Radiohead and Coldplay.
Cover is 5.

On Tuesday at Escape Java Joint, 916 Williamson St., a five-year tradition will come to a close as the Madison Songwriters Group hosts its final Songwriters in the Round concert. Started in 2000 as a way to spotlight regional songwriting talent in all-acoustic setting, the series has also featured performances from national acts, such as Kerrville New Folk winner Dave Potts and Rachael Sage.

Tuesday night s show will showcase Nashville singer- songwriter Buddy Mondlock. Originally from Chicago suburb Park Forest, Mondlock has had his songs recorded by Garth Brooks, Guy Clark and Nancy Griffith among others, and he is a yearly performer at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas.
The show starts at 7 p.

m., and the cover is 5.