Dance Commandr

Get ready for the ultimate Halloween experience as Team Subspace and Goth Barge team up for our annual HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR! Join us Saturday, October 31st at X-Ray Arcade for Milwaukee's biggest Halloween costume contest and dance party!

The cover is $15, and every entry fuels the massive costume contest cash prize pool. The bigger the crowd, the bigger the payout! In 2022, the pool hit $1,100, skyrocketed to $2,000 in 2023, and handed out an astounding $3,000 in cash in 2024 and 2025. Let’s crank it up and make this year’s pool the biggest one yet!

Cash Prize Breakdown:
* 50% of pool to FIRST PLACE
* 30% of pool to SECOND PLACE
* 20% of pool to THIRD PLACE

There is no voting, no panel of judges, and absolutely no mercy. The returns to claim the throne of bones as the sole ruler of the costume contest. He’ll be roaming the floor handing out tokens to the best of the best—his word is the final decree! Bring your absolute A-game to impress our Halloween monarch before the midnight hour wraps up.

With David Kultgen, DJ Salinger, , and the himself at the helm, you’ll be immersed in the best Goth, Dark Wave, New Wave, Industrial, and beyond.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST
DOORS 9:00PM • CONTEST 1:00AM
X-RAY ARCADE (5036 S PACKARD AVE)
$15 COVER
18+ ONLY

Last call, Milwaukee! We’re slinging the final round on the lake and closing out the season in style. Join Goth Barge, Omen, and The Black Lagoon Room as we set sail for Tiki Barge on Sunday, September 6th!

Step aboard MKE Boat Line for a three-hour dark surf and psychobilly dance party. Expect a heavy mix of tropical trash, beachside gloom, and subculture chaos as we hit the water from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

Goth Barge DJs will be spinning a soundtrack of batcave, darkwave, deathrock, psychobilly, and surf goth. The cruise is a 21+ event with a $45 cover.

Tickets include your first drink (choose from beer, a margarita, or a non-alcoholic option). After that, the full bar is open (cash and credit accepted) with beer, wine, cocktails, and mocktails. Drink responsibly and tip your bar crew. Events are rain or shine. No refunds or exchanges.

Didn't score a boat ticket? Keep the night going at Cactus Club for the official after party from 9:00pm to 1:00am! DJs will be spinning all night long. The after party is an 18+ event with a $5 cover.

Boat capacity is strictly limited and tickets will sell out ahead of time. Grab yours now to lock in your spot on the water!

Tired of the $130 event passes, the flash downpours, the mile-long lines for lukewarm water, and corporate festival overcrowding? Skip the sunburn and get under the neon lights, because we have your cure. BUMMERFEST, a two-night independent, alternative anti-festival taking over Mad Planet for a massive double-header video dance party weekend. No never-ending lines, no $45 rain ponchos, just pure dancefloor energy.

Night 1 (Friday, June 26th), Goth Barge presents Dead Stars
Dance Commandr, XDOMINIONX, and DJ Falken team up to bring you a heavy dose of futurepop, industrial, EBM, darkwave, and goth. They'll be spinning tracks featuring music videos by VNV Nation, Covenant, Assemblage 23, Seabound, Wolfsheim, Beborn Beton, Icon of Coil, Apoptygma Berzerk, KMFDM, Rotersand, Nine Inch Nails, Front Line Assembly, and more.

Night 2 (Saturday, June 27th), the energy shifts to Post Modern Sleaze
Dance Commandr and DJ FernGully bring you a night of indie sleaze, electroclash, blog house, and dance-punk, dropping the ultimate nostalgic soundtrack featuring LCD Soundsystem, Justice, The Rapture, Klaxons, Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco, Mstrkrft, Boys Noize, Cut Copy, MGMT, Daft Punk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, CSS, and Ladytron.

Both nights kick off at 9:00 PM and run until 2:30 AM at Mad Planet. Entry is just a $7 cover at the door each night, and these are 21+ events. Ditch the mega-fests, support local nightlife, and heal your festival fatigue on the dancefloor.

DJ Synthia, DJ Paul H, and Dance Commandr present an audio-visual tribute to the legendary label that weaponized the underground: WAX TRAX! RECORDS. Expect a ruthless barrage of heavy beats and chaotic videos from Ministry, Front 242, Thrill Kill Kult, and KMFDM blasting across screens. Break out the leather and prepare to sweat.

FRIDAY, JUNE 19TH, 2026
8:00PM-1:00AM
X-RAY ARCADE
18+ EVENT
$5 COVER

Poster design:

Introducing our events wonderful DJs! Dance Commandr ( ), Synthia ( ), and Ferngully ( )will be spinning haunting tunes throughout our spooktastic event! Thank you so much to our wonderful DJs. We cannot wait to be dancing with you.

Come dance the day away as you shop this Saturday, May 16, at Spooky Frog Horrifying Book Fair!