Portsmouth Halloween Parade's Annual (I Gotta) Rock Show

For a decade the Portsmouth Halloween Parade has been fueled in part by rock and roll, and that tradition continues on Monday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. when the 11th annual (I Gotta) Rock Show/PHP fundraiser returns to The Coat of Arms Pub. This year’s show pays tribute to working class rock. Headliners The Super Black Market Clash City Rockers return to Portsmouth to honor one of the most iconoclastic bands in history, The Clash. They will be joined by a powerhouse line-up including Red Sky Mary, Kraken’s Beard and The Damn Garrison.

“All these bands show that what it takes is passion – not expensive gear and/or years of formal training - to make music and express yourself to the world,” says show co-coordinator and local musician Tim McCoy. “They model the idea that music can create a destiny and direction that takes on a life of its own.”

McCoy will be joining his Watts bandmate Dan Kopko, Jay Fortin, formerly of Scissorfight, and drummer Rick Orcott, formerly of the Guts, for a set of Clash tunes. Rock show devotees may recall Super Black Market Clash’s last visit to the Coat when guests were asked to refrain from dancing on the tables. Demand was high for a repeat performance, so this one’s for you Portsmouth.

Red Sky Mary will be joining the lineup, having toured this summer with the Texas Hippie Coalition for its Smokin’ Hot Tour and having opened for Lynyrd Skynrd. Featured in the current issue of “Revolver Magazine!,” Red Sky Mary delivers down ‘n’ dirty Led Zepplin rock with a modern twist. These young musicians, with a couple of Spotlight Awards under their belts, are poised for greatness. See why while you still can.

Kraken’s Beard will be proving that rocking hard while sporting epic beards is not for the faint of heart, and The Damn Garrison will kick off the show in much the same way as Super Black Market Clash will be capping it off – powered by working class punk rock.

Also that night, the Parade will announce this year’s grand marshal.

A $5 donation will be requested at the door as New Hampshire’s biggest Halloween parade is brought to you by the people, for the people. The parade is not a city-sponsored event. It is staged by volunteers and funded solely by the community, primarily through grassroots events. The Rock Show rises again this year thanks to the generous support of its sponsor Moxy restaurant on Penhallow St.

The Coat of Arms is located at 174 Fleet St. in Portsmouth. For more information friend the Portsmouth Halloween Parade on Facebook.

About the Portsmouth Halloween Parade

Marching into its 21tst year, the Portsmouth Halloween Parade is a grassroots, all-inclusive Seacoast celebration of community, creativity, resourcefulness and free expression, which walks, stalks, dances, trumpets and drums its way through downtown Portsmouth each year on October 31 at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to dress up, gather at Peirce Island by Prescott Park, and march. Hundreds march in costume, thousands cheer from the sidelines, it’s a spectacle from either side of the curb. What are you gonna be?