Ghoulstock

Ghoulstock is a celebration of independent, underground film, music, and art that has been held bi-annually in South Jersey by the since 2003. This DIY cultural festival attracted more than 300 mostly young adults who would share, join together, and perform myriad forms of music and art one expects (and with many surprises) of a festival. It has since then become an entertainment/comedy group that makes short films and performs live skits.
History
The Festival Years: 2003 to 2005
Ghoulstock
In 2003, Luke Willis and Chris Evangelista, members of the local band The Immortal Catfish, were desperate for shows. Along with Dave Bennett, friend and member of another local band Fate's End, They got it in their heads that maybe they could make their own venue with music acts and other fun activities. Originally planned for the end of March 2003, "GhoulStock 2003", as it was originally called, was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. The show was pushed to June 21st, 2003 and renamed simply to "Ghoulstock". The show was to be held at the Bellmawr Little League Hall in Bellmawr, NJ. The Venue featured bands the likes of Fate's End, The Immortal Catfish, Orwell, Death by Monkeys (Renamed Half Wit and then Simetta), and much more. The short film "Man Steals Milk" made by two member's of Fate's End, Dave Bennett and Zac Caruolo, as well as Chris Galanti and Steve Oteri was shown this evening in between bands. Also many party games like TUG-O-WAR were played. Chris Galanti was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and would become a long-running tradition for Ghoulstock. This night marked the first of many Ghoulstocks to come and a gang of creative friends came together for the first time and created a show that would go down in Camden County history.
Ghoulstock 2
In January 17th, 2004, The follow-up show to the originally successful concert took place. Back at the Bellmawr Little League Hall in Bellmawr, NJ, The bands featured at Ghoulstock 2 were Fate's End, The Immortal Catfish, Via Satellite (Later renamed to Goodnight or Sleep), Half Wit (Renamed Simetta), The Disciples of Groove, and Andrew WY2K and the I Get Wets. Again, many short films were made to show but this time along with Bennett, Caruolo, Galanti, and Oteri were Dave's brother Matt' Bennett and members of The Immortal Catfish Chris Evangelista, Luke Willis, Ray Willis, and Frank Corluzzo. Confirming that the first show wasn't a fluke, Ghoulstock grew by leaps and bounds that night and many eagerly awaited Ghoulstock 3.
Ghoulstock 2.5
On March 5th, 2004, Fate's End, The Immortal Catfish, Via Satellite (Later renamed to Goodnight or Sleep), and Andrew WY2K and the I Get Wets had another show in between the second and third shows. There weren't any films made for this as this was mainly a musical show much like the future 3.5 show.
Ghoulstock 3
On June 12th, 2004, The show went on as fresh face and opener to Ghoulstock 3, Tony Monezuma and the Zoom Zoom Rockets performed to a packed house before being shot while performing. Most of the other bands performing that evening like Fate's End, The Immortal Catfish, Via Satellite (Later renamed to Goodnight or Sleep, The Disciples of Groove, Simetta (Originally Death by Monkeys & Half Wit), and Andrew WY2k and the I Get Wets, were all veterans of previous Ghoulstocks. Again many new films were made, and shown to a smashing response as well as many paintings were hung on the walls. To signal the end of a successful night, the Ghoulstock pinata was smashed open and candy flowed freely from it's open wound.
Ghoulstock 3.5
On August 14th, 2004, another in between show was held. The usual band like Fate's End, The Immortal Catfish, and Andrew WY2K and the I Get Wets played. Simetta didn't get to play that night because Matt Vernon, Vocals and Guitar, was unavailable but new to the venue was the band Gracenote. Some girl named Sammi flashed some guy named Tim on his birthday at the show in the parking lot and after the show made out with everyone including a girl named Sarah.
Ghoustock 4
On January 7th, 2005, marked the fourth official Ghoulstock show. Even though the show was after Christmas, the theme for the show was still Christmas and featured a Christmas decor. A tree covered in coffins personally made by Luke Willis graced the side of the stage which had be designed to look like a fireplace complete with fake roasting fire in which the bands would enter through. The bands for the evening were Fate's End, The Immortal Catfish, Anthony Montezuma, Simetta, Goodnight or Sleep, Andrew WY2K and the I Get Wets, and newcomer, Pop Heroes. Also shown was the newly made Ghoulstock IV short films and a DVD of the previous Ghoulstock movies was made and sold at the show.
This show was so hugely popular that the Bellmawr Little League hall was filled up and unfortunately the police had to come due to violating the maximum occupancy of the building so many of the people who went outside for a cigarette that night weren't allowed back in. Refunds were given to all these people and the rest of the night went off without a hitch. This would be the last show at the Bellmawr Little League Hall.
Ghoulstock 5
Since after the capacity problem at Ghoulstock 4, The Ghoulcrew was looking for a new venue for Ghoulstock since the Bellmawr Little League Hall and stopped allowing shows to take place there. The Ghoulcrew had made a deal with Veronica Goodman, the owner at the time of the Harwan Theater, a classic movie house in Mount Ephraim, NJ, to have Ghoulstock 5 at the Harwan on July 30th, 2005. Everyday before the show, They worked on making the theater presentable to the public. Unfortunately, they lacked specific permits in order to hold shows there but an under the table agreement was made with the fire marshall in order to have the show anyway.
For the show itself, along with Ghoulstock veteran bands Anthony Montezuma and the Knights of the Living Dead, Goodnight or Sleep, and Andrew WY2K and the I Get Wets, they had an entire new slew of bands booked for the show like Hellbent, How To Catch A Ghost, Los Aardvark, The Nebulas, and Matt & Kim. An actual feature-film length movie was made for the show, The Ghoulstock 5 Movies, which would later become Ghoulstock the Movie.
An hour before the show started, there was a huge crowd already gathered for the heavily-promoted Ghoulstock 5. However, two people who had been burned in a previous deal with the Harwan's owner, Ed and Loreli, bitter at the success Ghoulstock and the newly refurbished Harwan decided to inform the police of the permit problem. Before the show could even begin, police arrived and shut the show down. A last minute show was thrown together in the Bennett basement.
The Post-Cancellation Years: 2005 to 2007
Ghoulstock.com
In September 2005, Steve Oteri register and worked on an official website for Ghoulstock. Which would debut on Halloween that same year. The site would go through many iterations but it has always featured many of the groups short films and music. This site is also the host to the underground comic/pop culture podcast, ANTiFanboy.
The Ghoulstock Resurrection Show
An attempt to revive the show was made on July 29th, 2006. The show was put together at 1619 House in Williamstown, NJ. Before the show, The Ghoulcrew cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone on the grill outside. The Ghoulstock Five movies were screened on a small T.V., and various bands, including Anthony Montezuma, Los Aardvark, Chris Fullerton, Andrew WY2K and the I Get Wets, performed. The night was mostly a success, except for a sad moment when Anthony Montezuma was chased from the building by an angry mob after an off-color joke.
Night of the Living Dead the Musical
Since the original Night of the Living Dead film is public domain, Chris Evangelista had an idea to remake the film as a musical comedy but in the classic black and white style of the original in 2005. He acted on this by writing the script in a week. Evangelista seeked the aid of Steve Oteri and Joe Tonzelli to get the film made. Evangelista and Oteri wrote the music over several grueling sessions. To round out the cast, Previous Ghoulstock veterans Steve Oteri, Zac Caruolo, Chris Galanti, Gina Ferrara Ray Willis, Joe Tonzelli and Dave Bennett joined Evangelista, and newcomers Holly Gore, Casey Keating, Andrea Zubrzycki, and Future Ghoulstock member Devon Kopec rounded out the cast. The movie was shot during the summer of 2006, and stretched on for longer than anyone anticipated. Once the film was complete in early 2007, it was edited by Ray Willis and screened at Rowan University's Bozorth Auditorium on October 27th, 2007.
The Revival Years: 2008 to Present
Team Ghoulstock
In 2008, Zac Caruolo had signed up for the 2008 MS City to Shore Bike Ride
The Loft Shows
On November 30th, 2008, The group received an e-mail from Jason Tagmire, owner and operator of The Loft at The Auction House, about having a Ghoulstock Film Night at the art house theater in Audubon, NJ. Happily agreeing to this offer and actually inquiring for a monthly show, the first of many was scheduled for January 2nd, 2009. This would be The Loft's first sold out performance. The next sold out show was on January 23rd, 2009 and featured a summer camp setting and featured the new director's cut of the Ghoulstock 5 Movies, now called Ghoulstock the Movie.
The next show for the group is planned for February 13th, 2009 and will be a screening of Night of the Living Dead the Musical. Free DVDs will be given out to the audience after the screening.

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