The Full Cleveland turns ZenBarn into a Yacht Rocky Horror Show

Vermont's yacht rock band plays Halloween night in Waterbury Center, with DJ Transplante and $1,000 in costume prizes.

Somewhere in Washington County right now, someone is deciding whether a captain's hat and a white linen suit count as a costume. On Saturday night, at ZenBarn, they will. The Full Cleveland headlines the Yacht Rocky Horror Show on Saturday, October 31, with doors at 6 p.m. and music at 7 p.m., according to the ZenBarn-presented ticket page. DJ Transplante is also on the bill, and the show is 21+.

The listing bills The Full Cleveland as "Vermont's premier yacht rock band," playing soft-rock classics, and promises a costume contest with $1,000 in prizes from Zenbarn Farms. Ticket holders also get 10 percent off at Zenbarn Farms on the day of the show, which is a nice touch for anyone who wants to make an afternoon of it in Waterbury Center before the doors open.

A captain's hat and a white linen suit finally count as a costume.

If you haven't caught them, The Full Cleveland is the band that took a genre most people know as an internet joke and made it a working Vermont act. A Seven Days profile described them in 2015 as, so far as they knew, the state's only yacht rock group, rooted around Winooski and Waterbury, and caught three members over beers outside Winooski's Monkey House. Guitarist Ean Briere told the paper the band had fielded three offers for New Year's Eve gigs, and singer Matt Wright noted they were "the last band to play at" Winooski's O'Brien's Pub before it shut. That's the résumé of a band that gets booked for the nights people actually want to go out.

It's also why they play around here more than anywhere else. Their crowd is local, and shows like this one are less a concert than a party where everyone already knows the choruses. Halloween suits that perfectly: the songs are made for singing along badly, and the dress code was already half a costume.

ZenBarn is a small room, which is part of the appeal. A soft-rock singalong lands differently when the band is close enough to see the band sweat, and when the costume contest is judged by people standing right next to you. With doors at 6 and music at 7, this is also an early Halloween, so you can make the show and still get wherever you're going after.

Tickets are on the event page. Dig out the boat shoes, practise your falsetto, and be honest with yourself about whether that's really a costume or just what you wear in July.

Sources: Yacht Rocky Horror Show, Oct 31 2026, ZenBarn (Opendate ticket page) (app.opendate.io); Seven Days: The Full Cleveland (sevendaysvt.com)