Mega 80's vs. Class of '98: Halloween night at the Magic Bag

Detroit's decorated '80s party band squares off with Class of '98 at the Magic Bag in Ferndale on Saturday, Oct. 31.

There are two kinds of people at a Halloween party: the ones who dress as something scary and the ones who dress as a decade. On Saturday night in Ferndale, the second group wins.

The Mega 80's play the Magic Bag on Saturday, Oct. 31, sharing the night with Class of '98 in a show the venue is billing as "80s vs 90s – HELLABALOO." The ticket listing has a 7 p.m. start, a 21-and-over door and tickets from $26.93. The Magic Bag sits on Woodward Avenue and holds around 400, which is about the right size for a room that's going to be singing every word.

There's no new record here — this is a band whose catalog is everybody else's. The Mega 80's call themselves "The Ultimate 80's Retro Party," and the pitch is exactly that: a full band, each player dressed in a different '80s look, working through the decade's hits like a mixtape someone actually thought about. Lead vocalist Carey Denha fronts it; the band's own bio notes he previously sang with Going Public, a Michigan State band from his college days in the 1990s.

A band whose catalog is everybody else's, and a town that keeps voting for it.

The Mega 80's have the hardware to back up the costumes. Real Detroit Weekly readers voted them the best cover band in the city. Denha now runs the operation through Tangerine Moon Productions, which also manages the Hype Syndicate, Boogie Dynomite and the Square Pegz — the female-fronted sister act to the Mega 80's.

And they are, above all, a Detroit band. In our records, the Mega 80's have played this market more than any other — 58 shows — and the Magic Bag has been a regular home. The venue's own archive is full of "80's vs. 90's" nights pairing them with Class of '98 going back to at least 2020, which makes Saturday less a novelty than a tradition.

The head-to-head format is the fun of it. One band gets the '80s; the other gets the '90s. The crowd picks a side, then spends the night switching allegiances every time a chorus hits.

If you're heading out, check the ticket page before you go — sellers list the night under slightly different names and prices. Then commit to the bit: crimp the hair, find the windbreaker, decide whether you're Team '86 or Team '98. On Halloween in Ferndale, nobody is going to ask what you're supposed to be.

Sources: TicketWeb — Magic Bag Presents: 80s vs 90s – HELLABALOO (ticketweb.com); TicketWeb — Magic Bag Presents: MEGA 80s (ticketweb.com); The Mega 80's — Bio (mega80s.com); The Mega 80's — News (mega80s.com); The Magic Bag — 80's vs 90's: The Mega 80s vs Class Of '98 Band (Feb 2020) (themagicbag.com); The Magic Bag — 80's vs. 90s: Mega 80's vs. Class Of '98 (Nov 2024) (themagicbag.com); Mega 80s prepares to rock Legends stage (ndsmcobserver.com)