Big Shrimp bring their Halloween Extravaganza home to Park City Music Hall

Bridgeport's young improv-rock quartet ends a fall run with a hometown Halloween show on Fairfield Avenue, costume contest and surprise theme included.

Last Halloween, Big Shrimp put a full-sized boat on stage. The theme was *Forrest Gump*, and somewhere in the night there was also a live ping-pong tournament. This year the band won't say what's coming. The theme is a surprise, to be revealed closer to the date, and the only safe bet is that it won't be subtle.

The date is set. On Saturday, Oct. 31, Big Shrimp play Park City Music Hall at 2926 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport for Big Shrimp's 3rd Annual Halloween Extravaganza, billed together with Sage Entertainment's 9th Annual Halloween Extravaganza. According to the ticket listing, it's the first time the Sage event has left New York. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8. It's 21 and over, and general admission is $20 plus online fees through the venue's VenuePilot page. The band's 3rd Annual Costume Contest happens live on stage, so dress like you mean it.

For Big Shrimp, this is a homecoming in the literal sense. The band is a young, high-octane, progressive improvised rock quartet that formed in Bridgeport in 2024. In about two years they've gone from local rooms to a tour that crosses the Northeast. Their fans even have a name, the Prawn Stars, which tells you most of what you need to know about the band's sense of humor.

In about two years they've gone from local rooms to a tour that crosses the Northeast.

The music is serious, even if the puns aren't. Big Shrimp put out their debut single, "Rex," in January, followed in March 2026 by a second studio single, "Alcaworkholic." A first full-length album is in the works. The band hasn't given a firm release date, so treat this Halloween show as a chance to hear where the new material is heading before it's recorded. Improvising bands tend to work out songs on stage, and a hometown crowd is the best audience for that.

The band has been busy elsewhere too. Big Shrimp are out on their 2026 fall tour, which goes through Ophelia's in Albany on Friday, Oct. 30, the night before this show, so Bridgeport gets a band that's warmed up from the road and coming home to finish the week.

Park City Music Hall is the right size for it. It's a room of a few hundred on the Fairfield Avenue strip in the Black Rock neighborhood, close enough to the stage that a costume contest actually works and big enough that a jam band can stretch out. The box office is open Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 5 p.m., and one hour before music on show nights, if you'd rather skip the online fees.

Get there for doors, sort out the costume, and save some energy for the second half. Big Shrimp have built a Halloween tradition in two years, and Saturday is the first time they get to celebrate it on home turf.

Sources: Big Shrimp — Park City Music Hall (VenuePilot tickets) (tickets.venuepilot.com); Park City Music Hall (parkcitymusichall.com); Park City Music Hall — Venue Specs (parkcitymusichall.com); Park City Music Hall — The Venue (parkcitymusichall.com); Big Shrimp at Ophelia's (2026 Fall Tour) — Eventbrite (eventbrite.com); Big Shrimp — Charleston Pour House (charlestonpourhouse.com); Big Shrimp and The Palmer Squares with shrimpvision — ShowSlinger (app.showslinger.com); Big Shrimp — The Big E (thebige.com); Big Shrimp's 2026 Halloween Extravaganza & Costume Contest at Park City Music Hall (happeningnext.com)