The London Souls surprised the audience at Brooklyn’s Cameo Gallery on Halloween night, performing as Here Come The Girls as part of The Hold Steady’s touring keyboardist Dan Neustadt’s Off The Record series. The series is usually held on Sundays at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City’s East Village.

As a tradition, Neustadt holds an Off The Record party every Halloween wherein the album his band performs is Michael Jackson’s Thriller. This year, the lineup was scheduled to include Brooklyn band The Library Is On Fire, with Relix ‘s own Wayan “DJYN” Zoey spinning between sets. However, the flooding and power outages both prevented TLIOF from being available to perform, while also canceling a party to be hosted by members of The London Souls at a Lower East Side club. With a show needing a band, and the members of a band having an unscheduled night off, the pieces were in place for a unique evening. Following an unrelated comedy set from Reggie Watts, keyboardist Neustadt led his six-piece band through an instrumental rendition of Jackson’s bestselling album. Shortly after Neustadt’s energetic performance, a trio of musicians looking suspiciously like The London Souls took the stage, launching in to the 2006 single “Steady Are You Ready”. The subsequent extended set featured selections from the Soul’s back catalog mixed with tunes off their forthcoming LP, performed for a rapt audience that included E.D. Coomes and Adam Deitch from Lettuce. Despite the setbacks caused by the storm, jamband hotspot Cameo was fortunate enough to host a unexpected special night of performances.

The London Souls have played a few small shows while guitarist Tash Neal recovers. The guitarist was the victim of a hit-and-run accident.