A diverse array of local bands descended upon First Avenue on
Friday night, with Lookbook leading the way during their first
headlining show in the Mainroom. It was a wide-ranging evening
featuring performances by four disparate Minneapolis bands, and even
though some sets were much more engaging and distinctive than others,
it ultimately was a night to celebrate the music scene in the Twin Cities, one
that quite clearly is flourishing and as vital as ever.
Photos by Bre Mcgee
Zoo Animal kicked the night off strongly, with the spirited three-piece
filling up the venerable club with their saturnine sounds as the
audience slowly filtered in. Holly Newsom's voice was strong and true throughout their brief set, adding extra resonance to their already passionate songs. Thom
Burton steadily lead the numbers forward with his dexterous drumming,
while forming a locked-in rhythm with bassist Tim Abramson that allowed
Newsom the freedom to continually lose herself in the mood of the music
and solo away with confidence and fire. The band simply keeps getting
better and better every time I see them, and they seemed more than
comfortable on the larger stage, especially during a feisty rendition
of "Folded Hands" that was one of the highlights of the night. Their
simmering songs have started to gradually find a larger audience in the
Cities, but it's seriously time that more people start paying attention
to a band that clearly deserves to be heard.
After such a positive and authentic start to the night, it was quite
disorienting to hear the artificial beats and jocular rhymes of Bight
Club. Seeing two of the band members dance and flail about wildly as
they simply hit buttons on their computers or keyboards didn't resonate
with me at all, nor did the simple, childish flow of Nutz. Their entire
set just seemed like too much of a contrivance after the genuine
performance Zoo Animal put on, and really brought an end to any sort of
momentum the openers had generated.
Slapping Purses got the fuse lit again, as mastermind Jason Power set
up his decks in the middle of the growing crowd, drawing energy from
those dancing along with his frantic beats while providing a spark that
the evening clearly needed after Bight Club's disappointing set. Power
seemed to be producing sounds from whatever happened to be within arm's
reach, delivering twisted vocal experiments over his already turbulent
rhythms. It was an experimental, inventive set that was so loud that
you were forced to react to the music in some way; and while some
streamed outside to kill time before the headliners, far more joined in
the mayhem around Power's setup and danced along to his maniacal music.
The evening was finally back on track as the audience swelled for the
headliners.
Lookbook clearly knew that this was their show and the night belonged to them. They not only waited until after
midnight to finally take the stage, but they also brought along a smoke machine
that worked hard throughout their set, adding quite a bit of
mystique and atmosphere to their stirring performance. Grant Cutler and
Maggie Morrison were clearly in good spirits as they bounded about the
stage throughout their set, overjoyed to finally be headlining First
Avenue. Opener "Over And Over" was simply enormous, as the
bass shook both the crowd and the walls, while "Yesterday's
Company" got everyone moving and dancing along to the infectious melody
and Morrison's irresistible chorus. The duo has sharpened their
songs on the road, and this homecoming performance quickly turned into
a celebration of the band coming into their own.
And while it was great to hear older songs like "Wild At Heart," "Way
Beyond," and "The Only Ones," all of which had an added dynamic pulse
and intensity to them, this performance ultimately proved to be a
showcase for a riveting and energetic trio of brand new songs which the
band debuted during the middle of their set. The new tracks bristled with a buoyancy and liveliness
that is reminiscent of the new Goldfrapp with more depth and soul. They soared effortlessly and immediately won the audience over. And the fact that the band was clearly as excited to
play them for us as we were to hear them only added to their
magnetic appeal.
As they came out for an encore Maggie exclaimed "I fucking love Minneapolis so
much" (endearingly explaining that the emphatic curse word was required even
though her dad was in the audience), it was clear by both the turnout
and the warm reception that Minneapolis loves Lookbook right back. They
closed their triumphant 50-minute set with a stellar version of "True To Form"
that sent everyone dancing out into the night, assured that the Twin City music scene is indeed alive and well.
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