Chicago's The Ponys draw from a lot of different worlds, a lot of different bins at the cool record store: Jered Grummere and his bandmates take cues from old garage rock, 90's math and noise rock, and even a dash of unapologetic Brit-pop revival. Together they find a center to create amazingly hooky pop songs, which they then step on with more fuzz and guitar squeal than any band should and somehow, it still comes out catchy as hell. After three excellent albums (the most recent, 2007's Turn The Lights Out, on Matador) they're working on new material, and made the drive to Saint Paul to try out some of the newer songs at the Turf Club.
We had the honor of collaborating once again with our friends at MPLS.TV to bring you this video of our Gimme Shelter benefit. Watch below for interviews with each of the performing bands (including Solid Gold, Mark Mallman, Peter Wolf Crier, and Zoo Animal) and shots of each of the bands performing at our benefit. Thanks again to everyone who made this night a success!
There was more than just music on people's minds Saturday night at First Avenue, as they filled the club for Gimme Shelter: A Benefit for Haiti. Not only were there plenty of great local bands and intriguing artwork on display throughout the night, but all the proceeds from the evening went to support relief efforts in the earthquake ravaged island of Haiti. Normally, such tragic events would cast a somber pall over the proceedings, but the bands and the crowd chose to play it pretty loose, buoyed by the turnout and the knowledge that in our own small way we were making a difference, providing aid to a country filled with people in desperate need of assistance.
What planet am I on right now? I'm seeing the orchestra, but I'm being stared down by a giant polar bear that's trying to sell me Klondike bars.
This is the Target Center, right? It must be. I smell the distinct aromas of nacho cheese and pretzeled bread, but look at all these people in fancy suits. Their perfume is in the air, and there's something else! It's not upscale cologne. No, it's... marijuana. Okay, I am most certainly at a rock concert, but who's that on stage? That's a conductor! Why is there a beer in my hands!?
Punk bowling at Memory Lanes: The crash of balls, the clinking of glasses, the occasional skipping record. What better way for local punks and new Epitaph Records signees Off With Their Heads to fire off a good-bye shot to the Twin Cities before their leave on yet another epic tour? I ventured out into the nasty snow--why does it seem like every show I review comes with crappy driving conditions?--along with a couple hundred other folks to check out the fun.
So Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar have written an album in dedication to Jack Kerouac. If you'll indulge me for just a moment, I'd like to share with you a poem I wrote in appreciation of the same writer. It's called "Highway to Freedom." Ahem.
Picture yourself sitting comfortably in a wood paneled basement. Your friend puts on an amazing record that you've never heard before, and you can't believe the sounds emanating from the humble set of speakers. You demand to know why this otherworldly band isn't famous. This is when your friend mutters the inevitable buzzkill: The band currently blowing your mind doesn't play shows anymore. You will never see them perform live... Ever.
Mayors Chris Coleman and RT Rybak greet the sold-out crowd
It was a birthday party fit for a king, as a sold-out First Avenue was jam packed with a lively crowd gathered to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of local radio station the Current. But with an all Minnesota line-up, the night was just as much an appreciation of burgeoning local talent as it was a recognition of the importance and impact of the Twin Cities best radio station. While a few of the performances didn't quite live up to the occasion, having Prince, R.T. Rybak, Chris Coleman, and Chris Osgood all present (as well as taped testimonials from Dan Wilson and Bob Mould), it's hard to issue too many complaints about what ended up being a truly memorable evening.
What do you get when you combine two nights of shows at two separate venues full of friends new and old with vegan cupcakes and cookies, discounted wieners, hot young groupies, masses of paparazzi and ten years of record label history? You get last weekend's Modern Radio10-year anniversary celebration. If you didn't make both Friday night's show at the Turf and Saturday night's at the Cedar, you missed out on a lot of great music, fun times and a positive, affirming sense of community. More importantly, you missed out on free confections and, as promised, hot young groupies. Sounds dirty, doesn't it? Now you know you want to click through for all the sugary, sordid details.
Raleigh, North Carolina's Bowerbirds certainly couldn't have been any more pleased with their surroundings at the Varsity Theater on Tuesday night, with a large contingent of friends and family of the band in attendance (including Justin Vernon and Sean Carey of Bon Iver, and lead singer Phil Moore's sister), as well as a venue and sound system that the band sang the praises of all evening. All of these virtues added up to one splendid performance by the band, who made up for what they lacked in discord by instead crafting music filled with an understated elegance and a timely sense of restraint, which gives their songs an added depth and significance.
Julia Nunes signs autographs after her show at the Cedar Cultural Center
When 20-year-old Julia Nunes stepped on stage Monday night at the Cedar Cultural Center, she represented what YouTube can do for musicians who choose to build their fan base electronically.
Nunes
stopped at the Cedar Cultural Center Monday night as part of her tour
for her new CD, I Think You Know, which she is releasing to the Internet on February 2. Since January 14, Nunes has played shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Monday marked her first appearance in Minneapolis.
There was a generous amount of mutual admiration on display Friday night at the sold out Cedar Cultural Center. A large, supportive crowd turned out for the Rural Alberta Advantage, and the band seemed genuinely thrilled to be playing in front of another Minneapolis crowd, a place where they have sold more copies of their debut record Hometowns than any other city in the U.S. Even though it was a surprising (to me, at least) seated concert at the Cedar, which hindered a bit of the show's early momentum, by the end of the night the entire crowd was standing to congratulate a wonderful, engaging performance by the Toronto three-piece.
A crowd of over 1000 local music fans gathered at First Avenue on Friday night to watch the seven acts who were featured as the Best New Bands of 2009. From Red Pens to the Twilight Hours, Peter Wolf Crier to Moonstone, I was on the scene with the crew from MPLS.TV to capture footage of the performances and interview each of the bands as they finished playing. Come with us as we journey through the dark corners of the club and meet up with this year's showcased acts.
Thursday night: It's the start of the rock and roll warrior's weekend, the night when you can head out the door to any number of places and see the heartbeat of the Twin Cities rock scene. Thursday night at the Turf Club, circa now can be Friday night in First Avenue's Mainroom, circa five years from now if you take a chance and keep your ears open. This Thursday in particular, those walking in the Turf Club got to see some new faces doing their own take on familiar ground and some familiar faces doing some things entirely brand new.
"Come on, old guy, whaddya got?" a good-natured heckler yelled toward the stage during a rare quiet break in Arcwelder's sonic overload. "Whaddya got?"
Arcwelder guitarist/singer/occasional bassist Bill Graber squinted for a moment, trying to spy the heckler in the packed crowd, and then said, "Which one of us are you talking to?"
Darren Jackson is a musician fluent in fluctuation; his work under the Kid Dakota moniker is decidedly more somber than his hook-laden pop band the Hopefuls, and both projects have seen their share of lineup changes, yet he bounces between each realm with ease. As an astute songwriter, Jackson is just as believable singing about girls and sunshine as he is singing about addiction and depression, a testament to his sincerity as well as his artistic versatility. So while Saturday night's pair of contrasting sets at the Kitty Cat Klub may have seemed unusual for some musicians, it was almost business as usual for the chameleonic Jackson.
I don't know if Steve Miller and his band hit the jackpot on the casino floor following their performance at Mystic Lake Casino Saturday Night (presumably not). I don't know if Steve Miller and his band were paid a load of cash for playing to a near-capacity crowd (presumably so). And I don't know if following any of this, they "ran." But I do know that during their performance I was at times moved (like when an over-zealous fan kept knocking me in the back of the head and I literally had to move out of her way as she screamed "We love you Steve!"), but that for most of the ho-hum set I pondered things like "I wonder what Steve does to make his hair look that good at 65?" or "Bobbie Sue took the money and run? Shouldn't it be ran?"
Christmas in Minnesota: expatriates and deserters return home from LA and New York and wherever else they're hiding; it's a last chance for people to hang out before it gets really cold in January; and the alternating stress and cheer of Christmas brings a weird look to everyone's eye that says "enough with the gift giving, I just want to see old friends" that only a few beers can solve.
"Can we get the lights down up here?" asked Marcus Lunkenheimer, Skoal Kodiak's vocalist/circuit bender/bleach bottle-ist, as they took the stage Friday at the Cedar Cultural Center. "No, darker. Dark." Stage lights down, the Christmas tree to the side of the stage flickered off, and with a few quick button punches they set the evening off with a roar like sparking off a bottle rocket. Bassist Brady Lenzen and drummer Freddie Votel (who didn't bother to remove his long winter coat and hat) made the crashing rhythms that are Skoal's foundation look easy, as Lunkenheimer's sequenced noise parts and effects-laden vocals triggered a home-wired, improvised light show made of thrift store lamps and old Christmas lights.
My first visit ever to the Triple Rock and it's for an all-out, punk stained, ear drum scorching collection of fresh young talent and wily veterans. It was chock full of technically amazing drummers, baseball bat-wheeling front men, bad jokes, and dramatic poses. It was the most exhilarating evening of rock I've seen around these parts in a while I loved every minute of it. There's nothing like a punk show to kick off Christmas right...
When Andrew Bird announced that he was going to perform a "Gezelligheid" concert series at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, the obvious question was "What the hell is a "Gezelligheid?" It has nothing to do with the large phonograph sculptures that Bird uses for amplification or with violins, but is a Dutch concept that roughly equates to "coziness" (patrons of Mario Keller's restaurant and bar Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit will recognize the German equivalent of the word). With it's high gothic vaulted ceiling and gray stone, St. Mark's may not immediately fit the bill for "cozy," but the sold out crowd who braved the cold to stand in line for the third and final concert certainly appreciated the immediacy the reverential space offered.
With a music scene as dense as ours, there's opportunities to catch great local music on pretty much any night of the week, but it's rare that a lineup of four groups of varying backgrounds and styles can deliver a concert so consistently engaging and high-caliber as the one that took place Friday night at the Turf Club. Case in point: Not once in the evening did I even check to see if the downstairs bar was open let alone seek it out as a resting place as I so often do at Turf shows, and it was out of fear of missing even a minute of what was happening upstairs.
When the show was announced, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for profound disaster: Prop-comedy hippie/conservative comedy "legend" Gallagher, on tour in Saint Paul, would be performing with local metal/comedy act Metallagher. Rumors swirled: would they perform together? (No.) Would the notoriously critical comedian and ruthlessly satirical band clash on stage? (No.) Would there be beer bongs? (No.) Who actually goes to a Gallagher show anymore? (A lot of people, apparently.)
As Curtiss A neared the end of his epic, five-hour John Lennon tribute show at First Avenue last night, he paused to reflect on the news of Bruce Allen's death. "You may or may not know that Bruce Allen from the Suburbs passed away last night," Curiss said. "Dog gonnit if every year we don't have some friend..." he said, shaking his head mop of shock-white hair in disbelief. Just last year, Curtiss A dedicated "In My Life" to late drummer Steve Foley, and this year he dedicated the same song to Allen during one of the most emotional parts of his annual tribute show.
The last time Once film stars and musical duo the Swell Season played the State, it was very clear that this was Glen Hansard's band and that his female co-star, Marketa Irglova, was simply along for the ride. I was hoping that by the time they returned on the strength of their new album that the dynamic would have shifted a bit; Irglova has a charming personality that is stifled when she is sequestered to the side of the stage, seated at her grand piano. And things got off to a promising start: The pair took the stage alone, kneeling on the floor over a tiny keyboard for a duet version of "Fallen From the Sky," followed by an emotional "Lies." But before too long Hansard invited his four Frames bandmates to the stage and the focus shifted, as Hansard remained center stage and Irglova simply became another member of his backing band.
"Should I say anything special?" P.O.S. asked at the start of Doomtree's Fifth Annual Blowout at First Avenue, as if he and the rest of the group haven't already said enough on their stellar string of albums over the years. The club was sold out based on the strength of that material, as well as their notorious live shows. He didn't end up saying anything too momentous between songs, but he proceeded to tear the roof off the club along with Doomtree's four other emcees, who hadn't shared the same stage together since last year's Blowout. The group didn't show any signs of rust as they incisively ripped through material both new and old during the fabulous show.
Only a couple of chairs remained empty by the time the Tellabration 2009 evening concert got underway. Many of the folks in attendance had been at the Loft Literary Center since that morning, attending workshops, listening to open mics, a liars' contest, and showcases of some of Minnesota's best spoken-word talent. But no enthusiasm was lost as the first tellers stepped up to the microphone.
"Wait, this show is sold out?" asked the gentleman in front of me as we neared the front of the line to get into Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the Varsity Sunday night. It turned out he didn't have a ticket. "I just heard one of his songs on the radio the other day and thought I might as well come see the show!"
As unfortunate as this incident was -- I have no idea whether the poor guy ever got in -- I found it enlightening. Sure, "Home" is a catchy enough little number, but I'd been mystified as to why this show sold out days in advance. Now it occurred to me that the people inside probably only knew one or two of the Magnetic Zeros' songs, had no point of reference on Laurel Canyon, and almost definitely didn't realize that there isn't, in fact, anyone named Ed Sharpe in the band.
At 9 p.m., Halloween, Alaska was wooing a few hundred seated devotees at the Cedar Cultural Center, with Haley Bonar in the wings. Two hours into the evening's future, and only a handful of miles to the east, local noise rockers Seawhores would plunge a few dozen fans into headbanger's oblivion, before yielding the stage to Skoal Kodiak.
It was all on one night, which found Haley Bonar and Skoal Kodiak performing to capacity crowds at their respective venues. Need more proof that something special is afoot in the Twin Cities scene? Head below the jump for reviews.
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