Photo By James Rhodes

​Other Lives and Halloween, Alaska
7th St. Entry, Minneapolis
February 9, 2012

The music of Other Lives has such a classic, timeless quality to it that even the band's new songs sound instantly familiar. The Stillwater, Oklahoma quintet treated the sold-out Entry to a sweeping 65-minute set that featured three new numbers mixed in with nearly the entirety of their stately recent album, Tamer Animals. Other Lives' grand, solemn sound swelled gloriously inside the packed club, as the band's dexterous members gracefully switched from one instrument to the next (often in mid-song), giving each number a subtle flourish. More >>

Photo by Steve Cohen

​By Steve Cohen

Gary Busey as Buddy Holly
Parkway Theater, Minneapolis
Friday, February 3, 2012

An actor perhaps best known for portraying one of music's great innovators brought a bit of rock 'n' roll legacy to the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis on Friday. Gary Busey, star of 1978's The Buddy Holly Story, performed a set of Holly classics on the 52nd anniversary of the rock legend's death. In town for a Q&A and screening of the film (as part of The Parkway's "Rock & Roll Moving Picture Show" series), Busey didn't disappoint with his mix of frankness, humor, enthusiasm and wackiness.
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Photo by Tony Nelson

​Craig Finn
With Mount Moriah
Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis
Saturday, February 4, 2012

Any Craig Finn performance in Minneapolis is a sea of talking points -- and he went through most of them Saturday in front of an attentive Triple Rock crowd. This is the home of 86 percent of Finn's lyrical references, and it was Lifter Puller who played the venue's opening gig back in 2003. However, nostalgic entreaties for nostalgia were met firmly with: "We ain't gonna go there -- don't even bother." Slugging a Pabst, lifting up Groucho Marx eyebrows, and grinning like Peter Sellers imitating the Cheshire Cat, Finn kept the focus on his new solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes, and an audience of the converted smiled along despite it being "a bunch of sad songs to bum you out."
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Photo by Nick Pinto

​Jeff Mangum
State Theatre, Minneapolis
Saturday, February 4, 2012

With Saturday's performance at the State Theater, Jeff Mangum ended the long and curious estrangement from his public which began shortly after the release of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, the album which has defined him in absentia since its release almost 14 years ago. In that time, his fans have doubled and tripled and crossed a gulf of generations, many of them imagining a deep kinship with the man they've come to know through that magnificent LP he left upon departing. More >>

​City and Colour with The Low Anthem
First Ave., Minneapolis
Saturday, February 4, 2012

Along with the metric system and a alternate spelling of the word "color," Canada brings us the lovely music of City and Colour, taking a detour on their Canadian tour to do a few shows in the States. If the show wasn't sold out at the door, it was pretty close to a sell out crowd at First Ave. on Saturday night.

Releasing his music under the name City and Colour, Dallas Green is the mainstay in the band with revolving members that join him onstage -- a trend amongst more and more artists these days, possibly due to differences within the band or wanting to keep artistic control.
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Photos by Aaron Rupar

​Dark Star Orchestra
First Avenue, Minneapolis
Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Although First Avenue can't quite stack up with an outdoor festival setting, last night's Dark Star Orchestra show in the mainroom was still plenty good. The band has made a name for itself by traveling the world and playing entire Grateful Dead concert sets just as the Dead played them decades ago. Last night, DSO recreated a Dead set from April 19, 1984 at the Civic Center in Philadelphia. By the mid-'80s, this output consisted of an American roots-style blend of blues, country, reggae, and, of course, good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll.
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Photos by Reed Fischer

No flash photography.

​Cass McCombs Band
With Frank Fairfield
7th St. Entry, Minneapolis
Wednesday, February 1, 2012

In a torn flannel shirt over a henley, comfortably worn jeans, and Dr. Marten boots, Cass McCombs looks a lot like a mechanic lately. (Or Eddie Vedder, circa. 1991.) But it's an appropriate guise for a man constantly tinkering under the hood of our imaginations with wide-ranging Americana storytelling. In the low light of the 7th St. Entry -- which McCombs requested be lowered further twice -- he and his four mates let the light from a mystical Abre Candle and some incense burning add to the introspective material that never overtook the heart muscles' BPM in the room.
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Photo by Tony Nelson

​The Supersuckers
7th St. Entry, Minneapolis
January 31, 2012

In less capable hands, this would have been just another aging, veteran rock band rolling through Minneapolis, looking to get paid for nothing, and eager to get the hell out of the Minnesota winter as quickly as possible. But we're talking about the Supersuckers here, the self-proclaimed Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band In the World, and they clearly don't go out like that. The seasoned Seattle quartet came to entertain the raucous, sold-out Entry crowd with everything they had, delivering rousing new songs as well as digging deep in their back catalog during their boisterous 80-minute set. More >>

Photo by Erik Hess

​The Current's 7th Birthday Party, Day 2

With Polica, Suicide Commandos, Sims, and Haley Bonar
First Avenue, Minneapolis
Saturday, January 28, 2012

View a slideshow from the concert here and coverage of night one here.

Was it arrogant of the Current to think that a two-night birthday was appropriate? Was it indulgent? Overkill? These questions were raised in the days and weeks leading up to this past weekend. By Saturday night, at the beyond sold-out First Avenue mainroom, the answer to all of those questions was abundantly clear. No, it was not any of those things and, in fact, it may not have been enough. While it was the radio station's birthday, what it really did was function as a showcase for the music that has been produced in Minneapolis over the past three decades.

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Youa Vang

​Los Campesinos! with Parenthetical Girls
Varsity Theater, Minneapolis
Sunday, January 29, 2012

Los Campesinos! is an indie-rock band that hails from Cardiff, Wales -- which is pretty far removed from anything Latino-related implied by the name. The seven-piece ensemble drew a pretty big crowd for a Sunday night on their fourth time to the Cities, with Gareth Campesinos! claiming, "We get less and less professional every time we play."
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