What about the future of local music? We always hear ‘the wouldn’t it be cool if....’ opinion, but action is always harder then making a list or giving out an opinion. Maybe a few of these thoughts will give you some inspiration to see one extra show per month, or buy a CD from a local band you’ve been thinking about. Or it might even push you to start a Web site, set up a show or two, or help a local musician release a CD. We collected what we thought were the best ideas submitted to Rift.
Getting a sizeable independent record label.
Bands not moving to other cities the moment they get big.
Bring back Cedarfest!
Or have a good-sized indie music festival ala Coachella or Bumpershoot.
– Suzy Vowels, Radio K
The relentless flow of new bands continues.
The industrial scene finally gets more than just giggles.
The smoking ban goes statewide (or at the very worst, goes away).
The current venues stay open.
More venues are able to open.
– Thomas Kwong, Radio K
I’d like the music scene to have a genuine happiness and excited feeling about it, the same ones we had many years ago when people were excited about going out, and simply enjoying the entertainment and not being so darn jaded about the entire subject. Let's get back to the music and the simple appreciation of it. Support local music stores, record labels and most of all, the musicians. The world has become a very serious place and the gentle fun seems almost gone. Maybe more now than ever, we need our clubs, galleries, records stores, etc., to be those places where we can genuinely escape to. Be it just for a minute, an hour or whatever, from the condition we are in geo-politically. We did just that in 70s and 80s and those venues were our shelter from the outside world.
– Thomas Spiegel, House Nation Under a Groove and "Souled Out Sundays"
I want to see disco come back. I want to see the hip-hop group Word For Word put out on album. I want to see more shows on Wednesday nights so I don't have to sit at home and watch "Trading Spouses."
– Alison Stolpa, Radio K
Continued existence. Seriously. It's easy to take it for granted. Having so many people working so hard to make music here is a beautiful, beautiful thing – and it's great to see people keep on keepin' on.
More clubs. We have a lot of good places to see shows and to play, but more is better. Especially on the entry level end because nothing's more frustrating for a new band than not being able to play anywhere.
Hard Rock Cafe destroyed by repeated lightning strikes.
Explosion of boom-chicka-retro-country acts along the lines of the "live" scenes in “Walk the Line.” Stand-up bass strongly preferred.
Derailleur vaults to top of Twin Cities music scene. Admit it – you want the same thing for your band. We all do.
– Keith Pille, Rift Contributing Writer, Freelance Writer and Derailleur Guitarist
More shows booked at the Whole: Back in the late 1990s, before Coffman Union shut its doors for an extensive remodel, the Whole seemed to be booked solid with both local and national bands four nights a week. Since Coffman’s re-opened, it seems the club is having a tough time getting back to its former glory, although things have improved the last 10 months or so. Let's hope its dedicated staff of volunteers can turn things around and keep this nice little place packed for years to come.
Clear Channel drops its concert promotion division, or better yet, goes bankrupt altogether.
More all-ages matinees at local clubs.
First Avenue stops trying to compete with other downtown clubs through futile efforts such as installing flat screen TVs.
– Todd Harrison, Rift Contributing Writer
Though I am sometimes guilty of it, people need to pay more attention at shows. So many shows I’ve seen seem to revolve around vile social networking and alcohol abuse. I went to a lot of shows in the past year where performers practically killed themselves on stage only to be met with a crowd that was drunkenly oblivious.
I’ve been very pleased with the diversity that the local hip-hop scene has added. The music scene here tends to be incestuous, one-note and still revolves around talking about how great it was in the early 80s. It was great, absolutely, but let’s move on and find some new and innovative acts – including those not comprised solely of disaffected white kids from Mendota Heights, or wherever (not that they don’t sometimes make amazing music). We’ve been moving in some decent directions, with acts like Heiruspecs, P.O.S., I Self Divine, Doomtree and Building Better Bombs. I hope this continues.
I don’t understand the national music scene. Two of the local acts that’ve had significant national success in the past year, The Hopefuls and Motion City Soundtrack, don’t make interesting music. The former’s power pop sound is far less compelling than other ventures by its members (give me Vicious Vicious or Kid Dakota over The Hopefuls any day), and Motion City Soundtrack...well, I just don’t understand. Period. Let’s hope local acts like Atmosphere continue to represent us nationally and that other interesting musicians/bands can do so as well.
I would also like to see more attention given to jazz. The Artists’ Quarter is great but somewhat inaccessible (location, price, parking, sold out, etc.) and the Dakota is bourgeoisie and expensive. If I want to go see some incredible down ‘n dirty folk and blues, chances are I can go to the Viking Bar on a Monday night and find something amazing. Maybe there are jazz clubs like this in town, but if there are, I don’t know about them and I’d like to see them covered.
The Current: Less womb rock – get dirty, for chrissakes! That’s what rock and roll, country western and hip-hop are all about. And c’mon – I love Gershwin, but he doesn’t belong after the new track from Common. Charlie Mingus, on the other hand, just might....
– Emily Condon, Formerly of Minnesota Film Arts
Flood Minneapolis/St. Paul with money for rock and hip-hop.
Find more ways to combine hip-hop and alt rock.
Bands and clubs help each other promote gigs.
– Perry Bowers, Taylor Sound
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