So many great shows, so many bizarre moments. While the Hold Steady told us Chicago seemed tired last night, you won’t hear anyone saying that about our Twin Cities. Aided by Laila’s detailed calendar, we shall explore the year that was 2005.
Damn Right! The Best Moments in Minnesota Music:
WMCN – Macalester College Radio. For those of you who haven’t discovered it yet, the best station in town (91.7 FM, comin’ at ya with 5.4 screamin’ watts) had a Benefit Show at the 400 Bar, January 29th, featuring now Madison-based, Screamin’ Cyn Cyn and the Pons.
When Melodious Owl’s Joe Burns was on family vacation, the band replaced him with a guy who looked a lot like him, even wearing his clothes, down to the green sneakers, causing much confusion in the audience.
October 30th: The Hold Steady make that turn from Nicollet and 66th towards First Avenue, and bring a couple of swank pounders with them in the Constantines and Thunderbirds are Now! The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn began the show by simply standing on the stage and absorbing the audience’s love, as he bore a smile resembling a nine-year-old on Christmas morning. He then recounted the story of the class at Littleton (Colorado) High School and their Hold Steady Curriculum. Damn right they’ll rise again.
After the May tragedy at Nye’s Polonaise Room, the locals packed the place to show some love to one of the true original venues in town. The flowers left upon the patio tables and messages of support make me proud to call this city my home.
Pitchfork Media Becomes Eclectic. While much will be said about 89.3 (The Current) within these pages, it was quite informative to read Chris Dahlen’s February 21st article on pitchforkmedia.com regarding this new station.
Best Radio Interview:
On the Radio K “Local Music Day” on January 5, we got to hear an exchange between Mark Mallman and the hosts of “Off the Record,” (not the My Morning Jacket song that bites “Hawaii-Five-O”) Keri and Allison. Here’s a little background: Mallman just explained to the hosts he wrote the music for the inside of a stuffed animal, which led to a spirited debate of the coolness of ex-hot toy, the Furby. Here’s the result:
MM: All right, this has gone too far.
Keri: Remember when Furbies were cool?
Allison: Were they ever cool?
MM: Let’s get back to playing the rock.
Allison: Okay, but wait – did you know that if the batteries died in a Furby, it would make a loud screaming sound! Ahhhhhh!
MM: Come on, this is college radio, not sixth grade radio!
Best Surprise:
“The Other Side Of Country,” City Pages blog by Jack Sparks. Anyone who says “I like everything...except country,” needs to read this entire archive. Like Lester Bangs and the other greats before him, Jack’s penchant to slice ‘n dice the money-grubbing product-pushers disguised as “artists” is only exceeded by his ability to elucidate the genius behind Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and locals Trailer Trash, Anchorhead and the Gleam. C’mon K-102, how about hiring a guy who actually likes country music?
Top Secret Music Venues:
While not technically a “secret,” they often fly under the radar of our more established locales.
The Steak Knife, 1327 4th St. SE, Minneapolis. Here comes the gravy pipe! Live shows every night, featuring original hip-hop and reggae and the occasional WTF moment (an open mic night resulted in some dude covering songs by Hootie and the Blowfish!) are aided by the two-for-one James Page ale and damn fine steak fries.
The Minnesota Zoo’s Amphitheatre. Great outdoor concerts are a gift from all the deities, and when the mayor of northeast Minneapolis, the Honorable Paul Metsa, is in the house, your mind can drift away from those increased car insurance premiums. If only they moved the venue to the Tiger Lair Exhibit, we’d love to see Mark Mallman in his natural environment.
The venues that advertise in the second to last 15 pages of City Pages (POV’s, the Medina, Diamond’s, Doc’s, Bogart’s, etc.). Hard-working bands are all over this metro area and you never know what you’ll discover when you venture outside the cities.
Harvey’s, downtown Minneapolis. If off-key acoustic Pink Floyd covers are your style, follow the Rabbit for a (Squid and the) Whale of a time. The many beer specials can potentially make this potentially as entertaining as open-mic at the ‘Knife.
Stub and Herb’s, Stadium Village. If Patrick Bateman from “American Psycho” chose the set list for Blues Hammer (of “Ghost World” fame), they would play here.
Top 5 Music Venue Restrooms:
1. Hexagon for its soap choices and overheard conversations from under the stalls.
2. Turf Club for its local graffiti: “Mallman Saves,” “I want a hot Carl” (Malachi reference?), along with “Forever will the intolerable present grind you down” (Camus).
3. The Entry for its ability to make you want to find someone to sneak in there for a (hopefully) not-so-quickie.
4. The Triple Rock for not having any signage as to male vs. female for a time last year. Plus, really cold water. If you want hot, turn it on before you commence your business.
5. First Avenue, for being a venue in itself...with a view.
Laila’s Top 8 Sexiest Musicians Seen Live ‘05
1. Menomena’s Brent Knopf. Show: March 2nd, 7th Street Entry
2. Melodious Owl’s Joe Berns
3. Sage Francis’s scrawny backup singer. Show: February 17th, First Avenue
4. Screamin’ Cyn Cyn and the Pons’ Cynthia Burnson. Show: Jan. 29th, 400 Bar
5. Neko Case, First Avenue, June 7.
6. Melodious Owl’s John Kuder
7. Kid Dakota’s drummer Chris McGuire. Show: Feb. 5th, Turf Club or Jan. 14th, Triple Rock or Nov. 12th, Turf Club
8. Melodious Owl’s Wes Statler (I think we found your favorite band, Laila)
Top 5 Local Shows ‘05
1. Dosh and Spaghetti Western’s original compositions for the silent films “South” and “Grass” at the Bell Auditorium, New Year’s Eve. Complete with boozed-up tours of the galleries of stuffed creatures.
2. Mark Mallman, Malachi Constant, Mark Mallman, Triple Rock, Turf Club, Triple Rock, Mar. 25th. It has been said those who live within their means lack imagination. When Mallman’s all-ages show ended at 10:00, this allowed a quick haul over to the Turf Club to see Malachi’s set, knowing damn well they would finish in time to see Mallman’s second set for the grown-ups. The signs indicating “The Show is Sold Out–Don’t Even Ask” were no match for our guile – they let us in for free. And the sign’s now on my office door, like a 20-point buck that didn’t get away.
3. Dillinger 4, Triple Rock Social Club, 4th of July. We feel uncomfortable printing what occurred at this show, but if you were there, you know.
4. Belles of Skin City, Hexagon Bar, Jan. 8th. So packed, the hipsters spilled over into the meat raffle section.
5. To steal a line from John Doe: “The next great show? You are likely heading there right now.”
Worst Shows:
1. Any sold-out 18+ show at First Avenue. While we know these shows are necessary to keep a music scene thriving, we almost wish First Ave offered a class on concert etiquette. When Atmosphere took the stage, it was impossible to hear...or breathe....or think...or...well, you get the idea. It was hard to experience Slug’s flow when every 30 seconds some 15-year-old is getting dragged out for drinking, or a 14-year-old and her boyfriend squeezing you to death. And then there was the constant chatter....
2. Death From Above 1979, 400 Bar, April 12. Nine songs into the set, Drummer/Singer/Asshole Sebastien Grainger discusses how “absurdly fantastic” he feels. Ten songs into the set, he’s using the 400 sound system to yell expletives at a woman in the front row (for grabbing a 75 cent handkerchief off the stage). He then tells bassist Jesse Keiler to pack it up, pack it in. Lesson learned: don’t mix alcohol and cold medicine. You must now apologize to James Murphy.
3. Danko Jones, May 5, Triple Rock. Headlining act Mando Diao were firing on all eight cylinders, whereas opener Jones sounded like a man who lived in van down by the river. His dead-on impression of Randy “Macho Man” Savage included harassing the ticket booth guy for reading homework assignments and some audience members for sitting down. The bizarre ending – he screamed about how when he dies, he is going to hold the hands of Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix and other random dead rock stars – included his name-checking two rockers (Brian Wilson and Daniel Lanois) who have not actually passed away (I take it Danko skips the Obituaries page on his way to the Jumble).
Most Frustrating “Coincidence”
Weezer’s “Perfect Situation” is an inferior copy of Mark Mallman’s “Still Wasted.” They might not know this, but our local “adult-alternative” programmers could easily replace the ersatz pop with a local upgrade. To hear for yourself, Mallman’s “Mr Serious” is available at all of the finer independent record stores. To hear the Weezer song, y’all know how to SoulSeek.
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