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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Hot Tickets for December 6 - December 12, 2006
Wednesday 06 December @ 16:07:54 |
  Stone Soup :: Said Method :: Green Scare :: Popalooza :: Arts Quarter Club Holiday Sale :: Middle East Voices :: The Shadow Cabaret :: ROMP! :: For New Orleans CD Release :: Riot Act Reading Series :: Jeremy Enigk :: AND THIS WEEK'S HOT PICK: Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood ...CHECK YOUR PULSE ...
Stone Soup
Fridley Crab House
Great as many of the bands playing around Minneapolis and St. Paul are, you can take a break from the hustle and bustle of the cities and still catch some mighty fine music. No more than a 15-minute drive outside the Twin Cities, Stone Soup do a regular Wednesday night thing at the Fridley Crab House. Blues rockers to the bone, they’ve put together a strong sound made of R&B, New Orleans funk, plain old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll and, of course, Chicago blues. It’s all in the hands of veterans: Guitarists Drew Druckrey and Marc Nicpon, and bass player Nate Fowler come by way of High and Tight; drummer Brett Behrens by way of Clovis and Tony Jazz Project; and keyboardist Derek Rohlf—a very understanding guy when it comes to PR—by way of Stereoscope. Stone Soup have been getting decent exposure opening for the likes of New Primitives, White Iron Band and some other heavyweights. It ought to be some kind of fun catching them as headliners. 8:30 p.m. 6161 Hwy. 65 NE (North of Hwy. 694 & Central Ave. NE), Fridley. 763-571-3444. DWIGHT HOBBES
HOT PICK
Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood
First Ave
You could argue, perhaps convincingly, that jazz fusion has been ghettoized by the jazz community. A lot of jazzers look down their noses at groups like Medeski, Martin & Wood, who have
successfully crossed over to the jam band crowd via their head-bobbing, booty-movement-inducing live shows, and maybe they’re right to, but I’ve long since gotten over the idea that music has to be difficult to be worth something. Like Cummings said, “since feeling is first / who pays any attention / to the syntax of things / will never wholly kiss you.” MMW’s first collaboration with John Scofield, A Go Go, has rightly entered the groove canon as a funky classic. It was the album where Scofield ditched his polarizing Sco-tone (a kind of wishy-washy, effect-laden shimmeriness—you can count me in the thumbs down camp on that one) and played it straight, utilizing only a hint of overdrive and a little chorus here and there. The pairing with MMW was an inspired one: at the time, fusion or funk jazz or whatever you want to call it had been mired in overly sparkling production and a lightness of intent that the New York-based trio were pushing aside with their muscular, melodic and sometimes experimental approach to organ jazz. Their new collaboration, Out Louder, is more a team effort, less a Scofield project, and after a couple listens, the results seem flatter than their first, which is always a danger when that singularity of vision is sacrificed to groupthink. Regardless, bank on them bringing it big time at First Ave—I have little doubt that everything’s going to come off as looser and livelier when they hit the stage. 7 p.m. $25. 18+. 701 First Ave. N., Mpls. 612-338-8388. STEVE McPHERSON
Said Method
Bunker’s Bar & Grill
 R&B rockers Said Method are about as smooth and tight as they wanna be. Think ’80s chart-toppers Color Me Badd or Player, only with very serious chops. A bunch of hired guns, these guys are session aces who decided they didn’t have enough to do in their own bands and came up with yet one more way to dig up work. We’re talking guys who’ve worked with Soul Tight Committee, Les Exodus, Renee Austin and King Freud. Players include Jordan “Stein” Carlson on traps and percussion, guitarist Blair Krivanek, Andy Mark on bass and Brandon Hess on keys and silken, raw-edged lead vocals. Their crowd favorite “Witness” has can’t-miss-hit written all over it, pulling on a bit of Curtis Mayfield that gets sweetly romantic as it hits hard and straight from the hip. You’ll want to see this band in action. With the New Congress. 7 p.m. $5. 761 Washington Ave. N., Mpls. 612-338-8188. DWIGHT HOBBES
Green Scare
Jack Pine Community Center
The “war on terrorism” comes home in a replay of the 1950s communist witch hunt known as the Red Scare—but with a twist. Called the “Green Scare,” it’s direct action environmentalists whom the FBI names as “the biggest domestic terrorism threat,” although not one human being has been injured or killed in Earth Liberation Front (ELF) or animal liberation actions. Investigative journalist Will Potter talks about the latest assault on dissent (see greenisthenewred.com). Former ELF spokesman Leslie James Pickering and local activists will give updates on eco-political prisoners. Animal liberation activists are on their way to prison for simply hosting a website, and grand juries are jailing activists for refusing to reveal their political beliefs and associates. Precedents are being set that will impact all who refuse to stay silent against corporate wars on other countries or the earth itself. 7 p.m. (vegetarian dinner served at 6 p.m.). $10 (no one turned away for lack of funds). 2815 E. Lake St., Mpls. 612-746-3061 or fightthegreenscare.org. LYDIA HOWELL
Popalooza
Hexagon Bar
 For the past few years, Chris Dorn has booked music for the Hex. As one of the local music scene’s “statesmen,” Dorn’s talents, contacts and credibility helped to fill a big void when Rob Rule left town—and helped to create another new cool venue for original music, which will continue. We hear this night is Dorn’s last official night and so the Hex, in one last hurrah, wanted to showcase some of his favorite bands. The night will begin with a scaled-down Jan (Jeaneen Gauthier’s band) with Autumn Leaves’ frontman David Beckey on guitar. Gauthier said she’s opted for melt over belt these days, a perfect antidote to sub-zero wind chills coming out of the Northwest. Also blowing into town is pop-rock showboy Brad Cassetto, who has relocated his family to Kentucky—but still graces us with his energetic presence just when we wonder how he’s been. With The Deaths, Ten Ton Bridge, Stingray Green, Terry Eason, Hex Offenders. 9 p.m. 2600 27th Ave. S., Mpls. 612-722-3454. SID PRANKE
Arts Quarter Club Holiday Sale
Regis Center for Art
Sometimes I wonder if Twin Citians realize just how fortunate they are to be nestled amongst such an abundant and estimable art community. With a plethora of hand-spun holiday arts and crafts fairs to choose from this year, there’s really no reason to step foot in a mall for predictable Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa gifts—just scan your locally grown alternative newsweekly calendar for a list of holiday art fairs. Whether it’s last weekend’s cool Craft-o-Rama or the annual church bazaar, you’ll acquire sweet, one-of-a-kind gifts and contribute to the economic vitality of local artists. This weekend the U of M Arts Quarter Club gets into the game by holding its first annual Holiday Art Sale. Student work in ceramics, print, painting and photography will be for sale, and most of the proceeds go right back to the students (15 percent goes to the nonprofit Arts Quarter to support student field trips and visiting artists). But be sure to bring cash or checks, no credit cards will be accepted. Also Dec. 8. 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. West Bldg., 405 21st Ave. S., Mpls. LIBERTY FINCH
Middle East Voices
Coffman Union
Violence continues to escalate in Iraq, and in the Occupied Territories of Palestine, while the White House continues with intimidating rhetoric toward Iran. Learning more about the Middle East from people who actually understand the region’s history, culture and politics is more vital than ever. The last event in the series Middle East Voices is appropriately titled “Reflections” and includes U of M faculty Hisham M. Bizri (Cultural Studies and Literature), Carol Hakim (History) and Martin Sampson (Political Science). Noon – 1:30 p.m. Free. Resident’s Room. 300 Washington Ave. SE, Mpls. LYDIA HOWELL
The Shadow Cabaret
Patrick’s Cabaret
“See this show before it heads to Berlin in January!” Good advice from the sages of Minneapolis cabaret, Laurie Van Wieren (Bryant Lake Bowl) and Patrick Scully (Patrick’s Cabaret). These masters of the form are also cultural laborers who tackle serious issues: “What do we artists do when the society we live in is threatened by fascism?” is their starting point, framed in the Berlin cabaret movement of 1920-1930. In this performance Scully tells stories about his experiences in Berlin and shows a film. Van Wieren characterizes female film and stage stars such as Valeska Gert and Anita Berber. Venus sings and bends your thoughts on bending genders, and Fukasawa, a recent recipient of the Sage Award for Dance confounds you to giddiness with his culture and gender manipulations. With The Brass Messengers and Dreamland Faces. Also Dec. 9, 15 & 16. 8 p.m. $8/$6. 3010 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls. 612-721-3595 or patrickscabaret.org. ROBERT HAARMAN
ROMP!
Bedlam Theatre
“It reminds me of San Francisco in 1959,” said avant-garde legend Lee Breuer in 1999. Tonight marks the end of nearly a decade of “unapologetically reckless” theater, as Bedlam closes the doors to its West Bank studio home with one final extravagantastic show, “ROMP!” before moving down the road to its new West Bank home, the former location of Baja Grill. According to Bedlam, “ROMP!” has provided space for “highbrow arts patrons, spectacle theater geeks and the activist lowbagger set to indulge and imbibe in theater, puppets, comedy, dance, film, music and sweat for nearly a decade.” Speaking of which, you can take breaks to indulge and imbibe around the corner at Palmer’s and across the street at the Nomad. Included in this spectacular array of cabaret-style performances are the dance antics of Hijack, national all-star speed paint performers The Unruly Julies, puppet performances, and music by improvisatorial geniuses Aperattick. Plus, there’s the wildly popular WYXY News by Mike Harris, a five-minute movie, the final installation of glam-art, and a surprise musical number. There is nothing like a great ROMP on the Whiz Bang. 8:30 p.m. $10. 514 ½ Cedar Ave., Mpls. 612-341-1038. ELSIE PHILLIPS
For New Orleans CD Release
Kitty Cat Klub
I’m not gonna tug on your heartstrings here, folks. You know New Orleans is still in some seriously dire straits, so I’ll just let you know that 100 percent of the profits from local label Sugarfoot Music’s latest project, a compilation of unreleased and rare songs called For New Orleans, are going to support Habitat for Humanity’s Musicians’ Village. The village is located in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and began as the brain child of Harry Connick Jr. and Branford and Ellis Marsalis. More than just a rebuilding project, it represents an effort to not simply come back, but come back better by providing affordable housing for musicians and a centralized artistic community. The CD itself features unreleased tracks from local notables like singer/songwriter Dan Wilson, electro jazzers Electropolis and Ill Chemistry, a collaboration between spoken word artist Desdamona and beat boxer supreme Carnage. Aside from the local contributors, the comp boasts the late Jeff Buckley doing “I Shall Be Released” and tracks from Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls and Marshall Crenshaw. The release party is going to feature music from the aforementioned Ill Chemistry and out-there-and-back-again cello duo Jelloslave, plus special guests. As always, I can’t pimp the Kitty Cat Klub enough as a place to hang, much less as a place to catch a fantastic evening of killer music for a good cause. Get the CD online now at sugarfootmusic.com, and after Dec. 7 at the Electric Fetus or Bibelot shops. 7 p.m. reception, 9 p.m. music. Free. 315 14th Ave. S.E., Mpls. 612-331-9800. STEVE McPHERSON
Riot Act Reading Series
Turf Club
 Riot Act: Def: n. An English law, enacted in 1715, providing that if 12 or more people unlawfully assemble and disturb the public peace, they must disperse upon proclamation or be considered guilty of felony. Did you ever think being read the Riot Act could be this much fun? The Riot Act Reading Series, which ran for five years at the old Loring Bar, is reborn on the Old Stage of the Turf Club this week. The gang of Riot Act Series writers includes illustrious, infamous troublemakers with pens: Paul D. Dickinson, Emily Carter, Laura Brandenburg and Sam Osterhout. They invite “all civilians, lady truckers and hot-headed punk drifters” to gather at the Turf for an evening of prose, poesy, manifestos, Western Union telegrams, wiring diagrams and so much more! After the Riot Act reading, the writers will disperse into the tumultuous and riotous assembly for beer and revelry with the civilians while we’re treated to riotous, non-pastoral music by Caveman and Captain Yonder. Just when you thought Second Sundays were safe at the Turf … Disclaimer: Riot Act is not responsible for lost or stolen goods. All models are 18 years of age. 7:30 p.m. $2. Corner of University & Snelling Aves., St. Paul. 651-647-0486. CYN COLLINS
Jeremy Enigk
Varsity Theater
 I find it interesting how the time lapse effect of albums separated by months or years can refract and sometimes obscure the underlying continuity of an artist’s vision. Over the course of his career, first with Sunny Day Real Estate, then with The Fire Theft and intermittently as a solo artist, Jeremy Enigk has been by turns desperate and hopeful, intimate and bombastic, self-destructive and delicate. When I had the chance to finally see him live, though, the sonic and thematic elements that had heretofore separated his catalog into distinct phases vanished. The frayed, lo-fi edges of his first solo album, Return of the Frog Queen, framed the crystalline beauty and structure of his latest solo effort, World Waits,, and the manicured heft of later Sunny Day served as a counterweight to the manic volatility so in evidence on their first album. All of that past was alive inside Enigk that night. Here was a man in full command of his musical vocabulary, gliding gracefully through technical difficulties by bantering with the crowd in a smokey, gravelly speaking voice utterly unlike the keening falsetto he’s known for. His solo encore of “Explain,” from ROTFQ, was the absolute highlight of the night; I’d waited years to hear that song performed live, and it was even more beautiful than I’d imagined. I had long regretted never seeing Sunny Day Real Estate in person, given the tremendous impact they’d had on me musically, but I’m not quite so regretful anymore—I’ll take Enigk solo any day. 6 p.m. $15. All ages. 1308 4th St. SE., Mpls. 612-604-0222. varsitytheater.org STEVE McPHERSON
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