Northeast is the new Uptown

Just as I was looking forward to making a list of the top ten things to do instead of seeing The Killers Saturday night at the Quest--stay in and make sculptures out of cottage cheese, for example--it looks like they've saved me the trouble by postponing their show.

The gig has been rescheduled for August 9th at the larger Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Existing ticket holders will be admitted for general admission spots on the Roy Wilkins floor.

Northeast is the new Uptown

The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) brings Art-A-Whirl to Northeast Minneapolis this weekend for the tenth straight year. It's become a howwastheshow tradition to spin through Northeast by Vespa during Art-A-Whirl (weather permitting) and take in as many galleries and music events as possible.

Art-A-Whirl includes more than 400 locations including artist studios, independently-owned galleries and alternative art spaces. Many Northeast artists open their doors to the public, and nearly 20,000 visitors are expected for the event, making it one of the largest of the year.

See http://www.art-a-whirl.org for a full schedule of events.

Selected music events are posted on the howwastheshow calendar.

Friday Night

There's too much tempting stuff again on Friday night. Here are a few recommendations. (For those stalking me, I'm going to try to see Romantica at the Uptown Bar and then end up at the Beatifics show at the Turf Club.)

• Joanna James / Sam Keenan / Pete Hoffman - Hexagon Bar
• Terramara CD Release Party - Fine Line (This is a quite listenable funky, jazzy, R&B influenced pop band from Bloomington, MN. Their CD was reviewed in Pulse earlier this month here.
• Redstart - Kitty Cat Klub
• Wes Burdine & the Librarians CD Release / Romantica / Reticence - Uptown Bar
• Beatifics / Lifestyle of Wigs / Get Up Johns - Turf Club
• Highway 61 Revisted Dylan Tribute - Cabooze
• Exile on 7th Street (Little Brian Evil & Friends perform Exile on Main St. in its entirety) – Where else? 7th Street.

Saturday at Grumpy's Northeast - Backyard Art-A-Whirl Bash

Grumpy's Northeast has assembled a kick ass lineup of local music on Saturday afternoon. Their press release invites you to kick back "with the miscreant punk of the Fuck Yeahs, sample the Sea Whores salty dissonance, repose with City Pages 2004 singer of the year, Alicia Corbett, then melt in Landing Gear's massive landscape pop." The lineup ends with Ear Candy, a group that has to be seen to be believed. (Sample a few of Ear Candy's songs here.)

1:00pm Fuck Yeahs
1:45pm Grant Johnson and the New Vintage
2:30pm Sea Whores
3:15pm Alicia Corbett
4:00pm NoiseQueanAnt
4:45pm Mach FoX
5:30pm Ouija Radio
6:15pm Landing Gear
7:00pm Kruddler
7:45pm Ear Candy

Saturday elsewhere

The Nomad World Pub has an awesome night of music Saturday starting out with Murzik (our current photo of the week). The man with the angelic and haunting voice you've been hearing on 89.3 the Current, and the Twin Cities own addition to the Kill Rock Stars roster, Jeff Hanson (pictured to the left) plays the middle spot. The night is rounded out by the sweet pop of HowWasTheShow favorites, The Vestals.

Over at the Hexagon Bar, Rich Mattson of Ol' Yeller and friends perform
Kansas City Southern: A Tribute To The Music Of Gene Clark.

Gene Clark (as opposed to Roy Clark, that's the guy from Hee Haw) got his start with folk-rock and psychedelic-rock pioneers The Byrds, but he also released several solo records, as well as two albums with Dillard & Clark. Some call Clark the father of country rock. His songs have been covered by artists, ranging from Roxy Music to Husker Du, Robyn Hitchcock, Salt N' Pepa and Tom Petty.

Saturday they'll be covered by Rich Mattson of Ol' Yeller and a band that includes Bill Quinn on pedal steel, Keely Lane (Trailer Trash, Ol' Yeller) on drums, Dale Kallman (Ol' Yeller), on vocals and bass, and David Beckey (The Autumn Leaves), on vocals and guitar. Three full sets Clark material will be peppered with special guests including Chris Dorn, Jeaneen Gauthier (Jan), Jon Hunt (Landing Gear), Chris Merski and others.

Next Week

Monday night, Ian from Drinking with Ian is special guest host at Lili's Burlesque's Industry Night and bake sale billed as "Pasties and Pastries." The bake sale hopes to raise money for the troupe's trip to Exotic World. Lili's is at 327 2nd Ave. N. Doors are at 8:00pm. $5.

Tuesday, Emusiccompany is putting on a show at First Avenue.

Here's the lineup and times:

McKinley Place - 12:00
Panoramic Blue - 11:00
Flavor - 10:00
Ladder El - 9:15
Dear Machine - 8:30

Cover is $6 in advance, $8 at the door or free if you wear your EMC Music Company shirt.

Wednesday, of course, First Avenue will host the 2nd Annual Voltage: Fashion Amplified

You're probably sick of me saying this, but buy your tickets early! A sellout is expected.

If you attended last year's show not knowing what to expect and were blown away, you may go this year thinking you know what to expect and be blown away yet again. The Voltage committee has been burning the midnight oil for six months now working on this show.

Pulse did a cover story on Voltage this week.

Tune in Sunday at 1 to Radio K, as I'll be the guest on Music Lover's Club playing Voltage artists and talking about the show with host Karla Klaustermeier.

Sunday night tune into Homegrown on Drive 105 for live performances by the Deaths and conversation with Voltage producer Anna Lee and Voltage band coordinator Kate Galloway.

Then Monday, Lori and Julia with talk to Anna and Kate on their show on afternoon show on FM 107. They'll be on from about 3:25 p.m. to 4.

As Voltage approaches, check the VFA news page (another blog, actually, updated by yours truly).

Robert Skoro

Rob Skoro is on tour. In a recent email, he said, "It's a big, lonely country out there (for three guys in a van, at least) and we need all the company we can get! So see his web page for dates and tell your out of town friends.

All the out of town shows are with the new trio which has Robert playing some keys and a bit more of the electric guitar. James Buckley plays standup bass and bass guitar; and Adrian Suarez (Haley Bonar, Vicious Vicious) plays drums.

Ticket Alert

Rolling Stones tickets go on sale tomorrow for their September 6th appearance at the Excel Center.