Zombie Pub Crawl coming October 15th

Look out. The Zombie Pub Crawl is coming October 15th.

Organizer Taylor Carik said part of the idea was "to bring back the dead and bring the dead to the bar."

Sounds reasonable to us for some strange reason. Details at http://www.zombiepubcrawl.com

2005 MMA Awards

Dan Schultz captured this photo of me and Mark Wheat (above) before Jen Boyles and I made our MMA Awards Presenations Wednesday night.

Ross Raihala has a full review of the event here. Chris Riemenschneider has his here. You can see Dan Schultz full photo set here, and my humble attempt at photojournalism here.

Below is my favorite photo of the night. Jen in the green room just before we went on to present.



Oh, and this just in. Read Lindsay Thomas's great synopsis here. I agree with that the awards ceremony would be improved by being shortened. And it's true, that by about 1:15-1:30 when the event ended, the crowd was about half the size it was at 10 p.m.

And as far as the City Pages vs. HowWasTheShow in the "media" category goes, I couldn't agree more. It is indeed an honor to lose in such a David vs. Goliath contest. But City Pages winning best music media is like Prince winning best guitarist. It's probably a good idea to split out the print from web media in future years as it will also help ensure the nominees list includes more web media that deserve exposure, like DUNation, and Tiny Mix Tapes, and The Big Ticket, none of whom were even nominated in 2005.

Music and Awards Presentation Schedule for Wednesday's MMA Awards at First Avenue

Whether you are musician, a presenter, or just a fan who doesn't want to miss your favorite performer or the announcement of your category's winner, I've posted the complete schedule for Wednesday's Minnesota Music Academy Awards here.

http://www.howwastheshow.com/weblog/mma.html

You may note that I am presenting the award for Best Guitarist again this year. If Prince wins and shows up, that's going to be one hell of a photo opp, so be sure to bring your camera.

Other presenters include Rex Sorgatz of mnspeak.com, Ross Raihala of the Pioneer Press and Lindsay Thomas and Jen Boyles of the City Pages.

Music For Hurricane Relief Benefit at First Avenue, Tonight

This just in from our friends at DUNation.com

Music For Hurricane Relief Benefit

Wednesday, September 14th
5:00-9:00pm
First Avenue (Mainroom)
701 1st Ave N.
Minneapolis, MN
All Ages, $6 (you can give more)

[Performing]
Belles of Skin City (MMA Best New Band)
Big Quarters (City Pages Cover Boys)
Brother and Sister (Ice Rod's Band)
DJ Snuggles
Doomtree (Sims, Dessa, Mictlan)
Green (Jazz Band)
Guardians of Balance
T-Hud (MN Timberwolves)
The C.O.R.E.
Unknown Prophets

Hosted by Sentwali and Sam Soulprano

Sponsored by YO! The Movement, Radio K, Dunation.com, KMOJ, We Win Institute, the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, and others.

The proceeds from this event will go directly to 3 different families.

Vernon Cade - Vernon was on life support in a hospital in Natchez, Mississippi. Natchez is between Biloxi, MS and New Orleans who were both hit. Natchez did not get hit but they had a large influx of people who needed medical service. Vernon was sent home, but when he got home he did not have power so he began dying. His family in MN had to purchase a generator and ship it to him because they could not get to him.

The Larson Family - Scott Larson, his wife and 3 children lost there house, which was destroyed during the floods in Gulfport, MS. They lost everything. Two boys and one girl are being relocated to Minnesota and need gift cards and funds for school. The children are the niece & nephews of Lars Larson who brought you Dunation.com.

Hope For the Cities - They are taking donations for the 3,000 people who are being relocated from the south to Camp Ripley in Northern Minnesota. They need items and money. http://www.hopeforthecities.com/HurricaneReliefFund.htm

Twin Cities Hurricane Katrina Benefit Shows

Pete Scholtes has been doing a terrific job these past couple weeks of posting thought-provoking images and reports about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on his blog, Complicated Fun. Pete also has the latest information on Twin Cities Area Benefits to help the people affected by this disaster, and to help the City of New Orleans rebuild.

The Star Tribune today also has a fairly comprehensive list of benefits that you can attend to help do your part.

The size of this mess is such that it really will take all of us to help start setting things right again. HowWasTheShow will do its best to get all these events posted on the Recommended Events Calendar as soon as possible. We will also be reporting from some of the shows, including Sunday's show at the Fine Line that features Leroy Smokes, New Congress, Skywynd, Fitzgerald, Romantica, Booka B and more. Proceeds go to the Red Cross. (6 p.m. Sun., Fine Line Music Café, 318 1st Av. N., Mpls. 18 & older.)

Visit the Red Cross Website and donate today. (The online site can accept donations of as little as $5, and every bit helps.)

I'll be the guest on 89.3's "The Local Show" with Chris Roberts this Sunday at 5PM

I'll be the guest host of The Local Show with Chris Roberts on 89.3 "The Current" on Sunday, September 4th at 5PM. Don't worry. If you miss it, the show will be archived till doomsday on the show's homepage.

Chris Roberts is a friendly but challenging interviewer, which made for a little more formal and less folksy discussion than the ones I've had on Homegrown with Mei Young and Dave Campbell, Jason Nagel's Minnesota Music or Radio K's Music Lover's Club. Additionally, we taped the show at the end of a full workday for me, so I was feeling a little tired and zoned out, and I missed being able to look up dates and names on the CD covers (they were in the control room with Chris) or confirm information on the internet before opening my mouth. But overall, it think it went pretty well and I don't think I spread any more misinformation than usual.

Most importantly, I think the music I picked out makes for a good listen. 4 out of 5 songs I selected were from bands Chris had not previously played on his show. And I think a few of them may have even been 89.3 debuts.

Here's what you'll hear Sunday, interspersed with probably a bit too much babbling on my part:

1. Dwindle (http://www.dwindleband.com/) - "someone else" (History is Easy) - Chris had played "alone deserved" on his show July 24th. I recently got this CD from Guilt Ridden Pop and have really enjoyed it.
2. Murzik (http://www.murzikmusic.com/) - "Bluebird"
3. Fort Wilson Riot (http://www.fortwilsonriot.com/) "Heir to a Throne" - On the drive home from the studio I started to wonder if this is actually the song we played. It's the one we planned on playing, and the one we announced. I guess we'll find out Sunday.
4. Autobody Experience (http://www.autobodyexperience.com/) - "A Cave Beneath My Cube" (Forgotten Lots) - Autobody Experience is still going strong. They were one of the first local bands I recall seeing after moving to Minneapolis in the late 80's. Look for a live review on howwastheshow.com one of these days, as soon as I can get my schedule to jive with the band's erratic performance schedule.
5. Wes Burdine and the Librarians (http://www.wesburdine.com/) - "A Sense of Duty" (This is How I Discovered Gold) - Wes Burdine is not only a thought-provoking songwriter, but a feisty and prolific political and music blogger as well. (http://pandasthatwontscrewtosavetheirspecies.blogspot.com/)

As an alternate song I had selected Free Range Pickin's "The Waiting," but we didn’t have time to play it. And I really wanted to play Lily Liver's "Movie Star," but neither Chris or I had a copy.

OPERATION BRASS AID - Rebirth Birth Brass Band Show to Raise Funds for New Orleans Storm Relief Efforts

On Saturday, September 10th, local music fans will gather at The Cabooze on The West Bank and contribute donations for the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund to aid victims of Katrina. The Southern Baptist Convention's Tennessee state unit is currently on site in New Orleans providing mobile kitchens, shower units, clean up and recovery to residents of the city. Southern Baptists are the third largest disaster relief force in the country.

Members of local act Jack Brass Band and The Cabooze will accept donations for OPERATION BRASS AID on behalf of the SBC. Jack Brass and The Cabooze have hosted many well-known acts from New Orleans and are committed to helping out their hometown in this time of need. We would like to show our friends from Orleans and The Rebirth Brass Band what a charitable group of music fans we have in the Twin Cities. Last time Rebirth came thru Minneapolis, over a dozen fans from the 6th & 7th wards and the Treme neighborhood followed them to the Cabooze bringing the crescent city's brass band party atmosphere. Now we want to give a little something back to these good people.

Tickets $12. 18+ Doors 8:30, show 9:30

Links for more info:

• Relief donations can be made via state conventions, NAMB
• Rebirth Brass Band
  
• Rebirth Brass Band Photos

Ticket Available at:

• www.cabooze.com
• The Joint: 913 Cedar Ave Mpls
• Electric Fetus: 2000 4th Ave So. Mpls.
• Know Name: 1309 SE 4TH St Mpls
• Treehouse Records: 2557 Lyndale Ave., S. Mpls
• O'gara's: Snelling & Dale in St Paul
• All Ticket Master Outlets & www.ticketmaster.com & by calling 651.989.5151