7th Street on the 7th

For a third the price of the Yo La Tengo show next door in the Main Room, four bands will rock your socks (and other undergarments) in The Entry Saturday night. Locals Faux Jean and West Elliot headline, already worth your five spot, but a band called The Capitol Years (pictured to left) whom you may remember as the band that opened for the Pixies at their intimate Fine Line show a couple years ago and National Eye (their Philadelphia neighbors) open. Both openers are on Philly-based, Park the Van Records (Dr. Dog's label.)

Questions? Click the links below and charge your time to "research."

Saturday, October 7th, 2006
7th Street Entry 8PM 21+ $5

http://www.fauxjean.com
http://www.myspace.com/westelliot
http://www.capitolyears.com
http://myspace.com/nationaleye

Hex's 24/7 comes in on time and under budget

Somehow, Chris Dorn and company managed to pull off 27 bands over the course of Thursday evening, not just the 24 promised. (Well, 26 bands and a guy who danced with purple dildos in his hands, anyway.)

See all my photos here.


Vampire Hands


The Nina! The Pinta!


Birthday Suits

Hexagon is the new 24 Bar?

Maybe not, but Thursday, September 28th the Hexagon has scheduled 24 bands.

Dubbed 24/7, the Hex hosts 24 bands playing 7 minute sets.

Hex booker Chris Dorn says, "It's been 2 years since we started booking local original music, and so we're teaming with minnieindie.com to throw a huge party."

Below is the list of bands, though not necessarily in order of appearance. The show is free and runs from 9PM until it ends or until Rose pulls the plug.

• Vampire Hands --> http://myspace.com/vampirehands
• The Beatifics --> http://myspace.com/thebeatifics
• The Nightinghales --> http://myspace.com/thenightinghales
• Faux Jean --> http://myspace.com/fauxjean
• Plastic Chord --> http://myspace.com/plasticchord2
• Ouija Radio --> http://myspace.com/ouijaradio
• Seymore Saves The World --> http://myspace.com/seymoresavestheworld
• Rank Strangers --> http://myspace.com/rankstrangers
• Idle Hands --> http://myspace.com/theidlehands
• Tom Cruise Control --> http://myspace.com/tccmusic
• Heroes/Liars --> http://myspace.com/heroesandliars
• Birthday Suits --> http://myspace.com/birthdaysuits
• We Became Actors
• The Nina! The Pinta! --> http://myspace.com/theninathepinta
• Spirit Of 76 --> http://myspace.com/thespiritofseventysix
• Meg Ashling --> http://myspace.com/megashling
• We Love Ghosts
• Fort Wilson Riot --> http://myspace.com/fortwilsonriot
• Candy Cigs
• The Red Flags --> http://myspace.com/theredflagsuk
• In Pictures --> http://myspace.com/inpictures
• The Hard Left --> http://myspace.com/thehardleft
• Me & Kyle
• Buildings --> http://myspace.com/buildingsband

21 | 9pm | FREE | www.hexagonbar.com

Wedding Photography

I may have set a new record going more than a month between blog posts.

I will fix that.

This past weekend, for a change, I did not shoot music, but rather shot the wedding of a friend. It was more exhausting work, but it sure pays better.

It took place at Thomas Lowry Park in Minneapolis.

I'm very happy with the results, even for my first venture into wedding photography. If you have 11 minutes, here's a slideshow animation with music.



If you don't, the photo set is on my personal Flickr account here.

From which Tennesse Williams play did Alva Star take its name? And more questions about local music courtesy of my dad.

I've come to expect the Spanish Inquisition

My parents were in town recently, and, as usual, I found myself facing a barrage of questions about what exactly I do as the managing editor of a music review website like HowWasTheShow. Some of the questions were good, though at times I found it difficult having to "speak for" the entire music scene. And since my audience wasn't as well-versed or sympathetic as say, Mary Lucia, I occasionally found myself a little defensive, especially about money-related issues. But attempting to answer helped clarify for me some of the things that motivate people to go into the pop music business in this day and age. Here are three of the questions and the answers I came up with. (Note: I had to research the first one a bit.)

1. Regarding Alva Star headlining the HowWastheShow 4th Anniversary Party, I mentioned that the band Alva Star took its name from a Tennessee Williams Play. Which play, my dad queried? Well, Alva Starr (John Hermanson dropped the second "r" when he named his band) is a character in William's 1946 one act play, This Property is Condemned. In 1969, the play was made into a film starring Natalie Wood in the title role. Directed by Sydney Pollack, and also featuring Robert Redford and Charles Bronson, the film version received scripting help from Francis Coppola. Hermanson chose the name for his band after seeing the movie and being "captivated by the parallels between the lives of Alva Star and Natalie Wood and the early death of the character and the early death of the actress."
2. Is there a Minneapolis sound? What does it sound like? At the HowWasTheShow writers' meeting this past week, some of the staff had talked about "sounds like" references in reviews and whether or not they were valuable. Clearly they are, as they give people some sort of reference point when they haven't heard the band in question. But how do you use "sounds like" comparisons with people who lack working reference points in contemporary music? You might be able to use "free jazz with horn usage similar to George Gershwin's 'An American in Paris'" to describe some contemporary music, but how do you describe Tapes 'n Tapes to someone who is nearly 70? In one of my own reviews from 2004, I said (regarding TnT) that "I find this local 3-piece [to be] playing some of the most interesting (if not the strangest) music in town, something like what might happen if the Strokes suddenly started listening exclusively to Captain Beefheart and eschewed the reaction of fans and critics." Don't know the Strokes? Don't know Beefheart? Where does that leave you? As far as the Minneapolis (or more rightfully, Minnesota) sound goes I ended up saying that if you took Soul Asylum, The Replacements and Husker Du and shook them up in a cocktail circa 1983 it would be close to the Minneapolis sound that lives in my head. Whether I can explain it or not, I know when I hear it, and we had to leave it at that.
3. Are the bands I write about interested in making money? Of course they are! But my attempt at answering this question became emotionally heated for some reason. The question was prompted by discussion about Tapes 'n Tapes, the success they are having right now and their impending appearance on David Letterman (Tuesday, July 25th). Now, I wish the guys in this band all the success in the world and gazillions of dollars, but the fact is that most of even the successful musicians in this town still have day jobs (read Friday's Star Trib for an article about Tapes 'n Tapes that notes front man Josh Grier had to ask his boss for the day off to go to New York to do the Letterman gig), and I really, really don't think most musicians got into music because they craved either fame and fortune. (Okay, maybe some of them did in the back of their minds.) But I don't think money is a good reason to go into rock and roll. You want to make a buck? There are better paths. Most of the peopleI know would like nothing more than to grow rich doing what they love, but I sense the local bands I know are first and foremost in it for the music and that for that frequently underrated and underappreciated concept called fun, which I insist are the only reasons to get into this anyway. I started HowWasTheShow with the same objectives, and four years later, though we haven't made a dime to speak of, we've still grown and gotten some awesome recognition along the way. Personally, I've learned an incredible amount and feel that I've had a positive impact on a lot of people's lives. Sure, I could ask for more (and you're welcome to send money) but I'm happy, and really, that's all I care about in the end.

Musicapolis II - Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

MNStories has a nice piece today on last year's Musicapolis. See it here. Check out the cool, moving (pun intended, you'll see) interview bit with Grant Hart at the end.

This year's exhibit features 26 years of photos from Daniel Corrigan.

Band's play all afternoon to help kick off the exhbit. Here's the schedule.

2:30 - Spaghetti Western String Company
4:00 - The Tin Star Sisters
5:00 - Mike Gunther and His Restless Souls
6:00 - The Brass Kings
7:00 - The Gleam
8:00 - Gee as in Jesus
9:00 - Chooglin'
Followed by the debut of Shutter, a new film series at the Ritz Theater organized by The Ritz and MCP.

Admission is $10.

Afterwards, head over to the 331 Club for an afterparty featuring live performances by Sendero Flamenco, Le Cirque Rouge de Gus Cabaret & Burlesque, Fatala Express, and Jehovah's Shitlist. Also The Bearded Lady Motorcycle Rally Champions
be hosting their event afterparty in the 331 parking lot at the same time. The 331 event is free, inside and out.

HowWasTheShow Writer's Meeting

HowWasTheShow had a writer's meeting at the Turf Club tonight. So when did they paint the far wall across from the bar baby blue? I was sad to see the Christmas lights and the stencil-painted "Curtains" which had been such a part of that room for so long go away.

Even sadder was the fact that we all had to leave at 10 just before El Olio Wolof took the stage as we were nearly the only people in the bar. 12 music writers walking out just before the band began? That seems wrong.

Just for fun, I made a quick video of the staff photos we took: