Alpha Consumer at the Turf Club Saturday

One of my favorite bands in town is playing the Turf Club this weekend. They were on HowWasTheShow's wish list for our 6 year anniversary party last year, but it unfortunately would not fit in with their busy schedules.

Yes, there is a lot going on Saturday, November 29th, but if you haven't seen Alpha Consumer you really need to. It's not just because the band is comprised of some of the best musicians in the entire Midwest. Alpha Consumer is the kind of well-kept secret you wish would explode onto the world scene just to see what would happen. That may never happen, and if it did, so many minds might be blown the world might never recover. But one can still dream.

More detail:

The members of Alpha Consumer (Jeremy Ylvisaker, J.T. Bates, and Michael Lewis) have spent most of this past year touring with acts such as Andrew Bird, Dosh, A Prairie Home Companion, Happy Apple, and Fat Kid Wednesdays to, among many other places, Japan, Australia, and Portugal. Not to mention recording with Bird, Dosh, Fat Kids, Eyedea & Abilities, Why?, Fog, James Buckley Trio, Chris Morrisey, and much more.

November 29 marks a rare reconvening of Alpha Consumer who will be playing many new selections off of their recording-in-progress with the working title Kick Drugs out of America. They happily share the bill with Gospel Gossip, First Communion Afterparty, and Margaret Lane.

Who: Alpha Consumer, Gospel Gossip, First Communion Afterparty, Margaret Lane
Where: Turf Club, St. Paul
When: Sat. Nov. 29. Doors at 9:00 pm
How Much: $6

Lamb Lays With Lion w/ Plastic Chord video from the Hexagon

This is the tail end of Lamb Lays With Lion's The Little Skeleton That Could Not which was presented Thursday night at the Hexagon.

Leading up to this point Jayne Deis had performed an hilarious riff on alcoholism, "12 signs you may be an alcoholic." (She only got through 5 or 6 and repeated number 2 twice.) Also featured was a ditsy and ridiculous infomercial on AIDS awareness by Julia May Fairbanks and Ashley Smith, and a "how to" guide on Anorexia Nervosa by Melissa Ann Murphy. It all would have been in rather poor taste if it hadn't actually been quite funny.

As the skit ended, it segued into the first music of the evening provided by Plastic Chord. That is what you see in the 5 minute video included here. Featured in the video are Fairbanks, Smith and Murphy along with members of the band. Also seen briefly wielding the spotlight is director Jeremy Catterton, and Jayne Deis also makes a brief return to the stage before being scared back off by Fairbanks in a skeleton shirt.

Triple Rock to celebrate 10 Year Anniversary with a host of activites

It seems like only yesterday my friends and I were winding up at Blondies on the Avenue after a hard day at Cedarfest. Has Blondies really been gone 10 years now? Time flies when you rock and roll.

In December, 2008 The Triple Rock, which took over the building and ultimately built it a sturdy and fine music room addition, celebrates 10 years on the Ave.

Here are some of the ways they are celebrating (via the fine folks at Indie Tickets). And of course, Dillinger Four, the club's Founding Fathers, are part of it.

A rundown of all the shows happening in celebration of 10 years of the Triple Rock Social Club.

Friday December 5th + Saturday December 6th
Lucero
The Evening Rig
both shows - 9pm 21+


Friday December 12th
DILLINGER FOUR
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER RECORD RELEASE SHOW!!!
Record Release show for the latest D4 album "Civil War".
9pm 21+


Saturday December 13th
BIG BUSINESS
www.bigbigbusiness.com
9pm 21+


Sunday December 14th
THE HANSON BROTHERS
The Hanson Brothers are a side-project created by Rob and John Wright with Tom Holliston (all members of the legendary Canadian band Nomeansno). They took their name from characters in the cult ice-hockey film Slap Shot. Their songs, performed in a Ramones style, focus mainly on beer, ice hockey and girls.Originally started as a humorous side project, the band have since released three full-length albums as well as several singles.
9pm 21+

Friday December 19th
THE LAWRENCE ARMS
www.myspace.com/thelawrencearms
9pm 21+


Saturday December 20th
NAKED RAYGUN
www.nakedraygun.org
9pm 21+


Saturday December 27th
HAR MAR SUPERSTAR
www.harmarsuperstar.com
9pm 21+

Western Fifth release new CD: Stand Like A Thief

Western Fifth unveils their second CD Friday, November 21st with a release party at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis. The album, called Stand Like a Thief, follows up 2006’s self-titled debut.

The opening song of the 10-song album, “We’ve Got The Rain” sets the tone, with slow-strummed acoustic guitar, yearning vocals by Ryan Holweger, crying fiddle by Dave Boquist (who guests on several of the album’s songs), and ultimately a bouncy but lonely sounding piano riff by Ryan Jacobson and light mandolin by Thomas Case, until the song finally booms to a full start as Jon Wurm joins in on drums.

The song ends:

We ain’t got money, honey
But we’ve got the rain
Turn around
Before you go insane.
Then we die
Then we die
Then we die
Then we die.

Now imagine those sentiments being presented not with lethargy, but in a warm and beautiful way.

Personally, I’ve never found beautiful music depressing, though admittedly Stand Like a Thief is far from an “up” album. In the album's second song, the chorus reminds us “People will never stop falling in love / With someone who won’t love them back” as accompanied by a soulful trumpet. And it goes on from there.

Open up the liner notes and view the album artwork by Jeremiah Talamantes and you see a lonely gray house on a dark prairie. A despondent gentlemen stands in the foreground in a top hat looking down at the ground. The cover art couldn't be a better match for the music inside. With the fabulous design by Metrofader Studios, this CD looks as good as it sounds.

Western Fifth will be joined by Kid Dakota and the Evening Rig Friday to round out a killer bill. Uptown Bar, Minneapolis. $5. 9PM, 21+ (More info from http://www.myspace.com/westernfifth)

The Little Skeleton That Could Not at the Hexagon Thursday

Bertolt Brecht is rumored to have said, "A theater without beer is just a museum." Granted, if Brecht is indeed responsible for that quotation, he would have said something more like, "Ein Theater ohne Bier ist gerade ein Museum!" But that's beside the point.

Regardless, plenty of beer will be available Thursday evening at 9PM at the Hexagon Bar when Lamb Lays With Lion theater company presents The Little Skeleton That Could Not.

The play (though sadly not the beer) is free.

Carl Atiya Swanson, a Lamb Lays With Lion founding member has this to say about the production:

Developed as a company, this intervention is designed specifically for the bar audience and away from comfortable theatrical norms. Company members will engage their audience through self-help and info-tainment to "talk about important subjects", especially the Three A's: Alcoholism, AIDS & Anorexia! This performance will not take for granted the audience's passivity- in The Little Skeleton That Could Not, the performers are at the mercy of the audience, a sensibility normally reserved for stand-up comedy, rock concerts, and magic shows. Expect all of it, expect none of it.

The Little Skeleton That Could Not is directed by Jeremey Catterton and features Jayne Deis, Julia Mae Fairbanks, Melissa Anne Murphy and Ashley Smith.

Further entertainment by Fort Wilson Riot, Plastic Chord (carnival troupe), and Speed's The Name follows the show.

Come for the theater, stay for the music (and the beer.) HowWasTheShow will see you there.

Minnesota’s Half Demon Doll wins Rock Meets Runway, presented by Little Steven’s Underground Garage

Half Demon Doll (pictured at left in a photo by Daniel Corrigan) formed at a St. Paul Rock & Roll camp where the four teenage members met in 2007. After camp let out (is that what camp does when it ends? let out? It’s been so long) the band decided to keep at it.

On Sunday in New York City, their hard work paid off when they won Rock Meets Runway, a battle of the band's competition sponsored by Little Steven's Underground Garage. After making it into the final three, they played NYC Hard Rock Café to clinch the title and earned themselves a record deal with Wicked Cool Records, a bunch of Gibson gear, and a photo shoot with Teen Vogue Magazine. (The other two finalists were Pike, and Snake Pliskin.)

The band posted their joy and surprise on their MySpace page, “Alright guys... WE WON!!!! We were the youngest, and only all girl band today and we fricken won! we rocked it, we really did.”

The fact that they are a sincere-sounding punk band who pull off strikingly melodic ballads about teenage relationship issues without sounding self-absorbed is a definite plus.

They’re quite listenable and pretty darn easy to root for. HowWasTheShow congratulates them and encourages you to visit their MySpace page. We recommend in particular, their song "Jenny Craig on a Stick.”

Rock Against Rape at the Triple Rock Social Club, a benefit for the Sexual Violence Center

Twin Cities bands team up to support the Sexual Violence Center with Rock Against Rape at the Triple Rock Social Club on November 30^th.

Kitten Forever, MC/VL, Hangun Man, and Tough Tough Skin will all play at the 21+ show.

Writer Kristine Lambert will be writing about the event for HowWasTheShow.com. Lambert, an attorney, does pro-bono legal work for three or four people each month whom she is hooked up with through the center. She hopes the benefit will raise awareness for the non-profit organization.

Lambert says, “Once I saw a story about an assault on TV and the next thing I knew I was contacted by the SVC to work on the case.”

The Sexual Violence Center (SVC) was established in 1985 and provides services to victims of sexual violence in Hennepin, Scott and Carver counties. They are an independent non-profit organization which provides more than 2000 youth and adults each year with 24-hour crisis phone service, individual counseling, support groups, advocacy and legal clinics at no cost. The center’s goals include supporting individuals affected by sexual violence and fostering attitude changes that will ultimately eradicate sexual violence.

More info from http://www.sexualviolencecenter.org/about.htm

Event Details:

Rock Against Rape at the Triple Rock Social Club
Kitten Forever, MC/VL, Hangun Man, Tough Tough Skin
November 30, 2008
$10.00 at the door
Doors at 9:00 p.m.
Must be 21+ to enter

Kitten Forever: http://www.myspace.com/kittenforeverrr

MC/VL: http://www.myspace.com/mcvl

Hangun Man: http://www.myspace.com/hangunman

Tough Tough Skin: http://www.myspace.com/radfordbishop