Arts

MUSIC REVIEW | Father John Misty is the show at First Avenue

Photos by Meredith Westin

Last night on Tuesday, May 21, Father John Misty played to a packed house at First Avenue. Solid Gold was the first band. The hometown heroes got the room swaying and blinking to the strobe lights. It’s become rare to see a Minneapolis stage without the Hanson brothers , but again they got folks going.

MORE »

Noah Baumbach on "Frances Ha," Greta Gerwig, and Roger Ebert

Last month, the Walker Art Center wrapped up a retrospective of the work of New York filmmaker and screenwriter Noah Baumbach, ending the series with his latest film Frances Ha, which opens theatrically in the Twin Cities this Friday, May 24 at the Uptown Theatre.

MORE »

House gives Legacy bill final stamp of approval

First scheduled for floor debate four weeks ago, the House gave the omnibus legacy bill its final stamp of approval Monday afternoon, voting 77-57 to re-pass HF1183*/ SF1051 that would appropriate $496.1 million to fund dozens of arts, parks, trails and natural resources projects during the upcoming biennium.

MORE »

St. Anthony Park Arts Festival is June 1

The St. Anthony Park Arts Festival will be held Saturday, June 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Como Avenue shopping district of St. Anthony Park.

MORE »

MUSIC REVIEW | Todd Rundgren brings the unexpected to the Varsity Theater

Photos by Patrick Dunn

Loyal fans of legendary Rock musician Todd Rundgren met up at the Varsity Theater Monday, May 20th anxious to find out what the unpredictable artist had in store for them. Some probably came expecting to hear hits spanning his 40-plus year music career, but diehard fans know to expect the unexpected. The evening might best be described as a representation of Rundgren’s one man projects with a few specially picked tunes from his extensive production work woven in.

MORE »

MUSIC PHOTOS | Surfer Blood at First Avenue

Photos by Meredith Westin

On Monday, May 20, Surfer Blood played at First Avenue in Minneapolis with Blondfire and Foals to open.

MORE »

Chicago at the State Theatre: As perfect as they needed to be

Photo courtesy Chicago

Once upon a time, way back in the late 1960s there were three bands who played rock music a la big-band style. They were The Electric Flag, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago Transit Authority. Hipster authorities had it that the Flag were the baddest, followed in quality by the Al Kooper-led B, S & T, then the Kooper-less lineup, then the woefully commercial CTA (who quickly shortened the name to Chicago). Well, baddest to the bone or not, Chicago, charting higher and lasting a whole lot longer than the other two put together, wound up leaving an indelible, signature imprint on the music industry.

MORE »

Polaroid moments in a post-Brady world

There are two Americana indulgences I enjoyed earlier this week. The first was an old episode of the Brady Bunch. Remember when the whole gang traveled to the Grand Canyon and got locked up in a ghost town jail by a manic recluse gold prospector, but upon release Mrs. Brady and Alice exclaim that they are having a groovy start to a great vacation? Later they meet a Native American who without any hint of irony or offense uses the term "squaw" to describe the women in Mr. Brady's "tribe."

MORE »

Widespread Panic at the Orpheum Theatre: Master musicians at their very best

Courtesy Widespread Panic

On April 14, the Orpheum Theatre was struck by Widespread Panic, inciting a completely sold out house of revelers to create absolute pandemonium. Fans of this veteran rock powerhouse are nothing if not faithful, wildly devoted to what can only be called an extreme. It must be pretty thirsty work, because when Panic hit the State Theatre across the street on Hennepin Avenue in 2011, the bars ran out of beer before the show was half underway—so, quite sensibly, things were moved to the larger venue and the venue laid in a stronger supply of brew.

MORE »
Syndicate content