What’s happening this week
On the radar
The Minnesota Fringe Festival opens on Friday, and our Fringe bloggers will be swarming all over the Twin Cities. I’ll be among our Fringe bloggers, as will the tireless Matthew A. Everett—who last year was the cover of a Downtown Journal cover story titled “Fringe Binge,” and saw a show in every possible slot. Whew!
Lil Wayne is out of prison, and in St. Paul—with yet another hit on the charts, this time a crooned ballad. Whatever’s clever, Weezy. On Friday, Macy’s annual Glamorama fashion show for charity hits the Orpheum with the chartbusting lineup of Bruno Mars and Far East Movement. (See our reviews and photos of Bruno Mars’s May gig at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, and Far East Movement’s quick set at Epic in December.)
When the Walker Art Center announced the return, after a year’s hiatus, of their Music & Movies series to Loring Park, Twitter was full alternately of excited celebration and grumbles that the Twin Cities did just fine supplying themselves with music and movies last summer even without the Walker’s help—which is true, thanks in part to Vita.mn’s annual series. The Vita.mn series begins this weekend with a performance by Minnesota expats Free Energy and a screening of what may be Tim Burton’s one indisputable masterpiece: Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Tell ’em Large Marge sent you.
Under the radar
St. Paul’s Red House Records holds its annual “Barnfest” in scenic Red Wing; featuring performances by, among others, the Pines and Romantica.
Fill your belly and warm your heart at Tubman’s annual Wing Ding fundraiser, Thursday at The Depot Tavern. Another high-class pub food event—this one, however, benefitting no charity but your palate—is the Burger and Beer Dinner for Beer Geeks at the Calhoun Burger Jones; sliders are paired with a flight of offerings from Brooklyn Brewery.
On Saturday, fans of African music can catch a free concert—and, for those who want to get some first-hand experience, a workshop—by Marimba Africa. West African culture is also spotlighted the next day at Caponi Art Park in Eagan, which hosts the troupe Voice of Culture Drum and Dance. Meanwhile, it’s Mexican-American culture being highighted at Intermedia Arts, as Grupo Soap del Corazón presents the exhibit El Milagro: artists’ views on the subject of the miraculous.
Daily Planet arts roundup
• Reading between the lines (blog post by Emilio DeGrazia)
• The Shock Doctrine, a highly recommended read with four days to the default (blog post by Dick Bernard)
• Indigenous Music and Movies on Tuesdays (feature by Sabrina Crews)
• Basilica Block Party 2011: A good summer mixtape, IRL (review by Courtney Algeo, photos by Jeff Rutherford)
• Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile at the Varsity Theater (photos by David McCrindle)
• Yuck don’t suck: Londoners deliver a scorching performance at a sticky Varsity Theater (review by Emily Weiss, photos by David McCrindle)
• What your favorite Twin Cities radio station says about you (blog post by Chrissy Stockton)
• At the Entry, the Rosebuds and Other Lives warm up for Bon Iver tour (review by Kyle Matteson, photos by Meredith Westin)
• A little bit of FLOW: Watson the band perform at the BLO Music Stage and Beer Garden (blog post by Megan Goodmundson)
• Time to cross the river (blog post by Dwight Hobbes)
• Pitchfork Music Festival, part one: Animal Collective, Woods, Cold Cave, and more (review and photos by Jay Gabler)
• Mother Tongues (blog post by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low)
• Dream casting makes Walking Shadow’s reasons to be pretty a must-see (blog post by Jay Gabler)
• Behind the scenes as Circus Juventas rehearses Grimm—Happily Ever After! (feature and photos by Trang Do)
• Scientist Turned Comedian by Tim Lee (blog post by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low)
• Phil the Void: Motherbanking Bankholes by Phil the Void (blog post by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low)
• And so it begins (almost): What I’m looking forward to seeing in 2011 (blog post by Kate Hoff)
• FLOW Northside Arts Crawl 2011: Bouncing back and giving thanks (feature by Sam Gelfand)
• Minnesota wine vineyards grow in popularity (feature by KFAI staff)
• Crema de la creme (feature by Carla Waldemar)
• Naniboujou Lodge in Grand Marais (blog post by Amy Rea)
• Pizza night at A to Z Farm: Wisconsin’s worst-kept secret (blog post by Steve Date)
• Cultivating connections with our local global marketplaces: A social exploration of Twin Cities farmers’ markets (feature by Christy Marie Kent)
• Did someone say food fight?! Or a tomato toss to feed the hungry! (blog post by Sarah Routman)
• Chickens on the move in Minneapolis (feature by Rebekah Rentzel)
• Following their dreams on Lake Street (feature and photos by Bruce Johansen)
• Lawns vs. food (blog post by Brian DeVore)
• August festivals (blog post by Amy Rea)
• Who needs Sturgis? (blog post by Steve Date)
• Weekend fun (blog post by Amy Doeun)
• The butterfly effect (blog post by Lisa Gray)
• Can this washer handle ground-in manure? (blog post by Sylvia Burgos)
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