Reviews

Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Me and My Arrow celebrating the release of their new album with Pink Mink opening at the Kitty Cat Klub.
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In case you missed its first go-round, or you just can’t get enough of R&B love, the locally conceived and realized “Always & Forever” returns in all its boomer-era  wonderfulness to the Illusion Theater. Set in a barber shop (it had to be set someplace, and this place is as good as any), four...
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The Wicked Express has arrived in Minneapolis for a 5 week stay (at the Orpheum, 910 Hennepin Ave., through Sept 19, hennepintheatretrust.org).  Still going strong on Broadway (after 7 years), Wicked boasts two U.S. tours, strong runs in London, San Francisco, Osaka and Germany, upcoming productions in Australia and Finland.  Plus, naturally, a film. ...
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It would be difficult to surpass the pure PPM (pleasure-per-moment) ratio of The Gospel At Colonus (at the Ordway, 345 Washington St., downtown St Paul, through Aug 11, ordway.org).  Where else will you find gathered together the Steele Singers, the amazing Blind Boys Of Alabama (founded in 1939), The Legendary Soul Stirrers (1930s), and...
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Amy Hager and Jacob Mullis of Fort Wilson Riot looked innocent as they assembled on stage at the Kitty Cat Klub on Friday night for their CD release show. The venue was fairly packed, and Hager and Mullis smiled and waved to friends as they set up. But the duo’s sophomore release, Predator/Prey, is...
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Fort Wilson Riot Released their new CD Predator/Prey at the Kitty Cat Klub Friday night July 30th, 2010 with the support of Zoo Animal and Phantom Tails. Meredith Westin has these photos (below.) See also, Natalie Gallagher‘s review of the show here.
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The Swell Season (Glen Hansard of The Frames and and Czech pianist and vocalist Marketa Irglova) put on a memorable show at First Avenue in Minneapolis Sunday night July 25th. Photographer Pamela Diedrich was there and contributed this shot. First Avenue, Diedrich says, was a more intimate venue than the Orpheum Theater where the...
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Tennessee Williams‘s great A Streetcar Named Desire (at the Guthrie through August 29, guthrietheater.org) smolders with the heat of a sultry New Orleans summer.  The heavy scent of flowers (“Flores para los muertos”) mixed with the smell of cooking meat, spicy Mexican street food, cheap beer, diesel fumes and, of course, the sweet funk...
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If you were to see the four guys of Phantom Tails anywhere but on stage, you probably wouldn’t expect them to be rock stars. They have more of a grunge-hipster vibe, the kind that might be comfortable living out of a van. In that respect, the guys from Phantom Tails look nothing like what...
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Mandacrest.  Hampstead Heath.  Home of the tweedily eccentric Lord Edgar – he of the Ronald Colman mustache and the crushing dark secret.  Freshly married to Lady Enid – she of the heaving bosom, the swirling blonde hair, and the dark secret.  Then there is Nicodemus Underwood, the caretaker with the impossibly thick Scottish accent...
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