By: David de Young
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Mei w/ Mark Mallman at the Entry - See the whole set of photos from the night.
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Mei Young of Drive 105 accompanied me on this New Year’s Eve Runaround on December 31st, 2005. Here’s a summary of our stops and what we encountered along the way.
STOP #1: Nami (Featuring sushi, sushi and sushi)
Never attempt something like this on an empty stomach. All I have to say is: “Yum.”
STOP #2: 7th Street Entry (Featuring God Damn Doo Wop Band, Mark Mallman and Melodious Owl)
This early All Ages show had doors at 5PM, and when we arrived just after 6 opening band God Damn Doo Wop Band was already done playing. We did however catch all of Mark Mallman’s set in the second slot. The show was a little weird, even for a Mallman show. Perhaps it had something to do with being an All Ages show, though Mallman told me later that comparatively he often enjoys All Ages shows more because he thinks it means more to a lot of the fans who likely haven’t been to as many shows as the older ones.
I got chills up my spine when Mallman started into the “Don’t you forget it, I’m one hell of a man” part at the end of “Love, Look at You.” (Lest anyone ever forget it, during these crazy shows Mallman still pulls out some emotionally powerful balladry.) He told a story before playing “Kissing the Knife” about living in Seattle and trying to work in an adult video store but not being able to handle it. He claimed to have written the song when he was 18, which he said was “a year and a half ago,” which clearly throws a little doubt on the truth of the rest of the story too. At one point during the set, there were three drummers going, as both guitar player Ryan Smith and bassist Kat "Pony" Hixon beat on various percussive instruments in addition to Sean Hoffman keeping the beat on the full kit.
Spinning another yarn, Mallman said “A lot of people call me crazy. But I put my leg on one leg at a time just like everyone else.” Later he added, “All night long I hear the voices, and I say, ‘Voices, I'm not crazy.’” But shortly thereafter the “voices” apparently told him to gun down everyone in the club machine gun style with his piano, and he complied.
We missed the first missed first Melodious Owl song after running across the street to O’Donovan’s between sets for a beer, but I’m told they opened with a Gwen Stefani song. Tonight’s Melodious set featured Wes Statler applying hairspray on stage and playing a request the band had received on their MySpace site.
STOP #3: Fine Line (Featuring Enchanted Ape, Pat McCurdy)
After Melodious Owl let out we wandered aimlessly for a few minutes, and I remarked to Mei that this whole adventure really wasn’t going to be as glamorous as it would look later in words and pictures. We stopped in at Gluek’s for a bathroom break. We walked up to the Fine Line, but the club was just opening up and there were hundreds of people waiting in line for their annual New Year’s Eve Party. We passed by the Urban Wildlife Club and Bar to observe that they were completely closed up.
After a quick White Russian at Pizza Luce we headed back to the Fine Line where the line had subsided to see a few minutes of jam band Enchanted Ape. Though the place was packed, we recognized absolutely no one save our friends on the staff, one of whom mentioned she was rather surprised to see me at this particular show. It assured her I was there strictly on business, and we’d be out the door in another 10 minutes, which turned out to be about right.
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Hookers and Blow at Lee's Liqour Lounge
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STOP #4: Lee’s Liquor Lounge (Featuring Hookers and Blow)
Down at Lee’s it was great to be among friends again, and we could have easily stayed and settled in for the night. Songs showcased by this all-star cover band while we were on hand included “Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff, “Message to You, Rudy” by the Specials, “Dancing Queen” by Abba, and “Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?” by Chicago.
STOP #5: Brit’s Pub (Featuring Fab Tab & the Teds and The Wag)
Another place we could have spent the night was Brit’s Pub. The music room was full of revelers clearly having the time of their life and dancing to a spot on set by Raven and his Brit pop cover band featuring Katy Vernon and Terry Isaacson. On hand also were Robert Wilkinson of the Flamin’ Oh's and Curtis A, both of whom were to perform later with this ensemble as part of an all-star evening.
STOP #6: Hyatt Regency (Featuring Tim Mahoney, The Hopefuls, Leroy Smokes, The New Congress, et al)
One of the most populated parties in the city, there might have been as many as a couple thousand people in attendance in multiple party rooms this night. Tim Mahoney broke into a cover of “Back on My Feet Again” by The Babys as we walked into the main party room. In another room, The Hopefuls sounded awesome tonight with double drums, one set played by Eric Fawcett the other by Peter Anderson. Between the kits was a huge shared cymbal that was easily 36 inches in diameter. We missed it, but Dave Campbell of 2024 Records filled us in later that during “Let’s Go” just after midnight, the two drummers traded off in an awesome tit for tat drum battle. In line for a drink, I caught the eye of a man in a suit and gave him the nod of acknowledgement/greeting one gives under such circumstances, and check this out: the guy looked away. It was so funny, I almost snorted out loud with laughter, not being at all used to such snobbishness. Really though, there’s just no way to take offense at something as ridiculous as that. Otherwise, it was a pretty good party.
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Ehsan Alam of Revolver Modele at the Varsity
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STOP #7: Varsity Theater (Featuring Revolver Modele and waitressing by the Minnesota Roller Girls.)
With near perfect timing, achieved only by parking illegally, we walked into the Varsity during the midnight countdown with 10 seconds to spare. Revolver Modele was rocking the house with a frantic set, clearly partaking in the festivities of the evening.
STOP #8: Triple Rock (Featuring Chooglin’, Kruddler and more)
We arrived at the Triple Rock five minutes after Chooglin’ had finished, and I think that was just after 12:30; alas music on the west bank was pretty much over with. Our consolation prizes were two “I love to hate Kruddler” stickers from Shane Gallivan and Tony Zaccardi, who said they’d had a fun show but were a little surprised that the turnout had not been better considering the show was free.
STOP #9: Nomad World Pub
A DJ was playing to a mid-size crowd. We didn’t see anyone we knew, so we moved on.
STOP #10: 400 Bar
The lights were on and employees were mopping up. We didn’t even go in.
STOP #11: Hexagon Bar
Thank God for the Hexagon! Late night music fans, listen up: Here’s one place in town where you can arrive after 1 a.m. and still often see a full set of music before bar close. The order of the bands had switched: Bridge Club had played early so they could get back to their practice space, and Thunder in the Valley had played second. Seldomseen held down the final slot, and we enjoyed their entire set while deciding on the after parties.
STOP #12 and 13 were a couple of private parties in Uptown
It was good to wind down by seeing a few people we’d seen early reporting back from gigs, some people we hadn’t seen at all because they’d been chillin’ all evening, and several Twin Cities journalists holed up in a basement right by the keg.
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: , Enchanted Ape, Fab Tab and The Teds, Hookers and Blow, Mark Mallman, Melodious Owl, Revolver Modele, Seldomseen, The Hopefuls
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