By: Ben Mulhern
When my band mates and I received a hush-hush e-mail regarding a super secret performance by Tapes ’n Tapes, I wondered how V.I.P. I had become. Would I cruise down a red carpet, pausing for anxious cameramen? Would I be handed complimentary champagne?
But this is Minneapolis – even an unpublicized show spreads like the scenester plague.
The packed house waited as the scheduled start time of 9 p.m. fell back, back, back to around 10:30. Opening up was local crew Solid Gold, whose members’ looks and couture echoed one another, blowing long bangs back from their faces and rocking through such tunes as “Calm Down” and the funked-out “Out of Your Mind.” These three required no drummer and instead made worthwhile music over drum loops that ranged from rock to disco.
Soon after, touring trio Miss Fairchild (New England) broke into the mix, offering the most infectious, hilarious live show I've seen in years. Dig if you will this picture: A tiny red-headed, bearded, frontman with a white-boy fro named Daddy Wrall in a velour maroon jacket with no shirt underneath; a flute and keys playing, regular-ass looking dude in a baseball jersey named Dunlap, who looked like he had returned from the comic book convention; and Samuel P. Nice, a stringy, smiling turntablist who resembled William, the bent-on-revenge nerd from the teen classic Can't Hardly Wait. As he spun dance/funk gems that contained throwbacks to Dee-Lite, Arrested Development, and Jamiroquai, Wrall laid his smooth voice upon the microphone over “One of them Girls” and “Excuse Me Mr.” – a jam that made them sound like Sly and the Family Stone's 21st century cousin. Dunlap kicked flute solos while Wrall and Nice shook their asses, and engaged crowd danced throughout most of their set.
At close to 1 a.m. our new hometown heroes Tapes ‘n Tapes hit the stage, taking an unannounced break (promoted and billed as Elvis vs. Elvis) from their national buzz. Though working overtime at SXSW brought tidings of joy, they lost bass player Shawn Neary in the process. His current replacement? The king Midas of Minneapolis music, the prolific Erik Applewick, who as many are aware, produced and played on T'nT's latest output.
Tapes ‘n Tapes motored through the first few tracks of The Loon, rarely stopping to chat. Josh Grier howled the chorus of “Just Drums” with cascading energy before launching into “Insistor,” its transient cowboy stomp accentuated by both Jeremy Hanson's stutter-step drums and Applewick/Grier's “Harvard Square” yelled vocals. During the first batch of songs, Grier smiled at friends in the crowd, clearly excited.
The highlight was the mellow-turned-raucous “Ten Gallon Ascots,” which showcased their ability to write jams that are both catchy and unique. Matt Kretzmann found his way from the keyboards toward Hanson's kit, beating the heck out of each cymbal with a tambourine. By the time they hit Loon's closer, “Jakov's Suite,” the crowd was moving in a synchronized fashion at it appeared that the slow croons of “you don't move/you don't move/if you don't move, you don't move away” were hypnotic.
At one point, I stepped out to use the facilities and saw two young women sitting at the touch screen machines. I asked, “Why aren't you guys watching the show?” as I looked around the evacuated main bar. One replied, “Oh, we're waiting to see Tapes ‘n Tapes...this last band said something about Elvis vs. Elvis when they got on stage.”
Maybe she wasn't in on the joke, but the joke was really on the rest of Minneapolis, who missed out on a great show. The whirlwind credibility that the lads of Tapes ‘n Tapes are experiencing is amazing, and it seemed they were pleased to get a breather at the Hexagon on a Thursday night. Just by watching Josh Grier crack smiles through the set, you could tell: they were happy to be home.
Location Info:
Hexagon Bar
Artist Info: Miss Fairchild, Solid Gold, Tapes 'n Tapes
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