For the first time in my life, I actually had plans for this year's Fourth. Back in mid-May I was handed a flyer for a boat cruise down the Mississippi involving house music, fireworks and booze. House music and booze being staples of my weekend adventures, it got my attention; fireworks, hell-I've been lighting fuses on those cheap thrills since childhood, so sign me up.
The day was luxurious, with non-beastly temperatures and non-intrusive humidity. Around seven, our taxi was careening through the Taste of Minnesota traffic towards Padelford Landing on Harriet Island, our port of call. Adam Ant blasted on the taxi radio, while our congenial, mulleted driver told us whenever he saw bikers weaving boldly through rush-hour traffic he screamed "Darwin!" at them.
Wafts of deep-fried air came over us. The Taste of Minnesota celebration bulged and swelled to our right, but we smartly wended our way through the fanny-packed crowd to our boat. Monte Hilleman (Vino Recordings) was already feeding the crowd below with raucous house beats, broadcasting live from the open-air upper deck. I should [shamelessly] admit that I am heavily influenced by The Love Boat, which I watched religiously in my childhood, and therefore my excitement at this point was akin to that of a wiggly, giggling child about to embark on a lifelong fantasy of sorts.
Half-expecting Isaac the bartender to serve me a Singapore Sling, I was a little wary of having to explain to the young women slinging liquor that a greyhound required vodka, not gin. My worry quickly abated: a little yellow flyer nearby heralded incredible news: Andy Caldwell will be appearing at Mell's Beauty Bar July 25th as a guest of Vintage, a monthly foray into "intoxicating deep house classics". Caldwell has released on Om, Naked, and locally on Celebrity recordings, and is currently mixing it up on Inspirit Music Ltd. He is a prolific producer and DJ, an absolute treasure to have gracing the local house scene, so check it out.
Clutching this precious yellow flyer and a plastic cup filled with an appropriately-mixed greyhound, I started grooving on Hilleman's set, pretty much refusing to sit until the lurch of the boat brought me down (which, despite dangerous heels and narrow staircases, didn't happen). His unique and funked-up set didn't allow my ass much respite. Dropping a seriously funky version of Summerland's "Soulmate" got me primed and ready.
While the top deck thumped, the lower deck bumped to the stylings of "musicos y dj's", Tambuca. This collective of DJ's and musicians turned it out. Consisting of Jezus Juice, Dean Vaccaro, Joseph Pettini, Al Davis, Chuck Love and various other guests, Tambuca regularly gigs around the Cities with their unique style of performing (Mell's Beauty Bar, Bar Lurcat, Fhima's). Hand drums, trumpet, trombone, flute, bass, and hell, whatever other percussive instruments you can grab, they all add to the wax to produce a blend of salsa-esque sound guaranteed to shake a rump or two. They're unrehearsed and unabashed. Watching them from the dance floor, you'll see members wander in and out, pick up an instrument, play awhile, retreat to the bar, come back. It's fresh every time. On a boat with a little breeze? Even fresher.
The crowd wandering the boat was eventually coated with a thin layer of house-music induced sweat. The paddleboat chugged along as the sun set with its usual mid-summer, cloudless-sky flare. We returned to port with a full deck-nearly everyone had surfaced to watch the Taste of Minnesota fireworks while Hilleman continued his blistering set. The fireworks at times seemed to meld with the beats: Jamiroquai's "We're Too Young To Die", Vino Recording's own Riverside Soul with "Raindrops", and a spine-tingling, perfectly-timed delivery of just the vocal track of Annie Lennox's "Little Bird".
We were all happily wrapped in this warm, bass-heavy, explosive, colorful, collective vibe. While the fireworks were spectacular and the weather immaculate, the house music provided the central nerve for this boat ride. Drag me off this boat, will you?! Well, it wasn't a drag so much as a stumble...and the second part of the evening had yet to unfold.
How do you raise the roof when you're standing on it??
Across the river, far from the gluttonous Taste of Minnesota air lingering about Harriet Island, another funky enclave of house music was bubbling. Fresh-faced Solera on eighth and Hennepin in downtown Minneapolis was debuting the patio section of their scenester restaurant with DJ's Bryan Gerrard and David Drone (Celebrity Records). The main floor was completely deserted upon our arrival (a little jarring after pulsating with a crowd of 300 of your nearest and dearest on a paddleboat). We were directed to the stuffy elevator that jerkily made its way to the roof.
The summer night was still hanging low and warm over the city. Drone and Gerrard were spinning beats in their normal tag-team style in which they create an endlessly funky set of deep house made strictly for the soul. It was positively divine to be in the open air, with the downtown skyline nearly close enough to touch, all the while soaking up dope house beats!
Spying Monte Hilleman's bare feet on the dance floor, I laughed. He motioned for me to remove my own clunky red sandals, which I promptly did. He leaned in and said, "You can feel the summer beneath your toes." Dare I say I felt a bit of Miami's South Beach that Friday night? (How gauche!) But with the skills and dedication of our local house DJ's along with the support of local venues (including, er, boats), I did feel a sliver of that sultry vibe creep over our city. Up through my toes, into my soul.
