By: Jon Behm
The 400 Bar is one of the ugliest bars in Minneapolis. Regardless, it also plays host to some of the best national and international bands around. Though the entire brick façade recently crumbled off the front of the bar to reveal an ancient ‘Drug Store” sign underneath, it hasn’t been keeping bands away. Most recently, Auckland Kiwis, The Brunettes stopped by on their U.S. tour and played to a less than packed house on Monday night.
The Brunettes - Photo by Jon Behm
“Less than packed” might be an understatement. I counted about 20 people there, including employees. When I showed up “Uncle Mark” (uncle of opening band Ferraby Lionheart’s drummer) came over to personally thank me for coming to the show. I can only assume that he did this for everyone.
It was a shame that so few were in attendance for what turned out to be a very good show. The Brunettes are a very fun, yet polished twee-pop outfit who have toured with the likes of The Shins, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Rilo Kiley. Their bubblegum lyrics are both light and unpretentious, and it is obvious they are more concerned with having a good time than becoming brooding rock-stars. At Monday’s performance they asked the audience for random tidbits of information about Minneapolis, hosted a small dance competition and introduced themselves using The Name Game (banana nana bo-bana…etc.). This fresh faced earnestness can be both endearing and silly, such as in their tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Olson twins, “Mary Kate & Ashley,” which they amazingly sang without a hint of sarcasm.
In style and lyrics, The Brunettes reminded me a lot of experimental band Psapp. First of all both bands can be quite giggly and childlike. Secondly, both utilize a huge number of instruments (on one song alone, The Brunettes’ bassist continually switched back and forth between bass, saxophone and guiro) and they weave together a complex orchestra of sound. Where Psapp is more tribal, The Brunettes’ style falls closer to the indie-rock of Dear Catastrophe Waitress-era Belle & Sebastian. Some people scoff at this sort of music for not being “serious” enough. However, if such people were to just relax, listen and take the stick out of their collective ass, they just might find themselves dancing. Check out the The Brunettes’ song “Her Hairagami Set,” for a good intro to the band.
L.A. group Ferraby Lionheart opened for the Kiwis, and probably deserve to headline their own shows in the near future. A folk-rock band in the same vein as Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Ferraby make themselves stand out with lush piano melodies, intelligent lyrics, and sweet, sweet pedal steel. I loved the tunes “Small Planet” and “Vermont Ave,” and lead singer Ferraby was engaging, even with such a small audience. In the words of the aforementioned Uncle Mark, “I think these guys are going places, they have a really amazing sound.” Hopefully the next time they arrive in town it will be to a warmer welcome.
Location Info:
400 Bar
Artist Info: Ferraby Lionheart, The Brunettes
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