Benefit for Conrad at First Avenue on 9/6/06

By: Andrea Myers

Tim O'Reagan - Photo by Myers

What better reason for every major rock star in town to gather together than to support their most beloved, once-dreaded, now ailing stage manager?

All of First Avenue rallied around employee Conrad Sverkerson Wednesday night, who according to a press release issued by the club, recently suffered injuries from a fall and is now dealing with many medical expenses. Proceeds from the benefit show were funneled into the Twin Cities Music Community Trust fund, and Conrad was the first recipient of money from the trust.

For $10, attendees were treated to set after set by a revolving cast of local music icons, and by the end of the evening the whole room had been rocked to a ridiculous level and concertgoers were left with buzzing ears as they stumbled back to the parking garages. Bands slated to perform ranged from new to classic, and every set built on the one before it in a series of reformations and mutations.

The evening started out innocently enough, with sets by intense punkers Koalas and the Mighty Mofos, who transformed into the Hypstrz midway through their set with a quick change of drummers. The Main Room was still mostly vacant as I moved to the lower level to check out The Birdy Four, a local band that has been around since 2000 and have somehow slipped under my radar until now. The Birdy Four combined the rich, swooping vocals of Elizabeth Pyper-Holz with a bucket full of down-home charm and some great guitar riffs by Greg Fall. They played a warm yet rockier-than-most folk-rock that got people moving up closer to the stage.

Munson, Wilson and Wilson - Photo by Myers

The floor was filling up quickly as Tim O’Reagan took the stage, accompanied by his touring band that consists of Jim Boquist on guitar, Frankie Lee on bass and Peter Anderson on drums. The group played through a somewhat urgent version of “Girl/World” off O’Reagan’s debut solo album and, in the first of a series of mystical moments, a hush fell over the crowd as people were captivated one by one by O’Reagan’s unique and increasingly confident voice. Never one to stand in the spotlight too long, O’Reagan readily handed off the vocal duties to Boquist and then Lee, and the highlight of their short set was when the three singers traded off verses for a somewhat Byrds-esque cover of Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages.” “Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now” sang O’Reagan, and then Boquist, and it seemed that these roots-rock legends have gained new energy by getting back on the stage and the tour bus this fall to promote the new album.

Mystical moment number two came as John Munson, Matt Wilson and Dan Wilson lined up on stage and began to play and I slapped my forehead with the realization that, “Oh, duh – that’s three of the four guys in Trip Shakespeare!” Munson, Wilson and Wilson played through quite a few Trip tunes, including “Unlucky Lady,” “Two Wheeler, Four Wheeler,” “Will You Be Found,” and “Toolmaster of Brainerd,” complete with sheepish smiles worn at each mention of the Minnesota town.

Conrad came out to thank everyone for coming as they set up the stage for Retribution Gospel Choir, and it was a unique opportunity to see the locally iconic man speak shyly to the audience instead of his normal routine of shuffling mic stands and rock stars on and off the big black stage. He also introduced a special solo acoustic set by Baby Grant Johnson, who was, unfortunately, mostly talked over as he played through a few of his original tunes.

Goldon Smog - Photo by Myers

I headed back up to the balcony to take in Retribution Gospel Choir, a side project of Alan Sparhawk from Low. Standing behind the plate glass of the upper bar area proved to be a good spot to take in RGC, as their music was the sort of noisy, moody mixture that might have sucked me in a little too far had I been down on the main floor. And I needed to save up my strength, as there were still several big-name acts ahead of me.

Rumors had been flying around the day of the show that the Jayhawks might reunite for a few songs on this fateful evening, but I hadn’t gotten my hopes up too far by the time Kraig Johnson and the Program took to the stage. Johnson and his bandmates pummeled through an energized version of “Freight Train,” which was dedicated to his grandmother who had passed away that week. As the crowd was about to settle in for a whole set of Johnson’s tunes, the curtain mysteriously went back down and the whole crowd went into a sort of mumbling tizzy. The curtain came back up and revealed a configuration of the Jayhawks that most closely resembled the members from Sound of Lies: Marc Perlman, Gary Louris, Tim O’Reagan, Kraig Johnson and Jessy Green all wore big smiles as they made their way through “Haywire” and “Big Star.” The highlight of the set was Tim O’Reagan singing “Tampa to Tulsa” from behind his drum kit in back of the stage, which seemed to freeze time for a few moments, and then the whole band launched into a great, tight version of “Tailspin.”

The stage was reconfigured once again as a few of the Jayhawks left and the remaining members were joined by Danny Murphy and Sim Cain to make up Golden Smog. Smog played an amazing set that was much tighter than their last show at First Ave back in July, and comprised of many of their poppiest songs off if this year’s Another Fine Day. In a heart-pounding local music moment, I worked my way to the front of the floor to dance in front of Danny Murphy and Jessy Greene, only to realize that I was standing next to Tommy Stinson, who would play with Soul Asylum later in the evening (I love this city! And at the risk of sounding too excited, weeeee it was fun!). The set peaked with a cover of Bowie’s “Starman,” and then Jim Boquist was invited on stage to sing “Until You Came Along.”

Soul Asylum finished off the evening in excellent form, and I am told that their performance at First Ave was much more energized and focused than their appearance at the Taste of Minnesota earlier in the summer, thanks in part to the aide of Stinson. And judging from the musical high I had to walk off before getting back to my car, I am convinced that the stars were in line over the big black club that night and it made for an especially mystical evening.

Rating: 5 Stars
Location Info: First Avenue
Artist Info: Baby Grant Johnson, Dan Wilson, Golden Smog, John Munson, Koalas, Kraig Johnson and the Program, Matt Wilson, Mighty Mofos, Retribution Gospel Choir, Soul Asylum, The Birdy Four, Tim O'Reagan

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