By: Pat O'Brien
A band’s debut show usually never works out as well as the band hopes. Every so often on VH1 or MTV they show film of early shows from bands that have been called up to the bigs, and it is almost always cringe-inducing. Friday night, Crossing Guards were not destined to join that category. Featuring musicians from other bands and other occupations altogether, the band features (mostly) solo artist Martin Devaney, local writer and member of Big Trouble, Steve McPherson, Sean Hoffman and a couple of others. Crossing Guards were both lo-fi and a bit more catchy than you’d think. They were a little bit ‘60s pop and a lot like a more fleshed out, less willfully obtuse version of Guided By Voices (read: more easily accessible).
Crossing Guards - Photo by David de Young
Devaney, manning the mic without his guitar, was free to do his best Robert Pollard impression, with the random high kicks and beer chugging – even his shaggy, wavy hair looked a bit like Uncle Bob’s if you squinted just right. They played a fairly long set for an opening band, but hardly anyone noticed or, more importantly, cared. When it became apparent that the opening band actually had their stuff together, the crowd actually got into it and slowly meandered closer to the stage instead of just standing toward the back and checking their watches – this was the ultimate Minneapolis sign of approval.
The members of The 757s have been around the block a couple of times in other bands over the years (Bellwether, Nova Mob and Mosquito Ranch among others), but don’t really look worse for wear. Sure, it’s obvious that they are a bit older than many new bands in Minneapolis, and it’s also true that bassist Paul Pirner has a more famous sibling and guitarist Seth Zimmerman has an uncle from Hibbing that you may have heard of, but what is also clear is that they want to carve their own path without riding coattails or being accused of doing so. They built this from the ground up and with The 757s, the members may all have found just the right chemistry. First things first: These guys are capital-L Loud. The music, which is a mix of The Replacements ragged thunder and The Who’s jetliner roar, ends up sticking in your grey matter almost immediately. It’s exceptionally catchy and it’s obvious these guys aren’t in it for the money anymore – there’s not even a whiff of last-gasp desperation – they’re doing this for the fun of playing loud, live music and everyone in the room is a benefactor. These guys are definitely a band to watch (and watch often) in 2008.
The 757s - Photo by David de Young
The crowd had been slowly trickling out during the 757s set as there were several “must-see” shows happening Friday, so it wasn’t terribly surprising that the room was eventually only about half as full as it had been when they started. Big Ditch Road seems to have a fair-sized following in this town, but it didn’t seem like many of them were there (aside from the fan who jumped up on stage about halfway through the set and did a semi-striptease next to lead singer Darin Wald). At the risk of offending said BDR following, I will not be joining them in the fandom just yet. Maybe the band was having an off night, and it seems like most bands in this town would have a tough time following The 757s (especially one in the vein of BDR’s fairly unobtrusive, country-dusted indie-rock). The pedal steel guitar is an excellent touch and it was used in just the right way (I’m always a sucker for a pedal steel), but overall the set just seemed uninspired. It didn’t seem like they brought their A-game and it was also sort of disheartening that they delivered what was by far the shortest set of the night, which didn’t seem to be due to any time constraints. It made for a bit of a disappointing end to the night, but I haven’t written BDR off just yet.
Location Info:
Triple Rock Social Club
Artist Info: Big Ditch Road, Crossing Guards, The 757s
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