Final Fantasy at The Power Plant on 9/16/06

By: Eamon McGrath
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Final Fantasy - Photo by Eamon McGrath Owen Pallett is a man of mystery. Now, at least, I’ve seen his face in person and up close, instead of a silhouetted photo in some artsy Canadian magazine, a head in the crowd of people that is the Arcade Fire, or dolled-up on the cover of a magazine dressed as a medieval knight; now, I can attach a face and some normal clothes, at the...

Tool at Target Center on 9/16/06

By: Ilya Ratner
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Tool - Publicity Photo With Tool’s ascent into the realm of pop radio, pretenders spawned. These pretenders were talentless hacks riding on the waves of Tool’s originality and spewed power chord cacophony on 93X’s top 20. These bands were distillations. Music industry creations. But lucky for them and their producers, no one really cared.&n...

The Mountain Goats at Triple Rock Social Club on 9/14/06

By: Ryan Ruff Smith
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John Darnielle of Mountain Goats - Photo by Smith Before the show Thursday night, I sat at the Triple Rock bar with my friend Mary discussing the Mountain Goats.  I was telling her that I thought John Darnielle was a very strong songwriter but that he did have his faults, such as an over-reliance on simile, when who should step up to the bar right next to her but Mr. Da...

Little Steven's Underground Garage Tour at Fine Line Music Café on 9/12/06

By: Ryan Ruff Smith
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The Zombies - Photo by Ryan Ruff Smith For me, seeing a band live is usually a way to get a new perspective on them.  I will often find myself liking a certain song much more after seeing it performed live, or I will understand some new aspect of a band that didn't come across on their recordings.  But occasionally, rather than offering new revelations, a ...

The Bob Dylan Show at Mayo Ball Field on 9/7/06

By: Ryan Ruff Smith
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Bob Dylan at Mayo Ball Field - Photo by Daniel Smith It may seem strange that Bob Dylan, now 65 years old and 43 years into his recording career, entered the Billboard charts at number one last week, beating out even pop star Jessica Simpson’s new release. It’s been thirty years since Dylan’s last number one record (19...

Cat Power at The Varsity Theater on 9/2/06

By: John Krause
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Cat Power - Publicity Photo by Wendy Lynch I've only recently discovered the music of Cat Power (the moniker for Chan Marshall). The first time I had heard about her it was in a music magazine a few years ago. In this article (and many others since) the author had written about her onstage temperament being a bit flaky, her crippling st...

Corinne Bailey Rae with Kevin Devine and Gran Bel Fisher at The Varsity Theater on 8/30/06

By: Jen Paulson
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Corinne Bailey Rae - Publicity photo from her website From Gran Bel Fisher’s lush, guitar-heavy piano-rock to Kevin Devine’s mostly solo set of deeply lyrical, acoustic folk, and finally Corinne Bailey Rae’s urban soul and jazz, Dinkytown’s Varsity Theater was the perfect venue for these intimate, though musically mismatched, artists.  It brought out mi...

Jon Dee Graham at 400 Bar on 8/28/06

By: David Rachac
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A mainstay of the Austin music scene, singer/songwriter Jon Dee Graham has had a long and storied past.  From forming the True Believers with Alejandro Escovedo to collaborating with the likes of John Doe, Michelle Shocked and Kelly Willis, it seemed like there should have been a fuller house than the mostly-empty 400 Bar, even if it was a Monday night. Although Graham did not seem perturbed by this (in fact, he graciously thanked everyone for attending), I was a little disappoint...

The Flaming Lips with Sonic Youth at State Fair Grandstand on 8/24/06

By: live intown
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Hit Me Like You Did The First Time: The Okies Orbit The Gopher in The 21st Century Wayne Coyne being interviewed by Mary Lucia for the Current - Photo by Kyle Matteson Hardly another typical opening day at the Minnesota State Fair.  We came. We saw.  And we were conquered. During the afternoon, Flaming Lips leader Wayne Coyne spoke live from the fairgrounds with Mary ...

Silversun Pickups at 7th Street Entry on 8/12/06

By: David de Young
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Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups - Photo by Kate Harrington How could Minneapolis not love a band named after a liquor store? Starting just after the Pizza Luce Block Party ended, Saturday night’s Silversun Pickups show at the 7th Street Entry had already drawn in the local folks with taste, i.e. fans of middle band The Alarmists, and the ever-elusive (at least to me) opene...