Bonnie "Prince" Billy with Human Bell at St. James Place on 11/11/06

By: Eamon McGrath
[Read full review]
Seeing Will Oldham, who records and performs under the moniker Bonnie “Prince” Billy, in a church was a must-do.  Not just for the crisp and near-perfect acoustics – although seeing church rafters and stained-glass windows shake is a sight I’ll never forget – but also for the fact that the venue could not have been more excellently suited for one reason and one reason alone: Bonnie “Prince” Billy is nothing short of a spiritual experience. Ba...

Love in October at The Whole on 11/10/06

By: Stacey Kaplan
[Read full review]
Love in October was formed by the Swedish Widman brothers, Erik on guitar/vocals and Kent on bass, who moved to Minneapolis to pursue their musical dreams. They are joined by Nik Pfeifer on guitar and Kyle Johanson on drums. In the past few months, the guys have garnered an impressive following thanks in part to their MySpace popularity and witty YouTube videos (available through their website). However, it is their infectious music, best experienced live, that keeps you coming back for m...

The Glad Version w/ SKIRT and The Envy Corps at 400 Bar on 11/10/06

By: Pat O'Brien
[Read full review]
“Shut up, Jim.” The crowd at The 400 heard that approximately a dozen times from the stage during The Envy Corps’ set on Friday night. They drove up from Ames, Iowa through a snowstorm, with a lot of fans in tow, it seemed. They were cheering, whooping and one fan (the aforementioned Jim) was particularly boisterous in his praise, which they seemed used to dealing with, but were maybe a tad embarrassed by given that they were from out of town. They had nothing to be asha...

Rift 36 Hour Songwriting Contest #3 at Bryant Lake Bowl on 11/4/06

By: Andrea Myers
[Read full review]
Rift Magazine editor Rich Horton chose a matinee timeslot to present the third in a series of songwriting contests, and the daytime show proved to be a nice way to take in a set of on-the-fly performances.  While audience members ordered breakfast items and sipped bloody marys, a rotating cast of local musicians displayed their ability to write songs in a controlled setting; each participant learned the assigned song topic (which, for this contest, was public transportation) a mere 36...

The Mad Ripple Hootenanny at Java Jack's on 11/3/06

By: Andrea Myers
[Read full review]
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I saw Jim Walsh's MySpace bulletin, which was posted Friday afternoon, advertising a hootenanny for that very evening. The information in the bulletin was short and sweet: "All ages. Hootenanny. Round-robin. 6:30-8:30. Java Jack's, 46th and Bryant, sexy South Mpls. BYOFlask." Oh, and the bulletin name-dropped a certain member of the Jayhawks. At a coffee shop. I was very intrigued. Having missed the...

Lyrics Born, Cut Chemist and Edan at Foundation Nightclub on 11/2/06

By: Ilya Ratner
[Read full review]
It was as if Bobby Flay had served me the perfect three-course meal: Edan to start, Cut Chemist as the entrée and Lyrics Born as the funked-up desert.  A smile crept onto my face as soon as my buddy drove onto the tracks of an oncoming light rail train.  A great beginning to a great night. We’ll call that the appetizer.  No jacket, it was hyperborean.  My fingers went numb waiting in line before finally walking into Foundation.  A long staircase led...

Wookiefoot with God Johnson at Cabooze on 10/28/06

By: Kristine Lambert
[Read full review]
God Johnson’s lead singer was appropriately dressed as Darth Vader for this pre-Halloween jam.  He lost his mask shortly thereafter even though there were no vocals until the third song, except for the one-syllable yeahallrightyeah!  They sounded like a saxophone-heavy String Cheese Incident.  Well into the set, the crowd really started moving with the up-beat rap-jam that had David Byrne-style vocals, singing “our president’s crazy.”  The song...

The Winter Blanket EP Release Party at The Turf Club on 10/27/06

By: Bob Longmore
[Read full review]
Given that this was one of the last mild weather weekends of 2006, it’s time to warm ourselves in the bars late at night, with the sound of local music guiding the way. Three examples of the kind of music that I think can only be made by someone who has lived through the darkness of a Minnesota winter were on display at the Turf Club. Once the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the World Series, and Duplomacy guitarist Adam Egerdahl figured out the...

An epic review of The Hold Steady at First Avenue on 10/24/06

By: Charlie Vaughan
[Read full review]
With a final salute of pulsating guitar the curtain came down on the first of two consecutive nights at First Avenue for The Hold Steady, and the curtain came down hard. The band bounced off the main room stage for the third time and disappeared into the waiting galleys as the house lights rose over the audience. The sudden burst of light sent the sold out crowd streaming for the exits like rats fleeing a burning ship—drunken, sweaty rats with beer stains down the front of their shirts a...

Big Ditch Road EP Release Show at Hexagon Bar on 10/21/06

By: Bob Longmore
[Read full review]
The Hexagon Bar in South Minneapolis showed what it’s made of, some Mohawks and some mohair, some Vikings hoodies and black T-shirts. A diverse crowd for sure. Opener Chris Koza, just back from tour, played a low-key set of material mostly by himself, but sometimes joined by guitarist, Peter Sieve. Koza plugged the headliners by saying, “They have a lot of instruments, so they are going to be good.” Dressed in sport coats and looking like university professors, Romantic...