The Wake

Last night, I caught the band Dub Trio at the Varsity Theater. I don’t wish to wreck any reps here, but Dub Trio have a profound fondness for Celine Dion and listen to her Canadian warbles backstage to prepare for shows. Take that however you will, but that is the case.

Their sound is far from that of the pop diva, but I was not actually terribly surprised by the band’s fondness. Dub Trio is indeed a trio who perform dub music, of sorts, but the amount of sounds stuffed into the band’s repertoire is such that there could be some Titanic soundtrack stuck way in there. A quick description of the group would be “dub meets metal”, and …

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As December approaches, it’s getting to Christmas special season. Last night I went to Bryant Lake Bowl to attend one of the most infamous Christmas specials of all time, the Star Wars Holiday Special. Technically, this is not a Christmas special, as it takes place a long time ago in a galaxy without a Jesus or a Santa Claus. This is a “Life Day” special, centering on the sacred Wookie Christmas equivalent which, from what I could tell, involves nothing other than being in a house and turning on devices. Oh, and dressing in robes and walking into the sun while singing. Uh, yeah. But this holiday is revered in Wookie culture, and …

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When I ran into Military Special for this interview, they were in the midst of an argument over aesthetic. Short songs versus false endings? Are the beats to be hard and heavy or do they just come off as sad bastard music? How much minor key is too much? “I wanted this song like a drunken anthem,” said guitarist Peter Blomgren, “but [keyboardist] Danell wants it to be a serious happy song with a melody,”. The band bandied back and forth their ideas over cigarettes and PBR at their practice space in downtown St. Paul. The space, adorned with posters that “nobody wanted to put up in their own house”, was well-stocked with beer and a range of …

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Fort Wilson Riot are stationing themselves at the Hexagon Bar tonight and next Thursday as part of a series of free shows. Though too busy getting fat and happy on Thanksgiving, every remaining Thursday in November belongs to FWR, as they bring along some of their friends to join them in bouts of old fashioned revelry. Riot brings a surprisingly unique sound to their conception of a rock band: Every song stands as an unexpected wonder, mixing a range of styles and never staying stagnant. As an outspoken fan of the rock opera, I was quite happy with their epic stage show Idigaragua, a full-scale album-length song which tells the story of murder, deceit …

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This past Saturday, the Sound Gallery Recording Studio and Warehouse held the Clapperclaw Festival, an independent music and arts festival showcasing a large array of local talent. I walked in just in time to catch the $5 ticket, as opposed to the $12 I would’ve had to pay after 7 PM. This was a pretty effective pricing technique, as it encouraged me to come early and take in the event in its entirety. As soon as I realized the promise of free drinks was not simply a marketing ploy, I proceeded to get in line for my first of (too) many of the night. The space was amazing, and reminded me a lot of the warehouse galleries and music venues I attended while living in Chicago. The event inspired much meandering, …

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Judging from the rampant celebration over Barack Obama’s historic presidential win, this weekend looks to be a time for great ra-ra and inspired good times. Stop doing your homework, forever, and go do something awesome this weekend.

City Pages Picked To Click artists Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles kicks off a miniseries stint at the Nomad Pub tonight, with the first of three Thursday concerts in a row. Lead Lucy Michelle conjures up the vocal talents of Jolie Holland as she plucks away at her ukulele, while her backing band brings a variety of instrumentation to the stage. This unique folk ensemble has something for everyone, and Michelle is easily one of the best whistlers I’ve ever heard. …

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The activist group Substance celebrated Halloween on Saturday with a haunted house in the Dinkytown Oakeshott Institute, based on the events surrounding the Republican National Convention earlier this year. After progressing past the chaotic RNC terror, patrons were greeted with live music from Kill The Vultures, Gay Witch Abortion, Slapping Purses and Tender Meat. The event helped raise money for the RNC 8 and to pay debts incurred from the Ripple Effect concert that took place during the RNC.

The haunted house portion was swarmed with screaming police officers and accosted protesters. In the dark confines of the church basement, I was ordered to get on my knees as an officer placed a bag over my head and led me to the next room. In the corner, a …

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Halloween night is one of the bigger party nights of the year, yet it’s very nature separates itself from the other booze-addled bouts of self-destruction which populate the Twin Cities resident’s party schedules. Halloween demands a certain tone, an atmosphere not just of getting drunk and silly, but doing so in costumes, with attention to fear and spookiness. Standing around with friends playing beer pong is not going to cut it this weekend, oh no: You’re going to have to toss ping-pong balls into open skulls and chug blood and brain juice, or something fiendish like that. At the very least, throw on Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the background, but please, get into the spirit one way or another. Despite popular belief, Halloween is not an excuse to dress scantily or …

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Conor Oberst, known best for his work with Bright Eyes and currently touring with the Mystic Valley Band, is doing a free solo performance at the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown today at 2:30 PM. He is playing in support of the organization Obama Campaign For Change, and tickets are available to anyone who volunteers for at least two “Get Out The Vote” shifts before the upcoming election. Sign up for shifts here and get your tickets to this intimate solo performance.

Oberst also hits up First Avenue tonight with the Mystic Valley Band, All Smiles and the Matt Focht Band.

Conor Oberst: Concert for Change
Wednesday, October 29
Loring Pasta Bar
327 14th Ave SE
All-Ages, FREE with …

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I knew The Wake knew how to party. In celebration of this fine magazine’s 7th year, a bash was thrown at the Acadia last Friday, featuring a wide range of musical acts, including Military Special, MC Harv, Lucy Michelle, Words, and Zombie Season. Each act was sonically different than the rest, and this made for a really interesting night.

The turnout was impressive, and it was great to see a real open and perceptive audience. The show felt very close-knit in the confined space of the Acadia, and this made for intimate performances from the bands. The night was free, a show of appreciation for everyone who came to support the magazine. All in all, this was a really fun night, and a big thank you to all …

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Be sure to come out to the Acadia Cafe this Friday to celebrate The Wake’s 7th year! The corner pub will be host to a variety of great local acts from 5 PM to bar close, and it’s free! That should leave you with plenty of money to buy some beer from the Acadia’s impressive selection!

U of M student group Voices Merging kick off the event at 5, and the well-rounded night continues with music from morbid pop band Zombie Season, a solo set from Picked-To-Click artist Lucy Michelle, poetry from Words, spitfire rap music from MC Harv, and electro-tinged indie rock from Military Special! The show promises to …

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This morning, as the blood poured down the shower drain and I scraped the decaying skin from my face, I stopped to recollect my experiences at last night’s Zombie Pub Crawl:

At 4:00 I began to apply my zombie makeup. The Zombie Pub Crawl web page had some simple makeup tips using random foodstuffs, the likes of which were utilized in many low-budget zombie films. Oatmeal, gelatin, corn syrup, red food coloring and eyeshadow were applied liberally to my undead face and body. Next, ash from a fire and clumps of dirt were spread over my clothes, after which I jumped in a hole in the ground as someone shoveled dirt onto me. Sticky, dirty, uncomfortable, and …

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Brother Ali made a stop at Coffman’s Whole Music Club last night as part of the Making Music Series, a monthly event where artists come to discuss their craft in front of a live audience. Ali talked at great length about his process of writing and recording music, his connections with Atmosphere and Rhymesayers, his childhood and early influences, his belief in Islam, and his views on the racial politics of hip-hop culture. Host JG Everest (of Lateduster fame) sat down with the man, but wound up not saying too much, as the rapper began to dominate conversation and go off on many lengthy points at once. The talk went past its scheduled time (I was saddened at having to leave before it was over), and it seemed like Brother Ali …

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Rennie Sparks, one half of the alt-folk duo The Handsome Family, visited the U yesterday to give a lecture on the tradition of dark and violent imagery in the lyrics of folk songs. While her husband writes the music, Rennie writes the lyrics for The Handsome Family, whose often-times Gothic and bizarre content follow in the footsteps of the folk tradition. She has also adapted these themes into a book of short stories, titled simply Evil.

Sparks highlighted a number of folk songs, such as “Knoxville Girl”, “Barbara Allen”, “Oh My Darlin’ Clementine”, and “Pretty Polly”, and discussed their contrasting use of pleasing melodies and dark lyrics. Her lecture concerned our fascination with this brand of songs, and how they’ve affected the lexicon of American music. She drew parallels …

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First Avenue dominates this week with back to back (to back!) highlighted shows. October seems to be the month for big names at big prices, and I know the economy is basically depression-lite right now, but gas prices are down, hey? Hit your parents up and you might very well be able to afford some of these indie shows in the $14-20 range:

Monday the 13th in the First Avenue Mainroom, Canadian nineteen-piece Broken Social Scene bring their grandiose sound to the stage (touring, sadly, with only eight members - c’mon guys, can’t afford a big enough van?), infecting your ears with their experimental indie-pop stylings; on another end of the indie-pop spectrum, Ben Kweller also plays tonight at the Varisty Theatre. Where would you rather your twenty bucks go? …

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