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 and pirates, at the Bedlam Theatre, and chances are good they’ll bust out some favorites from that astounding piece. Expect a lot of new music, as their website (which also features a gang of free mp3s) tells us what to prepare for. Go see this band!

Fort Wilson Riot at the Hexagon Bar
Thursday, November 13th with Best Friends Forever, Chickadee Mountain Martyrs and Anders Ponders
Thursday, November 20th with Speed’s The Name, Plastic Chord and Lamb Lays With Lion
2600 27th Ave S
21+, FREE, 9 PM

Eyedea and Abilities play St. Paul for the first time in 5 years on Friday (what took you so long, guys? St. Paul don’t bite) at the Turf Club. The Rhymesayers duo pits Eyedea’s kinetic and energetic paranoid flow over Abilities’ masterful tracks and skill-laden cuts. About to drop their third album, E&A put on a killer live show that is not to be missed.

Eyedea and Abilities with Kristoff Krane, Abzorbr and Sector 7G
Friday, November 14
Turf Club, 1601 University Ave W in St. Paul
21+, 9 PM, $10

Other good shit going down:

Desdamona at the Dakota Jazz Club
Saturday, November 15
1010 Nicolett in Downtown Minneapolis
$5, 11:30 PM

The Original Truth Squad presents Pimps Up Hoedown
Cowboy & Pimp themed Dance Party
with I Am Break, He Is Beat, Rob Rob and Saund Waav, visuals by Time Squid
Friday, November 14th
7th St Entry, 701 1st Ave N
18+, $3 or $1 with student ID, 9 PM

Japanese Space Program CD Release with Red Pens, Dragons Power Up! and TEXAR
Friday, November 14
Eclipse Records, 1922 University Ave W in St. Paul
$5, AA, 7-10PM

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, as there was a lot to see and do throughout the night. Oh, and again, there were free drinks. The event was in support of Free Arts Minnesota, which aims to mentor and empower youth through art programs. Some of the work of those within the program, all under age 13, was displayed and struck me as rather sophisticated for their age. I remember drawing giant turtles on Mars on my desk back then.

There were two floors which separated the music and fashion show area and the art instillations and film. A lot of the art was impressive, ranging from screenprints to paintings to graffiti using street signs for canvases. From Steve Lang’s intricate collage work to Shawn Dalsen’s graffiti-influenced pieces to Ema Cook’s vibrant and striking animal paintings, it was evident that there is some amazing artwork being produced in the Twin Cities. I caught a couple of the films that were playing throughout the night, though I am often pretty wary of amateur film. Brian Perkin’s We’re Anonym.us was an odd bout of short episodes where everyone wears masks in a supermarket, and then out of nowhere some cartoon figure rides a skateboard and screams or something. It was quite odd and quirky, and I couldn’t really decide it it was good odd or bad odd. I settled on just plain odd. I saw only a few episodes of it, the rest can be seen at the website. Melody Gilbert’s Married At The Mall was a mildly interesting account of couples who wed at the Mall of America. Containing intimate interviews with 8 different couples tying the knot at the mall, I made it through 3 before I moved on. Travis Lou Wavescorx‘s Clapperclaw commission Kissing With Teeth was my favorite of the films, a short centering on the relationship between a man and his dog. The thing that made this film great was the dog, who was a surprisingly good actor. The film was sweet, funny, and not afraid to depict a dog taking a crap on screen in the midst of all the cute footage. The dog made an appearance at the showing, basking in the admiration of his fans. Awwww.

Clapperclaw brought a whole night of great music, including rappers Cecil Otter and Big Quarters, rock bands XYZ Affair, Peter Adams and Speed’s The Name, plus DJ sets from DJ Real Talk Radio and Cool Money in between sets. I didn’t catch a lot of the music up til the end, because there was so much else to see and do, but I could sense some real great energy coming from the crowd. Being in a warehouse, there was no stage but a section of the floor with a carpet on it that acted as the stage. By the end of the night, this suggested barrier was not paid much mind by the droves of dancing drunk girls and hand-waving fans. Big Quarters brought the pandemonium as always, though didn’t get as much love from the audience as they deserved. With the energy this duo puts into their music, I expected nothing less than the entire crowd getting down, but that seems to be too much to expect from people. Cecil Otter, surprisingly not drunk, got the spot moving as the final act of the night, dropping introspective raps which culminated the night beautifully. Overall, this was a pretty amazing event; very cheap, free drinks, supported a good cause and exposed me to a huge amount of great local art. Hats off to you, Clapperclaw, and I can’t wait til next year.

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. They’ve promised some new tunes this time around, and the event is FREE, so come on down to the Nomad and get let your folk flag fly. This is part of the Nomad’s Minniseries event, which showcases a new local artist every month. If you miss this one, the Lapelles shall be back next week for another free show!

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles with Poor Nobodys and Bitch n’ Brown (as the Chixxxy Dicks)
Thursday, November 6
Nomad World Pub, 501 Cedar Ave
Music at 9:30, 21+, FREE

This Saturday, the Clapperclaw Music and Arts Festival, an eclectic co-mingling of a great number of alternative forms, returns. The festival intends to showcase a wide range of local and national art, including film, art and fashion shows, and musical performances. This eclectic festival features music from local rappers Cecil Otter and Big Quarters, electronic-infused rock and roll from Speed’s The Name, Look Book and Man Is Doomed, out-of-towners XYZ Affair and Peter Adams, plus DJ sets from DJ Cool Money and DJ Real Talk Radio. On top of all this, there will be films screened all night, artwork from some truly talented local artists, and exclusive fashion work from local designers. I tried to write it all down here and there was simply too much; check out the Clapperclaw website for more information on what is happening and when. This event is $12 at the door and $5 in advance (with free drinks all night, did I mention that? Some people might like that sort of thing), so I suggest you get tickets early. A portion of the proceeds go to Free Arts Minnesota, which makes this awesome event all the more legit. Come check out this amazing festival and come support your local art scene!

Clapperclaw Music and Arts Festival
Saturday, November 8
Sound Gallery Recording Studio and Warehouse, 414 3rd Ave N
4 PM – 2AM (Check Clapperclaw website for schedule)
$5 pre-sale or during “Happy Hour” (4-7), $12 after 7, 21+

Also this Saturday comes the band famously kicked off tour with Guns N’ Roses a few years back for being simply TOO AWESOME (though this was not the official statement at the time, I believe, in our hearts, we all know the real reason). That’s right, those sex-starved sleaze merchants the Eagles of Death Metal are bringing their unabashed dirty-rock stylings to the Fine Line, and you’d better bring an extra pair of fists to pump cuz the rock is much too much. On tour in support of their latest effort, Heart On, the bad news boys bring you crunchy rock and roll to which you simply can’t help but move your feet. Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme drops the guitar and sits on the skins as frontman Jesse Hughes sings of love, lust and more lust while blowing your clothes off with his guitar solos. The California band bring a fun and sexy sound to the staple stoner-rock of the bands extended family, and no, they don’t actually play death metal. If the Eagles really played death metal, would they sound like this? Who cares? Come get your rock on and get your rocks off in the good old fashioned way at the Fine Line.

Eagles of Death Metal with The Duke Spirit
Saturday, November 8
Fine Line Music Cafe, 318 1st Ave N
$18/$20, doors at 8, music at 9, 18+

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 witness was being tortured and police officers beat civilians. I didn’t quite feel the fear I was intended to feel, the guns shoved to my face being rubber and all. As a political statement, the haunted house worked well, exaggerating actual events to emphasize the madness that took place. As a haunted house, it left something to be desired.

Once inside the main area of the church, the piercing aggressive electro sounds of Slapping Purses flooded my ears as a slew of costumed individuals danced the devil’s dance and downed snuck-in alcohol. All the acts were permanent-hearing-loss loud, with Gay Witch Abortion bringing their standard two-man sonic assault and Kill The Vultures sounding like they had blown the speakers. Crescent Moon of Kill The Vultures schooled listeners on the history of the place they were standing and the legend of Oakeshott, the deceased medieval-armor enthusiast for whom the church was named. In the middle of the KTV set, the real cops came and busted the whole thing. In an ironic image, some of the fake cops from the haunted house portion wound up in the backseat of the squad car. One audience member implored KTV to keep playing so the situation would escalate and we could all “get on the news”. He had probably gone without getting arrested at the RNC and was really bummed about it.

With American Nightmare, Substance successfully helmed yet another politically-charged musical event, bringing arts and activism together as is their M.O. They urged people to vote tomorrow, and so do I. Get your ass to the polls.

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 listen to Thriller on repeat. You can certainly do these things, but one would hope that you would do them with an appreciation of the delight of Halloween. Decapitation, gore, murder, blood, monsters, the undead, Satan… These are the tenants of Halloween. The fright surrounding the night is what differentiates Halloween from just another St. Patty’s Day; I implore you to delve into the nether regions of your unholy soul when downing cheap beer and dancing like an idiot this weekend.

There is no better place to surround yourself with the Halloween spirit than at First Avenue this Saturday: Though this event is after the 31st, nothing says Halloween quite like GWAR. There’s a moment in the midst of any GWAR concert, where, soaked in blood from the eviscerated body of a pop-cultural icon and bruised from the fists flailed your direction in the mosh pit, you realize that this is perhaps the pinnacle of concert euphoria. Sure, you had a great time seeing Deerhoof or whatever, and Conor Oberst is a great songwriter akin to a modern-day blahbedy blah, but this is fucking GWAR. GWAR is more than a concert, it is an visceral musical experience. GWAR is heavy metal at its most balls-out (literally; you should see lead member Oderus Urungus swinging his obscenely monstrous genitalia with wild abandon) ridiculous, as monsters take stage and kill all the humans in sight while rocking out painfully hardcore. With smatterings of theater and performance art, and splatterings of brains and internal organs, GWAR turns First Avenue into hell on Earth, and brings the audience kicking and screaming along for the ride. There is no better way to celebrate Halloween, hands down. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting covered in a wide range of fluids and come see the mayhem.

GWAR with Kingdom of Sorrow and Toxic Holocaust
Saturday, November 1st
First Avenue Mainroom
701 1st Ave N
$18/$21, AA, 5 PM

In the spirit of pretending to be someone else, there’s a couple of cover band events going on on Halloween night: Lee’s Liquor Lounge has got E.L.nO. covering ELO (how appropriate) and Little Man covering T-Rex, and the Triple Rock features Shit Sandwich as Spinal Tap, If You Want Blood as AC/DC, We Who Cannot Be Named as The Dwarves, Sirens of Titan as Soundgarden, We Aren’t The League as the Anti-Nowhere League, and Power of 2 as the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s.

Lee’s Liquor Lounge: Cover Band Night
Friday, October 31
101 Glenwood Ave
21+, 9:30 p.m., $10

Triple Rock Social Club: Halloween Celebration
Friday, October 31
629 Cedar Ave
21+, 8 PM, $8, $6 with costume

Certain bands seem specifically tailored to Halloween. Gothic trans-core glam-rock (music writing is a great opportunity to stretch my bullshit-terminology muscle) outfit All The Pretty Horses, back together and in great form, are one of these. The Horses, a Minnesota act you ought to see before you die, share the stage with other well-cast bands, the blistering and loud twosome Gay Witch Abortion and gothic shoegazers The Funeral and The Twilight. Goth stylings and loud music feel oh so right on All Hallow’s Eve, so come blow your ears out to some fantastic local rock at the 331 Club on Friday.

All The Pretty Horses with Gay Witch Abortion and The Funeral And The Twilight
Friday, October 31
331 Club, 331 13th Ave NE
21+, Free, 9 PM

Local rap outfit Hecatomb return again for the second annual installment of the Hecatomb Halloween Howl at O’Gara’s Bar and Grill in St. Paul. With performances by Carnage, Desdamona, Concentrate, Capaciti, Mac S.P.I.L.L.Z, Ruthless, Ill E. Gal, Kymara and Zone Cashus, this is sure to be a hard-hitting Halloween event. Carnage promises “twice the exxxperience” from last year (and he looks daaaamn scary as a zombie, yikes). As everything ought to be on this hallowed of nights, this is a costume party. Come outdo the other heads in town with yours.

Hecatomb’s Halloween Howl 2
Friday, October 31
O’Gara’s Bar and Grill
164 Snelling Ave N, St. Paul
21+, $6, 9PM

Happy Halloween, be safe, eat too much candy, and watch for razorblades in apples. They’re sneaky like that.

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 volunteer sign-up

Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band with All Smiles and Matt Focht Band
Wednesday, October 29
First Avenue Mainroom
701 1st Ave N
$24, 18+, 7:30 PM

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 that showed up and helped make it what it was!

There were photos and audio taken from the event, which I’ll try to post once they’re available.

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 be truly excellent, so come out and support The Wake by getting tipsy and seeing some great live music!

The Wake’s 7th Birthday Party
featuring Military Special, MC Harv, Words, Lucy Michelle (solo set), Zombie Season and Voices Merging
329 Cedar Ave S (Corner of Cedar and Riverside)
5 PM – 2 AM, All Ages, FREE

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 already looking forward to a shower, I felt I had appropriately affected the persona of a zombie. It was time to get my drink on.

The day began at Gold Medal Park, where people were getting last minute makeup done and gearing up for the crawl. After the bike ride to the park, donned in full zombie gear and getting strange stares from everyone, it was amazing to see a whole smattering of undead out for the same thing I was: BRAAAAINS!!! First stop: Grumpy’s. I got a glimpse of what a post-zombie-apocalyptic future might look like: After all the smoke had cleared and all the humans had been feasted upon, zombies would eventually evolve into the scene I was witnessing now, standing around guzzling Tall Boys and talking about shitty bands. The place was packed, as were all the bars I visited. Many bars had free live music, including The No-Nos at the Nomad and Cadillac Kolstad and the Flats at Palmers, so I didn’t feel terrible about missing Dance Band and MC/VL at the Cabooze at the end of the night. By then, I’d been stumbly drunk and seen a lot of great music already.

Not many of the bars on the itinerary actually had drink specials for zombies as promised; instead, most of them offered up a shot named after that which we were all lusting for: Brains. Yes, brains were the topic of the evening, with a good amount of groaning and shouts of “What do we want? BRAAAAINS!!! When do we want it? BRAAAAAINS!!!”. The Nomad offered up perhaps the most satisfying display of zombie carnage, when an effigy of John McCain was lowered from a zipline into the patio full of zombies, all craving the taste of human flesh. As the horde tore the body apart, Day of the Dead style, our bloodlust was satisfied more so than any shot of green stuff in a test tube ever could. For those who are curious of what McCain is truly made of, the answer became clear as he was eviscerated: Bloody babies. In a rather environmentally unsound move, the pile of bloody babies was thrown into the fire in a delightful bit of anarchic destruction. At the approximate count of about 1200 heads, it was clear that zombies ran the streets. Traffic laws were violated by slow-moving zombies, unfazed by the honks from the cars of mortals. Someone broke a window at one of the bars, several times dishes fell to the ground, and the night felt overly destructive in the best way possible. The spirit of the undead was in the air.

Though my costume was little more than the dregs of the pantry smeared on my person, I was a little disappointed by the effort of others out that night. Some people clearly didn’t want to get too dirty, doing little more than dark eye shadow or a bloody handprint on their shirt. Shame. On the other hand, there were some pretty great zombies out there. Many had things stuck in their heads, others carried severed limbs to gnaw on all night (plastic hands connected to a chicken drumstick: a very nice touch). There were plenty of zombie celebrities out, including Zombie Sarah Palin, Zombie Hunter S Thompson, and, yes, Zombie Jesus. Everywhere you went was a sight to behold; even those not zombified could appreciate the amazing people-watching factor, the “zambiance”, if you will.

This was my first time to the Zombie Pub Crawl, and it was an amazing night. It sounds like this was the biggest event yet, and it was such a joy to see so many zombie hordes taking to the streets and drinking heavily. The event felt so epic in scale, with every bar filled to capacity… WITH ZOMBIES, I TELL YOU!!!! This is truly a brilliant concept, in that being piss-drunk goes so perfectly with being dressed as a grotesque creature from beyond the grave. Stumbling, mumbling and being bent on destruction of humanity are very well-suited to vehement alcoholism, and maaaan is it fun to shout “Braaaaains!” when you’ve tied one on. Everybody should be there next year, and I mean literally everyone. The zombies shall own this town yet.

UPDATE: Photos from City Pages

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 could’ve talked your ear off for hours on end. He had a lot of incredibly interesting things perspectives on music and life, and I would’ve loved if the conversation could’ve continued indefinitely.

Brother Ali talked about his early years, showing pictures he was clearly embarrassed to make public of when he was a rap-obsessed 8 year old, spitting Whodini songs at talent shows and putting on concerts wherever he could, from the playground at recess to his grandmother’s funeral. He talked openly about the struggle of looking different from his peers and how he had to face not being like everyone else. The picture he showed of his younger self, bloodied and beaten at school by a group of white kids, wearing his “Increase the Peace” t-shirt, showcased the harsh realities of the young rappers life. This incident inspired the song “Win Some, Lose Some” off 2003′s Shadows On The Sun, and it was quieting to see an actual photograph of this traumatic experience.

It was clear Ali had a lot to talk about (his tour with Rakim and Ghostface Killah was barely mentioned, same goes for his European tour with Atmosphere), and there wasn’t enough time for him to get out everything he wanted to. What he did touch on seemed to be of the greatest import to him, the elements of his life that shaped his music the most. Ali talked at great length about his views on race as it related to his own life and work, and what it means in hip-hop culture and society in general. His perspectives on race are some of the most interesting I’ve heard from anyone. Apparently, Ali’s agent keeps suggesting he write a book on the topic, which I think would be quite thought-provoking, and it’s clear the man has a lot to say on the subject. Ali went on to talk about his faith in Islam, changing his name, and moving away from the Christian ideology he was born into. JG Everest barely asked Brother Ali a single question, as Ali poured his heart out about subjects that were clearly very important for him. On stage, the man is a force to be reckoned with; in conversation, the man carries the same power just speaking his mind. This Making Music went beyond the “What was the first album you bought” realm and ventured into territory that was more deep and rich than one would expect from any interview. Brother Ali’s music comes from deep introspection and baring of the rapper’s soul, and in talking so intimately about his life last night, we got an excellent sense of who Brother Ali is and why he writes the way he does. This was one of the most amazing interviews I’ve ever seen.

The Whole’s Making Music series is a monthly event that interviews local artists about their craft and inspirations. Visit the Whole’s website for future events in the series. Each interview is taped (previous interviews, including Andrew Bird, P.O.S., Slug, and Alan Sparhawk, can be seen at the Whole Music Club’s Youtube channel), and last night’s should be up soon. Check back to this post for the video of last night’s interview when it is released.