To those among us who enjoy a good old fashioned down and dirty rock show, you’d have been in for a real tasty treat had you made your way over to the 400 Bar on Nov. 1 or Nov. 2. Radio On, a free-wheelin’ rock band from Minneapolis, played for a packed house.. They opened for the band, The Heartless Bastards. The group, thanks in part to 400 Bar owner Tom Sullivan, has been sharpening their teeth at Twin Cities venues for a few years. Now it appears they have the catalog of songs and the live act to make a serious run at things. I sat down before the show with guitarist/pianist/harmonica player Ryan Carlson, at the Riverside Restaurant.

“We’re starting to build a lot of momentum,” Carlson says. “2006 has been a good year for Radio On.” It was last New Year’s Eve that Radio On played at the 7th Street Entry and ran into a bit of good fortune. “Chad Weis was running sound that night. He enjoyed the show and not long after we got to work recording an album,” he says. Carlson also said that Radio On will be working with Weis again this December, as they have some dynamite new tracks to record.

Since recording their first album, Stallion’s Final Romance, Radio On has been gigging and touring frequently, earning praise from fellow musicians and magazines along the way. A review by Nelson Heise in Rift Magazine, claimed, “Radio On kicks the doors wide open, and keeps them open. I hear a lot of polished turds and it’s nice to hear a band that sounds raw, real, and alive.” Minnesota musician Michael Morris called them the “best live band in Minneapolis.” Radio On has opened for groups like Bobby Beare Junior and Heartless Bastards. They once played a show at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, directly following a rousing speech by Bobby Kennedy Jr. Back in Minnesota, Radio On has secured shows at the 400 Bar for every Wednesday in December. Until then, plans are in motion for a quick tour, possibly hitting Chicago, Nashville, New Orleans, Athens, and Austin, returning in time for an in-studio Radio K show and interview on Nov. 24,according to Carlson.

Radio On kicked things off with the powerhouse combo of “Bottles of Wine” and “Whisky Mountain,” a sultry couple of sing-along party anthems. The pair that followed, “Cowboys” and “Truckin,” featured quick Southern guitars and some fast-paced, back country vocals shared between Carlson and front man, Dan Olson. Several songs feature this fun sort of swagger before giving way to the room-filling wail of their dual guitar attack and Olson’s urgent howling. “Make My Way” kicks off with a pulsating bass line, some rollicking toms closely in toe. Courtesy of the thunderous rhythm section of bassist Justin Retzlaff and drummer Andrew Bartelson, who make like Entwhistle and Moon (pun fully intended) at the start of this song. It soon gives way to goodtime country vocals, bluesy guitar and saloon style piano, seemingly of Stones’ influence.

So what is it about these sharply dressed gents that’s got people talking? The answer lies in the power and passion of their live performance. The dance moves on display that night were from another dimension. Olson exhibited the most lasciviously innovative moves seen on a Minneapolis stage since the closing scene of Purple Rain. He even dressed the part. After starting the show in a snappy, green, motorcycle-esque jacket, Olson stripped to a purple dress shirt. Covered in sweat by show’s end, the shirt was also removed—at the pace of one button per song. It’s a combination of his perfectly not intimidating physique, risky stage antics, and flair for the dramatic that gives Olson an unmistakably captivating stage presence. With endless amounts of bouncing and posing, he struts and stomps his way into a few hip-swivels followed by some soft-shoe. After a bit of kicking and marching, he tosses up his guitar, head shaking wildly all the while. It’s truly a sight to behold.

It’s tough for a band to crack through into the cut-throat world that is the music industry. The Minneapolis band most recently to do so, Tapes N’ Tapes, did so by making a great album, “The Loon,” and then using all resources necessary (especially the Internet) to get noticed. “At Least We Tried to Make It!” they shout again and again as “The Iliad” builds to its thumping, feverish conclusion. Upon seeing Radio On’s live show, I’m glad that they too, are trying to make it. And hope to see their name in bright lights across the country.