The Wake

It’s not everyday that fifteen dollars lets a person see eight different bands in concert. Even less often is a clue-driven chase across the city included in the price of the ticket. On Saturday, March 24th, participants in March of Madness: Bands on the Run! went on a citywide search for eight local bands that were to perform at four undisclosed locations. Organized by local artist Michael Gaughan. Bands on the Run! was the sixth event of its kind.

“I like using the imagination to think of something fun and have it actually come to life,” said Gaughan. Gaughan, with the help of 12 teenagers on the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC), designed a musical tour of Minneapolis that lasted for nearly nine hours.

The group of eager participants was instructed to meet in the Skyline Room of the Walker Art Center, one of the event’s sponsors. A curtain was drawn and a massive body of people rushed towards it, looking for their first clue. Shouts went up of a marching band moving down below, and suddenly the group was running for the door. The hunt had begun.

The marching band led participants to Parade Ice Garden where an ultimate team was practicing. After learning about ultimate and receiving free Frisbee discs, the group was treated to a performance by Paper Tiger, Mike Mictlan and Sims of local hip-hop group Doomtree. Color-coded Frisbees led the group to the Walker’s sculpture gardens for the next clue.

After solving a code using message adorned benches in the sculpture gardens, the group was directed to two women in full white gowns, holding brightly colored parasols who were picnicking in Loring Park. The women directed participants to the nearby Women’s Club, where the group saw performances from local groups Mouthful of Bees and I Self Divine. In addition the group had the opportunity to put together a talent show and compete for a prize. Some of the acts featured in the talent show were a sensual massage, a water train, a group of girls “being double jointed and then they dance,” and a freestyle rap battle.

After these performances, a cryptic video screen clue led the group to the new Guthrie Theater, where in turn, the group was directed through two different clues to Mulberry Park near the Stone Arch Bridge. At the park, participants let loose, dancing wildly to the next band, Skoal Kodiak, whose lead singer played a musically engineered bottle of Clorox. Those not involved in the dance party put their free Frisbees to use, sending them soaring over the grooving crowd.

The dance party came to an end when two “cops” began to hand out tickets for noise violations. The group was then sent downtown to the courthouse, where a very small protest was being staged. “Cheney is a dumb-bell” and other various bell-related signs sent the group to follow their ears to Gethsemane church. This location was where the remainder of the event occurred.

After refreshments, organ music, and a spirited spoken word “sermon,” four more bands performed in the church. Synchrocyclotron and Michael Gaughan’s two groups, Brother and Sister and NOW, all performed in the main area of the church. Brother and Sister’s performance began when Gaughan was wheeled into the room inside a coffin from where he played the majority of the set. Once outside he proceeded to draw a picture on the stage backdrop using the neck of his guitar, all the while playing a shredding guitar solo.

A conga line then led all participants upstairs for the finale, a performance by hip-hop group The Chosen Few. By this time, participants had been biking, dancing and clue-hunting for a good eight hours, but no one would be able to tell from the way they jumped and danced to this final band.

Though he refers to the events as “community building pieces,” meeting people and making new friends are just two aspects of the adventure. Gaughan’s goal is to allow people to get out and see the city in a new way, while having the audience get involved with a concert just as much as the band that is performing.

If all this seems like too much to believe, imagine a party at the downtown YMCA with a poolside performance by Gaughan’s band Brother and Sister. Or bussing to a Shakopee prison in order to see local group Faggot perform live from inside a prison cell. These things have all been part of Gaughan’s scavenger hunts and he doesn’t seem to be out of ideas yet. For those who enjoy local music and exploring the city, keep your eyes pealed for the next event, because as Gaughan assures, it is already in the works.