If you’ve heard anything about Rock the Garden 2018, you know it got hot. Just like last year, a sell-out crowd stood under the sun, basking in summer heat and good music. Of course, the first priority on a warm day is hydration. So in honor of Rock the Garden’s 11,000 attendees and all the […]
It’s hard to set expectations much higher than David Byrne did in announcing his American Utopia Tour, promising his most ambitious stage show since Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense performances. Immortalized in the classic 1984 concert film, the Stop Making Sense shows reached the pinnacle of what artfully executed rock concerts can achieve, all the more impressive because […]
You know, I like musicians who disappear into their performance, motionless except for a few sways behind a mic stand. I even appreciate the David Archuleta, “close your eyes the whole way through” approach. But I love an act with a good stage presence. Last night at the Palace, I was floored when Haim and […]
What do you mean Dizzy Fae isn’t headlining First Avenue yet? It may be unkind to wish so much fame on an artist who still gets X’s on her hands. But St. Paul’s own Dizzy Fae belongs there. As she demonstrated last night at the Entry, she has the voice; the stage presence; and yes, the look. Before […]
How does one create a sound like Roma di Luna’s? I know you can’t set out to make music so singular: with tinges of chamber pop, indie rock, and even Johnny Cash. Plus enough reverb to make aliens feel terrestrial. So I suppose the only answer is evolution. Evolve they have. From the farmer’s market […]
Will Celebration return? It sure sounds like it, based on the questions that Graceland’s managing partner Joel Weinshanker asked attendees on Saturday — and the responses he got. “Who’s coming back next year?” he asked a full soundstage audience before the evening activities began at Paisley Park. Most hands shot up. “Okay,” he noted. “Next […]
A recent Washington Post article reports on the unease surrounding “the prospect of turning Paisley Park into Minnesota’s Graceland.” When I read that, my first thought was: is that really a bad thing? Blatantly commercialized as Graceland is, it’s given Elvis Presley’s home the status of an iconic landmark — and it’s solidified the status […]
At the first of four sold-out shows at the Palace Theatre, Bon Iver and TU Dance — two local, nationally renowned performing arts powerhouses — performed something transcendent and deeply felt, a gripping blend of contemporary dance and music called Come Through. This project was commissioned by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music. Upon […]
Between sets on Friday night, the crowd at the sold-out Cedar Cultural Center were treated to Gloria Estefan’s “Conga,” Bruno Mars’s “That’s What I Like,” Estelle’s “American Boy,” and even a club remix of Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That.” No one seemed entirely sure why the house playlist — normally such a […]
I saw a few different cowboy hats in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood last night. The first belonged to a man at the bus stop. Staring through the sunlight, he spots me using my phone and asks, in Spanish, when the 9 is due. “Dos minutos,” I respond, and we spend those two minutes chatting about my […]
