by admin
This Memorial Day weekend, don’t let the wet weather dampen your spirits. Get out and get dance-crazy at BOMP, Too Much Love and the Get Cryphy Soundset afterparty, get a dose of politically-charged retro fashion with Thursday’s RetroRama, and get experimental with underground music fest Heliotrope.
xo-l’étoile
THURSDAY, MAY 24TH
RetroRama
@ Minnesota History Center
345 W Kellogg Boulevard
St. Paul
7:30-11 pm (shows at 8 pm, 9pm & 10 pm) / All Ages / $15 or $12 for MHS members
In honor of this year’s election, the Minnesota History Center will be combining politics and fashion in this year’s celebration of all things retro. This fashion show DJd by Jake Rudh will represent the suffragette movement, Prohibition-era gangsters, the civil rights movement and other personal and political visions by the designers. Models from Lili’s Burlesque will wear clothing by artists and designers including Emma Berg, Danielle Everine, Max Lohrbach, Samantha Rei and Christopher Straub. Listen to music by the Southside Aces while you peruse vintagewear at a boutique by Blacklist Vintage, the Spectacle Shoppe and Flamingo’s Divine Finds. Enjoy cocktails, play Blingo with Ellie Blades and remember the evening with a political souvenir you create yourself. Tickets are $15 or $12 for MHS members. -Meg Junkermeier BONUS: Click HERE for our preview of the looks from the show.
Click HERE for the Minnesota Historical Society site
THURSDAY, MAY 24TH – SATURDAY, MAY 26TH
Heliotrope 9
@ Lab Theater
700 N 1st Street
Minneapolis
6 pm-midnight daily / All Ages / $12 daily or $24 for three day pass
Heliotrope is, near as we can tell, the Minneapolis experimental/underground equivalent of Monterey Pop – a dizzying array of bands playing rapid-fire sets of some of the best and weirdest music the town has to offer. All three days have some cool stuff, but our favorites are the black metal of Maledicere on Thursday, Saturday’s awesome experimental pop bill including CLAPS, Flavor Crystals, Food Pyramid and Brute Heart, and the glorious return of TVBC on Saturday – they’ve been making messed-up rock music for more than 20 years. If challenging music is your thing (and it should be) this looks like a can’t-miss. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Lab Theater site
THURSDAY, MAY 24TH
“Anne George: EXTRA BUTTONS”
@ TuckUnder Projects
5120 York Avenue S
Minneapolis
6–9 pm / FREE
Minneapolis artist Anne George is interested in collecting, saving and the things we deem worthy of setting aside. This interest led her to create a rather unique art book in 2011 entitled Organization Strategies and Savings Management, EXTRA BUTTONS, and other unquantifiable attractions. In that odd and fascinating book, George interspersed photos of an inherited cache of “extra buttons” in their original small, printed envelopes with various photos taken around the world showing groupings and collections of other saved items. The result, somehow both conceptually rigorous and mysteriously open ended, is the basis for this exhibition at TuckUnder Projects. In this instance, the photos from EXTRA BUTTONS will be available to view in a gallery setting rather than in book form, which should make for an interesting formal exercise as well as an opportunity to see the enigmatic images in a new light. -Anthony Enright
Click HERE for the TuckUnder site
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
“A Mile in Our Shoes” Sidewalk Reception
@ Shoebox Gallery
2948 Chicago Avenue S
Minneapolis
Opening reception 4-8 pm, on view through June 6 / FREE
A storefront art work in the Robert’s Shoe Building on Chicago Avenue, “A Mile in Our Shoes” explores the relationships between transportation, employment and housing, and how those everyday basics define the lives of Twin Cities residents. The installation, created by design studio Works Progress, incorporates shoes donated from commuters who traverse the Chicago/Lake area on their way to and from work. The sidewalk reception includes refreshments and conversation; be prepared to answer the question: What’s it like to walk a mile in your shoes? -Beth Hammarlund
Click HERE for the “We Work Here” Works Progress blog
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
2011-2012 Jerome Emerging Printmakers Exhibition
@ Highpoint Center for Printmaking
912 W Lake Street
Minneapolis
Opening reception 6:30-9 pm Friday, on view through June 30 / FREE
Highpoint’s Jerome Emerging Printmaker’s Residency gives fledgling artists access to its world-class facilities, technical assistance and feedback from local artists / curators to encourage an experimental atmosphere where their talents can grow. The 9 month program culminates in a exhibition showcasing the product of this fecund period of work by the three participants. Each artist uses printmaking techniques in very different ways, showing the wide range of themes and styles this medium supports. Gwen Comings blind relief embossings deconstruct sporting event imagery to upend the heroic notion of athletics and capture moments of failure and defeat. Jonathan McFadden’s abstracted landscape screenprints and installations use cacophonous layers of visual imagery to explore the accelerated pace of the contemporary media. Graham Judd’s relief prints nod to classic religious symbolism with visual cues taken from religious woodcuts to show how faith in characters in popular culture has replaced the homage paid to the saints and martyrs of the past. The promising potput of these three artists is impressive, and the support of Highpoint and the Jerome foundation has clearly elevated their work to a new level. -Anthony Enright
Click HERE for the Highpoint Center for Printmaking site
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
Emilie Robinson art opening
@ Cliché
2403 Lyndale Avenue S
Minneapolis
7-9 pm / All Ages / FREE
Local boutique Cliché is known for showcasing bright and style-conscious art on its walls by upcoming local artists. The latest is Emilie Robinson, whose mixed media art, whether it is the use of paints, images or colored pencils, draws attention with bold colors and statements in her collages. Enjoy beverages and hors d’ourves while you peer around at this artist’s talents – and be sure to take advantage of a 20% off discount throughout the store. -Meg Junkermeier
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH-SUNDAY, MAY 27TH
“The Battleship Potemkin”
@ Trylon Microcinema
3258 Minnehaha Avenue
Minneapolis
7 pm & 9 pm Friday & Saturday; 5 pm & 7 pm Sunday / $10
Sergei Eisenstein’s influential agitprop classic The Battleship Potempkin is many things. In its day, it was masterful political propaganda for Marxist-Leninism, meant to virally infect the rest of the world with the spirit that had taken hold of the Soviet Union. It was historical recreation, greatly influencing what Carl Theodor Dreyer would do soon after with The Passion of Joan of Arc. And it was also historical revision and manipulation, creating the massacre on the Odessa Steps – something that never happened – to win the hearts of an audience against Tsarist oppression. Its influence is legion. The famous Odessa Steps sequence has been honored by Brian De Palma in The Untouchables (in turn parodied by the second Naked Gun sequel), while the agitprop angry politics fueled Oliver Stone’s Salvador, and the intense cutting rhythms inspired Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker’s editorial approach to the opening battle from Gangs of New York and Michael Mann’s climax in Manhunter. As an added attraction to the Trylon’s presentation of Potemkin, there will be live musical accompaniment provided by the Poor Nobodys, who’ve composed their own original score for the film. -Niles Schwartz
Click HERE for the Take-Up site
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH-SUNDAY, MAY 27TH
Memory Lanes Block Party
@ Memory Lanes
2520 26th Avenue S
Minneapolis
3-10 pm outdoors & 10 pm-2 am indoors daily / All Ages before 10 pm, 21+ after / FREE
Ah, summer – when block parties abound. The absolute best way to watch bands (apart from in the absolute dark of a goth club or something) is outdoors in the bright sunlight with a beer and a brat in hand, and we defy you to disagree with us. The Memory Lanes Block Party looks like it sports an insanely diverse bill: headliners range from the bonecrushing punk rock of Needles, the mashup wizardry of Chicago’s the Hood Internet and the awesome surfabilly sounds of Nashville’s Los Straightjackets. Local bands include the Goondas, L’Assassins, Fort Wilson Riot and more, plus an appearance by Black Hearts Burlesque. Bring the kids! -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Facebook event
Los Straightjackets. Photo: Jim Graham
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
Red Daughters Album Release w/ Phantom Tails + the Goondas + Buildings
Amsterdam Bar and Hall
6 W 6th Street
St. Paul
9 pm / 21+ / FREE
The Red Daughters play a kind of aggressive mashup of skittering indie pop and the soundtrack to the best Western movie you’ve ever seen. Their songs are absolutely laden with organ and guitar angularity, not a million miles from where Kings of Leon probably should have ended up if they hadn’t gone horribly wrong, if that makes sense, with a bit of rural Band-isms thrown in for good measure. This show celebrates the release of their new self-titled LP (which combines two previous EPs into one, conveniently), and features the always awesome Phantom Tails and the Goondas, plus the awesome ultra-aggro punk of Buildings. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
LaLiberte w/ Wiping Out Thousands + Basuketto
@ Turf Club
1601 University Avenue
St. Paul
9 pm / 21+ / $6
We were privy to LaLiberte’s first unofficial show back in December during Doomtree Blowout Week, and we have to say we like what we heard. Fronted by Maggie Morrison of Lookbook fame on vocals with production by Doomtree’s Cecil Otter and bass by Votel’s Ben Clark, LaLiberte combines the ethereal yet forceful vocals Morrison became known for during her Lookbook days with theminimalist, atmospheric rhythms produced by Otter and Clark. Opening are Wiping Out Thousands, a new-ish girl-boy synthpop group that released an attention-getting EP earlier this year and Baskuetto, an electronic improvisational collective headed up by Clark and Votel’s Mark McGee – we’re guessing Morrison will make a cameo. -Jahna Peloquin
Click HERE for the Turf Club site
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
BOMP! (The Return)
@ The Cabooze
917 Cedar Avenue S
Minneapolis
10 pm / 18+ / $5 RSVP or with a wristband from Edward Sharpe, or $10 at the door
If you have lovely designer heels, say those that come with a red sole, or shoes you adore in general, this month’s BOMP! is not the place to wear them. Stick to your high tops or flat boots, maybe even sandals because as BOMP always promises, it is going to be a delirious dance fest. The raucous monthly dance night that formerly called the Bedlam Theater home is making its long-awaited return to the West Bank after a one-night blowout at First Avenue earlier this year, and the whole DJ crew is back in action: the Moon Goons, Plain Ole Bill, Jimmy2Times and WzzWnshp. This performance will require more than cool moves; it’s time to throw in some head banging. -Alexandra Katz
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
FRIDAY, MAY 25TH
Forever Young Prom
@ First Avenue
701 1st Avenue N
Minneapolis
9 pm / 21+ / $8 in advance, $10 door
One of the most popular weekend dance parties in Uptown is officially ready to make its downtown debut with the Forever Young Prom. Don your best (or worst) prom drag and hang with the Forever Young crew this Friday at the legendary First Ave Mainroom, where your hosts Chris Cloud and MC Jacobs will recreate the prom of your dreams and bring you the biggest Forever Young dance party to date. Dance to late ’90s and early 2000s tunes from your favorite artists of the time including OutKast, Salt N Pepa, Destiny’s Child, Chumbawamba, Blink 182, Aaliyah, Whitney, Nelly, Missy, JT, Kanye, Madonna and more. DJs include Soft Opening (Mark McGee and Machen Davis), Young Baby (Anders Other), and Eighth Grade Dance. -Stefani Arden
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
SATURDAY, MAY 26TH
“Cult Sisters III: Love/Hate”
@ Cult Status Gallery
2913 Harriet Avenue S
Minneapolis
7 pm / All Ages / FREE
Cult Status Gallery is winding up for their third installment of “Cult Sisters,” a collection of fine art created by a motley crew of local female artists. The same-sex roster can be interpreted in itself as a feminist statement, but the event invitation promises no pictures of vaginas or flowers. Participants include underwater photo maestro Rhea Pappas, industrial metalworker Kristen Arden, rock-obsessed painter/Cult Status Gallery owner Erin Sayer, abstract figurative painters Louisa Greenstock and Kara Hendershot, classic figurative painter JM Culver, and includes both solo work and collaborations between the artists. DJ Danny Sigelman is on deck for opening night. -Beth Hammarlund
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
FRIDAY, MAY 25 & SATURDAY, MAY 26
Vilification Prom Night
@ Bryant Lake Bowl
810 W Lake Street
Minneapolis
Doors at 9:30 pm / All Ages / $15 at the door or $12 in advance, with Fringe button, or if dressed in formal attire
Most of us, having attended it x number of years ago, don’t think of prom as a magical night. Rather, it turned out to be a horror of hormones, beastly dresses, awful haircuts and too much cheap booze. The “alumni” of Bryant Lake Bowl and Vilification Tennis want to give you the chance to re-live that night all over again. Prom night just wouldn’t be complete without a band or in this case two. The show will feature “erotic bluegrass band” Courtney McClean and the Durty Curls. Let’s hope this time we can avoid the ugly garb and bad choices of coiffure. BONUS: Anyone dressed in formal attire will go home with a souvenir photograph. -Alexandra Katz
Click HERE for the Bryant Lake Bowl site
SATURDAY, MAY 26TH
Too Much Love: Peacemillion
@ First Avenue
701 1st Avenue N
Minneapolis
10 pm / 18+ / $3
Saturday night danceteria Too Much Love is leaving dance music fans with a mystery this week when resident DJ Soviet Panda is joined by “anonymous DJ duo” Peacemillion. They won’t tell us who they are, but they promise you’re in for songs you know and love, songs you’ve never heard and love, and maybe one or two things you hate. You’ll have to show up to find out. Either way, it’s sure to be a party. -Jahna Peloquin
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
SATURDAY, MAY 26TH
Mark Sultan w/ Birthday Suits + FM Wired
@ Turf Club
1601 University Avenue
St. Paul
9 pm / 21+ / $8 advance, $10 door
Mark Sultan is a kind of garage-rock wunderkind. Having played with a ton of influential garage-punk combos (King Khan, Almighty Defenders, Les Sexareenos), he’s turned himself into a kind of one-man band, playing guitar, drums and an array of delay pedals over a bed of excellent songs which sound like lost 45s from the early ’60s by bands you’ve never heard of – and neither have your parents. Rounding out the bill are Birthday Suits, who play a kind of hyperintense scream-laden punk rock that totally transcends its genre, and the new FM Wired, which consists of 60% of the Soviettes and 50% of Gay Witch Abortion. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Turf Club site
SATURDAY, MAY 26TH
Anti-Civ Records 48-Hour Band Contestival #8
@ Hexagon
2600 27th Avenue S
Minneapolis
9:30 pm / 21+ / FREE
Like your local music raw, real and a little bit on the improvised and embryonic side? Well, tonight’s audio competition is definitely the one for you. The premise is simple: local courageous peeps who are musically inclined sign up, get randomly paired with other jam-savvy locals and given a mere 48 hours to create a couple of killer, mind-blowing authentic songs. What results is a live performance of tenacity, grit and rockability. Think of your school’s best battle of the band showcase, add beers, rowdiness, celebrity judges, prizes and no authority and you have an in-your-face contest of unpredictable collaborative talent. Not to be missed! Think you have what it takes to compete? Register Thursday, May 24th between 4 and 8 pm at Extreme Noise (407 W Lake Street, Minneapolis). -Juleana Enright
Click HERE for the Modern Radio message board
SATURDAY, MAY 26TH
Another Saturday Night
@ Kitty Cat Klub
315 14th Avenue SE
Minneapolis
10 pm / 21+ / No cover before 11 pm, $3 after
The good-lookin’ men and ladyfolk of the Twin Cities are sure to congregate at this month’s edition of Another Saturday Night, the latest dance party concoction from DJs Bach and So Gold. Recline in the shambly, luxe surroundings of the Kitty Cat Klub as you unwind from Minneapolis-St. Paul Fashion Week, or blow off some steam on the dance floor to a sexy mix of classic and modern R&B. Get there before 11 pm for free cover and happy hour drink specials. BONUS: It’s doubling as the birthday party for gal-about-town Serene Enloe, so be sure to buy her a b-day shot! -Jahna Peloquin
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
SUNDAY, MAY 27TH
Soundset + Get Cryphy: Soundset Afterparty
@ Canterbury Park / @ First Avenue
1100 Canterbury Road S / 701 1st Avenue N
Shakopee / Minneapolis
11 am-8 pm show, 10pm afterparty / All Ages fest, 18-plus afterparty / $46 fest, $10 adv/$15 doors afterparty
Rhymesayers’ annual hip-hop fest Soundset is now something of an institution, featuring a slew of Rhymesayers acts, big name headliners and up-and-coming acts both local and national. The fest, which first began as a rave-inspired hip-hop show in a warehouse in 1997, has now grown to Minnesota’s biggest hip-hop festival that long outgrew the First Avenue Mainroom. Headlining this year’s lineup are Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, Kendrick Lamar, Aesop Rock with Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz, and P.O.S. Afterward, head back to First Avenue for the Soundset Afterparty thrown by Get Cryphy.
Hosted by Brother Ali and MaLLy, the night will feature Get Cryphy DJs Plain Ole Bill, Jimmy2Times, Fundo and Last Word, plus special surprise Soundset guest performances. -Jahna Peloquin
Click HERE for the Soundset site
Atmosphere
Editor in Chief: Jahna Peloquin / Contributors: Juleana Enright, Anthony Enright, Jon Hunt, Beth Hammarlund, Stefani Arden, Meg Junkermeier, Alexandra Katz, Jahna Peloquin
