by staff
If you’re anything like us, your social calendar is exploding with to-dos this weekend. It’s a weekend packed with great live music, from local (Votel with Demographics, Dosh’s 7″ release, Bloodnstuff’s vinyl release) to national (Die Antwoord and Shonen Knife, anyone?!) – not to mention tons of artful activities, like Saturday’s Garden Quest at the Walker, a dual show from Joel Starkey and Nick Howard at Rosalux, and Caitlin Karolczak’s studio opening. Fashion gets its moment with annual fashion bash Glamorama, our weekly Project Runway viewing party, and Blowdry! Blowdry Bar’s grand opening. And on Sunday, the Red Stag caps things off with its annual block party. Strap yourselves in – it’s going to be a wild one!
xo, l’étoile
Photo by Kate Iverson, Design by Caroline Royce
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND
l’étoile magazine presents “Project Runway” Weekly Viewing Parties
@ moto-i
Second Level
2940 Lyndale Avenue S
Minneapolis
8 pm screening / All Ages / FREE
We here at l’étoile have always been big Project Runway fans, and this season features one of our very own – Minneapolis fashion designer Raul Osorio. Join l’étoile and cheer on Raul while you sip cocktails, including $3.50 house wines and $4 good-luck cocktails, every Thursday on the second floor of moto-i. Vote for Raul as Fan Favorite throughout the duration of the season by tweeting hashtag #teamraul. The winner gets $10,000 at the end of the season, and Raul has promised to throw a huge party if he wins – and everyone’s invited! (One tweet per user will be counted as a vote within a five-minute period, so you can vote a lot. Vote here.). -Jahna Peloquin
Click HERE for the Facebook invite, HERE to read Beth Hammarlund’s recent column on Osorio, HERE for Todd O’Dowd’s Q&A with the designer, and HERE for Todd’s recap of last week’s episode.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND
Blowdry! Grand Opening
@ Blowdry! Blowdry Bar
1203 Lagoon Avenue
Minneapolis
6-8 pm / All Ages / FREE
An ensemble is never truly complete without a complementary hairstyle. Celebrate the grand opening of the Blowdry! blowdry bar with complimentary champagne, cocktails and sweets while you chat with the stylists. Owned by HAUS salon, this bar follows the trend of coastal blowout salons around the country and was named best salon last year by Minnesota Monthly. Styles run between $30-50. Bring a friend, grab a swag bag and enter to win gifts and prizes. -Meg Junkermeier
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND & FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
“Sound Perspective: The Art Surrounding the Mpls Music Scene”
@ Future Presence Gallery
1126 2nd Street NE
Minneapolis
6 pm–midnight both nights / All Ages / FREE
Throughout their eclectic existence, the Future Presence Gallery has experimented with everything from movie screenings pairing the ’80s cult trash film Liquid Sky with local director Scott Anderson’s Veritas/Truth to showcasing work from some amazing local artists, both known and unknown. They’ve explored the negative and the positive, the aural and assemblage, and pushed collaboration to the extreme. It’s only appropriate, then, that their final show incorporates not one but two evenings of thrilling visual work, music and photography from artists the gallery has cathected. Peep concert photography, music vids, album art, flyers and t-shirt designs by dozens of artists and documenters heavy in Minneapolis’ music scene including Wes Winship for Burlesque of North America, Matt Scharenbroich, Lizardman and photography by Daniel Corrigan, Andrew Casey, and Shari Simonsen of The Japhies. Take in video work curated by MPLS.TV and “City of Music,” and a display of t-shirt designs courtesy of Rhymesayers Entertainment. Catch live music in the gallery’s EON Soundspace and snag your free copy of the Last Triumph Crew Mix featuring worthy tunes from St. Paul Slim, PROF, Sean Anonymous and more just for showing up. Pay your respects to this great little gallery, or feel guilty FOR-EVER. -Juleana Enright
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND
“Rural Aesthetic Initiative” / “Long Ago and Tomorrow”
@ TuckUnder Projects
5120 York Avenue S
Minneapolis
Opening reception 6–9 pm, runs through September 2 / FREE
So much of the best local art seems to address the urban experience and landscape, and certainly there is a place for exploring the vibrant social, physical and emotional interactions of urban space. Here in Minnesota though, it seems that there is less serious art (or perhaps just less serious artists) interested in exploring the rural and the pastoral, which is why seasoned artists Lisa Berg and Andrew Nordin’s Rural Aesthetic Initiative (R.A.I.) is so intriguing. With a focus on highlighting ideas about how we experience landscape, location and place making, R.A.I.’s collaborative video project Long Ago and Tomorrow transforms a gallery at TuckUnder Projects into a slice of rural Minnesota with all the natural and agricultural elements intact. Incorporating video from their recent Inheritance of Location project, the artists also integrate new footage recorded and reworked of prairie grasses, wild flowers, corn furrows, and man-made structures to illuminate the tenuous connection and separation between places and the experiences that define them. By giving life and resonance to areas and places that urbanites often overlook or dismiss, this project is a wonderful example of art as a tool of social awareness. -Anthony Enright
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND
Caitlin Karolczak Studio Grand Opening
@ Solar Arts Building
711 15th Avenue NE #205
Minneapolis
5-9 pm / FREE
Flesh…Perhaps it’s Warhol’s fault (or possibly jut the porn industry), but for most of us that word conjures up visions of the basest and most lurid of human desires. However, at the hands of artists since ancient times the representation of human flesh has also been a medium for expressing many of the most noble and transcendent elements of the human experience. Some of the finest ancient and Renaissance artists seemed able to express whole dissertations worth of information in the glow that emanates from a subject’s cheek or the light reflecting off a straining muscle. There’s a wealth of figurative art currently being produced in the local scene, including Caitlin Karolczak, who hosts a grand opening for her new studio tonight, during which she’ll debut a series of smaller, more affordable works. The extravagantly pallid, darkly luminescent bodies in Karolczak’s classical paintings straddle the spectrum from startling vitality to decay, tapping into to the essential link between flesh and emotion. -Anthony Enright
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND
The Last Ice Rod Chat Roulette Show
@ Turf Club
1601 University Avenue
St. Paul
9 pm / 21+ / $6
It’s another not-to-be-missed night at the Turf Club when Michel Gaughn and his alter ego Ice Rod return for another night of Chat Roulette before he takes the show to the road. Part comedy, part performance art and part rap show, this event is 100% fun! The concept is simple: Ice Rod sets up dorm room onstage (complete with Pulp Fiction and babe posters), and turns on the webcam and freestyle raps to the people on the computer. The unsuspecting person on the other side of the web cam usually thinks that they are getting a private rap session, but little do they know they’re being projected on a big screen for the whole room to see; hilarity ensues. Watch as Gaughan spins his genius freestyle raps to them – until they click “next.” -Danielle Morris
Click HERE for the Turf Club site
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND
Cum on Feel the Noize: Butt Rock Summer Heatwave
@ Clubhouse Jäger
923 Washington Avenue N
Minneapolis
10 pm / 21+ / FREE
You know you belt them in the shower, those classic, head-bangin’ ’80s hair metal power ballads. You may even harbor a few heavy duty crushes on the hot dudes that made gender androgyny a rock “it” factor. That’s why tonight is your night to shed the shame and join DJ (and l’étoile contributor) Danielle Morris as she spins “macho hard rock” faves for your fist pumping and sing-a-long pleasure, back after a two-month hiatus. Sip down delish libations conjured up by the good lookin’ Jäger barstaff and drink specials including $5 Jameson and $2.50 Miller High Life Tallboys. Girls rock yer boyz; boyz rock yer girls; girls rock yer girls; boyz rock yer boyz…You get the picture. -Staff
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD-SUNDAY, AUGUST 5TH
Loring Park Art Festival + Powderhorn Art Fair + Uptown Art Fair
Loring: 10 am-6 pm Saturday & 10 am-5 pm Sunday
@ Loring Park
Minneapolis
Powderhorn: Saturday & Sunday
@ Powderhorn Park
Minneapolis
Uptown: Noon-8 pm Friday, 10 am-8 pm Saturday & 10 am-5 pm Sunday
@ W Lake Street & Hennepin Avenue S
Minneapolis
Do you want something to do everyday this weekend? Love festivals? Love art? This will be the three best days of summer for art junkies, so grab your fanny pack and sunglasses and hit the streets this weekend. Here are the three art fairs of the summer that you can’t miss. Second only to the State Fair, the Uptown Art Fair draws in 375,000 people annually. There will be 350 artists showing their work, some coming from around the world to participate in the fair. As if people watching isn’t entertainment enough, there will be music performances, magic shows and everything in between. The relatively smaller Loring Park Art Festival features over 140 artists working with a variety of mediums including painting, photography, printmaking, handmade paper, wood, jewelry, sculpture, fiber, mixed media and glass there is something for every art lover. Plus there will be plenty of savory food, yummy treats and delicious drinks if you work up an appetite from all your shopping. Set in the 66-acre Powderhorn Park, the Powderhorn Art Fair is nothing short of pictueresque, with its lake and rolling hills. This year boasts 184 artists specializing in a variety of disciplines. -Alexandra Katz
Click HERE for the Loring Park Art Festival site. Click HERE for the Powderhorn Art Fair site. Click HERE for the Uptown Art Fair site
BEGINNING FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD (CONTINUING THROUGH AUGUST 11TH)
Fringe Festival presents “Nightmare Without Pants”
@ U of M Rarig Center Thrust
330 21st Avenue S, Main Floor
Minneapolis
7 pm Friday, 1 pm Sunday, 5 pm Wednesday, 10 pm next Friday & 8:30 pm next Saturday / $12 single tickets, ticket packages available
Joseph Scrimshaw. All you need to know, right? This is also on my Top 5 list of returning acts I’m most looking forward to this year. I’ve been hard on Joseph Scrimshaw (maybe not so much in print, but in my mind) and I’ve been trying to figure out why. Certainly some of it must be envy. The guy’s ridiculously talented, enormously popular, and ceaselessly funny. Every year, every six months, heck, it seems like every other week, he’s coming up with something new and entertaining and sharing it with the rest of us. It’s exhausting finding new good things to say about him. But just like he’s a favorite of mine, he’s also a favorite of Mom’s, and he’s got a cast so chock full of talent it’s almost not fair to anyone else – Shana Custer, John Middleton, John Riedlinger, Anna Sundberg, and of course Joseph. Plus, that one thing I tend to carp about, this show actually looks like it’s about something other than art or laughs. Taxes, love and fear. Scrimshaw knows how to work a crowd, even a reluctant audience participant, and he worked it here. I don’t know where he gets this stuff, or how he pulls it off, but man, I’m glad he does. The Fringe would be a lot less funny without it. So yeah, see this one. -Matthew A. Everett, Single White Film Geek
Click HERE for the Fringe Festival site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
“Habitual Nature (Over and Over): New Work by Nick Howard and Joel Starkey”
@ Rosalux Gallery
1400 Van Buren Street NE
Minneapolis
Opening reception 7–11 pm, runs through August 26 / FREE
Ah sweet repetition, you give our lives order and meaning. Where would we be without patterns, habits and comforting familiar routines to define our daily life? Pushed one tiny step further though, and those patterns and repetitions become oppressive, soul sucking, and spirit killing, trapping us in a prison of forced conformity. With “Habitual Nature (Over and Over),” Rosalux Gallery invites artists Nick Howard and Joel Starkey to explore the darker side of patterns and repetition. Artist Joel Starkey uses battleground and military themes echoing the civil war to alter and augment the history of that time period. Through dense and subversive visuals he creates de facto propaganda forcing viewers to contemplate how repeated retellings construct what we believe to be historically true. Artist Joel Starkey’s disquieting ink and gouache drawings arrange figural shapes (often masked) into patterns and structures that take on either contemplative or sinister tones. Often somber, but sometimes augmented with bright pops of color, Starkey’s work examines the constraints of societal and mental patterns in our modern lives. Together they form an exhibit rich in visual style and sub textural substance, worth putting high on your weekend itinerary! -Anthony Enright
Click HERE for the Rosalux Gallery site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
Macy’s Glamorama
@ Orpheum Theatre
910 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis
8 pm / All Ages (21+ after party) / $60 show, $175+ for show + after party
The most anticipated fashion event of the summer is back, and this year the folks at Glamorama are celebrating the British invasion. The hour-long show will feature fall 2012 collections from bar III, Donna Karan, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs and others alongside tantalizing visuals, dance performances, and live music by R&B artist Robin Thicke and pop-rock duo Karmin. Attend the after party and try eclectic foods from London, walk down Abbey Road in the Patròn photo booth and enjoy cocktails as well as desserts from Queen’s High Tea and See’s Candies. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Tickets start at $60, and the after party is included with a ticket $175 or more. -Meg Junkermeier
Click HERE for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
Dosh 7″ Release Show w/ Wolflords + Ghostband + DJ Mike 2600
@ 7th St. Entry
701 First Avenue N
Minneapolis
8 pm doors / 18+ / $8
Martin Dosh’s sample-and-loop-based music is simply gorgeous, developing and blossoming like a flower as he spins new variations and developments with pianos, keyboards, drums and god knows what else over beats he crafts on the spot. This show, his first since returning from tour with Andrew Bird, celebrates the release of his new 7″ “From the House of Caesar” / “Walt Whitman Barnt,” proceeds going to
Building Dignity, a St. Paul nonprofit. We love Aby Wolf and Grant Cutler’s Wolflords, and Ghostband’s instrumental weirdness should fit into the mix magnificently. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
Self-Evident Album Release Show w/ Zebulon Pike + Hardcore Crayons
@ Triple Rock Social Club
629 Cedar Avenue
Minneapolis
9 pm / 18+ / $7 advance, $8 door
Self-Evident play a kind of shouty, skittering, mathy punk rock, sounding like a weird amalgam of California funny-punk and King Crimson, shifting time signatures at the drop of a hat and creating
grooves that aren’t grooves inside songs that are only sorta songs. Which we realize sounds bizarre, but it works marvelously on their new LP, We Built A Fortress On Short Notice, a record driven by a
potency that propels the band into fascinating territories. Openers Zebulon Pike could not possibly be heavier, trafficking in a tuned-down instrumental punk-metal-prog combo that recalls early ’80s British new-wave-of-metal metal as much as, well, the fast instrumental bits of Rush, while Hardcore Crayons are even more blatantly progressive-sounding, sounding, at times, like a more frantic and less stupid Primus (minus the hideous slap-bass, o’course) with a bit of Godspeed You Black Emperor thrown in for good measure. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Triple Rock Social Club site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
Gramma’s Boyfriend, Prissy Clerks, Hollow Boys, Heaven on Howitzers
@ Turf Club
1601 University Avenue
St. Paul
9 pm / 21+ / $7
Friday at the Turf club is a night of good ‘n’ loud local music. Headlining the night it Gramma’s Boyfriend, a punk group made up of some very unexpected members – Haley Bonar, most well know for her long career as a folk pop artist in the Twin Cities, as well as hotshots Jeremy Ylvisaker and Mike Lewis, who back Andrew Bird (among many, many other projects). They have a sound that is angular, experimental, punk rock with a female snarl. Also playing is the Prissy Clerks, on of the breakout bands of the last year in the TC in the past year. They combine dreamy, floating vocals with a loud shoe gaze-y fuzz. Opening are glammy garage rockers the Hollow Boys are and dreamscape instrumental band Heaven On Howiters. -Danielle Morris
Click HERE for the Turf Club site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
Demographics + Votel
@ Icehouse
2528 Nicolett Avenue S
Minneapolis
11 pm / 21+ / $5
One of the more underrated bands in town, Votel has quietly been honing their sound over the past couple of years – namely during the long-running weekly residency at Nick and Eddie (RIP). What started as an experimental electronic project among members of Lookbook, Poliça, Vaz, Seawhores and Father You See Queen has become a live ensemble with solid pop songs to be reckoned with. Though she’s gotten attention as of late for her new project with Doomtree’s Cecil Otter, LaLiberte, vocalist Maggie Morrison truly shines in Votel, his presence – and voice – stronger than ever. -Jahna Peloquin We loved Demographics’ latest LP, If Ever (reviewed in We Will Rock You HERE). It’s a hushed, restrained record full of great melodies and tremendous charms. We called it a country record where everybody showed up with synths instead of twangy guitars, and that’s halfway there. They’ve got great songs, a neatly sad mood and fantastic vocals. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Icehouse site
Votel
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
UMAMI + Tickle Torture + Rupert Angeleyes (Tape Release) + Speeds The Name
@ Hexagon Bar
2600 27th Avenue S
Minneapolis
UMAMI play a weirdly tribal sort of electro dance music, not a billion miles from MGMT, I reckon, but with a hell of a lot more genuine weirdness and fucked-up-ness. They’re quickly gaining a reputation of really getting the party started with their sexy, groovy psych rock. Also playing is one man dance band Tickle Torture, whose songs are full of sexed up, dancey club beats, and longtime local groove-oriented, synthesizer-laden band Speeds the Name. The show doubles as the tape release of When the Sangria Dies by Rupert Angeleyes, otherwise known as Sleeping In The Aviary member Kyle Sobczak, whose spaced-out sound is intoxicatingly beguiling. “Karen,” in particular, sounds like an outtake from Air’s The Virgin Suicides soundtrack. -Jon Hunt/Jahna Peloquin
UMAMI
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
The Dance Electric: A Celebration of The MPLS Sound
@ First Avenue
701 1st Avenue N
Minneapolis
9 pm / 18+ / $5 advance or $8 door
Time to kick it like back in the day and break it down to some old school rhymes, R&B and of course remixes celebrating the quintessential Minneapolis Sound. DJ Verb X and DJ Dan Speak will be on the one’s and two’s all night, playing Prince, The Time, Sheila E and more. Verb X is known for his hip hop, reggae and R&B mixes of old school and the new school. On the scene for 20 plus years, DJ Dan Speak is a staple in the community – anyone listening to 89.9 FM KMOJ will recognize him from Saturday night’s “The Throwback Throwdown.” His “Old School Mixtape” is a feature on the show and it is one hour of the ’70s to the ’90s with a bit of party. Needless to say if you are a fan of hip hop and R&B this is one night that you need to put on your most comfortable shoes because you will be jiving until the place shuts down. -Alexandra Katz
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
Get Cryphy
@ First Avenue Record Room
701 First Avenue
Minneapolis
10 pm / 18+ / $3 adv, $5 door
The rowdy rap crew Get Cryphy is back and ready for more this Friday for their regular residency at First Avenue’s Record Room. Prepare to experience the bumpin’ beats of resident DJ darlings Jimmy 2 Times, Plain Ole Bill, Last Word and Fundo as they break it down in the venue’s intimate haven. Arrive early to enjoy drink specials and partake in giveaways from Phenom and Familia, then prepare to party down. -Staff
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3RD
House Proud f. DVS1 w/ Jake Encinas + Bryan Gerrard
@ Honey
205 E Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis
10 pm / 21+ / $6
If you haven’t heard of DVS1 yet, be prepared to get schooled. DVS1 – real name: Zak Khutoretsky – is well known within the tight-knit techno scene here in Minneapolis, but mainstream success locally has so far eluded him. He plays five-hour sets in Berlin to a crowd of 1,500. He plays huge electronic music festivals, like the upcoming Decibel Festival, all over the world. He’s been a resident DJ at popular Berlin club Berghain, which has been described as “quite possibly the current world capital of techno.” He was named one of the world (world!)’s top DJs earlier this year by URB Magazine. Is that enough for you? Take up the opportunity to see him play in the intimate confines of Honey before Minneapolis gets wind of this guy. Jake Encinas and House Proud resident DJ Bryan Gerrard open. -Jahna Peloquin
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Kräftskiva!
@ The Bachelor Farmer
50 N 2nd Avenue (in adjacent street)
Minneapolis
5-10 pm / FREE
It seems there is no end to adorable Scandinavian festivals, and we couldn’t be more excited to see the Twin Cities own purveyor of New Nordic cuisine The Bachelor Farmer importing a fun (and rather gourmet) festival in what we hope will be an new annual tradition. For those of us who didn’t grow up speaking Swedish, Kräftskiva is a traditional crayfish feast held in the month of August. Crayfish are eaten outdoors with colorful paper lanterns (sometimes with a smiling full moon graphic) hung round the tables. Typically Kräftskiva celebrants wear bibs and comic paper hats just because they can, and they’re all cute like that. It sounds like a messy, silly, awesome good time to us, and with Swedish meatballs and sweet corn on the menu in addition to the crawfish there’s food for all tastes. Fulton Beer and Aquavit will be on offer, so you can get the full Scandinavian flavor experience. As if all that wouldn’t be reason enough to turn out, performances by Halloween, Alaska, City on the Make and Switzerlind are planned, as well as tunes sets by DJ Jonathan Ackerman. Did we forget to mention that admission to all this amazingness is free? See you there – with your crayfish bib on! -Anthony Enright
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Garden Quest
@ Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis
10 am–5 pm / FREE
If while walking through the sculpture garden this Saturday you happen to spot a troll lazily sunbathing on the Spoonbridge and Cherry, don’t worry nothing was slipped into your morning latte – it’s all part of the show. From Sculpture Garden to garden o’ chimera, today’s Free First Saturday transforms our beloved forest of art into a real life land of magic. As part of the season’s Open Field series, Garden Quest features mythical heroes and foes played by local artists and epic fantasy challenges set up in each quadrant of the garden for those who wish to participate. Channel your inner Utopian, whip up a costume and grab a map to set forth on an adventure where you just may run into performance artist Jaime Carrera dressed as the enchanting amber-locked Pudenda – a fairy with creative kinetic energy and amorphous gender powers – or choreographer Timmy Wagner as the experiential healing master, Shaman Hanh. You’ll never see the sculpture garden the same light again. -Juleana Enright
Click HERE for the Walker Art Center site
BEGINNING SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH (CONTINUING THROUGH AUGUST 11TH)
Fringe Festival presents “Ivory Tower Burning”
@ Bryant-Lake Bowl
810 W Lake Street
Minneapolis
5:30 pm Saturday, 10 pm Monday, 7 pm Tuesday, 8:30 pm Wednesday, 7 pm next Saturday / $12 single tickets, ticket packages available
Since I know nothing about sociology, and Jay Gabler wrote the book Sociology for Dummies, the subject matter should be most accessible. Two warring ideologies makes good fodder for conflict. Plus, in a casting twist, it’s the two Gabler brothers on stage together. I spoke with Jay about his script back when he was first gearing up for production after his number was called in the Fringe lottery in February, so I know he knows his stuff. The preview wasn’t as good a calling card as it might be, but I’m still intrigued by the whole idea of the thing and how he’s tackling the challenge of making the subject theatrical. -Matthew A. Everett, Single White Film Geek
Click HERE for the Fringe Festival site
BEGINNING SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH (CONTINUING THROUGH AUGUST 12TH)
Fringe Festival presents “Joe Dowling’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet on the Moon, featuring Kate Mulgrew as Lady Capulet”
@ Theatre in the Round
245 Cedar Avenue S
Minneapolis
4 pm Saturday, 10 pm Sunday, 8:30 pm Tuesday, 1 pm next Saturday, August 11 & 7 pm Sunday, August 12 / $12 single tickets, ticket packages available
I have to be honest. I thought this title was a joke at the Fringe Lottery in February, like “An Intimate Evening With Joe Dowling” clearly was. When it became clear this was the actual title, I have to admit it sounded like a horrible idea. Just to start with there are about 12 different kinds of inside joke geekiness in that title. Then what you imagine the concept is going to be… But this is Christopher Kehoe and the Peanut Butter Factory we’re talking about, so I should have known better. I really enjoyed Kehoe’s one man St. Christopher of Financial Aid, and I was bummed to have missed his Fringe show in 2011. As I have said many times before, Romeo and Juliet is one of my least favorite Shakespeare plays. The script, for all its beautiful poetry, drives me crazy. But here, they’re playing it for laughs, so I’m on board. I’m also on board because the concept in this preview was damn funny. Paul Rutledge and Max Wojtanowicz are involved, and they’re among my favorite actors lately. They picked a Shakespearean fight from the top of the play with an increasingly more befuddled guy speaking to them in modern English. The misunderstandings and insults were delightful. I actually can’t wait to see more, which is a most welcome surprise in this case. -Matthew A. Everett, Single White Fringe Geek
Click HERE for the Fringe Festival site
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
“Good Bye I Love You MN”: A Michael Gaughan Farewell Art Party
@ CO Exhibitions
1101 Stinson Boulevard NE
Minneapolis
6–10 pm / FREE
Losing one of our talented, long-haired freak art-brothers to San Fran could be a cause for hittin’ the bottle and gushing a river some crocodile tears if the dude didn’t make his bon voyage so damn cool. Tonight, don’t miss as painter/musician/collage, sculpture, performance artist and all-around cool guy, Michael Gaughan bids “adieu” to Minneapolis one heartfelt art piece at a time. To show his thanks to a vibrant local art community, Gaughan will be making personalized cards all night long. Expect love letters, f-u letters, or thank you letters in the form of anything from a quick sketch to detailed illustrations, graffiti lettering, scribbles, or – who knows – maybe even a precious drop of blood. Are you feeling lucky? Come out, peep your card, peep everyone else’s card and stick around for stand-up comedy, art, give-a-ways and live music from Wild Wing (feat. members of Aby Wolf, Birthday Suits and Knifeworld) Erin Smith, Colin Leo, Obchod Na Korz and DJ sets. It’s been real; it’s been fun; and now, it’s gonna get all sentimental. Bring yer own tissues. -Juleana Enright
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Viva El Cerebro! A Benefit for the American Brain Tumor Association
Clubhouse Jäger
923 Washington Avenue N
Minneapolis
4 pm-2 am / 21+ / $7 donation at the door
What better way to help out a great cause than a pig roast? Brought to you by Fox Tax, this fundraiser benefiting the American Brain Tumor Association will include a whole roasted pig, complete with toppings bar and homemade sausages. Don’t fret if you’re vegetarian, there will also be some veggie friendly treats. The event will feature local bands such as the Melismatics, Beatrix*JAR, Me and My Arrow and the Further Adjustment while DJs Easy and Sleazy (better known as Angie Heitz and Mark Mallman) will be spinning from 10 pm til close. A drink tickets for free beer or a Prairie Vodka drink will also be included with a donation (while supplies last). So come early, bring your friends and support this fantastic cause! -Chelsea Streich
Click HERE for the Facebook invite
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
“The Kidneys Are Alright 2: Has Been”
@ Hell’s Kitchen
80 S 9th Street
Minneapolis
9:30 pm / 21+ / $5
The second annual “Kidneys Are Alright” benefit arranged by Chris Strouth (and your erstwhile writer) as a benefit for the National Kidney Foundation features a lineup of bands that were key to the development of the dream-pop movement in the Twin Cities in the mid-’90s (bands like February, Myriad, the Makeshift, Astronaut Wife, etc.) which held critical sway for quite a long time here in town. All four bands – Judgement of Paris, Deep Shag, Hovercraft and Shapeshifter – have been rehearsing their asses off to make up for 15+ years of inactivity. (I can personally attest to that point, as I am – full disclosure – a member of Deep Shag, and I can tell you all about the marathon six-hour practice sessions.) Come if only to enjoy the eclectic between-set spinning by Dean Vaccaro and Joseph Pettini, both of whom have absolutely impeccable taste, and the light show by Strouth himself. We profile the bands in this week’s We Will Rock You. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the Hell’s Kitchen site
Judgement of Paris
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Die Antwoord
@ First Avenue
701 1st Avenue N
Minneapolis
11 pm / 18+ / $25
What the hell is Die Antwoord? The art and music industry has been asking that question for over two years now with little success. The South African rap-rave-satiric-Zef-counter-culture zeitgeist still baffles and fascinates artists and critics, who constantly ask whether or not Die Antwoord is real? But that’s beside the point, really. Whether they’re real or not, they’re here, and they’re bringing insane lyrics spit over bubblegum raver pop. If you make it to their sold-out First Avenue show with Soviet Panda and Too Much Love, be prepared to dance along to an aural assault, and then to spend the next several days asking yourself what the hell just happened. -Beth Hammarlund
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Shonen Knife
@ 7th Street Entry
701 1st Avenue N
Minneapolis
8 pm doors / 18+ / $12 advance, $14 door
Don’t know Shonen Knife? Where the hell have you been for the last 30 years? Yes, 30 years post-conception, this all-chick indie garage pop punk band is still kicking ass and taking names. Radio K presents this can’t-miss event for early ‘90s alternative and late ‘70s punk enthusiasts. But be sure to pound a couple of cans of Red Bull in the parking garage. Otherwise you won’t have a chance in hell of keeping up with this trio. Ichi, ni, san!! -Beth Hammarlund
Click HERE for the First Avenue site
SUNDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Bloodnstuff Vinyl Release w/ Red Daughters + Fort Wilson Riot + Tecon
@ Turf Club
1601 University Avenue
St. Paul
9 pm / 21+ / $7
Bloodnstuff make magically heavy, gigantic guitar-driven rock that sounds like the work of forty mighty men on stage – and of course, it’s just the two of ‘em whipping out that racket. Check out for yourself their Sabbath-meets-indie-rock vibe and marvel. 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. Also opening are cute-as-can-be local duo Fort Wilson Riot, whose brand of sunny pop music is blended with jangling guitars and bright electronic elements with boy and girl vocals and harmonizing. Also opening: Tecon. -Jon Hunt/Danielle Morris
Click HERE for the Turf Club site
Bloodnstuff
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Little Man + Iguano + Halo Sparkle
@ Cause Spirits & Soundbar
3001 Lyndale Avenue S
Minneapolis
10 pm / 21+ / $5
Saturday night’s all-local, three-band bill at Cause offers a diverse mix of sound genres. Headlining the night is Little Man, who has a sound that is lush retro power pop that combines all the best parts of Bowie, T. Rex and and all the other glam rock favorites. Frontman Chris Perricelli is short on stature, but big on sound. Also playing is Iguano, a crew of garage rockers with loads of talent (it features members of Pink Mink and Revolver Modele), crunchy guitar hooks, and Iggy style vocals and a raucous punk performance. Starting out the night is Halo Sparkle, who puts a cleaner spin on ’90s grunge rock with brooding female vocals. -Danielle Morris
Click HERE for the Cause Spirits & Soundbar site
Little Man
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Gospel Gossip + Flavor Crystals + Hollow Boys
@ 331 Club
331 13th Ave NE
Minneapolis
10 pm / 21+ / FREE
Tonight get ready for an evening of gorgeous, floaty shoegaze at the 331 Club. Gospel Gossip’s combination of cavernous, noisy guitars and sugary melodies recalls early ’90s bands such as Slowdive and Lush, with a goodly amount of drive and energy propelling it far past the sleepy territory often mined by modern practitioners. Openers Flavor Crystals are absolutely hypnotic across their album Three sounding like the krautiest krautrock band that ever played a drone, in the best of all possible ways. We also love the gloriously nerdy jangle/tussle of noisy darkrock openers the Hollow Boys – the sound of your record collection exploding in a mess of fuzzy guitars and pounding neanderthal beats. -Jon Hunt
Click HERE for the 331 Club site
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4TH
House Party 97
@ Honey
205 E Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis
10 pm / 21+ / $5
Party like it’s 1997 when monthly dance night House Party 97 hits Honey this weekend. It’s all ’90s music, all night from DJs Jonathan Ackerman, Plain Ole Bill and Dan Berube. DJ Jimmy2Times calls it “the most fun ever,” so you know it’s good, right? Besides, children of the ’90s can’t hate. We love our nostalgia with only a dash of irony. -Jahna Peloquin
SUNDAY, AUGUST 5TH
Red Stag Block Party
@ Red Stag Supperclub
509 1st Avenue NE
Minneapolis
3-10 pm / All Ages / FREE
The forecast may call for rain this weekend, but that isn’t stopping the Red Stag Block Party from happening! The annual event will feature tons of live music and features local favorites The Honeydogs, Kill the Vultures, Rogue Valley, Chastity Brown, Romantica, Mayda and Tom Petty cover band All Tomorrow’s Petty. Also making appearances will be The Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theater, North Star Roller Girls, and MC Foxy Tann. Rain or shine, stop by and check out what is sure to be an awesome event. -Chelsea Streich
Click HERE for the Red Stag Supper Club site
Editor in Chief: Jahna Peloquin / Staff Designer: Caroline Royce / Contributors: Juleana Enright, Anthony Enright, Jon Hunt, Niles Schwartz, Danielle Morris, Meg Junkermeier, Chelsea Streich, Alexandra Katz, Jahna Peloquin, Matthew A. Everett (Single White Film Geek)
