Minneapolis Live Music Triple Play - 3rd Night
The 99ers CD Release Party at First Avenue/7th Street Entry - This was the third and final night of my Minneapolis live music trilogy. Damn, was this show a lot of fun! Just a great collection of local Punk bands getting together for the release of The 99ers new CD, Pop Punk Girl. I’ve been to the legendary First Avenue a few times, but I’ve never been in the main room. Every show I’ve been to has been at 7th Street Entry. It’s a small, intimate venue that is starting to feel like “home.” Although the show was loosely billed as a Pop Punk show, it was not Pop Punk in the contemporary sense of the word. It was more early straight-up Punk in the vein of The Ramones when bands were playing Pop Rock with a fast, stripped down sound. The bands all rocked hard and the crowd had a lot of fun.
The 99ers were the headliners but actually played third of the four bands on the bill. They played all the songs from the new album and included a few older songs along with some cover songs. They invited several guest singers on stage including, Anthony Shore, a.k.a. The Minnesota Elvis and also the emcee for the night. He sang the old Elvis song Burning Love . From their new album, they also brought up a singer for their song Roller Grrrls. I wasn’t clear if the singer was from a band or actually a roller girl, but she was a very good vocalist and had a very entertaining stage presence. They also have a song on the new album dedicated to RuDeGiRL, Rude Girl T-Shirt, and they brought up the band members from that band to sing the song and another song dedicated to the band Ye-Ye Pow and they brought up the singer from that band to share vocals. The 99ers band members have very interesting background. Punk Rockers by night, they are the antithesis of Punk Rockers during the day. Guitarist and principal songwriter Stephen Brookfield is a professor at University of St. Thomas and an author of several scholarly books. Bassist Doug Heeschen is an attorney working for the state of Minnesota, drummer Chris Schoonover is an endocrinologist, and guitarist Emily Bee is the director of planned giving at Minnesota Orchestra. Emily is the newest member of the band and she is also in the band RuDeGiRL. (So, yes, she did double duty at this gig, playing back-to-back sets with each band.) Emily is also the daughter of former Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap.
The Silverteens started the show and overall, I would say they were my favorite band of the evening. They are a Garage Punk band that started in 2012 but the members have all served in various Punk bands since the early 80’s. I was really impressed with guitarist Eric Pierson. He played some fine guitar and for my money, is the driving force behind that band’s sound. Bassist David Moe evokes the energy of the animated Tasmanian Devil. He gets his mojo working on stage and it’s amazing how much he can move around within the confines of a small stage. (During the other bands’ sets, he was up front at the stage, dancing, jumping and occasionally leaping up on stage to add back up vocals.) Singer Mark Engebretson and drummer round out this talented band. They played a great set including a wonderful cover of the Ramones’ song I Wanna Be Sedated that included a couple of guest vocalists.
Ripper was 2nd on the bill. A relatively youthful power trio, their brand of Punk was more Hardcore; very direct and brash with Noise Rock leanings. They played a fine set with contrasting sound that added some diversity to the evening.
RuDeGiRL topped off the evening. They are a six piece Clash tribute band, all female (except for the drummer). I’m rather ambivalent about tribute bands, but I did enjoy this band. The Clash is a band I’ve always liked and London Calling is one of my all-time favorite albums, so it was fun to here the songs performed live. The band make up is a lead vocalist, two guitarists (including Emily Bee), bass and a multi-instrumentalist who played several instruments throughout the set. I particularly enjoyed watching the bass player. She rocks hard, plays a fretless bass guitar, and moves her fingers faster than anyone I’ve ever seen on the bass. At times I wasn’t sure if she was actually playing notes or just scrambling her fingers along the neck, but whatever she was doing was done with complete vigor and total aplomb. The show started at 9:00 and it was after 12:30 by the time it wrapped up. It was an extraordinary evening of live music. The band’s performances, the guest singers jumping on and off the stage, and the enthusiastic crowd made this a priceless show. And all for the bargain price of a $5.00 ticket. Punk Rock still lives in Minnesota!
