Rock Out With Your Cock Out

When The Hubs and I lived in Boston we had a handful of local bands that we liked and saw quite often. One of my favorites was The Information. I think we saw them at least 10 times in three years. They have some catchy tunes and put on a great live show. They are pretty rad, so you should check them out.

So when The Hubs and I moved to Minneapolis, we wanted to find some local bands that we could enjoy and see on a sorta-regular basis. That has not happened. I think mostly because The Hubs is more of a new wave synth-rock guy and picky about his music, and I tend to like stuff he's not into (can anyone say Leslie and the Lys?) So we don't agree on much when it comes to seeing bands. Although after discussing this with him over breakfast, he reminded me he enjoyed our friend Wes's band The Drags (now called Noble Rot) a lot, so I have to give him credit for that.

Over the past month or so, I've been searching for local bands who have more of a guitar driven sound. Not that I don't like electronic music, but I was sort of getting sick of seeing bands who rely on their Mac instead of instruments to get through the set, you know?

I went to happy hour with a friend and old co-worker on Friday and he was talking about the band he's in and how he'll be playing somewhere on some date (TBD) in January and how he wants me to go. This started the conversation of local bands and how eventually there is No Degrees of Separation between musicians and people who hang out with musicians. One guy played with this band who had a drummer who played with this band and the chick who just brought me my beer was the merch girl for the two bands at one time. And on and on it goes.

Anyway, the point is that I started listening to some local (MN and WI) bands about a month ago and I'm hoping to see them live at some point. The Rockford Mules are really great, and they are playing at The Entry on Friday next week with Chooglin' and The Mighty Mofos (who don't seem to have a Myspace wtf?).

A guy I know? knew? turned me on to Drunk Drivers, who I find myself listening to on repeat these days. It took a while for me to get into them, but now I pretty much recommend them to everyone I talk to. My coworkers are getting tired of hearing Bourbon Legend play on repeat all day long.

Winter seems to keep everyone indoors here in MN, but this year we're trying to get out more and take in more shows. The hardest part for us is getting from our house to the bus when it's -35 degrees (but feels like -75). So, yeah. Please let me know of any other great local bands I should check out in the comments.

Momentarily Star Struck

Last night The Hubs and I went to 2 events; the Does This Offend You, Yeah? show at the 7th Street Entry and the Goth Prom. I'll get it out of the way now when I say that the Goth Prom was boring and the same-old same-old so we left there after about an hour.

Does This Offend You, Yeah? were awesome. The only complaint I have is that they didn't play longer. But they were the opening band, so I guess I can't complain too much. They had a lot of energy and the crowd totally loved them, which is always good.

After the band finished playing their set, The Hubs and I started making our way out. But then we decided to stay for the encore. As we're waiting for the band to come back out, I look to my left and who do I see standing 2 feet away? Bret McKenzie! I said to myself, "no way! That CAN'T be Bret!" but the closer I look (without trying to stare) I realize that, holy shit, it IS Bret McKenzie!

So I'm doing my best to draw this to the attention of The Hubs, without looking like a complete fool. Just as I say to The Hubs "I wonder where Jemaine is?" I turn around and he's standing right behind me! Not, like, a few feet away, but more like inches. Jemaine Clement is practically breathing on me.

But here's where it all goes wrong. Instead of saying "Hi Jemaine. I'm Jeanne and I think you're awesome!" I just froze. I stood there for what seemed like forever, not doing or saying anything because I was completely star struck. It's no secret that I like Jemaine better than Bret and I can't believe he was two inches away from me and I didn't even say "hi!" in that casual I'm-too-cool-to-acknowledge-that-you're-a-big-star-and-I-love-you kind of way.

We left the Entry after the encore (Whip It, made famous by Devo, no less!) and I hung around outside hoping to see Jemaine or Bret again, but they didn't come out. After about 5 minutes of feeling like a total obsessed fangirl, we headed over to the Goth Prom where we were suffocated by pretentiousness.

Moral of the story: don't give up the chance to say "hi" to someone you think is awesome because you might never have the chance again.

Leslie and The Ly's!

I got our tickets to the Leslie & the Ly's show at the 7th Street Entry on Wednesday. I can't hardly wait! I missed her last year and I wasn't about to miss out on getting tickets this year.

I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with Leslie Hall, but if you aren't, here's a great piece from NPR on her, her music, and her awesome gem sweaters.

I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it! It's going to be an awesome show.

I hope she plays Midwest Diva, my new favorite Leslie & the Ly's song. Take a listen. It's awesome.

We Are Wolves

The Hubs and I have decided to make more of an effort to see live music in 2008. We went to a few shows last year, but we'd like to get back into the volume of shows that we used to attend when we were in Boston.

So last night we ventured out into the bitter, bitter cold to see We Are Wolves at the Entry. We got there at 9 and saw a sign that said they wouldn't be going on til 10:30. So we went to O'Donovans on the corner for a beer and fancy cheese and crackers. We were hungry, but not hungry enough to get a sandwich or burger. It was very tasty and filling and after we were through eating, we bundled back up and crossed the street to the Entry.

I felt kind of bad for the band, since there were maybe 25 people there. They are from Montreal and I think that they are only playing a few cities in the US on this leg of their tour. I think that they are in Winnepeg tonight and then they make their way over to Vancouver and then head to Seattle, Portland, and then SF and LA. I hope there's a larger turnout for them in those cities, for sure.

They put on a great show. I love how their first language is French and they spoke to their sound guy in French. Man, I love Canadians. I should brush up on my French for when we go to Montreal. Anyway, their sound is kind of punk and dance and electro and, well, fun. If you're looking for something new to listen to, I recommend checking them out.

The Hubs and I were right up front. I got to snap a few really great photos:







When the show was over, I snatched one of the flyers that was hanging on the walls. My goal is to get a flyer/poster from every show we see this year. Tonight we're going to see SuperDiamond, and I really hope I can get a flyer from that show, too.