February 2024 Recap
Demitri Rallis and Friends 2.1@ Gluek’s
Continuing the Thursday night run at downtown Minneapolis’ oldest bar, D was joined on this evening by Kevin Dorsey on keys, Mark Collins on drums, and a fella on bass who I am not familiar with :)
I
Bertha
Friend of the Devil
Ophelia
Magnolia
Scarlett Begonias>Mountain Jam>
Fire on the Mountain
Boogie On Reggae Woman
II
Shakedown Street
Prince Caspian>
They Love Each Other
Atlantic City
Doctor Doctor
Walk On
Smokestack Lightning
Spoonful
After Midnight
2.2 Twine @ Day Block Brewing
Jam/Funk/Americana/Rock and Roll are a few of the ways that you might describe Minneapolis’ freshest jamband. Twine got off to a hot start as the local scene rallied behind them from the start and has kept wind in their sails since.
They play a wide variety of covers from the likes of the Allman Bros, Phish, The Meters, Neil Young, Buddy Miles, JJ Cale, Derek and the Dominos, even a Bittersweet Symphony from The Verve now and then. So, a lot of my favorite bands and styles. They also have a dozen or so originals that rock and they seem to be adding to that list regularly.
Twine fans:
2.3 Galaxy 33 @ Tuttle’s
with Ryan Stainiger on guitar and vox, Aaron Pederson on lead guitar, Tim Booth on keys, Brandon Hatcher on percussion and more!
My good buddy Ryan and Galaxy 33 offered up a fun night of tunes which included originals Ocean’s Tide and Junk Science. Partial setlist follows:
Oceans Tide
Wild Horses
Junk Science
What Is And What Should Never Be
Tangled Up In Blue
Sample in a Jar
III
Boogie On Reggae Woman
Where Is My Mind
Shakedown Street
Runnin' Down A Dream
Some Kimmock Tune
The Weight
2.4 Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood
Scarlet Begonias
Big Boss Man
Me And My Uncle
Big River
Simple Twist Of Fate while Joni Mitchell is on tv on the Grammys
Cumberland Blues
Dark Hollow
TN Jed
Sisters and Brothers
II
Passenger
Estimated Prophet>
Eyes
Drums
Crazy Fingers
I Need A Miracle
E
Ripple
2.6 International Reggae All-Stars @ Bunker’s
Every Tuesday!
2.8 Demitri and Friends @ Gluek’s
with Gavin Haskin on mandolin, Alex Gelking on guitar, Scott Yonke on bass, and others
Setlist included:
Deep Elem Blues
Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky
GDTRFB
Angel from Montgomery
That's What Love Will Make You Do
Dear Prudence
When You Get Back (Jon Cleary)
Red Hot Mama (Funkadelic)
Mystery Train
2.10 Running In The Shadows (Fleetwood Mac Tribute) @ Day Bock Brewing
with Brad Ray, Annie Hicks and Jen McElmore on vox, Ryan Stainiger, Art Hoffman, Dean Wolf Harris on bass.
2.11 Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood
China Cat
Rider
El Paso
Jack A Roe
CC Rider
Althea
Shakedown Street
Days Between
Music Never Stopped
2.13 Will Effertz @ Dark Horse Eatery
with Snowman as well and a dude on banjo!
2.15 WE Collective @ 56 Brewing
with Will Effertz, Snowman, Joe Dunn, Scott Yonke and Izzy Cruz on drums.
Chuck Hues was in the house as well, live painting his neon masterpieces!
2.15 Demitri and Friends @ Gluek’s
I really don’t know who the people are that he was playing with this night, but that They Call Me The Breeze was outstanding!
2.16 Andy Frasco and The UN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
That was a wild show! My first time seeing him and he was just as rowdy as everyone said, drinking Jameson from the bottle on stage and hopping atop his piano on more than one occasion. They played a bunch of covers including Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Opening act Hot Like Mars, a Chicago jam/funk band, was fun also!
2.17 China Rider @ Tuttle’s
A great Twin Cities based Grateful Dead tribute, tonight they played a great setlist that included:
One Way Out
Ship of Fools
Eyes >
Other One
Touch of Grey
Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox>
Not Fade Away>
Good Lovin'
E
Shakedown Street
E2
MS Half Step>
Lazy River
Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood 2.18
Passenger
I'll Take A Melody
One More Saturday Night
Ramble On Rose
I Need A Miracle
Bird Song
Drums>
Space>
Other One>
Truckin'
Black Muddy River
E
Deal
(Rude Owl photo by Molly)
2.20 Brandon Johnson and Gavin Haskin @ Dark Horse Eatery
featuring
Lawyers Guns and Money
Friend of the Devil
Dark Hollow
Then on to more tunes in St. Paul….
2.20 Open Blues Jam @ The Blues Saloon
I attended a few of these weekly events over the winter, and there were some really solid players each time. Guitar, harmonica were prominently featured of course, and people hopping onstage to play saxophone and keyboards as well. I learned that a young group of swing dancers gets together there weekly. They were really moving on that dance floor! This old school road house style joint on Rice Street in St. Paul used to be called Wilebski’s Blues Saloon but is now simply The Blues Saloon. The place could use a lot of renovations but the vibe is great and the drinks are cheap!
Lou of Burning Blue Rain was in attendance and shredded some proper blues.
Then it was time to head back ‘cross the Mississippi to check out some reggae and make it a triple header of a night…
2.20 International Reggae All Stars @ Bunker’s
2.22 Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet @ The Parkway Theatre
I first heard of this band while watching the brilliant HBO series Treme. It’s a very engaging, albeit sad at times, series about life in New Orleans after Katrina, created and written by David Simon of The Wire. I cannot recommend that show highly enough if you’re someone who loves music, New Orleans, and/or American culture. It is riveting and important.
Beausoleil play cajun/calypso/zydeco influenced traditional music complete with French lyrics (I appreciated the summary of what the lyrics meant) for many of the songs. The band’s name means ‘beautiful sun’ in French. They are a staple at New Orleans’ Jazzfest and have been around since 1975! Michael Doucet is a fantastic fiddle player and told some good stories as well. His son Matthew also played fiddle as well as triangle. This was a foot stomping good time and just I love the Parkway, it is a beautiful theatre built in 1931 and is right in my neighborhood. In fact it is the closest music venue to me and also hosts cool speakers and movies.
Long before I was familiar with Beausoleil, I loved the 1991 Mary Chapin Carpenter song “Down at the Twist and Shout” which features and mentions the band in the song, a big country hit in the early 90’s. The prolific band has a couple dozen records in and has won ten Grammys. Oh, and they opened for the Grateful Dead and joined the band onstage for a few numbers (Drums & Mardi Gras Parade, Iko Iko, and Women Are Smarter) in Oakland on 2.27.90!
https://gratefuldeadoftheday.com/02-27-1990/
2.22 Demitri and Friends @ Gluek’s
with Scott Yonke on bass, Brian Snowman Powers on sax, and Scott’s Jojo Green rhythm section bandmate Nancy Long on drums.
Some of the tunes played were:
Sissy Strut
Atlantic City
Deal
II
Althea
Red Hot Mama
JJ Cale
Don't Let Go
This evening featured a lively Big River:
And a dynamite Althea:
2.23 Jason Fladager @ Bear Cave Brewing
Downtown Hopkins’ relatively new brewpub Bear Cave brewing makes a wide variety of tasty beers, and occasionally hosts music in their upstairs space. JFlad was accompanied by a dude on keyboards
setlist included:
Baba O'Reilly
Iko Iko
As Long As I Can See The Light
That's Alright Mama
The Letter
Deal
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
We Won't Be Fooled Again
Don't Think Twice It's Alright
Werewolves of London
Black Water
And It Stoned Me
Sweet Virginia
The Weight
Amy
Next on the agenda was
2.23 Mango Jam @ the Hook and Ladder Theater
Celebrating their 35th year as a band in 2024, Mango Jam were a staple and pioneers of the early 90’s jam scene in the Twin Cities.
2.24 The Current’s Winter Dig Out @ The Hook and Ladder Theatre
Featuring Kiss The Tiger and Brigitte Calls Me Baby, this was an exclusive event for people that won tickets on the radio and their guests and local leaders and tastemakers of the Minneapolis music scene. My pal Kurt brought me along as his plus one and it was a great time! New Belgium was a sponsor and provided free beer and a S’mores bar.
Minneapolis power pop outfit Kiss The Tiger played and delivered their trademark high energy, bouncy tunes with gusto.
Kiss The Tiger:
They premiered a rockin’ new song called “We Don’t Fight Anymore”.
S’mores bar:
Brigitte Calls Me Baby has a definite throwback vibe, immediately bringing Roy Orbison to mind with soaring vocals from frontman Wes Leavins. The band had made their national television debut (very early) that morning on CBS Saturday Morning.
2.25 Shotgun Ragtime Band @ The Driftwood
featuring
Feel Like A Stranger
Eyes of the World>
Cassidy
Playing in the Band >
China Doll>
Playing
Standing on the Moon
Moonlight Midnight
2.26 Only Every Monday at The Acadia Cafe
This weekly event has been held at various locations every Monday for over 600 weeks, curated by Geoffrey Fishbein.
Will Effertz and Jon Miller doing a set
and Demitri Rallis played a solo set.
2.28 Karina Rykman @ 7th Street Entry
Really fun show from this bass player extraordinaire who has toured with Marco Benevento for years and has been an occasional part of Seth Myers’ late night show band, 8G. Her recent album, “Joyride”, was produced by Trey Anastasio. She was touring with just a guitar player and drummer, and it made for a rocking power trio!
She was really nice after the show and took photos with my crew and I.
2.28 Lenz and Friends @ 331 Club
These are always fun events the last Wednesday of each month. You never know who is going to show up to play with Pert Near Sandstone’s JJ Lenz or how many people they’ll cram onto that hallowed lil stage. Tonight Lenz’s Frenz included Gavin Haskin on mando, Bob Pat on guitar, Darryn Christenson aka the High Rev on guitar, Joe Barron on standup bass, and Nate Anderson on trumpet, among other guests.
….and that’s it for February! 25 shows at 15 different venues.