Local Natives @ the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. It was a sweatfest.

This tweet captures it best, from @localnatives: Dood. Hottest show ever in air conditioning broken room in MN tonight. Someone threw up on our friend’s back. Otherwise fun though 11:07 PM May 17th via TweetDeck

All photos by Leslie Plesser

All photos benbrlsq

Update: more Gayngs pics here

As Dessa tweeted earlier this week, “Gayngs. I’d ask to get ready, but preparedness is impossible for this event”.  The Minneapolis rapper/singer of the collective Doomtree, and now approximately 1/23rd of the uber-group Gayngs, said it all.  The one-night/two-show event entitled “Last Prom on Earth” was in support of, and named after a song from, the just-released LP Relayted, and despite it is ambitiously epic title, managed to live up to it’s name.  Bedecking the walls, halls and stairways of Minneapolis’ First Avenue in black and white crepe paper, streamers and enough Gayngs emblems to burn the odd corn-stalk-meets-peace-symbol into the retinas of everyone in attendance, Gayngs took to the stage of their 11 pm show somewhere closer to midnight and did so to a crowd of 20 some-things on up dressed in flowing prom gowns and an inordinate amount of tuxedo shirts.

Stepping on stage in matching white tuxes and bow ties, the band led off with “The Gaudy Side of Town” with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver on lead rhythm guitar, members of Megafaun and Solid Gold stretched across keys and drums, a healthy dose of synthesizer and saxophone thrown in for good measure, and mastermind of the entire affair Ryan Olson dancing and smoking (not at all legal in Minneapolis venues) in the background.  Right from the beginning everyone on stage seemed to be having a great time and the mood was infectious.  After sliding through “The Walker” and the radio ready “Cry”, Gayngs brought out rapper and singer P.O.S. along with Dessa for the album’s aptly titled, “No Sweat”.  After that, keeping track of performers was nearly impossible.  During a very crowd friendly version of “Faded High” Maggie Morrison of Lookbook came on to trade harmonies with Dessa with slide guitars slipping in between sax solos and bouncing off the steady, if low-bpm, Hip Hop inspired back beats.  To say performers came and went was a misnomer, they came and stayed, the entire stage becoming as much of a party as the dance floor in front of it by the end of the night.

As the balloons, strung up so tauntingly overhead all night and yes, each one emblazoned with the Gayngs symbol, began to fall to the climax of “The Last Prom on Earth” the entire crowd cheered and swayed, popping balloons or bouncing them back into the air, giddy in the realization of a moment being shared.  And as Gayngs finished with an extremely satisfying cover of Howard Jones’ 1985 prom-closer “No Ever Is To Blame” with glittering confetti falling down, it put the perfect final touch on what was a very risky, and very well done ensemble show that added up to something greater than the sum of it’s very many parts.

All photos by Leslie Plesser

Blitzen Trapper dropped a surprise last week with an intimate 10th anniversary show at The Woods, a former funeral home now used for live music.  This was a 3F occasion: friends, family, and fans (30 to be precise). Thirty-two hours before the show, the band announced a guest list sign-up at nearby record store Music Millenium. Surprisingly, in this day of Twitter, Facebook, and instant notifications via cell phones, it took three hours to fill the thirty slots.  Blitzen Trapper premiered their upcoming album, Destroyer of the Void and played a couple oldies.  For lack of a better vocabulary, I’ll just end with, “It was amazing.”

All photos by Greg Schroeder

Singer-songwriter Leigh Marble and indie-folk group The Ascetic Junkies once again joined on-stage forces to become the unstoppable Leigh and the Lollipops at the Doug Fir Lounge. Hand-clapping, foot-stomping beats, and a joyous participating crowd complemented the guitar and glockenspiel driven songs.  This was a performance of positivity; one which shared love and optimism with all those witnessing.

All photos by Greg Schroeder