Never mind 2016: Here are 5 New Year’s gigs you should know about

"Sgt. Pepper's" style collage of 2016 deaths
2016 homage by Chris Barker.

Those of us who admire music-makers of renown shared many hard losses over the past year. And many us who treasure our own music scenes have lost local heroes as well.

Time passes, and young lions grow older — since their mortality reminds us of our own, and the music they made reminds us of our receding youth, it’s always personal. And for those of us of a certain age, 2016 seemed way too close for comfort.

But we’ll always have the music. On the eve of a year I hope will bring more good news than bad, I thought we’d take a quick tour of five shows from New Years past (and revisit some 2016 highlights from FiveBands): Continue reading “Never mind 2016: Here are 5 New Year’s gigs you should know about”

Like the Replacements and Hüsker Dü? 5 bands you should know about

Suicide Commandos album cover
Cover: “The Suicide Commandos Make a Record”

The April passing of favorite son Prince turned media attention back onto Minneapolis’ musicians of the late ’70s and early ’80s. One Magnet Magazine piece gathered tales from close to 40 witnesses to the scene that spawned two other Minneapolis legends: Hüsker Dü and the Replacements.

Both bands’ earliest gigs — from 1979 to 1981 — focused on the scene’s hottest clubs (The Longhorn and the 7th St. Entry, a small room that was part of the bigger First Avenue). The Hüskers and the ‘Mats circled each other, often playing the same venue within days of each other, but apparently didn’t share a gig until both bands opened for the Neglectors at the 7th Ave. Entry on Sept. 5, 1981. (Down the line, Hüsker Dü and the Replacements would make their New York debuts at Great Gildersleeves on April 17, 1983, supported by a New York band called Young and the Useless that coincidentally included future Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz.)

Hüsker Dü and the Replacements: Two monster bands starting their careers on tight parallel paths at the same Minneapolis clubs. But what other bands traveled with them at the very beginning of their ride? Here are five bands you should know about:  Continue reading “Like the Replacements and Hüsker Dü? 5 bands you should know about”