I’ve been meaning to write about these guys for a while. The Twin Cities Hot Club, Gypsy jazz icons of the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene, play some of the best live music in the world, and they can be seen regularly at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul and also at the Times Bar & Cafe in NE Minneapolis.
I went on a date to the Artist’s Quarter a while back to see these guys, and I didn’t even have to whip out my patented non-game to convince the girl to dig me. Instead, lead guitarist, Robert Bell, and his band sweet talked my lady with their strumming and picking and plucking until she was ready to marry anyone in the band. And seeing how that wasn’t an option, she decided to make out with me instead.
Wow! I feel so cool right now. Chris, the owner of CultureBully.com, interviewed me the other day about Lunch Of Champions. Now I feel famous and stuff. Check out the interview!
Seymore Saves the World’s new LP should only be listened to when you are home alone, as they are prone to induce uncontrolled dancing. The type of bouncing you see when someone is imitating the Numa guy.
Their first LP on Royalty, Etc. Records takes a more polished approach to their sound, which I fell in love with listening to a beat up CD-R that the band’s front man, Scott Hefte, gave me at a show last year.
Upon seeing them live last year at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis, I was struck by two things. First, I enjoyed their songs. Second, I realized that their lead singer and keyboardist is an 8-foot-tall giant! Just kidding. He is tall, though - probably close to 6′5″. And it is rare that you hear such a beautiful alto voice on a tall guy.
Anyway, if you can, check them out at the 400 Bar on Friday, April 27, and see the great 8-foot-behemoth!!! Keep up the great work, fellas!
On Tuesday, I saw the musical, Love, Janis, at the Ordway in St. Paul. It was an amazing experience seeing an actress/singer do an emotionally-charged impersonation of Janis. The musical, a chronological biopic of Janis’s life, features actresses reading letters that Janis wrote to her mom interspersed with live performances of Janis’s hits.
It was an emotional journey through the mind of one of America’s greatest performers.
Minneapolis’ Dance Band is probably the funnest live band in The Cities right now. Their show at the Triple Rock last Saturday was a rip-roaring, dancing good time climaxed with an old-school East-side vs. West-side dance off! If you get the chance, check these boys out! With lines like “Marathon running like Jackie Joyner Kersey do. I’ll put a Jackie Joyner curse on you,” How can you go wrong?
Keep up the great work, fellas!
