Lunch of Champions

Mother Nature vs. Twin Cities…plus KaiserCartel

It seems like Mother Nature has something in for the Twin Cities as of late.  Yesterday, the storm that I thought looked like the apocalypse made its way through the South Metro area.  At my office in Richfield we were all rushed to the extreme weather shelter area - fun stuff.  And portions of today’s Macy’s Day of Music at Orchestra Hall were cut short due to some more severe weather that cut across Minneapolis.

By the time I arrived downtown, I missed Haley Bolar but was able to catch The Honeydogs go on.  Unfortunately, they had to play an abbreviated set of four or five songs before closing down the stage due to the incoming weather.  KaiserCartel was supposed to go on next on the other outdoor stage; fortunately they moved them inside to the lobby state at Orchestra Hall.

(Benjamin and Courtney from KaiserCartel - you guessed it, they’re from Brooklyn.)

I hadn’t heard them before, but was intrigued because Chris Riemenschneider described them as a stripped down version of Rilo Kiley.  I would agree with that but also add in a bit of Mates of State to the mix.  Not only because they are married, but also in terms of singing dynamics and the tone of the songs.  They sounded very good considering the lobby environment with a mix of acoustic guitar (Courtney Kaiser playing an open tuned Epiphone) and Benjamin Cartel spending most of him time on drums and xylophone.  Their songs were both catchy and haunting.  The good news is that they are playing again this weekend at the Bryant Lake Bowl with a trio of shows throughout the day.  I suggest giving them a listen and swing by and see them in Lyn-Lake if you’ve got the chance this weekend.