Alas, it’s negative 12 Fahrenheit out right now. My friend Ann wanted to punch Mother Nature on Thursday after we got a foot of snow. I now second that, after needing to jumpstart a friend’s car in the wind chill. It’s actually too cold to snow. Like, WTF.
I was thinking that going out tonight was a bad idea. My original plan was foiled by a packed bar, so we progressed into the wind to Montmartre to drink wine and be merry. When I see a band setting up I am usually wary unless I’ve checked it out ahead of time, but we had half a bottle of wine left so it was inevitable that we’d catch part of the show.
Wow. Bad News Jones is freakin’ fun to watch. They’re like Digable Planets, Arrested Development, and the Beastie Boys all rolled up into a bouncy, rappy, fun set. Their prose is pretty tight, and they looked like they were having fun. A band that is having fun is unbeatable, especially when they’re the openers.
I’m originally from the Minneapolis area, and when Toussaint Morrison of The Blend starts singing about Minneapolis streets and the U of M it’s somehow comforting. You always hear about NYC, Chicago, and California cities, but no attention is ever paid to the Twin Cities. The Blend is an erudite mix of jazz, hip-hop, and rock, with songs about Shakespeare, suicidal friends, hot women, and all sorts of other topics you’d expect from U of M students with a rabid fan following. Heck, they were taking sound board advice from the crowd, which is always a good sign. Vocals up, guitars down, me pleased.
Tomorrow night, Brandi Carlile. This is turning into a musical weekend.
Hey, this is Daniel Leussler, the bass player from The Blend. I just stumbled across your site trying random searches for my band on Google. Just thought I’d say thanks for coming to the show!