Shaw's Bar & Grill
Minneapolis, Minn.
Set:
| Spring Fever | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Pay the Toll to Ride the Junebug Flow | I'm a Bad MammaJamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Lady Madonna [The Beatles] | M'Lady | The Date | Last Night | Good Vibes | Chosen Ones | Jumpstart My Rocket | Aphrodite | Damn the Man |
Tonight was the first night we've played at Shaw's. It's a great little pub on Northeast University in Minneapolis. Really cozy and friendly. The waitress was the friendliest server I've had in a long time. I got the sense also that there was a good number of regulars hanging around, and that the next time we play there, we'll see a lot of familiar faces. There was a real good small-town vibe. It kind of reminded me of Aberdeen a little bit.
Tonight had the distinction of being the first time we've ever opened for a comedian. It was Junebug, Gus Lynch, and Three Beer Warmup after him. All three acts had a complimentary energy. There was a good sense of humor and fun-loving frivolity all night long. It was a good night to just cut loose, have a few drinks, and have a few laughs.
My neighbor, Joan even thought so. She has enjoyed our music since we gave her a disc on the day I moved in. But this was first time she has been able to make it out to one of our gigs. "Bad MammaJamma" went out to her tonight, and she had a number of good laughs.
The set was pretty high energy. The crowd really seemed to dig it. We sold a bunch of discs and people were shouting things at us, all in good humor, we assume. Toward the end of the set, we were undecided as to whether we were going to play "Aphrodite," which was on the setlist, or "Dead Flowers," since we thought this particular crowd may be keen on the Stones. So I asked into the mic, "Do you guys wanna hear a 'Stones tune or another original?" The silence was deafening. I mean, you could have heard a cotton ball drop onto a piece of felt. No idea what that was all about. So since it was obvious that nobody (including us) really cared, we played our own tune.
After our set, Anthony heard what he described as the greatest compliment he's ever heard about one of our shows. An old hippie dude, beard down his chest, said, "Your set reminded me of an acid trip."
Rock and roll will never die, my friends.
So we descended upon the great Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis for the second time in twenty days. Tonight's set was really solid and diverse. We whipped out "Place" tonight, which we haven't played for quite some time. It's a long song, so it seems we only play it when we know we have a longer amount of time alotted, which we did tonight. We also played "Spring Fever" as well as the Rolling Stones tune, "Dead Flowers." We had originally worked the latter up for our bowling alley gig, but had to cut it for time that night. So we broke it out tonight, and the rock was good. Nothin' like a little 'Stones at the end of the night to get folks raising their glasses and putting the arms around each other. But then, after that, we all damned the man together and that felt just as awesome.
Tonight we opened for The Lost Marbles, a nine-piece blues-rock band. They were a lot of fun and had a real good vibe about them. We were happy to share the bill and the stage with them.
Bowling alleys: they're not just for bowling and drinking any more. No, no. In today's world, bowling alleys now mean good ol' rock and/or roll as well as the above mentioned joys. Tonight, Junebug descended upon Memory Lanes bowling alley in Minneapolis to mix the sound of funky rock and roll with the satisfying sounds that a bowling alley provides; balls rolling, pins falling, drunken people shouting and hooting... It was beauty in its truest form. In fact, the evening was so beautiful that some dude bowled a 298 just before the bands went on. He was two pins short of a perfect game, which is awesome.
So there we were, playing rock music in a bowling alley. It was pretty awesome the way they set it up. They turned off three of the actual lanes and set up the stage right on top of them. That way, we could more easily distract those bowlers who were trying to concentrate. But why would you want to, with us on stage? I had said that I wished people could bowl right under us. But I suppose the bowlers need to see the pins at the end of lane, huh.
Tonight was our first appearance at Bunkers in Minneapolis. We opened for The New Congress, the Thursday night house band at Bunkers. This was a gig we were kind of looking forward to. It had the potential of being a brand new crowd that would most likely dig what we do. As it was, most of the crowd didn't fill in until after we were done, but those who came early felt the flow.
Tonight was a special night. It was the first Junebug show of 2009, the year which Nick has designated The Year of the 'Bug. It was also special because our dear old friend, Vanessa C. was in town from Seattle. It was the first time she'd seen us play since the days of playing acoustic in friends' basements. Having her in the crowd was great. This was the first time we have played Whiskey Junction. It was definitely a fun venue. The stage wall was decorated in the club's winter motif, with sticks arranged as bare trees and snowflakes scattered about. It looked pretty cool.
Tonight, Anthony announced to crowd that we're going to be on Oprah really soon. To his chagrin, we had to correct him and let everyone know that it's actually KARE 11's "Showcase Minnesota" that we'll be on. What can we say? The boy loves Ms. Winfrey. But who doesn't? Other than that, the show was pretty typical. Except I (tony) tried to hit on the collective crowd, asking it if they come here often and what their collective sign is. When there was absolutely no response, I dejectedly started the next song. Furthermore, we later gave a shoutout to all those who went to high school in North Dakota (we know there were some there). It was again met with complete silence.
We were asked to play tonight by our friends in My Lady Four at Trocadero's in Minneapolis. When I (tony) first walked in, I thought this was a really classy looking joint. There were white columns and what looked like a marble floor. Upon first impression, I thought it might have been too upscale a place for us. But then I saw a Brett Michaels 'coming soon' poster on the wall, and all my concerns were assuaged.
As the reader may or may not know, we were scheduled to play a show in Fargo a couple days ago, but there was a nasty blizzard that put the kibosh on it. So tonight we decided we'd play the setlist that was intended for Fargo. Our Fargo set was intended to be a bit longer, so we picked and chose from it.
