7/19/13 - Fine Line Music Cafe - Minneapolis

Set:

| Beards | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Handlebar Mustache | All the Young Dudes [David Bowie] | Hell-Bent Woman | Mystic Princess | Fluffy Little Hands | Heaven's Just a Mystery |

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Tonight we had the pleasure of closing out July Fighter's CD release show. July Fighter are pals of ours from a few years back. In fact, their drummer, Jin, is a fellow Aberdeen transplant. He went to Northern State University, like we did, and he used to teach my wife's younger brother drum lessons. After moving to the Twin Cities, I also would see him around IPR from time to time, since he was the drummer for the late great Bruce McLaughlin who was producing his album during that time. 

At any rate, it was good to see Jin tonight. And he offered to let me use his drum kit. His kit is a much different setup than mine, but the other bands were using it and I didn't want to be that guy. It was a good decision. And I really enjoyed his dampening technique on his toms. Some people tape tissue to the drums. Jin uses maxi pads. Sounds silly, and I thought so at first, but those things work. They're self-adhesive and they dampen well. His drums sound great. If you're a cashier and I purchase maxi pads from you, don't judge.

I've said it before, but the Fine Line is always a great venue to play. Finding parking can be a little tough on Twins game days like today, since the ballpark is literally blocks away, but we manage. The sound there is always good and the space is fun. July Fighter drew a really nice crowd for this show, too, and most of them stayed for our closing set as well. It was good to get our new songs in front of a new crowd that hadn't heard us before. We played all stuff from Beards aside from a David Bowie cover. It seemed to go over well. I felt good.

It was fun to be downstairs in the band rooms. People who play there often sign the walls. Of course, there are some pranksters who sign names as jokes. I don't think Beyonce has actually played the Fine Line recently, but her name was in the rafters. I enjoyed finding the space which I signed for us when we played our Share CD release there back in October of 2008. It reads "Junebug is your mom... whatever that means." It's still there, loud and proud, with many new scrawls surrounding it. 

Someone said they also saw our former bassist Nick there tonight. He's friends with Jimmy from July Fighter. I didn't get a chance to see him. I would have loved to have said hello.

7/11/13 - Christensen's Big V's - Saint Paul, Minn.

Set:

| Mystic Princess | Fluffy Little Hands | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Modern Age | Hell-Bent Woman | Crossroads | Refrigerator | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) |

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Poster provided by Bear.

It's been a while since we've played at Big V's. It was nice to be back again. We had told Dillon numerous tall tales of the amazing coin-operated squirting cologne machine in the men's room. He attempted to use it, but it did not work, unfortunately. The legend lives on in our memories, however. 

I had a faint memory of writing something on the graffiti-filled wall in the back entry way a few years ago. After a little bit of searching, I found it. It reads, "Junebug is your mom. Whatever that means." Beneath it, sometime in the years that have ensued, someone else has written, "Think about it." Well played. I have thought about it. And thought about it well.

This show was intended to start at 8 p.m. and since it was a Thursday show, people would have to go to work in the morning. Things ended up being pushed back a half hour. No big deal. As it stood, we would finish up around 12:30 or so. However, the engineer didn't arrive until about 9 p.m. The entire show got rolling around 9:45. As things progressed, we ended up starting around 12:30, rather than finishing. That also meant that most of the folks there left before we started. Because, you know, work in the morning. The other groups stuck around for us, thankfully, and there were some regulars still there at the end of the bar. 

No matter. We give it our all. We ripped through a good set. Dustin gave a history lesson: "Ever since the first caveman took a stick and hit it on a stone, we had rock and roll." It's history. You can't argue with it. 

Lately, we've been working on material for our next upcoming album. We considered pulling out the song "Stan" tonight. But in the end, Anthony decided against it. 

Before we played our last song, Anthony said, "We want to thank Chants & Seas and Bear for playing tonight, as well as Junebug," "Yes, we want to thank Junebug," I reiterated. "They really outdid themselves this time," Anthony added.

7/3/13 - Wakeside Bar & Grill - Mina, S.D.

Set One:

| M'Lady | Beards | With a Little Help From My Friends [The Beatles / Joe Cocker] | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Please Please Me [The Beatles] |

Set Two:

| Fluffy Little Hands | Time [Pink Floyd] | Hell-Bent Woman | Mystic Princess | Downtown Liquor Store | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Law & Order Theme [Mike Post] | Refrigerator | Crossroads | All the Young Dudes [David Bowie] | Soul Shaker | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | Golden Girls Theme [Andrew Gold] | Handlebar Mustache | Jumpstart My Rocket | Chosen Ones | Sledgehammer [Peter Gabriel] | Moon Over the Water |

Encore One:

| Heaven's Just a Mystery |

Encore Two:

| Last Night | Modern Age |

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 "Not a f*** was given."
Photo by Dustin

It's always nice to be back in the Aberdeen area. We were in Aberdeen just about a month and a half ago, but being out at Mina is a bit different than the typical downtown Aberdeen show. It was a totally different crowd. I had thought at first that we were just playing at a restaurant on the lake. It turns out we came out here to be the Wakeside's entertainment for their Independence Day celebration out on Mina Lake. The Aqua-Addicts ski show happened first, followed by Junebug, with a break for fireworks, and then Junebug played the rest of the night.

We got a bit of a late start, due to some technical difficulties at the soundboard. So that meant some anticipated quiet during the festivities and a little bit of an abbreviated first set. We had setlists crafted and written up, but pretty much abandoned it and cherry-picked songs that we thought would keep the folks engaged right off the bat. Although, by the time we got started, there wasn't much time before we had to stop for the fireworks. The man in charge said explicitly, "we need silence at ten o'clock." So we ripped through some hits along with a crowd-pleaser "With a Little Help From My Friends" and a wham-bang "Please Please Me." Then we paused for the fireworks. 

My wife and son were there, so we found a spot on the grass down by the water to watch the show. The fireworks were being set off very close. I had never seen fireworks that close before and it was pretty big, loud and cool. I'm not sure my two-year-old liked it as much as I did. But he seemed to dig it.

This is what we do.

It was kind of good that we had already made the decision to throw out the setlist. By the time the fireworks were over, it was totally dark out and there were no lights on the stage. We would not have been able to read them anyway. So we went by the seat of our pants and I kept track of the songs we played on my iPod Touch. 

About twenty minutes in, a dude came up and asked us if we knew any Zac Brown. When we let him know that we don't, he kind of gently lectured us on how the crowd was trying to connect with us, but it just wasn't happening. Evidently, the music of Zac Brown would have healed that wound. Unfortunately, it just wasn't in the cards. But there were plenty of other folks that seemed okay with drinking beer and visiting with their friends to our performance. It was pretty okay. "Poet" was dedicated to Zac Brown tonight, in memory of the guy who couldn't connect.

While we were in the midst of the show, the pyrotechnics crew were tearing down and cleaning up form the fireworks display. It seems that during the fireworks show there were some that did not discharge. They had to blow them up before they could complete their work, so there were these huge fireworks going off while we were playing. It gave the illusion that we were far more important than we are. Delusions of grandeur are fun now and again.

Anthony decided it would be good to end on "Moon Over the Water" since we were playing right next to a lake and you could see the moon. Y'know, out over the water. After the song was over, Anthony left the stage, but there were actually people asking for more music. So, after a little discussion, we decided to play "Heaven's Just a Mystery" as an encore. It's a good show closer. So we did. And the way that song ends, we generally end up leaving the stage one by one. So we did. And people were still asking for more. Anthony was already visiting with friends and family members, so it took some prodding, but we got him back up there to close the night out with a couple more songs. 

The party continued without us. After we tore down and loaded out, folks were still drinking and laughing and talking and generally celebrating our independence from King George.

6/30/13 - Twin Cities Pride Festival - Loring Park - Minneapolis

Set:

| Beards | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Golden Girls Theme [Andrew Gold] | Hell-Bent Woman | Refrigerator | Mystic Princess | Fluffy Little Hands | All the Young Dudes [David Bowie] |

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Poster designed by
Tony L. Kollman

For the fourth time in five summers, we played the Loring Stage at the Twin Cities Pride Festival. And this year, the attendees had a lot to celebrate in terms of state and federal legislation regarding gay rights. The entire festival had an energy unlike that of previous years. Instead of a "let's do this" vibe, it was a "we did it" vibe. People are usually celebratory at this fest, but this year it was different. It was good.

We played a selection of stuff from Beards as well as a couple favorites of ours at Pride: "Refrigerator" and "Golden Girls." The crowd dug it and more people than in previous years stopped as they passed by to sit in the grass and enjoy the tunes. Kids were dancing and playing, including my son Josiah. He was, as he calls it, "run-dancing." Everyone had a great time.

And, as always at Pride, we had an American Sign Language interpreter on stage signing our lyrics. It's always fun to see what our songs look like. And during the song "Beards" she got a real workout with all the names in the song. She just gave up on some of them. I felt for her.

We're always happy to play at Pride and to celebrate with everyone. It's always such a great, inclusive, welcoming environment. Can't wait for next year!

6/28/13 - Acadia Cafe - Minneapolis

MPLS Habit at the Acadia

Set:
| Beards | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Modern Age | Hell-Bent Woman | Soul Shaker | Refrigerator | Mystic Princess | Fluffy Little Hands | Give Yourself | Heaven's Just a Mystery |

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Poster designed by
Tony L. Kollman

It was the Friday night MPLS Habit series sponsored by KFAI FM and the Acadia Cafe in Minneapolis. We had all been there before on previous occasions, just in a hanging out capacity, but this was our first time playing at the Acadia.

The other acts were really great. As we were watching them, though, we began wondering if the organizers really knew what kind of music we play. The other acts were much quieter than we are. We were the only ones with a drum kit. We talked to Cait Leary, one of the performers and the person who put the show together, and she assured us that, yes, she was well aware that we are a bit louder.  Whew. Weight off our shoulders.

Our performance was timed just right, it seems. Right about the time we started, another show down the block just ended and the patrons were all coming into the Acadia for a drink. Seeing as how our show was free, that encouraged folks to stick around. We pretty much just played Beards tonight, minus "Handlebar" and adding "Refrigerator."

We won over some new folks, and sold some of our wares and trinkets. We want to thank Cate Leary, MPLS Habit, Cait Leary, and KFAI for a great, fun night.

5/23/13 - Nomad World Pub - Minneapolis

Set:
| Beards | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | Modern Age | Hell-Bent Woman | Mystic Princess | Fluffy Little Hands | All the Young Dudes [David Bowie] |

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Tonight we were supporting our friends What Tyrants in their Minne-series at the Nomad World Pub. We've played other groups' Minne-series in the past. The Nomad has a band take up residence every weekend in one month. Each week they invite different supporting acts.

The crowd was great. The weather was beautiful. The people were awesome. The beer was plentiful. The bocce was bocce.

We kept it short and sweet tonight. We were on stage for probably about 30 minutes or so. But we hit it hard, kept it simple and rocked some faces. I was into it and I had fun. Before I knew it, the set was over. People called for one more song but we left them wanting more.

Afterward, we hung out, visited, listened to some music and just had an overall good time.

Not much more to say beyond that. It was compact. It was fun.

5/18/13 - Music on Main - Aberdeen, S.D.

Set:

| Last Night | Beards | Destiny, She Drives a Rolls | M'Lady | Please Please Me [The Beatles] | Poet (Who Didn't Know It) | I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's) | Refrigerator | Modern Age | Hell-Bent Woman | Soul Shaker | Karma Police [Radiohead] | Mystic Princess | Moon Over the Water | Downtown Liquor Store | Fluffy Little Hands | Time [Pink Floyd] | Chosen Ones | All the Young Dudes [David Bowie] | Heaven's Just a Mystery |

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At this point it goes without saying that an Aberdeen show is by default going to be a great show. And by that I mean, even if something went wrong and we didn't play well, we'd still be surrounded by a whole lot of wonderful beautiful people that wouldn't care. We'd just be happy to see each other and hang out.

Well, luckily we played well tonight so that wasn't a problem. This was part of the Music on Main series in Aberdeen. It was exactly how it sounds. It was music. On Main Street. It was awesome. It was a two-night event, Friday and Saturday. We played Saturday. I was a little apprehensive because the weather reports kept saying there would be severe weather in just a couple hours. Then they'd push it back. Then they'd push it back again. So the entire day and evening there was this looming threat of rain and lighting. For last night's show, one of the organizers told us that the rain held off just until they had everything torn down. Then it poured. Today it was pretty hot and humid. So a storm would not have been a surprise, but the show went on.

We were the last band to play tonight. The "headliner," if you will. Jason Hepola gave us a rousing introduction. He thanked the previous bands for coming out and heartily praised the Aberdeen music scene and local artists. He then mentioned, "these guys are from Minneapolis now, but when they come here, they're local." It was a very nice sentiment and everyone echoed it from the crowd. We always get a warm welcome.

We played a pretty good variety of stuff. The crowd knew most of it, which was cool. There were many people out there singing along. That's always an ego-stroker. Those who didn't know the songs from Beards had their opportunity to pick it up tonight. This was the first time we've been back to Aberdeen since the album came out.

So many beautiful faces were there. Old friends, new friends, young strangers, family members. We played on into the night. The dark came and we carried on. In the distance I could see lightning flickering closer and closer, but we continued until our time was up. We tore down and hung out and the weather cooperated. It wasn't until the bar shut down that it started sprinkling.

Yesssss. Mother nature was on our side.

Thank you, Aberdeen. We'll be back again.