Music
Wilco rocked Duluth again … I think.
One of the many Perfect Duluth Days was punctuated with I had hoped be the Perfect Duluth night … an evening with WILCO live on stage at the DECC. I had bought tickets months before and had been anticipating the night ever since. Unfortunately, instead of waking up this morning, thinking what a GREAT concert, I woke up thinking…WTF was wrong with the people in our row at the concert. The self-indulgent, self-centered, group that could not or would not just stand there, dance and enjoy the amazing music the band was putting out. (more…)
Draft Proclamation – Suggestions?
The following is my first draft of the Wilco proclamation. I found it harder to write than I thought it would be. So your thoughts and suggestions would be helpful…. Move quickly, I need to finish this up by 4 p.m. today.
Whereas, most Duluth bands have many of the following characteristics:
1) At least one band member looks like a musician-sized lumberjack (more…)
Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles on KUMD and @ Pizza Luce w/ TBT

For some reason this Minneapolis gypsy, folk super-group has yet to set foot in Duluth but the wait is finally over. A regular main-stay at Minneapolis venues such as the Cedar, the Dakota and First Avenue, tonight they open for Trampled By Turtles @ Pizza Luce. It will be hard to follow last night’s opening performance by Minneapolis roots-rockers A Night in the Box, though Michelle & co. will certainly cease your attention. Trampled By Turtles really loves their regional bands, supporting numerous, young, up and comers including A Night in the Box, Johnson Family Band, Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank and many more.
“Bitch, I want some Sammy’s Pizza”

I’ve been enjoying the latest addition to the Songs with “Duluth” in the Lyrics or Title list. It’s called “Duluth Minnesnowta” by the hip hop act Good Knight (Alex Knight on vocals; Mike Ward is DJ).
Visit the group’s MySpace page to listen to the Duluth song and three other tracks.
Wilco (the city) = Duluth
Wilco’s fog show in Duluth was the equivalent of two young lovers waiting out a downpour in a phone booth (if the weather wasn’t so bad we’d still just be holding hands).
I loved that show – the fog, the ore boat, the Brewhouse beer, the unseasonable cold, and a band who seemed to thrive in the elements. It was perfect because it was such an authentic Duluth experience and Wilco seemed to appreciate it every bit as much as we did.
It seems to me there something special going on between Wilco and Duluth, a sense of connection between band and city. Duluthians recognize and appreciate the authenticity, the talent, the lack of pretense – it’s all those qualities that we see and expect from our local rock stars (Al, Mimi, Charlie, Turtles, Jerree, Tony B, etc).
So, here’s the deal, since there is nothing in the Charter that strictly prohibits me from doing so, I’m going to officially proclaim Wilco as an honorary Duluth band. I need your help to define exactly what that means…
1) We need to come up with some sort of “official trinket” that represents their honorary Duluth band status
2) We need to present the ground rules for being a Duluth band – with power comes responsibility
3) What are the special perks to being a Duluth band in good standing?
Obviously, they would now be eligible to play Homegrown (we’ll have to remind them that registration closes at the end of February).
Thanks for your help.
Wilco is sold out – Win tickets here
Did you come to party, Duluth? I know you did.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kVHBZV3iuQ
Tickets to Friday night’s Wilco show at the DECC Auditorium are sold out. If you’d like to win tickets from PDD, here’s how:
If you went to the foggy, rainy 2007 concert at Bayfront Festival Park, share your favorite memory of that show in the comments. If you didn’t go, maybe you have a good excuse for missing such a sensational show, so share that.
At some point either tonight or tomorrow, I’ll pick a winner from those who comment.
(Oh, and I know the audio is crappy on the embedded video, so you don’t need to comment about that.)
The Rez at Lake Avenue Cafe
The Rez at the Lake Avenue Cafe
Saturday, Feb 13 | 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. | $2
Come bring in Valentine’s Day with the fresh funk of The Rez. Make’s you wanna dance.
Live Music at the Electric Fetus

The Boomchucks will be playing live at 5 pm today (thursday 2/11) at the Electric Fetus record store, then later at the fitgers brewhouse at 10 pm! www.myspace.com/theboomchucks
Perfect Valentine’s Date
Beautifully sung love songs performed in a romantic venue lit by hundreds of candles; your date can’t help but be impressed.

Neal and Leandra at Sacred Heart
Saturday February 13 7:30 pm
$20 in advance or $25 at the door
Tickets on line or at the Fetus
https://www.sacredheartmusic.org
An Electro Anti-Valentine’s Day Celebration at Luce
(poster by Becky of Tiny Kitten Teeth, with revisions by GO! Laboratories)
Come celebrate Anti-Valentine’s Day with Duck Duck Punch (synth-pop from Duluth), The Surfactants (new-wave from Duluth, Superior, St. Paul) and International Espionage! (spy-rock from Minneapolis.) This will be the most electric and eclectic Anti-Valentine’s Day celebration anywhere.
Commiserate with us at Pizza Luce, Saturday, February 13th, 2010. $5. All ages. Bring (just) a friend.
Jeremy Messersmith and Dave Mehling
This Saturday night, the 30th of January, UMD’s Late Night Kirby will be hosting a night of wonderful Minnesota music!
Jeremy Messersmith and Duluth’s own Dave Mehling will be playing at the Rafters on the third floor of the Kirby Student center at UMD. This event will be FREE for all UMD students and $5 to the public.
Please come by and enjoy the infectious sounds of one of Minneapolis’s favorite singer/songwriters and the musical stylings of UMD alum Dave Mehling!
Ryan Van Slooten CD Release

I’m happy to announce that my new album “All But My Soul” is now available on my website ryanvanslooten.com It will also be available on itunes in the next week or so, and down at the Fetus sometime next week. To hear a few tracks from the album, please visit my myspace site.
The CD release show will be this Saturday at Luce with Cars and Trucks also on the bill. I will have a backing band with me for the first time so it should be a good night.
Finally, tune into 91.3KUWS on Thursday night, 10:00 p.m., for Walt Dizzo’s weekly radio show. I’ll be performing tracks from the album live, in-studio, as well as playing tracks from the new album.
Hope to see you all this weekend!
Turbo Rathvon Live at Norm’s
Saturday, Jan. 30 at Norm’s Beer and Brats, 10 p.m.
Turbo Rathvon (indie rock)
with Twin Cities bands Unexpected Guests (pop punk) and Not Like This (good ol’ rock ‘n roll)
Prince – “Purple and Gold”
Prince doing a traditional fight song. ’nuff said.
Turbo Rathvon with the Swing Dogs!
Turbo Rathvon with special guests the Swing Dogs
Friday, Jan. 22, 10 p.m. | $3 cover
Bev’s Jook Joint in Superior
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynNhhawROCE
Benefit shows for Haiti earthquake relief January 26 and 27 at the Looch
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, and Wednesday, Jan. 27, Pizza Luce will host a two-night benefit show to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief efforts. Music starts at 10 p.m.; cover is $5.
Tuesday’s bluegrass lineup
Two Many Banjos
Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank
Rich Mattson
Wednesday’s hip-hop/reggae lineup
Crew Jones
2 one 8
Prince Paul
Miss Mae
DJ Horse Fist
Both Tuesday and Wednesday nights will begin with a silent art auction, featuring local paintings, photographs and jewelry. There will also be a raffle each night for gift certificates to over twenty local businesses, such as Electric Fetus, Jitter’s, New Scenic Cafe and more. Raffle tickets are $5 each.
All money raised will go to Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti organization, a grassroots organization providing relief aid to Haiti. UPDATE: Due to the recent allegations against Wyclef Jean’s organization, referenced in the comments to this post, the organizers of this event have decided to instead donate 75% of proceeds to Oxfam and 25% to the Kako Foundation.
Laughing Hearts
I heard the Laughing Hearts are playing at the Thirsty Pagan in Superior on Sat. Jan 23. They’re an awesome, highly entertaining Celtic renaissance pub band. Go join in Pirate Night fun at the Pagan. I’ll be there for sure!
Excuse Me, Princess!!
https://myspace.com/excusemeprincessband
Very new Duluthian high school indie rock band Excuse Me Princess has released a video for their song entitled “Some Time to Kill”! It’s pretty radical, I’d say.
Music
If you live in the Two Harbors area, come on down to Dunnigans and listen to Aurora Baer on Friday, Jan. 15. 9-12.
Retribution Gospel Choir? Hidden Treasure? Park Point?
The video for Retribution Gospel Choir’s single “Hide it Away” on the upcoming album 2 clearly shows the band members burying a treasure on Park Point. I task you, people of Duluth to search out and find (or discredit the existence of) said treasure!






