Patrons gathered at the Rex Bar Sunday for its last night in business. (Photo by Mike Creger)
Rex Bar at Fitger’s closed Sunday after nearly 15 years in business. It opened in 2008, following a brief period when the bar was called Lido. Prior to that the space operated as the Fitger’s Tap Room.
Canadian rocker Dave Rave has been teaming up with Minnesota-based musicians for more than a decade, performing as Dave Rave and the Governors. Although the Minnesotans in the group are mostly from the Twin Cities, Duluthians will recognize Rich Mattson of Sparta playing guitar at far left in this music video.
“Lear Jet” is from the band’s new album, Seven, recorded at Mattson’s Sparta Sound studio. Video by Reggie Pype.
Though the July 26 episode of the podcast 60 Songs that Explain the ’90s is about the Mazzy Star track “Fade Into You,” music critic Rob Harvilla spends the first 20 minutes of the show gushing over another song and band entirely.
“My new favorite song is ‘Cue the Strings’ by the Duluth, Minn. band Low from their 2005 album The Great Destroyer,” he states at the start of the show, before launching into a deep dive into the music of Alan Sparhawk and the late Mimi Parker.
Gomez takes lead guitar on this ditty during the Winter Riot at the Red Lion Lounge — Dec. 18, 2004. This show featured a mix of surf, rock ‘n’ roll, and reggae tunes. If anyone still has a Winter Riot T-shirt, I’d be interested in obtaining it.
In his latest music video, former Duluthian James Geisler, aka JamesG, takes the ol’ John Deere for a spin.
The video for the second single from Duluth native Rachael Kilgour‘s upcoming album, My Father Loved Me, is a self-made production with editing help from Sara Pajunen. It features the heart of some of the places Kilgour has called home.
“I did not fall through the rafters, not even once, while recording,” Kilgour notes.
The second video release from Duluth band Lovehouse includes scenes from the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. It was directed by Parker Majerus. The song is from the band’s 2022 EP Shades of Red.
Some time after Steve “Gomez” Mahlberg and Ben Marsen played in the Hadjis and the Black Labels, they created some great rock and roll with the Acceleratii. This is from their 2011 self-titled CD.
In this new lyric video, Beyondbliss raps about the extreme highs and lows of life. The song “Bipolar Kangaroo” is from the recently released album Born Deaf.
Can anyone refresh my memory if this was a Hadjis or a Black Labels reunion show?
The second annual Green Man Festival was held at Spirit Mountain 20 years ago this week — July 11-12, 2003. The event featured more than 30 music acts — the Big Wu, Wookiefoot, Shannon Wright, Heiruspecs, the Black-eyed Snakes, Ol’ Yeller, Mark Mallman, White Iron Band, Cry on Cue, Spider John Koerner, Charlie Parr, Haley Bonar, etc.
Embedded above is local television news coverage of the event.
I hope this brings back memories to all the fans of Duluth’s music scene. I am beginning research into two Duluth bands from the past, namely the Hadjis and the Black Labels.
In the past, I’ve written about the used records, bound in old-school albums, I have found at Gabriel’s, the thrift-bookshop in Lakeside. Because the records are donated, they are a real crapshoot, as the ruffians say. Often they come from estates, from families that don’t want to sell things piecemeal and are grateful someone will just take the whole collection all off their hands.
Back in May the 4onthefloor played its annual “Stomper’s Cruise” on the Vista Fleet in Duluth. Videographer Adam Jagunich captured some of the action for this video of the band’s take on a classic Otis Redding song.
