Gettin' Funky at the Fair

Last Friday Mary and I gathered a few friends up and went to the Minnesota state fair. This was the first year I can remember going to the fair and the food wasn’t the main reason for going. Mary and I picked Friday night because Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings were playing a free show on the Lienie Lodge stage.

When we got to the stage I was impressed by the number of people that were there. The show started with the Dap-Kings coming to the stage and entertaining us with a couple of upbeat instrumentals which really got the crowd going. Instantly the little soul man in me started to find his grove. Sharon then took the stage and had the crowd in the palm of her hand. She played a lot of my favorites from her earlier albums and did an amazing cover of “This is a Man’s World” by James Brown.

Since it was the State Fair I expected to see the crowd dwindle as the show went on but Sharon didn’t disappoint. She invited people up on the stage to dance with her which at times was entertaining and times creepy. Imagine if you will a early forty year old male, shirtless with jean shorts and flowing blonde hair trying to dance with Sharon Jones. I my was much more smooth of course, I must have looked like a white James Brown in the crowd. Not only was I cutting the rug, I was eating a gigantic turkey drumstick that looked like it came from the Cloverfield monster.

Anton's CD recommendation of the week

This weeks recommendation is “Let it Be” by Minneapolis’s own The Replacements. Alright, I feel if you are a Minnesotan and you don’t own a Replacements album you should be forced to pack up and move to Cedar Falls, Iowa. If you are my friend and don’t have anything by The Replacements please come and see me immediately because I really don’t want to have to visit you in Iowa.

I struggled picking which Replacements album to suggest and not take the easy way out and recommend their greatest hits album. I think 1984’s “Let it Be” is the best representation of the band. It has a good combo of their earlier album’s punk rock edge and there later album’s genius pop song ability. “Let it Be” opens up with what could be my favorite album openier of all time “I Will Dare” which Features Peter Buck of REM fame on guitar.

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a perfect album but this is about as close as you can get. Rolling Stone magazine rated “Let it Be” #15 on their list of 100 greatest albums of the 80’s.

She & Him...and Me

Last night I went to First Ave to see Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s band She & Him. I wasn’t expecting the show to be all that great but I was pleasantly surprised. Happy is probably the best word I can think of to decribe the show. On a few occasions I found myself completly at ease with a smile on my face. Zooey’s vocals were impressive (much better live then on the album) and their backup band was very tight. I can see Zooey having a successful career in both movies and music.

Set List:

Black Hole
I Was Made For You
Change Is Hard
Sentimental Heart
*band leaves, just Matt and Zooey play a set
You Really Got a Hold on Me (Smokey Robinson cover)
I Don’t Want to Wonder if You Love Me…cover??
Terrible News - new
You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio (Joni Mitchell cover)
*band comes back
Saw You Lingering Still - new
Got Me
I Thought I Saw Your Face Today
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
This is Not a Test
Sweet Darlin’

Encore:
Bring It On Home to Me (Sam Cooke cover)

Since the Packers are all over the news...

I thought I’d post an old story I wrote and sent via email to my flag football team “The Dramatic Prairie Dogs” last year. It just seemed fitting with all this Farve and Packers talk in the news recently. I hope you enjoy!

Hello again Prairie Dogs,

Last night I, along with a few other Prairie Dogs witnessed a story that must be told.

The setting for this story begins in a warm bar on a frigid Thursday night in downtown Minneapolis. We all sat down to watch the Packers/Cowboys game, ordered a few drinks and some apps, nothing out of the ordinary. A short while later the server came around to take our dinner orders. As we all ordered our sandwiches and burgers the server made her way to our very own Angela. Angela looked our server straight in the eyes and said “I want dessert” and then proceeded to order the brownie sundae.

Some time has passed now, the Pack are falling behind and Favre got taken out of the game with an elbow injury leaving Packer fans starring into the nervous eyes of their back up QB Aaron Rodgers (A.Rodg). As the table was becoming more and more somber our server showed up with our food. Placed in front of Angela was a huge brownie sundae that reminded me of the time I climbed Everest (but that is a whole different story). With spoon in hand Angela looked at the table and said “I’m eating this whole thing.” The challenge has begun!

The atmosphere in the bar slowly started to change. It seemed with every completed pass by A.Rodg the Packer fans spirits lifted and so did Angela’s spoon. There was a certain glimmer of determination in A.Rodg’s eyes now and that same glimmer could be seen in Angela’s. Before we knew it the sundae was over half gone. Angela looked at the table and said “I’m doing pretty well and I’ve only broken a little sweat.” I feared after this comment Angela might be getting a little cocky and that is not the Prairie Dog way.

The Packers have now pulled within 3 points of the Cowboys but both the Pack and Angela seemed to have lost momentum. I could see defeat in their eyes. I knew it was time to step in. I reminded Angela of the Prairie Dog way. The DPDs do not give up; they stay focused on the challenge in front of them and see it through to the end. After the whole table wiped away their tears from my moving speech Angela picked up the spoon and finished off the bohemiath sundae. I wish I could say the same thing happened to the Packers, that they came back and won the game without Favre, but I can’t, because they didn’t.

So the moral of the story is the Dramatic Prairie Dogs are way cooler than the Packers.