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Posts tagged minneapolis

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List created of things to do before the big move to New York (tentatively mid-to-late September)

Visit The Republic one last time. This is where I went to Beer School during Winter/Spring. One of the biggest selections of beer on tap and great food. 

See my rockstar stylist Kurt at Ficocellos. He’s an absolute blast, really great at hair, and quickly became one of my favorite people.

See Kurt (the aforementioned stylist)’s band La Madness again. Sadly I’m always busy and/or I can never find anyone to go with me, so I’ve only seen them perform once.

Visit 1029 Bar with my dad. He saw them featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and wants to check it out. Or, specifically, their lobster rolls courtesy of the Smack Shack.

Have a final hurrah whilst saying goodbye to the employees at Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den. Best bar in Minneapolis.

Filed under new york new york city nyc personal real life real-life the republic minneapolis minnesota to-do list to do list la madness music ficocellos the republic seven corners seven corners mn donny dirk's zombie den zombie den donny dirk's bar restaurant 1029 bar smack shack

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Real life update since I felt like I haven’t done one in a while…

Total concert love this past Sunday featuring The Darkness at First Avenue. 

Discovered a new modern-day 80’s band with openers Crown Jewel Defense. While researching this band, I wasn’t impressed with their publicity shots. However, seeing them live was an entirely different story. An abundance of scarves on the microphone and the lead singer wearing these pants (image not from Sunday’s show) equates to fun times. It appears they’re relatively new to the scene, judging by their extremely short set, lack of merchandise table, and their semi-difficult-to-find online store being the only place that carries their EP. Nevertheless, I hope to see these guys again in the future. 

Foxy Shazam. Still keepin’ it weird. Seriously, do yourself a favor and see these guys live. Energy exudes from every members’ pores. The very bottom left image features the lead singer after he demanded several cigarettes and lighters. He proceeded to light up several cigarettes, created a large haze of smoke, and then bit them all in half before launching into song. Their badass merch man (and hell of a seller) mentioned a planned headlining tour this April. However, dates were announced yesterday and no Minnesota venues are listed. Contemplating a roadtrip to Chicago or Omaha to catch them again.

The Darkness.  Good to have all original members back. And judging from the plethora of new songs at the show, the upcoming album is going to be great. The only other time they’ve visited Minnesota was nearly seven years ago (side note: that factoid just made me feel incredibly old). Their performance seven years ago was good but poor venue choice. Anyone who’s attended at Roy Wilkins Auditorium can concur the audio is shit. Plus, the band was still relatively new and didn’t fill occupancy. However, First Ave was a much more appropriate choice; as obvious by the sold out show. 

Brief notes:

Maybe I was reading too much into the group dynamics, but it appears lead singer Justin Hawkins is intentionally trying to include bassist Frankie Poullain more. Possibly due to Poullain being the first member to originally split from the band. 

Hawkins practically outright said the second album was “meh”. When addressing the audience he mentioned how the show will consist of a lot of the first album, quite a few new songs, but only a couple from the second because *iffy hand gesture*. Found that interesting. 

Yes, there were costume changes. 2 ½ to be exact. I say half because the last time he came out was in a new pair of pants and no shirt.

Sorry, the Hawkins facial hair is gross. And this is coming from a girl who typically loves at least scruff on a guy. 

Caught Justin Hawkins’ guitar pick. Straight shot to the chest, bounced off, caught it, and received a thumbs up from the singer. For all the shows I’ve been to in my life, that’s actually the first time that’s I’ve ever caught any of the band’s equipment. Not going to lie, fangirled briefly. 

Very entertaining show. This tour isn’t hitting up very many places but, if you get a chance, attend!

(Source: citypages.com)

Filed under Crown Jewel Defense Foxy Shazam concert darkness darkness first ave first avenue justin hawkins live live music minneapolis minneapolis concert minnesota music the darkness real life personal concert

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Surly is 11th best brewery in the world, says RateBeer Surly is the 11th best brewery in the world, and Surly Furious is the best India Pale Ale in the universe, according to RateBeer’s Best of 2012 results. RateBeer’s rankings are based on analysis of over 3.5 million beer reviews. More than 140,000 beers from 12,000 brewers were tallied, meaning that the top 100 brewers represent less than the top 1 percent of all brewers.  That said, it’s impressive than Minnesota has two breweries in the top 50 — in addition to Surly, Minneapolis’ Town Hall Brewery ranked as the 42nd best in the world. In addition to being recognized as brewing the top IPA in the world, Surly notched two of the top 50 beers overall (no IPAs made the cut) — the Surly Darkness (number 23), and the Surly Abrasive Ale (number 41).  The honor for best brewer in the world went to Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing Company, followed by Michigan’s Founders Brewing at number two and Bells at number three. The top beer honor went to Westvleteren 12, brewed by Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus out of Westvleteren, Belgium. Try pronouncing the name of that brewery three times fast! To see the full rankings, click here. 

Surly is 11th best brewery in the world, says RateBeer

Surly is the 11th best brewery in the world, and Surly Furious is the best India Pale Ale in the universe, according to RateBeer’s Best of 2012 results.

RateBeer’s rankings are based on analysis of over 3.5 million beer reviews. More than 140,000 beers from 12,000 brewers were tallied, meaning that the top 100 brewers represent less than the top 1 percent of all brewers. 

That said, it’s impressive than Minnesota has two breweries in the top 50 — in addition to Surly, Minneapolis’ Town Hall Brewery ranked as the 42nd best in the world.

In addition to being recognized as brewing the top IPA in the world, Surly notched two of the top 50 beers overall (no IPAs made the cut) — the Surly Darkness (number 23), and the Surly Abrasive Ale (number 41). 

The honor for best brewer in the world went to Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing Company, followed by Michigan’s Founders Brewing at number two and Bells at number three.

The top beer honor went to Westvleteren 12, brewed by Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus out of Westvleteren, Belgium. Try pronouncing the name of that brewery three times fast!

To see the full rankings, click here. 

Filed under beer surly surly beer surly brewing co surley brewing company minneapolis minnesota minneapolis beer ratebeer surly furious india pale ale pale ale brewery

0 notes &

Moustache Jim & the Straight Razors coming out with an album this February. If you’ve never heard of him, please, give it a listen. They put on a great show.

And to the you-know-who who reads this, can we see him again when you’re back in town? (Assuming there’s a show)

Filed under music minneapolis minnesota minneapolis music minnesota music moustache jim straight razors moustache jim & the straight razors moustache jim and the straight razors music video video youtube burlesque

15 notes &

This is happening February 12th at First Ave.

P.S. extremely happy with the venue choice. The last (and only) time they’ve been to Minnesota they performed at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Their performance was great but, as so many can attest to, that venue is wretched. Horrible sound and, considering The Darkness was only just gaining popularity, they only filled approximately half of the auditorium.

Filed under the darkness darkness i believe in a thing called love concert first ave first avenue minneapolis music music minneapolis minnesota music video video youtube

3 notes &

The Walker Art Center and I have a love/hate relationship. In either that, on a particular day, I love or hate it. Some of the art is, well, far too weird for me. The best example I always give people is that I don’t consider a box of Kleenex on top of a child’s plastic chair as art. And yet, there it is at the Walker. I strictly go for special exhibits these days and shy away from their permanent pieces. However, I attended last night on Target Free Thursday night with some coworkers. Working in the marketing field, we were all intrigued by the newish exhibit, Graphic Design: Now in Production. Walker Art Center? I don’t hate you right now. Very intriguing, diverse, and fun exhibit. I won’t delve into all that it offers but I’d recommend it to anyone interested in graphic design. And you can tell who they (read: me and my coworkers) are when they spend a good amount of time staring at the wall of typography and discussing how you’d use each one. Last night also featured a lecture by graphic designer Anthony Burrill. And, similar to the Walker, some of his work I loved while others were merely “meh.” But I do appreciate how he got his start by literally cutting and copying his work. Since then, he’s worked with wood typefaces and even created set designs for fashions shows.

The Walker Art Center and I have a love/hate relationship. In either that, on a particular day, I love or hate it. Some of the art is, well, far too weird for me. The best example I always give people is that I don’t consider a box of Kleenex on top of a child’s plastic chair as art. And yet, there it is at the Walker. I strictly go for special exhibits these days and shy away from their permanent pieces.

However, I attended last night on Target Free Thursday night with some coworkers. Working in the marketing field, we were all intrigued by the newish exhibit, Graphic Design: Now in Production.

Walker Art Center? I don’t hate you right now. Very intriguing, diverse, and fun exhibit. I won’t delve into all that it offers but I’d recommend it to anyone interested in graphic design. And you can tell who they (read: me and my coworkers) are when they spend a good amount of time staring at the wall of typography and discussing how you’d use each one.

Last night also featured a lecture by graphic designer Anthony Burrill. And, similar to the Walker, some of his work I loved while others were merely “meh.” But I do appreciate how he got his start by literally cutting and copying his work. Since then, he’s worked with wood typefaces and even created set designs for fashions shows.

Filed under art graphic design minneapolis art minneapolis minnesota personal walker art center walker target free thursday graphic design graphic design: now in production walker walker art

1 note &

First Ave is going VIP by offering First Ave Memberships. We know there is an avid art and entertainment community here in the Twin Cities. We know you are passionate about music and experiencing it live. And we want to offer you more access, more fun, and more opportunities to see and share music. We have committed ourselves to bringing you premier entertainment over the past 42 years, and now we want to bring you closer to the action. First Ave, with deep roots in the Twin Cities, prides itself on being the center of a vibrant, close-knit music community. We hope to take it a step further with the newly revitalized Membership program by giving you information and discounts, and even free tickets to help you experience all the memorable music moments to come in 2012. There is something special going on here at First Avenue, and we hope you’d like to join in as a member and experience it in an even deeper way. Gold membership costs $75 while platinum will run you a cool $400. The gold membership actually sounds like a decent deal. However, some of the exclusives expire at the end of the year so, if I (or anyone else) were interested, I’d wait off until the new year. Assuming it’ll still be offered…

First Ave is going VIP by offering First Ave Memberships.

We know there is an avid art and entertainment community here in the Twin Cities. We know you are passionate about music and experiencing it live. And we want to offer you more access, more fun, and more opportunities to see and share music. We have committed ourselves to bringing you premier entertainment over the past 42 years, and now we want to bring you closer to the action.

First Ave, with deep roots in the Twin Cities, prides itself on being the center of a vibrant, close-knit music community. We hope to take it a step further with the newly revitalized Membership program by giving you information and discounts, and even free tickets to help you experience all the memorable music moments to come in 2012. There is something special going on here at First Avenue, and we hope you’d like to join in as a member and experience it in an even deeper way.

Gold membership costs $75 while platinum will run you a cool $400. The gold membership actually sounds like a decent deal. However, some of the exclusives expire at the end of the year so, if I (or anyone else) were interested, I’d wait off until the new year. Assuming it’ll still be offered…

Filed under first ave first avenue minneapolis minnesota minnesota music minneapolis music music venue venue music