40 Music Memories from 2015
Meeting Alicia Bognanno’s dad while working the merch booth for The Current at the Turf Club before watching Bully (opening for Hamilton Leithauser) for the first time. (1/17)
Watching Houndmouth live for the first time, at the Turf Club (2/21)
Seeing Zoo Animal live for the first time at Amsterdam Bar & Hall (3/7)
The Decemberists at Northrop (3/27)
Ibeyi at The Cedar (3/30)
Stereo Confession, France Camp, Bully, Jeff The Brotherhood at The Entry. Stereo Confession started the party, France Camp got it lit & then Bully destroyed the room before a concerned Alicia finished the set by asking if her dad was okay because she feared he had got caught up in the moshing (4/10)
Hearing Wolf Alice at the Turf Club, especially seeing Giant Peach live and the sound when they came out of the bridge into those Sabbath-esque riffs (5/5)
The 1-2 punch of Zoo Animal and Gramma’s Boyfriend on the first night of Art-a-Whirl at Fair State Brewing (5/15)
Sam Cassidy (backed by the Red Daughters) at Indeed Brewing Company (5/16)
The intimate Jeremy Messersmith set on the front porch of a Victorian mansion in the Cathedral Hill district of St. Paul with my friend Rachel. (5/27)
Alabama Shakes & Father John Misty playing the first show ever at Hall’s Island (5/30)
Alabama Shakes at Paisley Park and being close enough to the stage that when the guy next to me questioned whether Prince would appear I was able to point out the three white guitar picks with purple Prince symbols in front of us as evidence he would appear. Standing five feet from Prince while he shredded (6/1)
Seeing Bully perform on First Ave’s Mainstage for the first time (6/8)
My brother and I surprising my dad by taking him to see Tommy James & the Shondells for the first time at Port of Dubuque as his Father’s Day gift (6/13)
My third Rock the Garden. The lineup. Knowing so many people. The weather. It was a beautiful weekend (6/20 & 6/21)
Seeing my favorite band--My Morning Jacket--for the first time at Northrop (6/26 & 6/27)
Heartless Bastards at First Ave (6/29)
Watching Aretha Franklin perform at Saturday in the Park in Sioux City, IA (7/4)
Experiencing the 1-2 punch of Jason Isbell & Wilco at the Basilica Block Party (7/11)
First show with my friend Andrea, seeing the Strand of Oaks at Turf Club (7/27)
The Kills at First Avenue (8/3)
Last minute, somewhat intoxicated decision to see the Foo Fighters at Xcel Energy Center (8/22)
Seeing The Tallest Man on Earth at First Avenue and hearing Timothy live (8/29)
Father John Misty destroying everything, including his pants at Festival Palomino (9/19)
The intimate, quirky Tobias Jesso, Jr. performance at The Cedar (10/6)
Seeing The Joy Formidable at Turf Club with someone I was seeing at the time, culmination to a beautiful evening (10/9)
Seeing Bully headline a show for the first time (10/12)
Kurt Vile & the Violators at Mill City Nights (10/21)
Rayland Baxter opening for Grace Potter at State Theater and his amazing cover of Dylan’s Love Sick (10/22)
Run the Jewels at First Avenue (10/23)
Mary Lucia returns to the airwaves, Bob Collins welcomes her back with the Tonight Show/Johnny Carson analogy (11/9)
Ben Folds’ private HH show at Turf Club (11/18)
Tiny Deaths at Amsterdam Bar & Hall, Claire de Lune nearly perfect & great cover of Sarah McLachlan’s Building a Mystery (11/21)
Communist Daughter at Amsterdam Bar & Hall, new songs having been perfected live and fitting in seamlessly with older material (11/21)
Ben Gibbard’s private lunch set at Icehouse (12/4)
Grrrl Prty at First Ave’s mainstage, without Lizzo. Manchita’s “gender is over” t-shirt. Manchita & Sophia Eris
POS surprising everyone by having the Marijuana Deathsquads backing him at First Avenue (12/11)
Zoo Animal final show at Amsterdam Bar & Hall (12/12)
Seeing Johnny and Molly of Communist Daughter Sad Xmas Songs at Southern Theater with my friend Rachel. (12/13)
My first time seeing Max Timander’s new band, Cherry Cola, at The Entry (12/31)