This concert will be limited in capacity, so reserve your space today. Please specify which show you are RSVPing to. Reservation cost is $10, and to reserve space, please log into PayPal and send your payment to CakeIn15@gmail.com. Please mark your payment as a “GIFT” in order to avoid PayPal fees. This is money going to the artists, so please don’t short-change them!

Your reservation to this special show is confirmed ONLY when you receive an email both confirming your payment and giving you the house address. This email must come from CakeIn15@gmail.com and NOT Paypal (so make sure to check your spam filter). Guests are invited to bring a beverage of their choice to enjoy.

When: Sunday, August 15, 2010
Time: 5pm and 7:30 pm (almost sold out) PLEASE SPECIFY WHICH SHOW
Where: The Cake Shop, location upon RSVP
How much: $10 reservations

Cake In 15: It’s good to talk to you- I saw Kings Go Forth down at South By Southwest this March but it’s surprising that you haven’t played Minneapolis yet. I take it with the size of the band, touring must be difficult.

Andy Noble: We do as much as we can, which is not as much as other bands. There’s just a lot of dudes, and you know, everybody thinks we don’t travel because of people having jobs and families and stuff, but it’s actually because there are so many guys in the band that lot of the trips are cost prohibitive. We just canceled a trip to California in late August because we’ll get good guarantees but we’ll still lose money on it. It’s so expensive to bring 10 guys on the road that you have to be making a lot of money before you even break even.

CI15: Have you been losing money on the band so far, or found a way to break even?

AN: Definitely losing money.

CI15: Fortunately Minneapolis isn’t too far away.

AN: I know; I’m really surprised that it took us this long to book Minneapolis, but it’s going to be great to have Minneapolis in the loop. That’s something that really helps, that the band has towns we can play that aren’t a plane trip away.

CI15: With Kings Go Forth, it feels like the relationship between your music and Black Wolf’s lyrics and vocals are the driving relationship in that band. Is that the case?

AN: It’s one of them. Really, it was just kind of a basement project, we were recording songs on an 8 track recorder in the basement and they got really popular and so we had to become a real band to back that up. The way that people, the world looks at groups, they think that every group is a group and they’re hungry to go on the road and make money and that’s what you do for a living and in our case that wasn’t really correct, it was just a little basement project and it’s had to become a real band to fulfill the public I guess.

CI15: What kind of records were you and Black Wolf bonding over when you started working on the Kings Go Forth project?

AN: Well it wasn’t any specific records and if it was it wouldn’t be anything that anybody would really know. When you talk about black music history it is these epoch moments and there are so many releases. I am very focused on single releases and 45s, I am not very much of an LP oriented person. I really like to hear 2 or 3 minutes of a band. So many people are capable of making a single that aren’t capable- very few people make full length albums that are worthwhile to listen to the whole thing. So me and him bonded over our knowledge and our enthusiasm of the local music scene from that era, 60s 70s and 80s, actual soul era, golden era. Acts like the Esquires and Harvey Scales would be the really famous ones but going on from there you’re talking about [bands like] Upheaval. The [track] “Paradise Lost” on our album is a cover of a song that only 20 copies were ever made and it was a group where everyone was serving life sentences in Waupon Prison. They were Milwaukeeans and they were in prison, and the song was discovered from one known copy, so things like that, hopelessly obscure things like that. But just the concept of local heroes, no hit wonders, people who self finance things where the artists paid to make the record.

CI15: You have a wide knowledge of under-appreciated and unknown bands. In the light of that kind of music history, what kind of success do you want for Kings Go Forth?

AN: Well, honestly, I want it to get to the point where it feels like we’re steering the ship. If you have success for one of your projects it should make your life better and not worse, you know? [Laughs] And that’s tricky, because where there’s a lot of demand for what you do and there are other parties involved like managers and booking agents and clubs it gets really tough and there are other people that rely on your band for income. It’s really tricky at this point when a band is beginning to establish a name that you establish a precedent that we’re doing this to make our lives better and not worse and so really trying to have the freedom to go play shows because we want to and not because people tell us we have to, to have the freedom to write and record music because we want to and not because we have to. I honestly believe that music is a byproduct of life and that life comes first and music comes second.

CI15: With that desire to retain your own control, what was the impetus behind signing with a label?

AN: I was planning on putting out the record on our own, I was not shopping it to labels at all and so they came to us. Yale Evelev, president of Luaka Bop convinced me it would be a good idea and I like Yale and he’s really into music, he likes a lot of music that I’m really into too and Luaka Bop had a good track record in selling CDs. I am such a vinyl person that almost all my connections in distribution and sales for the record were just going to be in LP and 45, I really didn’t know too much about digital music sales or CD sales and a lot of people aren’t even buying CDs any more but Luaka Bop still has a fairly faithful CD audience which is a bonus. We retained the right to create and distribute our own singles on 45 in our contract though, so those still come out on Mr C’s, which is our own private imprint.

CI15: Who do you see as your target audience? From the promo I’ve been seeing it seems like you’re being marketed towards an indie or rock crowd as opposed to a soul audience.

AN: Anyone who makes a record, they’ll market you towards those people, I think it’s totally an economic thing, those are the people who buy the most music and go and see the most concerts, it’s not kind of a musical consideration. It works, I’m not slagging off indie music in general. There’s some of it that I like a lot, there’s some I don’t like at all, the whole gamut really, but they’re not that rhythmically oriented. Even indie dance which has been this big thing over the last ten years is really just a guy who obviously grew up in punk bands playing his version of a disco beat. It’s OK, but in our group, our rhythm section is coming straight out of Latin jazz or Afro rhythm and these are guys who really know their rhythmic stuff and have a great rhythmic sensibility, you’re coming from a lot more in-depth rhythmic place with our group and Sharon Jones and all that. Sometimes people want to sit at home and cry and listen to some indie songs and that’s fine and there’s a time and a place for that, but sometimes when people go see live music they just want to have fun.

You can pretty much tempt me anywhere with the promise of free ice-cream, and that was a big reason for going to Milly & Tillie, now playing through August 7th at the Open Eye Figure Theatre. I mean, I risked being the creepy older guy at a kid’s show, but director Jason Ballweber (also Artistic Director of the always funny but generally more adult company Four Humors Theater) had put me at ease earlier. “It has been marketed as a “family friendly” show,” he wrote while inviting me to the show, “which it is but I think it is just fun all around. I equate it to an episode of Peewee’s Playhouse.”

Peewee’s Playhouse is a good comparison, as Liz Schachterle as Milly and Elise Langer as Tillie (last name of Silly, thank you very much) mix their PBS friendly themes (Imaginary bears! Making ice-cream! A picnic!) with the same manic energy, off the charts voices and rubber faces that Paul Rubens brought to his icon of childhood-in-adult-form. The two actresses, with Schachterle playing an endearing Amelia Bedelia-type and Langer a bit more Chaplin-esque off-the-wall are aided in their high-energy shenanigans by excellent sound design courtesy of Sean Healy and a terrific mix of lighting (by Michael Murnane) and shadow puppetry (courtesy of Schachterle) that turn the actual picnic scene into live-action cartoon.

As an adult, I laughed at loud not only at the physical humor but also to some of the references to famous clowns of the past, a silent bit with a rainstorm and and wind drew from Chaplin. The energy and excitement of the neighborhood kids, some of whom have not missed a performance was also infectious and amusing. One child, in a bit where Schachterle was miming fishing, screamed out “Baseball!” Baseball was the next mime. The kids were there for the ice-cream too, but they get the benefit of the joy of live performance. It’s a sight better then sitting inside and watching TV, whether you’re 5, 25 or 65.

The show is free, and runs in conjunction with the summer “Driveway Tour“, so check out the theatre in your neighborhood!

Fort Wilson Riot Radio Promo from Carl Atiya Swanson on Vimeo.

It’s Fort Wilson Riot’s big week, leading up to the big Predator/Prey release show at the Kitty Cat Klub on Friday July 30. Everything kicks off this Friday, July 23, when the Predator/Prey single “All My Friends” will be featured as the “Song Of The Day” on 89.3 The Current. Fabulous Current DJ Barb Abney will announce it and the song will be available for download via The Current’s website for 24 hours. Then on Sunday, July 25, Fort Wilson Riot will be the featured guest on “The Local Show with David Campbell”, so tune in to 89.3 The Current at 6pm for talk, laughs and music- including a new, non-album track!

On Tuesday, July 27, Amy and Jacob team up with the versatile journalist Cyn Collins for “Spin With Cyn” on 90.3 KFAI at 10am. Collins has been a long-time friend and supporter of FWR, writing about them for the Star tribune when Idigaragua debuted in 2007.

Finally, as a warm-up for the big release, Fort Wilson Riot will be live on “Off the Record” with Andrew & Jake on 104.5 Radio K at 3pm. Tune in then, and then head down to the Kitty Cat Klub that night for the big Predator/Prey release show with Phantom Tails, Zoo Animal and DJ Skullbuster, Cover for the show is $5, but a couple lucky pairs will get free list spots to the show for following Fort Wilson Riot on Twitter (@FortWilsonRiot) and for RSVPing to the event on Facebook.

“They could smell death,” she said as she rolled her cigarette between her fingers. “They smelled death and everyone started tipping big.” She was talking about the regulars of a restaurant that closed, but despite the best efforts of the sunshine and summer breeze, the darkness of the end of times weigh heavy on the crowd on the rooftop patio of the Bedlam Theatre. The Bedlam is about to be evicted and downstairs in the relative cool of the brick bar, another patron sighed, “It feels like the end of a golden age.” It might be, mainly because the old aphorism is true; you don’t know how good you’ve got it ‘til it’s gone. Or in this case, on the way out.

By now you should know the details. The Star Tribune broke the story last week that the Bedlam Theatre, which has occupied a former nightclub space on the West Bank for four years now, was given notice by their landlords that they would have to leave the space by September 7th. Sheila Regan at the Twin Cities Daily Planet expanded that narrative with an excellent history of the Bedlam and what it has meant to the West Bank as a community. Even though the Bedlam is about to lose a physical space, it won’t be going down without a wash of ink and lots of peoples two cents, because opinions and voices are two of the only things that artistic-types have going for us these day. Lord knows it’s not the money or the stable future.

First Bedlam performance, “No Sugar Cookies For Herbert”

It wasn’t originally supposed to feel permanent. Four years ago, Bedlam and it’s merry band of theatre-making, authority-thumbing, romping gypsies and vagabonds were similarly evicted from a basement space and amid much wailing and gnashing of teeth, were steered into an empty building that had seen a string of failed businesses. I remember getting off the lightrail one cold day, maybe in November, and seeing people with hammers going to work on the outside of the run-down red brick building. “Whatcha doing?” “Putting in a theatre.” “Cool.” The concept seemed really simple, just take over a space and make a theatre! It hasn’t been simple at all, but it has been thrilling and rewarding to watch innovation at work. They’ve even made Shakespeare work for them.

Six months after that first encounter, I was auditioning for the first of three of the Bedlam’s 10 Minute Community Play Festivals in which I would participate. That From that first festival, I met the people with whom I would be a part of an indie-rock opera called Idigaragua. We went on to form a company called Lamb Lays with Lion and perform more works at Bedlam. I have done one-off performances there, designed for the space and written reviews of numerous shows that have been performed there. I loved a lot of it, hated some, but was rarely indifferent to what was happening in that space. I owe a lot to the Bedlam company. As it turned from just a theatre into one of the best bar & restaurant combos in town, I have had discussions, fights and feel-good sessions, been uproariously drunk and keenly sober there. Of any space in the Twin Cities, it is one where you can walk in and feel at home, whether you want to sit by yourself or get into it with a stranger. It has character, and it has community.

Bedlam’s fuzzy joyful memories

In fact, Bedlam has been central to creating a “community” on the West Bank. It sometimes feels like a neighborhood where students glide past hipsters ignoring the Somali immigrant population, all parties willfully oblivious to eachother. The Bedlam, especially through its work with the youth at the Brian Coyle Center, has made the space to change that and to bring these groups into dialogue. Bedlam has translated a fundamental tenet of theatre, that communication of personal narrative is a social force, and empowered communities and tribes in need of a voice. Fortunately this progress will not be lost, as the Mixed Blood Theatre just down the street (who own their building lock & stock) will be carrying on that community and youth based work. It only makes sense, as their stated mission is to be “dedicated to the spirit of Dr. King’s dream.”

Despite that continuation, it would be a great loss to the neighborhood, to theatre-folk, to artists, musicians and foodies, to passersby and to Minneapolis as a whole if these instigators and rabble-rousers go. Permanence may be antithetical to the revolutionary spirit, but Bedlam never let itself get bored in their space, and never bored us either. So let the mayor know that. Tell him that whether it’s through tax-breaks, real-estate incentives or good old fashioned politicking, Minneapolis needs the Bedlam’s innovative force. We should not let this go quietly, without a fight or at least a damn good party. Down in the bar, a board member was taking a distinctly different view then that of the end of days. “The moment they say so,” she grinned, “I’m ready to start a capital campaign.” She was ready to go, so let’s tip big, kick up our heels and move on to the next big change.

Spread the word! Save the Bedlam!

CakeIn15.com is happy to announce the next in the series of shows at The Cake Shop. We are proud to host an evening with Spirits of the City, whose elegant and complex arrangements of strings, brass and percussion are both dreamy and rooted in American song structures. Spirits of the Red City just released a 7”, Serves You Right, in July before heading out for the West Coast, and the Cake Shop show will be their first since leaving for tour, and a rare appearance in the Twin Cities. Join us at the Cake Shop on Sunday, August 15 at 7:30, when Spirits of the Red City will (weather permitting) play outdoors on the deck as the sun sets.

This concert will be limited in capacity, so reserve your space today. Reservation cost is $10, and to reserve space, please log into PayPal and send your payment to CakeIn15@gmail.com. Please mark your payment as a “GIFT” in order to avoid PayPal fees. This is money going to the artists, so please don’t short-change them!

Your reservation to this special show is confirmed ONLY when you receive an email both confirming your payment and giving you the house address. This email must come from CakeIn15@gmail.com and NOT Paypal (so make sure to check your spam filter). Guests are invited to bring a beverage of their choice to enjoy.

When: Sunday, August 15, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm
Where: The Cake Shop, location upon RSVP
How much: $10 reservations

The Cake Shop is dedicated to providing artists and audiences with a unique and intimate experience that allows artists to freely experiment with new material. Shows at The Cake Shop directly financially support the musicians playing. Previous performances at The Cake Shop include Dark Dark Dark and Elephant Micah, Pezzettino, Roma Di Luna, Jeremy Messersmith, The Pines and Chastity Brown.

CakeIn15.com is dedicated to covering and supporting culture issues of importance to the Twin Cities- local music, art, fashion and theater as well as national acts. After all, we do live here.

Spirits of the Red City: “Mirror” from Spirits of the Red City on Vimeo.

I’ve expressed my reservations about this shindig before, but put them aside in the name of music and covering the semi-blasphemous but generally vanilla event for the A.V. Club. Did it again this year, along with photographs from Staciaann and Meredith Westin, so you can catch up with the sacred, profane and downright damned over there.