A light chilly rain fell most of Friday evening, soaking hair and fogging camera lenses while music lovers scurried like rats through the maze of Superior Street construction detours. At times it raised the question, “Why are we even doing this?” They answer, of course, is that at the end of every mad dash was another mini party going on where there might be confetti cannons or a woman dressed in sparkles for Favorite Color Friday handing out sequined slap bracelets. Ultimately, of course, Homegrown is all about the amazing music that might be right around the next corner, and Friday offered a lot of it, everything from solo singer/songwriters to hip hop to metal.
The evening started way out west at Beaner's Central, with hard rockers Jensen followed by Born Too Late, who previously appeared at Sunday's Children's Showcase. The young band (the oldest member is 17) absolutely crushes rock tunes from before they were born from the likes of Guns n' Roses.
Sing! A Women's Chorus played what is likely their last-ever Homegrown show as founder Mags David is bringing the group to an end with a farewell show on June 8 at the Weber Music Hall. Sacred Heart Music Center's acoustics were a perfect showcase for the 20-plus member choir; after a soaring performance of "Dona Nobis Pacem" David remarked, "That's the kind of music this room was made for." It was an emotional performance, with David reminiscing between songs about previous Homegrown sets and other Chorus milestones.
At Amazing Grace, a smartly-dressed Sugar on the Roof gave a playful performance of old-time tunes on fiddle, guitar, trombone and banjo. Their take on Lyle Lovett's lively "Keep it in Your Pantry" inspired clapping and dancing.
Back at Sacred Heart, it was a Getarounds/Murder of Crows mashup as Gaelynn Lea performed with Dan Dresser backed by Alan Sparhawk. She and Dresser took turns performing each others' songs and trading quips. They welcomed members of Sing! A Women's Chorus back to the stage to perform on Lea's "Bird Song," encouraging the audience to join in as well.
At Zeitgeist, Ann Kathryn gave a varied performance of tunes from her new album. She played keyboards with backing from bassist George Ellsworth, then switched to a solo tune on the atrium's baby grand piano before returning to her keyboard with backing from a string quintet.
Nat Harvie took the opportunity at their trio set at Sacred Heart to talk about moving to Minneapolis., adding, "Homegrown seems like a good place to say how grateful I am for this entity and this place." The trio was actually a quartet as Alan Sparhawk joined in on guitar.
Alt rockers Mint Vintage looked like they were having a blast at Blacklist, playing a set of upbeat jams with sweet guitar riffs and a slapping bass. Frontman Quinn Ryan is fond of saying "Fraggle rock me a beer" at shows.
On the trolley, Kyle Ollah brought along some friends, a bass player and pianist (playing a pint-sized piano) and Lee "Colorblind" Johnson, known for his crazy array of homemade instruments to play some folk tunes. While conferring about the next song, Johnson was heard to say, "Well then, I brought the wrong kazoo," begging the question, is there more than one kind of kazoo?
At Legacy Glassworks, Charlotte Montgomery held the standing audience spellbound with her distinctive, warbling voice and affecting folk tunes. She opened by saying "This is a set about vulnerability. And this first song is about crippling anxiety." Her songwriting and gentle guitar bring to mind the Brit folk of the 1960s and '70s in the best possible way.
Hard rockers Shadows of Me kept the audience involved in their Blush show from the get-go, encouraging them to clap in rhythm to start the show. They introduced the tune "Heartbreaking," saying it's one of the first songs the singer and guitarist wrote together.
Little Black Books, led by Homegrown veteran Mark Lindquist, rocked Blacklist with a set of beloved original tunes topped off with a cover of "Time Warp," perhaps a nod to what it feels like to be performing at the festival as it turns 21.
Back at Blush, Lindquist's former Giljunko bandmate Rob May did a rough and rowdy folk/punk duo set, switching off with his bandmate on drums and guitar as an enthusiastic and tightly-packed crowd encircled them. Wearing a ratty fur coat and gold sunglasses, May opened his set with the repeated refrain "I wanna rock so hard/how hard you wanna rock?/hard as a rock/well that's pretty hard." Later he led a singalong of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and wrapped it all up with his best-known tune, Giljunko's infamous "Mohawks."
Highlights we caught from the rest of the evening: Kat Fox played an abbreviated set with her rock trio Honey Dick and was her usual brash self, ending with a cover of Nirvana's "Rape Me." Amy Abts, the first-ever Homegrown performer, returned with her latest band, The Transcranials for a set that drew raves on social media afterwards. MRS. & The Sordid Affairs performed as a guitar and drums duo, with Moriah Skye blasting some heavy riffs to the delight of the audience. Actual Wolf's scheduled band set turned into a DJ set with Jake Larson, aka King J-lar. A Band Called Truman did an energetic set at R.T. Quinlans, a nice throwback considering how many times frontman Leon Rohrbaugh played their with previous projects through the years.
They brought out the aforementioned confetti cannon, and the set was made even more special by the fact that Rohrbaugh's son, who'd driven home from college especially for the occasion, got up to perform a tune with the band.
By the time you read this, the Rock n' Run and Kickball Game will be long over (the Friday night bands won, by the way), Actual Wolf will have played his last Duluth Coffee morning gig, and we will be heading into the home stretch. Fortunately the weather should be better tonight, which means the show can go on for the Ignite Studio Aerialists and The Spin Collective, who will perform in Minnesota Power Plaza. The Latelys, possibly last year's most buzzed-about band, return with a Pizza Luce show at midnight.
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This Homegrown Week on KUMD is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.