It was another cold, rainy night for Day 2 of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival as it headed to Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District. “Magical Monday” was the night’s theme, with wizards and witches wandering up and down W. Superior among unicorns, trolls, and lost Ren Fest denizens.
The temps and precipitation meant that the usual mulling groups outside of venues were absent; patrons mostly huddled inside, only skittering from location to location when necessary. Unlike previous years, there was no shuttle to bring patrons from one end of West Superior Street to the other, so folks were more apt to stick with the clusters of venues on either end.
Perhaps taking a cue from the weather, the Lindula Brothers opened the evening of music at Dovetail Cafe with a cover of Bob Dylan’s "Shelter from the Storm."
Across the street from Dovetail, Dre AKA Jamaican was getting started at Legacy Cannabis (formerly Legacy Glassworks), which recently re-located from downtown to Lincoln Park. After checking IDs at the door, an employee directed patrons to a table where samples of edibles were being passed out, definitely a Homegrown first.
Against the venue's colorful and cartoonish backdrop, the rapper kept the vibe bouncy and positive with a soundcheck tune that sampled Oompa Loompas and a mid-set song that included a large helping of characters, spells, and other proper nouns from the world of Harry Potter, fitting for Magical Monday.
At the west end of the Craft District, hard rocking blues crew Blu Volta was getting loud in front of a growing audience at Wild State Cider. Just down the block, Ursa Minor was equally hoppin’ - pun definitely intended. The festgoers listening to the cozy sounds of Wes Hadrich had either a pint or a pizza in hand.
Back at Dovetail, couples were dancing the night away as Kailyn & Paul closed out their set with fiddle tunes, an Avett Brothers cover, and a sing-a-long in Mandarin.
Irreverent acoustic punk duo Campfire Tranarchists drew a capacity crowd for their Homegrown debut at at Legacy Cannabis. Their set included a song inspired by the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie called “If You Give a Landlord a Loophole,” a Bob Dylan impression (and a song about performing a sex act on him), and a cover of a tune by Houston band Days N Daze.
At Duluth Cider, folk-rock trio The Rhizomes showed their Gen X roots with a song called “John Hughes” that included the line “Don’t you forget about me.” Front woman Emily Gaarder said the song was the result of participating in Wussow’s Concert Cafe's 36-hour Songwriting Festival.
Back at Wild State Cider, Iron Range band Hobo Revival shared songs from their forthcoming new album. The band's Al Oikari, best known for his time in the Big Wu, had a slide guitar mounted on his keyboard, making it easy to effortlessly switch between the two instruments.
At Ursa Minor, blues-influenced singer/songwriter Merrill Miller performed to an appreciative audience, many who likely were seeing him for the first time since he's been in Duluth for less than a year.
Down the street at Duluth Cider it was a completely different scene, with punk rockers Bellerpuss cranking up the volume and getting the packed house headbanging. The venue was at one-in, one-out capacity during much of their set.
Back at Dovetail, singer/songwriter Severio Mancieri's set of originals and covers, showcasing his guitar talents, got the crowd stomping their feet and asking for one more song. Mancieri agreed to one more if the audience would sing along, which they did as he played Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door."
Mary Bue, a former Duluthian with a deep connection to Homegrown, started the evening at Bent Paddle.
Tim Nelson, a Homegrown veteran who was in Gild, one of the festival's very first performers, took the stage with Timothy Martin & the New Norm. Their set of driving rock included a cover of Low's "Canada," a song they originally learned for the 2013 Duluth Does Low tribute show at Sacred Heart Music Center.
Tyler Scouton, known as the leader of notorious experimental band Bratwurst, did a solo set at Caddy Shack that involved less throwing of meat than a Bratwurst show but still managed to be exquisitely bizarre. He performed electronic music with projected material on a screen behind him, a mix of vintage commercials, porn with the naughty parts removed, clips from old movies, and cartoons that managed to be disturbing without being inappropriate. This purposefully awkward environment was expertly built around the existential question of “What the hell was THAT?”
Meanwhile, in another of those contrasts that embody Homegrown, The Hot Club of Duluth took the stage at Ursa Minor Brewing for a tasteful set of expertly-played hot jazz. The nattily-dressed crew added a piano player to their usual lineup and even got the crowd singing along on one of their rare tunes featuring vocals.
In an unexpected twist, Homegrown night two ended with...line dancing as roots-rockers Grand Holler closed down the night at the Caddy Shack.
Coming up:
Tuesday is Canal Park Night, with the action starting at Vikre at 6:30pm and a full slate of bands on the big stage at the DECC's Amsoil Arena.
The Dress Up theme is Preppy Tuesday
Coverage of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
