Damn Glad I Went To Gluek's

It's about 10:30pm on a Wednesday, I'm dressed in a suit after a long night of work.  My buddy Matt calls me after he got off work and says, "Hey you wanna go check out this band I saw last Wednesday?"  Now, I'm dog tired and have a killer headache but something made me commit and agree to go down there.  Part of it was I told myself I'd start going to more shows downtown again, but then again I sort of just got up and got in his car.

He told me the band is called The Root City Band but didn't say too much more about it and just said I'd enjoy it.  We were headed to Gluek's bar in downtown Minneapolis.  Let me just say, a $3 cover wasn't nearly enough after what I saw and we made sure to grab a CD to make up for it.  I get there and there is this funky, bluesy, rock, alternative, some-kind-of-soul music blastin.  Wow.  They were so solid tight but fluid enough to make the performance special and rock with whatever itched them.  I could see the sax and horn player working out rhythm stabs in the background; the bass was rockin silky smooth bass lines all night; the drummer was on point and driving the group; the keyboard player was watching everyone and running those fingers over the keys in a way you think should be illegal;  and what can I say about Alex Rossi.  The man has a voice that makes you shiver.  It's full and soulful with a touch of blues rock to it.  Oh the guitar riffs too, good god.  I loved every song and every song you couldn't help to move to.  I don't think there was one person in that bar that could've ignored what was being played.

I talked with every member that night and they are a great group of guys to boot.  They've been doing this for a solid 5 years now playing anywhere from The Nomad to Famous Dave's in Uptown.  Apparently there is this guy named Heatbox too that joins them who does vocal percussion and loops it into the songs.  Unfortunate I missed him, but I'm sure I'll be seeing him next time I go to check them out because you better believe where I'm going to be most Wednesday nights regardless of being exhausted and nursing a spliting headache.  As soon as you get to Glueks on a Wednesday night it all gets lost in the mix.  They are managed by MJG Productions who also have Heatbox, Nathan Miller, and The Big Wu.  Here are some good videos and tracks of  Alex Rossi and the Root City Band who are on Spotify as well.  Enjoy, and get to Glueks Wednesday nights starts at 9:45pm 21+.  Think about it.

Rest in Peace Rivers Edge

 NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!  I refuse to believe this is true:

Why River's Edge Music Festival is Never Coming Back

So, to me, the biggest reason Live Nation pulled the plug was, and I quote, "We weren't getting enough people out of Fargo and Green Bay."  Wait come again?  Your blaming Fargo and Green Bay for your lack of promotion?  Yes, that makes perfect sense I'm less pissed off now.  I'm sure I can speak for the 45,000 people who showed up last year in saying son...of....a....bitch.

Live Nation had a 5 year contract signed to invest in building a national audience for the festival and from the looks of it, canceling this year is a legal tactic to buy their lawyers time figure out how to get out of the contract with minimal hurt.  Here's the thing though, I'm willing to bet that there is a cost for backing out of that contract.  Live Nation will take a hit there.

After stating they would do another festival next summer now they pull the plug.  That instills a certain amount of anger toward the company that already has enough negative attention.  Live Nation takes a hit there.

Another thing that LN said was the cost of staging has skyrocketed.  Who's to say those costs won't go down by waiting another year?  If anything it's going to be worse and now you've lost ground with an audience that was looking forward to it this summer.  Live Nation takes a hit there.

Now, I'm sure there are other factors here that the average Joe doesn't know (although that'd be a nice change), but it doesn't negate the fact that this company promised to bring the festival back in 2013.  Where I come from if you're not true to your word, good luck getting people excited about anything your trying to do.  There were absolutely no problems during last years festival.  The weather was fantastic and all the people who didn't get a ticket sure heard about it afterwards about how they missed out on something special.  I would bet that more than half of those people who didn't show, would buy tickets this year, at least for one of the days.  Harriet Island has so much potential to house a hell of a party.  There is a whole other island (Rasberry Island) that could be better utilized as an additional stage.  They were talking about adding another weekend just for country.  Are you kidding me?!?!? Do they have any idea on how many people who would draw in?  They wouldn't even mind the $12 beers.  The beer was my only complaint.  Just meant had to make the walk there worth our while.

The Twin Cities are dying for a festival to call their own.  Being there last year was certainly something special.  Everyone was having a good time and when the Mayor of St. Paul spoke before Dave Matthews Band, you could really feel a sense of community in the audience.  We were proud to have all the artists there.  Your right Live Nation, it was a "backyard event" but what the hell is wrong with our backyard?    It was said that they were prepared to take a financial hit for a few years to invest in this festival being an annual thing.  Well, looks like that was a load of crap.  I hope I'm wrong and I hope there is a next time, but for now, rest in peace River's Edge you will be remembered.

Check out my pictures from last year under the concert photos tab.  Tell me it doesn't look like a blast!