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Dillinger Four, Negative Approach, Kitten Forever, Victory, The Slow Death

Triple Rock Social Club

Minneapolis, MN

November 22, 2017

I usually try to keep show reviews to the point: Here’s what happened; how it went down; and where it went off the rails. But this isn’t a normal show. Dillinger Four headlined and Negative Approach destroyed, but it was really all about the Triple Rock on Tuesday night. After opening its doors in 1998 as a bar and adding a venue in 2003, the nationally recognized club went out big. When I turned my back at approximately midnight and walked up Cedar Avenue, I knew that the distinct three diamond sign behind me wouldn’t light up again.

This is supposed to be a show review. I’ll get to that. First, it’s a eulogy.

Established by Gretchen and Erik Funk (of Dillinger Four), the club has played a central role in local music for nearly two decades. It’s hosted countless touring bands. I caught The Weakerthans on multiple tours when they crossed the border into Minnesota; I saw Naked Raygun dominate the stage for an entire weekend; I saw Lifter Puller reunite in a parking lot bash. I’ve eaten meals at the bar, enjoyed happy hours, hung out with out of town friends, made new friends, been on dates with my now-wife, discussed marriage with friends, and so much more. I’ve been upstairs in the office, backstage with musician friends, and in every corner of the floor and stage at some point in time. Beyond my own connections, it’s been the subject of a NOFX song, namedropped by The Hold Steady, and so much more. The stories about the magical musical performances, the vegan comfort foods, the ridiculous shots, and the long-forgotten drink board will live on.

Shortly before the clock struck midnight on Tuesday night, Paddy of D4 announced that “Putting the ‘F’ Back in ‘Art’” would be the last song ever played on the stage. A few minutes later, Har Mar Superstar pleaded with the audience to keep him crowd surfing until D4 did a rare encore. The crowd failed his crowd surfing goal (much better than crowdfunding, btw), but history will note that the last song was “O.K. F.M. D.O.A.” The one-song encore was worth it.

Onto the actual show.

I also came to the club for an unticketed event the previous night. Since I’d already seen six bands this week, I’ll admit to coming late. I missed The Slow Death (which is a shame), and caught the end of Victory’s set. Up next, Kitten Forever talked about how Triple Rock gave them a stage to become the band they are today, even if they didn’t come from the same background as many of the white males in the room. They blasted through an instrument-swapping set with a unique energy that’s equal parts rage and party-music, screaming and singing coyly into their adapted telephone microphone while trading instruments amid band members mid-song without missing a beat.

Negative Approach are almost beyond words. Anyone familiar with their fury can try and image the live recreation. It’s pummeling, unfiltered fury amid a chaotic sea of clenched fists, reckless stage dives and gallons of sweat. The relentless, minute-long songs form wave after wave of crowd insanity until the audience and band are a seamless puddle of spent energy.

D4…I’ve seen this band a million times. Because they’re awesome.

It was a standard show in many ways, with the band on point more often than not (OK, not always a given). They played very well, with few missed notes and setlist mix-ups. Even the banter was contained, because it wasn’t about the headliners tonight. It was about the venue: the staff, and the community who has grown with them for the last 19 years. While many recent sets by D4 have been heavy on Civil War songs, this one leaned pretty equally across their catalog, though few retired gems from the 7” days popped up. On the floor, the crowd was clearly emotional, but took out its frustration positively, by getting into each band and bouncing (and thrashing about) instead of the fake glow of selfie-sticks and text messaging that pollutes most shows these days. It was hot as hell and the bar was literally running dry. (Shortly before my last drink order, the bartender killed a keg, turned to the customer and said, “You guys are fucked.”) It’s hard to summarize, because while D4, Negative Approach, and the whole night’s bill were outstanding, the night was about the venue. It was a really great show, from start to finish, but it was beyond the bands on stage. It was personal, and everyone in the room was connected by a live soundtrack.

***

I suppose I should mention the cameo between bands by The Brian Boru Bagpipe Band, who marched through the small venue in traditional uniform prior to Negative Approach’s set. It was a unique and touching moment, but in the context of this narrative it doesn’t fully warrant much attention. The Triple Rock was a special place: there are dozens of venues in Minneapolis-St. Paul, but few pull off stunts like this. It really was unique, a reflection of ownership and staff. Musically, it goes much deeper. They’d book local bands who normally do basement gigs, and not as a one-time thing. Bands need a stage to figure things out. Like Kitten Forever said, Triple Rock provided this in a way most places do not.

In many ways, Monday night felt like the true sign-off for me. Tuesday sold out in record time and was packed with emotional bodies, but it was more organized and more of a spectacle. Monday was the goodbye, Tuesday was the send-off, and now I’m in mourning.

It felt a little strange when the annual D4th of July wasn’t on the 4th of July this year this year. (It was on the weekend instead.) At the time I shrugged my shoulders. Weekends are better for me: I’m pushing 40 and weekday shows are hard to do. I’m currently in the stages of grief, blaming myself. Next year, who knows if D4th will even be a thing. Traditions change and die out, and new ones rise in their place. The Triple Rock is already missed. Let the stories live on and let something new and wonderful rise from its influence. Scenes change but they'll never be the same.

Lineup on Monday, November 21: Lutheran Heat, Bug Fix, Arms Aloft, Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band, Citric Dummies, Dillinger Four

Thanks for all the memories.

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Photos by Loren Green

Skepticon

Recital Hall

Sydney, Australia

November 18-19, 2017

Think Inc. is a telling name: Dedicated to nurturing rational discourse, the bright heads behind the organisation organise Q&A sessions, forums and other events with luminaries and subject matter experts from a range of areas to make specialist knowledge accessible for both - those in the know and those on the periphery interested in gaining deeper insight into academic and scientific specialist knowledge.

Summa summarum, an innovative concept aimed at the provision of a  platform to strike a balance between the application of academic rigour and the celebration of science without dumbing the matter in question down. 

Skepticon Australia 2017 is a Think Inc.’s two-day ideas festival meant for anybody who seeks truth and is ready to question the most recent fads with a diverse range of presenters, covering the gamut of skeptical and scientific topics aiming at tackling opportunistic quacks seeking to peddle and profit from their pseudoscientific claims – think the danggers of wireless internet, WiFi 'dangers', fads like the Paleo diet that refuses to return to its beloved paleolithic era, and therapies like cupping et cetera. 

This ideas festival ran over the course of a weekend, consisting of presentations, panel discussions, Questions & Answers sessions and performances, e.g. bands and other Think Inc related artists..

Professor Alan Duffy, renowned luminary in the fields of astrophycisim and science communication, joined forces for the first time with LA Area Emmy Award winning journalist, science communicator, television personality, producer and podcaster, Cara Santa Maria, joined the stage to create Beyond the Eye.

Filmmaker, futurist and self-proclaimed  ‘epiphany addict’ Jason Silva “likes ideas”. He states that tenacity and flexibility as well as their infectious nature is what excites as well their ability to spawn and prepare fertile ground for new ideas. And that is exactly what he did – he descended onto terra australis to share them.

The Scientists

Factory Theatre

Sydney, AU

November 18, 2017

The Scientists became a much more influential post-punk band than their minimal commercial success would indicate, lending their influence to what would ultimately become what became labeled as “grunge”, i.e. artists such Mudhoney and NYC’s indie scene of the early 1990s.

The band has built a more than decent fan base in each city and near  legendary status within the Australian music scene with their concerts were being raucous affairs, and recordings bringing out their darker inclinations.

Entering the stage and with the classic bill of Kim Salmon, Boris Sujdovic, Tony Thewlis and Leanne Chock, they dished out hear classics from their catalogue as they were written in a manner that paid homage to its original context and seamlessly translated in into a menacing contemporary, energetic and brutal onslaught – a ménage a trois between The Beatles, The Stooges and The Cramps.

Swamp Rock with at time pstchdelic tinges at its finest - dark, murky, brooding, often menacing; with deeper cuts from their earlier oeuvre being more in the style of up-tempo power-pop akin perhaps to The Buzzcocks and  Ramones. 

This was no sterile reprisal of the glory days of yore but a testament to the importance of a fantastic Australian band.

Glen Matlock

Landowne Hotel

Sydney, Australia

November 16, 2017

Chances are that if you are on this website, you know who Glen Matlock is, as he is  not only known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up and co-author of the better known ditties of the Sex Pistols, but he has left his mark on the music industry throughout his career with stints at The Rich Kids, Iggy Pop, The Damned, a reformed Faces, The Philistines, et cetera.

Ah, worn out sayings . . .

“It seems that you can take the boy out of the Sex Pistols but you cannot take the Sex Pistols out of the boy” as the tour was meant to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sex Pistols’ one and only studio album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols, and Matlock’s band will be performing the Pistols’ classic hits as well as plenty of music from his own repertoire.

Legend has that Matlock was sacked by Malcolm Mc Laren and replaced by someone who could not play but looked the part, which in my formative years was at least equally as important – needless to say that the evening was testament to Matlock’s musical prowess and the fact that style does not have to culminate in wearing a padlock around your neck.

The focus of the evening was on classic Sex Pistols era crowd-pleasers with more recent offerings from his extensive oeuvre, slower songs and cover versions of classics sprinkled in along with some blues and some all-out rockers, mixed with banter, anecdotes, storytelling and other forms of interaction that he helped eliminate the barrier between himself and the audience.

Sex Pistols’ classic were presented in Matlock’s own unique style, at times inviting the audience to help revamp the chorus or doing backing vocals and creating renditions which everyone again got involved with.

An enjoyable and relaxed evening, more rock in nature than an exercise in recreating whatever is commonly perceived to be the DNA of 70s-era punk, with one of the original characters of punk rock that ticked quite a few boxes, not only in in terms of being able to bask in the presence of an original Pistols but also in terms of musicality and entertainment conveyed via the spoken word.

5 Ingredients – Quick Easy Food

by Jamie Oliver

Penguin Books

As the title suggest, the premise is by stripping down your shopping list and using merely five ingredients, arranged and put together in a creative manner to cook up a storm of enticing chow – and pronto, whether it's finished and on the table in a matter of minutes, or after a bit more involved preparation and the oven doing the heavy lifting.

In essence: A lot of flavour disproportional to the time spent resulting in affordable, healthy meals that can be created any time.

An ideal companion for busy people.

One hundred and more hurry recipes are illustrated running the gamut from meat dishes to salads and vegetarian fare.

The book is richly illustrated and comes with a detailed guide listing ingredients in a granular manner and backed up by the provision of  nutritional information.

Clear, concise and nicely put together.

Each left hand page shows you the five ingredients down the left side and has the nutritional info underneath.

The right hand page is a full colour photograph of the finished dish.

There is an appendix with nutritional notes as to how to balance your plate with Veg and Fruit - carbs - Proteins - Dairy - fats and Oils.

With fewer ingredients, Jamie is hoping to make people more aware of what is going into their food – something he is keen to do himself as he embarked on a nutrition course three years ago and is now studying for his masters.