The top 23 shared, most commented on stories of 2013
December 30, 2013
Before we put 2013 to bed once and for all, we wanted to pause for a moment and reflect on some of the biggest music stories of the year. And there were quite a few stories that resounded deeply with readers and listeners, both in terms of how many comments and discussions they generated and how much you shared them with your own network of friends.
We share the stories that connect with us the most profoundly. In some cases, that means that we found a compelling story, or perhaps a breaking news item that rocked our worlds. Other times we might share things just so we can argue about them in the comments or on our own Facebook pages. But as we move forward into the New Year, some of the people who helped shape our musical world will not be traveling with us, and in some cases, the most-shared stories speak to how deeply we were affected by the loss of significant figures in our community. The passing of Zach Sobiech, Steve Kramer, Billy Sverkerson, Phantom Vibrations' Henry Mackaman, the Cabooze's Jason Aukes and prominent Twin Cites concert promoter Sue McLean all hit especially close to home, and they are remembered here alongside all of the other ups and downs that 2013 delivered.
After scanning the list of most-shared stories, one thing is for certain: 2013 was a vibrant year for music, and it proved that our scene is just as engaged and active as ever. Join us in remembering the moments that made this year one for the history books.
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It's the 400 Bar—and after decades of hosting live music, the West Bank institution has closed its doors and vacated its ancient two-story building on the corner of Cedar and Riverside Avenues.
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So that's why the Dakota Jazz Club's calendar has been conspicuously blank for the remainder of this week and weekend. The space has been rented out by none other than Prince, who will be holding an audition for a new drummer, hosting a jam session, and performing at six separate events at the Dakota.
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Saint Paul's Nicholas David "The Feelin'" Mrozinski has been a fixture of the local music scene for a decade, with several albums under his belt and frequent live shows in the area to bolster his Twin Cities rep. But last year he was catapulted to nationwide fame thanks to a stint on season three of NBC's The Voice. Through it all, he never forgot his local roots, and that's included maintaining a connection to his friends here at The Current. He made a cameo at our 8th birthday party earlier this year, stopped by the Local Show for an on-air interview and chatted with Andrea Swensson on the Local Current blog.
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The Minnesota Senate passed a bill today that will legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota. It's a bill that Governor Mark Dayton has said he plans to sign into law tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. on the front steps of the State Capitol, and effective Aug. 1, 2013, Minnesota will be the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage.
It's an historic day for Minnesotans. And as writer, activist, and MC Guante pointed out in his Opine Season column today, it's not a policy change or shift in public opinion that happened overnight. In fact, many musicians have stepped forward over the past year to publicize their views and speak out in support of same-sex marriage, peaking with a series of benefit concerts and outreach events when the marriage amendment went up for a public vote last fall and continuing as we approached the Senate vote.
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It was three and a half years ago when Sobiech's life changed forever. In the summer before entering high school he went out for a run and came home with a sharp pain in his left hip. What was initially thought to be an issue with his hip flexor was eventually revealed to be a tumor, and when he was just 14 he went from getting ready to try out for the Stillwater High School basketball team to coming to terms with the fact that he had osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that specifically afflicts children.
"Zach's a guitar player, and he started writing songs for his family. And the first song, 'Clouds', he sketched out, and his mom saw the lyrics laying on a table and said this is really good, this is my kid's music. And like any loving, supportive mom--fiercely supportive mom--she went out and started finding the people to bring it all together."
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It's official: After years of near-misses, teases, and tantalizing hints, the Replacements have just announced that they will, in fact, reunite to play at least three shows.
Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson have signed on to headline three different installments of the Riot Fest, which is scheduled to hit Toronto Aug. 24-25, Chicago Sept. 13-15, and Denver Sept. 21-22. It will be the first time they have performed together since July 4, 1991.
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As the sun peeked out and the crowd peeled off their rain ponchos, the Duluth trio launched into their song "Do You Know How to Waltz?," a normally 14-minute-long song that first appeared on their 1996 album The Curtain Hits the Cast, and stretched out the song's jammy, droning coda to create an unending wall of noise.
But in the time since Low stopped playing and Alan Sparhawk concluded their appearance with the simple sentence, "Drone, not drones," the reaction to Low's Rock the Garden performance has taken on a life of its own. Both the slideshow and review on our site have been inundated with impassioned comments, and the social media snowball has rolled down the hill far enough to spawn Twitter accounts on both sides of the aisle (@FU_low vs. @TheLowDrone).
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Whether you attend shows all the time or only make it out every now and again, chances are you've noticed some changes going down at First Avenue. The big star repainting that happened in 2010 caught a lot of people's attention (and led to some outcry, as fans questioned which artists would remain and which ones would get the boot), as did the addition of the Ave's new restaurant, the Depot Tavern, which opened later that same year.
But what people may not realize is that the person behind all of these changes is relatively new—and she never imagined that she'd be in charge of such a landmark venue like First Avenue. Dayna Frank, the club's Executive Vice President, stepped in to help run the club when her father, Byron Frank, suffered a stroke in 2009. Byron's fine now, but Dayna enjoyed the work so much that she ended up staying put—and now, everything from the new restaurant to the shiny new women's bathroom in the Entry to the forthcoming First Avenue Festival can be traced back to her influence on the club and her vision for a more forward-thinking and open gathering place for music fans.
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We are sending our thoughts and love to Mary Lucia and her pug Smudge. They are making a very tough decision on Thursday after learning that Smudge requires another surgery from which she is not likely to bounce back.
For her No Apologies track, Mary played Claude Debussy's "Claire De Lune" because it is sweet and beautiful, just like Smudge.
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We are just days away from a new chapter in the Replacements' history as the band--which currently consists of founding members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, plus stand-ins Josh Freese and David Minehan—prepares to play their first show in 22 years this Sunday in Toronto.
The unexpected reunion has already gotten us reminiscing here at the Current, and led to us compiling a beginner's guide to the Replacements earlier this week. Now, we'll peel back another layer and get into the band's position in the larger Minnesota music community.
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"For 25 years we've been having a wardrobe debate. It was unresolved," he laughed, bounding out on stage in Toronto and looking down at his plaid sport coat then over at Tommy Stinson, dressed in a grey suit. "We're going to play some old sh*t."
And with that, they were off. After so much anticipation, so many "dream set lists," and so many lofty expectations, the 'Mats (or at least founding members Westerberg and Stinson, along with sidemen Josh Freese and David Minehan) blasted through a set that left little time for contemplation. Instead, the band pummeled through one recognizable tune after another as the audience moshed, pogoed, and screamed the words to each song at the top of their lungs.
Mason Jennings previews his new album 'Always Been'
Mason Jennings stopped by the Current this morning to premiere three new songs off his forthcoming Always Been, which came out Nov. 12. The album is his 10th studio release, and finds him exploring a rootsier, fuller sound.
"I think I wanted to make the warmest possible acoustic-based record," he told The Morning Show today. "I was really moved by the Buena Vista Social Club record, the sound of it--and the Pines records sound like that too, where you feel the room. And that's something I haven't really explored before."
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Prince proved once again Saturday night that the best purple parties are the last-minute purple parties. He united his power trio 3rdEyeGirl and his sprawling NPG for a punchy, potent set that kept Paisley Park packed until 2:00 in the morning.
Word of the show got out just days beforehand, and fans started lining up outside Paisley's gates early in the afternoon on Saturday. A line grew and snaked down the street across from Prince's home and studio despite the cold temperatures and relentless rain, and by the time doors were scheduled to open at 9 p.m. there were a couple thousand fans, a news van, and police swarming the streets in quiet, tightly controlled anticipation.
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This past Wednesday morning, Prince and 3rdEyeGirl invited the general public to partake in The Breakfast Experience, a "Pajama Dance Party" held at Paisley Park Studios. With a request to "Dress 2 Impress" and doors set to open at 2 a.m., but with no confirmation that Prince himself would actually take the stage, hundreds made the trip to Chanhassen for the potential experience of seeing the master at work on his home turf.
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It's been a dramatic week for news about St. Paul music venues. On the heels of the Artists' Quarter's announcement that they will shutter at the end of the year, Minneapolis institution First Avenue has revealed that they are in the process of purchasing the Turf Club from owner Tom Scanlon and will take over operations on Oct. 15.
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This morning the City of St. Paul announced their plans to renovate and reopen the historic Palace Theatre on West 7th Place as a music venue, with additional help from rock club First Avenue and concert promoter JAM Productions.
The city estimates that renovations--which they classified as an act of stabilization, not historical restoration--will cost $12 million. They plan to ask the state of Minnesota to finance half that amount, and will request that $6 million in funding this legislative session. The rest will come from philanthropic gifts and a loan that will be paid back by the venue's operations.
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All of the venue buyout and renovation announcements caused us to revisit a conversation we've had time and time again here at the Current: Just how do venue sizes in the Twin Cities measure up, and is there an easy way to wrap our heads around all that data?
53 venues are included in this infographic, which isn't comprehensive by any means, but it does give us a good visualization of just how wide the range is here in town—from the largest concert in recent history, the U2 concert at TCF Stadium (58,000 tickets sold) down to some of the most intimate rooms in town, like the Acadia (capacity 75). As you'll see, we also included the Palace Theatre in the list to see how it fits in with other options here in the metro area.
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He may say he doesn't want to talk about his music, but Josh Tillman (a.k.a Father John Misty) has strong feelings about the music he listens to in his free time. The eclectic singer-songwriter draws his inspiration from a variety of music genres and he played us some of his current favorite songs.
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I hope you didn't have anything important you wanted to get done today. Seriously. If you can pull yourself away from this new interactive Bob Dylan video for his song "Like A Rolling Stone"—a video that was released today, approximately 48 years and four months after the song's debut—after playing it just once, then I will salute you. I think I'm on my fourth go-round and I'm still finding new moments to marvel over.
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If 2013 has taught us anything about Prince, it's that there's no way to predict what he might do next. So when Prince's @3rdEyeGirl account tweeted late in the day Friday that there would be an "INTERVIEW WITH 3RDEYEGIRL LIVE ON TWITTER IN APPROX. 5 MINUTE," fans knew they'd better jump at the rare chance to ask him their burning questions.
In a two-and-a-half hour chat that was alternatively commandeered by 3rdEyeGirl's drummer Hannah Ford, bassist Ida Nielsen, guitarist Donna Grantis, and Prince himself, fans got a gilmpse into a very purple and pun-filled world, and a few hints at what he and his band might do next.
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When Gary Clark Jr. was 14 years old, like a lot of kids that age, his universe consisted of his backyard, the baseball field, the park, the creek. But when he got to see Buddy Guy play at fabled Austin club Antone's, his universe expanded significantly and he dedicated himself to music.
The dedication paid off. In town to play a sold-out show at First Avenue, Gary Clark Jr. — together with bandmates King Zapata (guitar), Johnny Bradley (bass) and Johnny Radelat (drums) — paid a visit to the UBS Forum at Minnesota Public Radio to play an intimate show for a live audience and to chat with The Current's Jill Riley.
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Darkside makes dance music. That's their motto, even if their string of usually sub-100bpm tracks might make for a more intimate affair, rather than club bangers. But the duo of Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington have a high-profile history of reimagining the way dance music sounds, and we imagine that the genre in 2014 will follow suit with the band's ideas.
Their new album Psychic comes after their critically acclaimed remix record Daftside, a full re-imagining of Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. The duo is widely expected to make numerous end-of-year critic's lists, and they'll embark on a major tour in conjunction with the start of the new year.
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Anyone could tell you Dessa knows serious—but anyone who's seen her live, or listened carefully to her lyrics, or read her poetry, knows how funny she can also be. Her lyrics, writings, and casual remarks are dense with a unique, clever, and somewhat melancholy brand of wit.
"I do like the idea of incorporating humor into deep material," Dessa told Common Good Books. "I think we get affected by hyper-delicate treatments of the profound subjects of our lives, and I'm interested in knowing if deep poetry can be hilarious--actually hilarious, not smirking-while-drinking-martinis hilarious."
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While on my daily drive into work this morning, I was naturally listening to the Current and I heard a four-song set:
Hall and Oates
Linda Rondstadt
Cat Stevens
Old Peter Gabriel
I FREAKED out! Not another format change! This isn't happening again! I was convinced we had flipped formats overnight and this was my way of finding out I no longer had a job at the Current.