At 7:45 pm last night, a well-fed crowd lined the patio of Hard Rock Cafe’s new Mall of America location for a party in celebration of the official grand opening—complete with red carpet pizzazz, hors d’oeuvres, and entertainment by Morris Day and the Time. There was no ribbon cutting, though: instead, there was a guitar-smashing…

Portions of Franklin Avenue in St. Paul will be renamed “Dave Ray Avenue” in honor of the late Minnesota folk-blues legend. Yesterday, the St. Paul City Council approved a resolution, sponsored by Councilmember Russ Stark, that “that Franklin Avenue between Berry and Eustis Streets is hereby co-named Dave Ray Avenue and that appropriate street signage…

Plenty of people have made statements against Kenny G, but it’s not his smooth jazz that’s upsetting the Chinese government—in fact, the saxophonist is a huge star in China. That’s why his participation in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong inspired a reprimand by China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman. “Kenny G’s musical works are widely popular in China,” said Hua…

Three past members of Minneapolis’s most notorious raucous live band of recent years, the Goondas, have recently reunited in a new band, Flasher. It seems Jackson Atkins (guitar), Andy Meuwissen (bass), and Josh Miller (drums) are looking to get back to what they do best: playing rock and roll.  The Goondas were known not only for their…

Raphael Ravenscroft, the saxophone player responsible for one of the most iconic sax lines in pop music history, has died of a heart attack at age 60. Though he worked with artists including Pink Floyd, Daft Punk, and Robert Plant, it was the 1978 solo hit “Bakers Street” by Stealers Wheel‘s Gerry Rafferty that made Ravenscroft a saxophone legend. (Billboard)…

Southside Desire: Southside Desire Neo-soul stars Southside Desire are dropping their self-titled LP this week. The CD release show is Wednesday at the 7th Street Entry. Marvel Devitt’s lush-solid lead vocals are supported by beautiful harmonies from Gloria Iacono and Joy Spika. The band blends funky bass lines with upbeat guitar riffs on tracks like…

With her 20th studio album, Allergic to Water, coming out November 4, the revered feminist songwriter Ani DiFranco came through town this past Saturday to play a show at First Avenue. While in town, DiFranco set aside a few minutes of her busy schedule—which has become even busier in recent years with the addition of…

They say that the truth will set you free. So if you must know, the hand-on-my-heart truth is that I spent the first few years of my fledgling music journalism career positively terrified of the musicians I was forced to interact with in order to do my job. I have always loved music to an…

Is the Strokes‘ Julian Casablancas anti-brunch? A firestorm now being referred to as “Brunchgate” erupted over a GQ profile in which Casablancas said he’d moved out of New York City because “I don’t know how many, like, white people having brunch I can deal with on a Saturday afternoon.” After the quote spread across the Internet as evidence that Casablancas…

Jeremy Messersmith, John Munson, and members of Rogue Valley appear in a new video dramatizing what the musicians and the video’s producers see as the absurdity of a law requiring food revenue at some Minneapolis restaurants to greatly exceed revenue from sales of alcoholic beverages. As Election Day approaches, many Minneapolis restaurateurs have been campaigning for voters…