Great shows, good causes
Mason Jennings, Cloud Cult and friends play to benefit ailing soundman Chad Weis; Suicide Commandos and Pere Ubu's David Thomas do the same for Bush Tetra's Laura Kennedy.
Mason Jennings
You don’t need to watch Michael Moore’s Sicko to know health care in this country blows. Saturday, Jan. 17 will see not one, but two benefits for people in need. Work a little magic and you might even be able to catch large parts of both shows.
Benefit For Chad Weis
Who’s playing: Mason Jennings, Cloud Cult, Trampled By Turtles, Haley Bonar, The Pines
Where: First Avenue
When: 5:30 p.m.
Price: $15 in advance, $20 at the door
When Mason Jennings’ sound tech and tour manager Chad Weis had to undergo surgery for a fungal mass in his sinuses back in September, Jennings asked Myles Kennedy to help out by filling in during a short tour. Kennedy went a step further and organized a benefit show (he’d previously co-founded the Twin Cities Music Community Trust for First Avenue’s stage manager Conrad Sverkerson) for uninsured Weis; Jennings was the first to sign on.
Who’s playing: Mason Jennings, Cloud Cult, Trampled By Turtles, Haley Bonar, The Pines
Where: First Avenue
When: 5:30 p.m.
Price: $15 in advance, $20 at the door
When Mason Jennings’ sound tech and tour manager Chad Weis had to undergo surgery for a fungal mass in his sinuses back in September, Jennings asked Myles Kennedy to help out by filling in during a short tour. Kennedy went a step further and organized a benefit show (he’d previously co-founded the Twin Cities Music Community Trust for First Avenue’s stage manager Conrad Sverkerson) for uninsured Weis; Jennings was the first to sign on.
“We’re just looking to put a band-aid on a little section of people’s lives,” he says. First Avenue staff loaned whatever help they could, and, Kennedy adds, “The sound guys are taking half-pay and donating the rest to the fund.”
Though Jennings was once a weekly fixture at the 400 Bar, it's been awhile since he has played his hopeful, earnest songs at a venue like First Avenue. Add the progressive, eclectic Cloud Cult, the freewheeling bluegrass jams of Trampled By Turtles, the flinty warmth of Haley Bonar, and the rustic, rootsy vibe of The Pines, and it’s no wonder the tickets are selling quickly. With Weis on the mend, he’ll certainly be in attendance—and he’ll probably join in, too, and get behind the board to mix several of the acts.
Benefit For Laura Kennedy
Who’s playing: Bush Tetras, Suicide Commandos, Skoal Kodiak, David Thomas
Where: Nick & Eddie
When: 9 p.m.
Price: $25 in advance, $35 at the door
In the early '80s, New York’s Bush Tetras made music that resonated well beyond its era, and Laura Kennedy was a big part of their sound. She and guitarist Pat Place jammed funk and disco rhythms directly into punk’s jugular, and Kennedy’s driving bass, alternately woofing and snarling its way through the tracks, was the bedrock of the sound. Although they’ve performed only sporadically since their heyday, their music has enjoyed consistent critical acclaim and has rightly taken its place next to Gang Of Four, ESG, and Liquid Liquid as one of the pillars of the No Wave sound.
Benefit For Laura Kennedy
Who’s playing: Bush Tetras, Suicide Commandos, Skoal Kodiak, David Thomas
Where: Nick & Eddie
When: 9 p.m.
Price: $25 in advance, $35 at the door
In the early '80s, New York’s Bush Tetras made music that resonated well beyond its era, and Laura Kennedy was a big part of their sound. She and guitarist Pat Place jammed funk and disco rhythms directly into punk’s jugular, and Kennedy’s driving bass, alternately woofing and snarling its way through the tracks, was the bedrock of the sound. Although they’ve performed only sporadically since their heyday, their music has enjoyed consistent critical acclaim and has rightly taken its place next to Gang Of Four, ESG, and Liquid Liquid as one of the pillars of the No Wave sound.
Kennedy recently received a liver transplant due to complications from hepatitis C, so a bunch of her friends from the Minneapolis scene are pulling together for this benefit show, which will not only feature Minneapolis punk legends the Suicide Commandos and Modern Radio dance-noise artists Skoal Kodiak, but also an appearance by Pere Ubu’s David Thomas.
Organizer Mark Trehus, of Treehouse Records, reported on the Modern Radio message board that Thomas, a notoriously eccentric performer and Cleveland native, "will not be confined to one time slot or format for his appearance.” Sounds exciting, especially for a guy whose singing has been described by music critic Emerson Dameron as “Jimmy Stewart trapped in an oboe.”
The Suicide Commandos need no introduction: Alongside The Suburbs and Curtiss A, the band was at the forefront of the Twin Cities' underground music in the late '70s and early '80s and most memorably produced The Suicide Commandos Commit Suicide Dance Concert, a live record from '79 that caught them at the height of their hard-nosed, gritty, old-school punk. Skoal Kodiak’s veins thrum with the same spirit of freewheeling experimentalism that drove the older bands on this bill, combining elements of dub, post-punk, and electronic manipulation into a compelling mishmash.
