Weekly Agenda: School's out forever
Cass Bird
Free Energy
When Conan O’Brien took the stage at the Orpheum a couple of weeks ago, the first thing he did was joke about how lucky he was to be in town on the only nice day of the year. (It’s funny ‘cause it’s usually really cold here!) When it comes to summer, we here at The A.V. Club avoid hyperbole because we take those three months very seriously. But we will say that summer in the Twin Cities is a time for soaking up as much sun and heat and corndogs as possible.
We don’t just love the season because it’s a break from the cold; like every other red-blooded, public-school-educated American, warm weather reminds us of the days when summer meant having zero responsibilities and endless free time. Recapture that feeling when Free Energy, featuring former members of Hockey Night, takes the stage at Grand Old Day on Sunday. Reviews of the band’s debut album, Stuck On Nothing, have been packed with mentions of Cheap Trick and Dazed And Confused, not so much because the band actually sounds like it came straight from the ‘70s—we think it sounds more like newer Weezer—but because those crunchy guitars and lyrics about bubblegum crushes trigger memories of cruising around with your friends all day, your biggest concern being how to convince your parents to give you another $20 for gas. In short, the band’s set should be the perfect kickoff to a feel-good, carefree, do-nothing summer.
Well, not nothing nothing. Only do the fun stuff, which you can start planning now with our summer concert preview and a guide to upcoming beer festivals that we'll be posting online on Tuesday. (Pick up the paper if you can't wait that long.)
