Two months later, a urinal cap at the Triple Rock pops off during a sold-out show by Mates of State, sending a geyser of water out onto the floor and flooding the show room. Most fans keep standing where they are, in up to two inches of water.
R.I.P. George Stahl, jazz player and bassist with the Minnesota Orchestra for 31 years. Robert "Dr. Jazz" Caldwell, guitarist with the Jurassic Trio, who performed with Louis Armstrong, and Tony Bennett.
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September
In the wake of the natural and human disaster in New Orleans, every corner of the music scene organizes a hurricane benefit, totaling 40-plus shows by November. On September 9, 150 Minnesota radio stations—from "community-" to Clear Channel—unite to broadcast a live radiothon, "River of Relief," from the Washington Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi, eventually raising $867,596 for the American Red Cross. The following night, New Orleans legends the ReBirth Brass Band play an exhilarating show at the Cabooze for an audience that includes at least 20 flood evacuees. "Katrina took every material thing from me," says trumpeter Shamar Allen. "But she can't take my music."
Myth Nightclub opens in Maplewood with a seating capacity of 3,500 and VIP accommodations, making it the first Las Vegas-style "superclub" in the Twin Cities. Unwisely, the venue's marketing team never adopts the obvious slogan: "Plus you can smoke."
During a concert at the Xcel Energy Center, members of Green Day invite teenage fans onstage to play the band's instruments. Moorhead's Corey Cook smashes Mike Dirnt's bass guitar, getting himself ejected from the venue and probably ruining any chance of being signed to Adeline Records.
Mint Condition, Spider John Koerner, and many others rock the 25th Annual Minnesota Music Awards at First Avenue. Longtime venue stage manager Conrad Sverkerson accepts the Connie Hechter Award for lifetime achievement. Mentioning Karl Mueller, he says, "I can feel his soul in the room."
R.I.P.: Mike Elliott, jazz and country guitarist of Natural Life, who recorded with Johnny Cash and taught Bela Fleck. Sean Blackburn, Western swing singer and guitarist, who appeared regularly with Dakota Dave Hull on A Prairie Home Companion. Ashanti Yoruba Maasai, manager of Uhuru Bookstore. Glenn Warner, choral music expert at Schmitt Music for three decades.
October
Dillinger Four's St. Patrick Costello joins the Fuck Yeahs onstage at First Avenue for an unannounced set. All the musicians are wearing custom-made G-strings. Evidently intoxicated, Paddy soon loses his G-string, bends over, and starts yelling, "This is where the chocolate comes from!"
The first annual Zombie Pub Crawl attracts more than 100 people wearing zombie makeup to northeast Minneapolis. One participant leads the crowd in a cheer of "What do we want?" "Brains!" "When do we want 'em?" "Braaaaains!"
The Children's Theatre Company hosts a youth guitar orchestra featuring guitarists aged 12 to 18, performing a concert composed and conducted by New York-based John King. The noise would make Glenn Branca proud. Meanwhile, students in the percussion ensemble of Minnetonka High School become internet stars thanks to a May video of the group covering two songs from DJ Shadow's 1996 instrumental hip-hop classic Endtroducing, "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and "Changeling." Led by teacher Brian Udelhofen, the musicians transform material entirely created from samples back into live music, mimicking even the ostensibly impossible-to-play stutter of the drum breaks.
Though scheduled to play the 7th St. Entry, Soul Asylum and new bassist Tommy Stinson switch to the main stage of First Avenue due to PA problems in the smaller room. Twin Tone co-founder Paul Stark is drafted to do lights for the show. With more than a little sadness, singer Dave Pirner leads the crowd in a chant of "Karl, Karl."
R.I.P.: Diana Watters, photographer of many musicians for City Pages. Paula Joan "Polly" Alexander, rock guitarist and founding member of Tetes Noires. E. Thomas Bauer, organist and jazz tenor saxophonist and with the Boyd Raeburn Band in the '40s. Chippewa Falls High School band director Douglas "G" Greenhalgh, his wife, Therese Greenhalgh, and their 11-year-old granddaughter Morgan Greenhalgh, who died in a bus accident while coming home from a band competition in Whitewater.
November
After six years on the Duluth scene, free alternative rag the Ripsaw folds. "It was a good run," writes publisher Brad Nelson. "A&L Development tried to sue us. Much of the business community blacklisted it. Mayor Doty said he 'didn't read that tabloid'... We did well." While sponsoring Green Man and other local music festivals, the free alternative weekly struggled financially before going monthly in 2004, then bimonthly this year, with contributors migrating to Transistor—a smaller weekly publication. Nelson keeps drumming in the bands Black-Eyed Snakes and Boy Girl Boy Girl.
In other endings, meanwhile, Prince demolishes his house in Chanhassen, and Clear Channel closes its local concert booking office.
Local punk pioneers the Hypstrz become hip among hipsters, reissuing their 1980 album, Hypstrization!, on Bomp! Records and reuniting for a series of shows.
Having taught a workshop at McNally Smith College of Music, toured with Ja Rule, and played a series of instrumental-cover shows this year, Heiruspecs are set to play a climactic charity gig at the Mall of America. But management deems the hip-hop group "not family-friendly" and rejects them from the bill. In December, five people are treated for injuries at the Brookdale Center mall after fans rush the stage during a free concert by family-friendly boy band B5.
