The BIG Slam

The Twin Cities are home to two active and excellent monthly poetry slams: SlamMN! at Kieran's Irish Pub in Minneapolis and Soap Boxing at the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul. But after tonight, there'll be a new group in town: the 48th Street Slam, happening every third Sunday of the month. And what better way to christen a newborn poetry competition than a cage match between the cities' best poets? If you've never been to a slam, no event this year will serve as a better introduction to the vibrant scene than this four-way street brawl of words going down at the Parkway Theater. The state's first national slam team ever is re-assembling like a verbal Voltron to reclaim the glory of 1998, battling against a composite team of past Grand Slam Minnesota winners and this year's two national teams from Minneapolis and St. Paul. Every poet on the stage is or has been a top-level competitor, so even veterans of the scene will want to show up for the undiluted talent, and you might even be tapped to help judge the throw-down. Local comedian Mike Brody hosts the proceedings, and roots and blues band Open Bones are playing an opening set and will provide grooves between poets throughout. 21+.
Sun., July 20, 8:30 p.m., 2008