By: David de Young
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Robert Wilkinson of the Flamin' Oh's - Photo by David de Young
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Sounds like a multiple venue, multiple night experience right there, but that’s the thing about England Swings: It’s one of the Twin Cities' premier opportunities to hear an abundance of Minnesota’s finest music, with a mere pull of a heavy curtain enabling one to duck back and forth between First Avenue and the Entry.
Musical competition for this year’s event was more scant than it was in 2005, when a popular Twin Cities music writer (we still miss you, Melissa Maerz!) was having a going away party on the same night at a club in St. Paul. This year, even DJ Jake Rudh - in an apparent nod in England Swings’ direction - scheduled an evening of hair metal (far from his usual fare) for his regular Wednesday night Transmission gig. Many of his regulars, including model, artist, and England Swings hostess Tresse Neubauer, would be at First Avenue to hear local bands belt out their favorite British tunes.
I arrived at the end of opening act Heavy Sleeper's set, which included an impressive version of "She Bangs the Drum" by The Stone Roses. The Flamin’ Oh’s were next and played Love and Rocket’s “So Alive,” and Idlewild’s “You Held the World in Your Arms Tonight.” And where else - outside Mary Lucia’s Bowie Tribute - could you get Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes” and “Heroes” back to back? The Flamin’ Oh’s closed with a rousing rendition of “Street Fighting Man” by the Rolling Stones.
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The Wag at First Avenue - de Young
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Somewhere in the midst of all this, Patrick Tanner had started things off in the Entry, his band's set thrilling that crowd with yet another cover of Love and Rockets "ever-popular So Alive."
The Wag was up next on the main stage, and there was some overlap of the musicians on stage, including the ubiquitous Terry Isachsen on guitar and some of the same the backup singers. The Wag gave us The Jam’s bouncy “Town Called Malice,” and Katy Vernon sang the Ivor Raymonde, Mike Hawker penned “I Only Wanna Be With You” (popularized first by Dusty Springfield and later by the Bay City Rollers). They closed with the Kaiser Chiefs, “I Predict a Riot.”
Altered Beasts, a band that included members of Thunder in the Valley, were playing in the Entry when I returned, only to find I’d totally missed the Mofos by lingering too long after the Flaming Oh’s. The schedule seemed to be a bit off during the middle part of the show, and instead of being staggered, bands were playing right on top of each other. But really, part of the fun was running back and forth to see how much you could possibly take in.
Back in the main room, Revolver Modele was ripping through Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and an energetic version of “Rescue” by Echo and the Bunnymen. They closed with a cool punk version of “Lola” by the Kinks.
Melismatics front man Ryan Smith didn’t leap from the stage and twist his ankle like he did last year (despite the fact that I was standing stage right and yelled, “Jump!” just before their final song), but he did lead the band through songs including Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On” (“Makes you wanna feel / Makes you wanna try / Makes you wanna blow the stars from the sky”).
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The New Floorshakers featuring John Beggs - de Young
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Back in the Entry, the John Beggs-fronted New Floor Shakers were playing a set of obscure stuff that those of us who haven’t worked in record stores couldn’t immediately place. (John is proprietor of Roadrunner Records on Nicollet Avenue, and though he’s been “my record store guy” for years, this was the first time I’d heard him sing.) One song I thought I heard was “King Lonely The Blue” by nearly forgotten 1960’s songwriter Tim Rose, who passed away in 2002. But Rose was an American, so maybe I’m wrong.
Back in the big room, the Deaths were trying to energize the now dwindling crowd with a set that included "Days" by the Kinks, and "Live Bed Show" by Pulp. But the action seemed to be back in the Entry yet again with the closing set by The Screens, who ripped through Judas Priest’s “Breakin’ the Law,” and Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades,” as well as a version of the Pistol’s “God Save the Queen” that had even the photographers (who for this set equaled the number of the other fans in the front row) practically slam dancing, cameras in tow.
Though it was 1:30 a.m. and a school night, it seemed the show ended too soon. An impromptu band formed in hopes of keeping the music going until bar close, but the soundman casually nixed that idea by removing the microphones from their stands.
[Editor's note: Thanks to Raven for his feedback on this review and for filling in a couple blanks in my notes.]
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Revolver Modele, The Deaths, The Flamin' Ohs, The Melismatics, The Mighty Mofos, The Screens
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