Mill City Nights held what was billed as the “First Annual Holiday Event” yesterday headlined by Time Atlas. To be honest, I did not do my homework on the 5 bands on the bill, but rather went to check out one of the opening bands. Well, life taught “Mr. I have covered well over 200 bands this year, I know everything” a lesson. Every single one of the bands was a blast to watch and photograph.
John Chuck & the Class
Made up of Minnesota grown JC “John Chuck” Stroebel and Henry “The Class” Donato, the duo borrowed Whosah’s drummer for their live performance. John Chuck started the show in a Santa suit with cue cards for the audience. The Class joked that the jacked looked really organic and breathable. He also pointed out a certain “bright, young marketing major” had his resume available at the merch booth. Since job hunting is all about exposure and networking, I thought that was a pretty good idea. Their songs are danceable and light without being fluffy.
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Marah in the Mainsail
Founded in 2012 the band describe themselves as Cinematic-indie. It took a bit to get the sound mix for the accordion right but they hit the ground running once their set started. This is a complex band with many moving parts including a trombone and for one song a set of heavy rusty chains that was picked up and dropped for a percussion effect. Their rendition of “You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch” was very interesting and their other songs are quite good as well.
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Harbor & Home
The Minneapolis based Americana band took the set next. Their smooth and rich harmonies define their sound. They also interacted frequently with their audience asking them to participate in songs. At one point singer Kaleb Williams asked: “How many of you know who we are at all?” I am quite certain at the end of the set all in the crowd would know their name. Their music had many in the audience stomping their feet and their rendition of “Johnny be good” brought loud cheers.
Band Links:
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Whosah
Judging by the cheers when Whosah took the stage, many at Mill City Nights had been waiting for this band. They have been around since 2009 and are unabashedly indie pop. My first observation was: “These guys are FUN!”. They had their new album available for fans well in advance of it going on line. Made up of 3 brothers, one roommate and one “cool dude” on bass they clearly had fun with the Christmas theme. The gift of a SquattyPotty for one of their band members, their version of “Pina Colada” with lyrics referring to Ms. Santa Claus, and the including of “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” all made for good cheer.
Band Links:
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Time Atlas
Headlining the evening was Minneapolis 5 piece band Time Atlas. This fairly new band just released their debut EP “Clarity” this summer. The band rocked a Christmas Sweater / Star Wars combo although bassist Kristoff Druva’s Darth Vader suit was quite a bit short. After the opening song he and frontman Grayson DeWolfe engaged in some banter and chats with the audience while getting the sound levels on DeWolfe’s mike adjusted. It made a technical process seem like it was part of the show. The showmanship was polished and the songs are pop/rock and interesting. The band is working on new material and has big plans for summer 2016.
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