Uptown VFW Gets MURFed

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Friday night MURF was at the Uptown VFW and it make take a while to clean up the aftermath.  Members of the crowd were on stage, the band was in the crowd, glasses, confetti, beer bottles and cans were flying and no one wanted to go home.

The night had a late start with the show starting at 10 pm, so I thought I would arrive a little early.  Finding parking around the Uptown VFW always seems to be an adventure for me, so I had plenty of time to look for a parking spot.  I was shocked to find several spots, maybe the cold temps were keeping people home.  It was a good start and I would plenty of time to find a spot near the stage and get the gear ready.  The night started with a local three piece band The Cult of Lip.  They have been around for a while but keep evolving with members and sound.  They are alternative/indie with a bit of psychedelia thrown in.  Loud guitars and dreamy vocals made for a great start to the night.

A quick tear down and set up and it was time for the second band, Lot Lizard.  Lot Lizard is a 4 piece band from Sioux Falls and they mentioned this was only their second appearance in Minneapolis.  On their Facebook page, they describe themselves as “Lot Lizard is a visceral throbbing pile of emotion rearing its ugly head and rolling to its side to reveal a soft underbelly of tone and harmonics that is reminiscent of an era when Bauhaus and Joy Division tapes were considered currency.”  A pretty good self analysis and slightly amped up from The Cult of Lip.  Their heavier delivery started the moshers who would be busy on this Friday evening.  Lot Lizard was fun and I hope they come back to Minneapolis again soon.

Another quick turn around and the next band, Blue Ox took the stage.  During the break, I briefly talked to a videographer that was filming a documentary for the band using VHS tape.  This was my first time seeing Blue Ox and he told me that I was in for a treat.  The band is a local, 5 piece hardcore metal band.  They really got the moshers going and the crowd cranked up another notch.  Despite the cold temps outside, the VFW was scorching hot with a packed crowd ready to party and the crowd loved Blue Ox.  The videographer was right, Blue Ox was very hard and very entertaining.

Throughout the night I was amazed at how efficient and fast the tear downs and setups were going.  It was after midnight by the time MURF took the stage and the crowd was ready to continue the party.  MURF is another local band and is known for their loud, raucous shows.  Several of the band members took the stage wrapped in white cloth.  The band was very high energy and very entertaining.  There was a problem with the confetti canisters, only one exploded the other two had to be broken over lead singer Dan’s knee.  The white wrap came unraveled and ended up on the stage and in the crowd along with the confetti.  The stage was littered with the wrap, confetti, beer bottles, drink glasses, cans and anything else the crowd could throw.  At one point in the concert a member of the audience that was celebrating a birthday got on stage, removed his shirt and danced with MURPH.  Several other audience members soon jumped on stage, took the mics and started signing.  MURF jumped into the audience and started playing in the audience.  Moshers had been active all night, but were especially active while MURF played.  I got moshed pretty good a couple times and also got bounced around by people jumping on stage.  The band and audience was soaked in sweat, as the room was quite warm with all the activity.  Two members of the audience that were on stage lifted one of the band members on their shoulders on stage.  It was a great show and the crowd hung around well after MURF left the stage.  I will definitely try to catch MURF the next time they have a show and if you like hardcore punk and a wild show, be such to catch them.

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