Ugh. This was meant for the Two Writing Teachers’ Slice of Life, but me being the procrastinator that I am, I was not done when it was bedtime. So, please enjoy! 🙂

This past weekend, I didn’t think about school once.

#whatiswrongwithyou

Hush. I didn’t think about the state of the world (much). I didn’t think about much of anything except about my wife, my friends, and what music I wanted to see!

We had a four-day weekend and wanted to get out of dodge. We’d looked all over our area (things get a little slow during this time), so in a JamBase search (a great place to find live events), we came across the Big Turn Music Fest in Red Wing, MN. Their claim, “100+ bands. 15 venues, 2 days of unique sounds”.

#dang

They were not wrong either! We spent Friday and Saturday walking in a 3 – 4 block radius, seeing 14 different groups, ranging from punk to swing band to some strange group that we all looked at each other and thought “nope”.

I’ll touch on a few of the bands that we saw last weekend. A majority of these groups perform on a regular basis in the Twin Cities area.

  1. Space Money Mafia: Don’t let the name fool you, this group is amazing! They have a Mighty Mighty Bosstones feel to them and were so high energy! They played a style of music that had people dancing and feeling joy in their souls! A must see!
  2. JoJo Green: Oh my goodness, we stumbled into this one. We’d seen a group, then figured we hang and see what this group was like. Oh, are we ever glad that we did! The energy, the powerful voices, and again, the joy of the people watching made this group so much fun! A kind of 70s vibe to them, they rocked the venue they were in with a massive sound.
  3. The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League: If you listened to the Squirrel Nut Zippers back in the day (I’m old), then this group is for you. A swing band from times gone by, they had great chemistry with the crowd, and oh how they could play! Again, just a fun group to watch as they played their passions!
  4. Favourite Girl: I’d be remiss not to bring this band into the mix. The power behind this group is Katy Vernon, a staple of the Twin Cities music scene for many years. The performance left us just bouncing in our seats because much of their music was so up beat and empowering, both for women (she touched on a few songs and their meaning to her and the band), but just to society as whole. I’m linking this song from YouTube because Saturday night’s performance was the first time that the group performed together, which was pretty awesome in it of itself!

We saw bands in churches (they were gorgeous!), bars, bike shops, hotels, and our personal favorite, a kid’s clothing store!

I have to give props to the volunteers of this event! They were super friendly, light-hearted as we struggled to show our wristbands through the mass of winter clothing (Minnesota, am I right?), and they were as into the bands as we were!

When we discovered this gem, we bought tickets immediately, got a hotel room, and circled the dates on our calender. We had our “thing” to look forward to. Then, I messaged my college roommate and his wife to invite them down. They showed up without doing their homework (my wife made a flipchart of the groups and where they were), so they followed us. Our tastes are different, yet, it was fun to see them as well.

After one of the bands finished, we got into a conversation with a couple we’d been dance near, and they told us that this festival is a sister to an older music festival in Winona, MN, the Mid West Music Fest. Guess where we are going in early May?

So, the point of all this, get out and enjoy life. We love seeing bands, seeing them play their passions, and the reaction of those enjoying their music. It was great to listen and groove, but almost as much fun to people watch!

I hope this winter allows you that time to just sluff off your teacher skin, get somewhere that no one knows you, and dance like no one is watching.

#rockon

Sometimes, you need it!