CAN'T WE DO THIS MORE OFTEN?

By: B -- 3/28/05

What a relief to see such a large turnout for Saturday night’s Olympic Hopefuls & Honeydogs show at First Avenue. The number of quality local shows at First Ave has been steadily and sadly dwindling, so much so that I wasn’t sure if anyone would show up Saturday. The impressive ticket (two of my favorite bands, actually) deserved a large crowd, but I can’t say I wasn’t slightly surprised to see the club mostly full for the majority of the evening.

Would you believe me if I told you this was the Olympic Hopefuls best show yet? It’s a bold statement, I know, but OH was in perfect form. “Pretty Bigmouth” and “Trust Fund” remain the two best live songs performed by any band in the Twin Cities, and John Hermanson’s rare turn on the mic was rub-your-eyes superb.

And what can I say about the Honeydogs that hasn’t already been said by more qualified listeners and critics? Their performance Saturday night was everything you’d expect from a Honeydogs show: a relaxing, uplifting affair featuring a packed stage -- up to ten people performing at a time -- of many respected musicians. (Peter Anderson! Andra Suchy!)

“Test Tube Kid,” from the 10,000 Years album released just over a year ago, remains the best thing to come out of Minnesota in 2004. A great night for a band I saw play in 1999 to just a couple dozen people at the now-defunct Mill City Music Festival. Saturday night found the Honeydogs with almost three times the band members, playing to ten times the audience. Cheers to that.

TAKE ME TO THE TOP