Duluth’s immensely popular Homegrown Music Festival recently went off with a week of good music, good people, and good times – - or so I hear from the buzz of the Internet. I lived in Duluth for about two years and enjoyed Homegrown as a bit of a Duluth n00b. Those who have been in attendance since its inception however tend to wax poetic and get misty-eyed over times gone by. The heart and soul of any good music festival – no matter how long you’ve been attending – is the power and raw emotion of a bitchin’ rock and roll show.
Former Duluthian and blogger, Laurie attended a “Secret Show” with The Black Eyed Snakes on a return visit to Duluth she took with her family. Current Duluthian and amateur scene-documenter Ryan Dahlberg was also there taking photos. Ryan e-mailed me to point out the link to Laurie’s blog and his photos from the show. Since I wasn’t there I won’t even bother paraphrasing so check out the links and get in the moment.
January 16th, 2009
Undisclosed Location
Duluth, Minnesota
by Ryan Dahlberg
“After receiving a message from fellow Post-Duluthian [and proprietor of this blog] Sam Haraldson, I had a feeling that this was [a] show not to miss.”
Soon to be embarking on a world tour, Duluth’s own Retribution Gospel Choir was scheduled to appear for a private performance somewhere in the East Hillside. Upon my walk through downtown to get to the show, I had the chance to make a few quick words with Aaron Molina, whom if you don’t know by now is credited with the artwork for RGC’s new album “2″.
After arriving shortly after 9pm and being greeted by open arms, not to mention the bonfire, and the kegs of Surly, the early attendees and I waited for the band to arrive while listening to my advance copy of the new album. As more people arrive the band appears. It quickly becomes 10pm as we watch the traffic from the front window.
It’s now 10:30pm, I have my camera in hand, and my Surly is on the mantle: it’s show time.
The band starts the show with their classic rock anthem “Breaker”. As the band plays on through to Midnight with a collection of songs from the new album, the band seems larger than life. Steve and Eric’s stage presence have now grown equal to, being previously shadowed [by] that of Sparhawk. Towards the end of their set, each member continues to be focused and still being able to feed the group empowerment.
This was truly a performance to remember. For more photos of the show visit Ryan’s Flickr Gallery
This has been a guest post by Ryan Dahlberg, maintainer of theduluthscene.org, hosting a broad array of aural and visual content relating to Duluth music and culture.
The blog, thedailystrife.com is proving itself as a great resource for video footage of Alan Sparkhawk’s projects. The videos below were filmed at The Brewhouse in Duluth, MN and are of Los Besos, a project between Sparhawk and Brad Ness.
The blog, thedailystrife.com has posted video footage of various Alan Sparkhawk projects, the latest of which was filmed at the Retribution Gospel Choir show at Pizza Luce in Duluth, MN on March 7th, 2009.
The blog, thedailystrife.com has posted video footage of various Alan Sparkhawk projects, the latest of which was filmed at the Retribution Gospel Choir show at Pizza Luce in Duluth, MN on March 7th, 2009.
To officially release their new self-titled album to their hometown of Duluth, MN, Retribution Gospel Choir fired up a forty minute, eleven song set at Pizza Luce on Saturday, March 8th, 2008. The first ten songs of the set was a nearly verbatim performance of the band’s new album which they followed up with an encore of Poor Man’s Daughter.
Either use the built in player below or download the file directly from archive.org 70.3 mb VBR .zip
There was tiredness for myself and myself this evening so I set out the recorder to capture the set while we were having dinner. My apologies for the jackasses at the next table getting drunk and ruining a perfectly good show.
Los Besos’ Alan Sparhawk and Brad Nelson teamed up with Taconite’s Jamie Ness for an all-cover set at The Brewhouse. Audio for nearly the entire evening as well as two videos were recorded.
Either use the built in player below or download the file directly from archive.org 87 mb VBR .zip
Welcome. This blog is designed to be a one-stop resource for live recordings from The Black Eyed Snakes, Retribution Gospel Choir, Los Besos and The Chairkickers. This Black Eyed Snakes blog is maintained by Sam Haraldson and Greg Seitz. If you like what you hear or have a recording, article, or photos you think would lend themselves well to these pages, please drop us a line.
January 16th, 2009
After arriving shortly after 9pm and being greeted by open arms, not to mention the bonfire, and the kegs of 
