On this beautiful July night in Minnesota, card-carrying members of the Elephant 6 collective rode into town to bless the Land of 10,000 Lakes with their giddy indie pop. The 400 Bar proved a formidable venue with its decent stage and well stocked bar. Each band represents the best of late-20th Century indie pop.

Dressy Bessy took the stage first playing songs from their new release, Pink Hearts Yellow Moons (Kindercore Records). For those not familiar with the band, the principal songwriters have strong ties to the Apples in Stereo because Apples guitarist John Hill is in the band (which is lead by his girlfriend Tammy Ealom). Dressy Bessy proved to lay the foundation for the evening. Ealom’s Heavenly-esque vocals and Hill’s staccato guitar are complimented by a solid drummer and healthy dose of fuzz bass are what indie pop at its simplest. Apples drummer, Hilary Sidney, joined the band for several numbers on keys and vocals. There was nothing spectacular about the set, but nothing horrible. Great fun.

Beulah came on next. As the boys took the stage, the crowd began to move closer. From the first note, Beulah was rocking out, jumping around, and giving 110%. The band opened with an unfamiliar song that smoothly transitioned into “Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand” (off of their amazing When Your Heartstrings Break release on Sugar Free Records). Moog riffs, a solid bass line, and trumpet lead the way. As the trumpet belts out its part and the drums kick in, (lead Beulah boy) Miles Kurosky lets loose, fuzz bass rips the speakers raw, and the band rocks up the song. And they refused to let up. Unbridled energy is the Beulah live show. Come on! This is indie pop guys! The band was constantly jumping around, offering much rawer interpetations of their songs, and just giving the crowd more than they expected. One odd part of the show was a group of about 7-10 women who sported giant somberos and cowboy hats that moved to the front of the stage to venerate Beulah. Various points during their set, members of the Apples would hop up on stage and sing or provide tambourine accompaniment. When they launched into “Ballad of the Lonely Argonaut” the 400 Bar was literally jumping. Live this song was hard! Beulah threw their hooks out on “If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart”, and reeled everyone in effortlessly. The crowd was eating out of their hands. Incredibly fun.

The crowd obviously was there for the Apples in Stereo. And the Apples showed up for the crowd. From the opening notes of “What’s Your #” to the pyshedelic strains of “Strawberry Fire” to the slick “Seems So” the band and crowd were equally into the set. Schneider (in full beard) sported a Hawaiian print cargo hat, t-shirt, faded Levi’s, and Birkenstocks. He looked the part of the 1990s Brian Wilson; a California beach-comber/stoner. Yes, and the whole band was smiiling. Schneider announced that he and Hilary were engaged and there was much cheering. The band played heavy doses of material from 1997’s ToneSoulEvolution and this year’s mini-LP Her Wallpaper Reverie (though they did pull out “High Tide” off of FunTrickNoisemaker for the faithful). “Strawberry Fire” was the high point as the band cranked up the fuzz bass and feedback. Ears were nearly bleeding from the sheer pschydelic intensity. It seemed that the Apples had indigested the Beulah set and let it out for their own. Showing that much love exists between these E6ers, the members of Beulah were jumping up on stage throughout the nearly 60 minute set.

This night of indie pop may well be a sign of what is to come from indie rock in the 21st Century. Each band was louder, rawer, and more rock than they sound on record. The unbridled energy delivered by Beulah had to be infectious to both the crowd and the Apples in Stereo. Simply a perfect night of fun.
 

The club is small. The crowd is drenched in the stench of cigarettes and Budweiser. The packed house at Gabe’s is chanting “G-B-V G-B-V.” Then, the neon sign is lit up: “THE CLUB IS OPEN” Indeed. Robert Pollard, lead singer and indie rock icon, raises his Budweiser, takes a huge swig, looks to the sign, and with a gesture of cocky satisfaction, Pollard announces (complete with faux brit accent), “The club is open.”

Pollard takes a few more swigs and begins to pump up the crowd (or is it his band?) with a profanity laced Bobby Knight (the Indiana University coach) impersonation. “You fuckers better not make look bad,” and “I am not going to lose to those fuckers from Purdue again!” He rambles on about the extremely winter like weather that stranded him at the airport. Finally, he decided enough talk, let’s rock.

He pops another Budweiser and lights a cigarette. Pollard exclaims, “You ready for hours of cigarette smokin’ and beer drinkin’?” The crowd goes nuts and the band goes straight into a cover of “Sympathy for the Devil”. Keeping with true GbV tradition, Pollard keeps the song short and to the point, no need to go on endlessly with “Ooo-oo”s, and guitar wanking. Then they kick into “A Salty Salute” (I mean, come on, what else could they play; excellent)  from Alien Lanes, and the crowd is screaming along.

The set was complete with songs off of 1999’s Do the Collapse (“Zoo Pie”, “Things I Will Keep”, “Teenage FBI” among others), but they pulled material from nearly their whole catalog including big crowd pleasers from Alien Lanes and Bee Thousand. Pollard’s fist pumping, cigarette dangling, and the ever-present case of Budweiser being depleted, while the band rocked hard and with unbridled energy.

GbV ripped through some crazy covers (in addition to set opening “Sympathy for the Devil”): the all too appropriate high kick inducing “Ba Ba O’Reilly”, the fanlike tribute of “Let the Good Times Roll” and “Revolution”, and a blistering rock rendition of “Ziggy Stardust.” They were able to put their own spin on each and the crowd loved every second of it.

Jim McPherson’s drumming brought a more arena rock element to the old songs with lightning quick fills and multiple cymbal crashes. Doug Gilliand (the only person left standing from the Cobra Verde version of GbV) played with such ferocity and volume, that ears were covered by some. The [other] band members kept the spirit of putting the rock in indie rock. And yes, Pollard did a high kick (or twenty).

Pollard knew how to work the crowd, inserting crowd favorites such as “Don’t Stop Now”, “Game of Pricks”, and “I Am a Scientist.” Surprisingly, the Iowa fans knew all these songs and more as they sang along at the top of their lungs.

Pollard played the stand-up comic as well. One point he questions: “Tell me the truth, you don’t really like Sebadoh?” Cheers, yells. “Oh come on! Sebadoh sucks! Same with the Jon Spencer Sex Blues Sex Explosion… You can’t like those bands and GbV, it’s competition.” While Pollard wasn’t as energetic as he has been in the past, he still gave the crowd a show. Perhaps his eight hour delay at the airport didn’t allow him his usual dose of beer, thus affecting the performance. Still, he gave a good show.

Over forty songs later, the band seemed spent, wore out, and really drunk. So they thanked the crowd, and called it a night. High kick! Smoke a cigarette and drink a beer.

Sense Field (from LA) opened the night with their brand of post-punk pop emo rock. Naturally, the band had their work cut out for them as the crowd was obviously there for Guided by Voices. Undaunted, the band took the stage and lashed into their songs with passionate fury.

Lead singer Jonathan Bunch, was jumping all over the stage, belting out his lyrics with energy and urgency. The band was more content with their role and basically stood in the same place and rocked with grimaces as they leaned into their guitars. Guitarist Rodney Sellars provided intense background vocals as he bludgeoned the crowd with crunchy riffs and seering leads. Drummer Rob (last name?) was amazingly precise and steady, his beat laid the foundation for each song.

“War of the Worlds” was the standout song of their thirty-minute set. The song showcases all of Sense Field’s strengths: heavy, tight without burying the melody. This sound is what makes Sense Field so intriguing. Sense Field had a great ability to maintain their melodic side even on the heavier tracks.  One pleasant surprise was a revved up, emo-ized cover of the Smiths “What Difference Does It Make”. Bunch is no Morrissey, but his pissed vocals made the song work in the Sense Field way.

Sense Field garnered more attention on the heavier songs ("War.." and "Leia") that grabbed the crowd’s attention with Bunch’s passion and the bands ferocity. It was obvious that the band’s energy level went up a notch on these songs (I believe one was the excellent “Outlive the Man”). When they played their mellower songs (i.e. “Save Yourself”), it was obvious that people weren’t interested. At one point, it seems that Bunch sensed the audience’s apathy on a slower song and he began waving his arm in a cheesy, 80s-metal-ballad-way while calling out for “more lighters.” Despite this, the band gave their all and provided a solid beginning to a great night of rock n roll.
 

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