Music

​A new direction for The New Direction

September 21st, 2016

High Plains Reader: What-all is planned for the last show at TND?

Jack Stenerson: For the last show, we’re having 14 bands play over two days. We knew we couldn’t fit all of the bands in one day so it made the most sense to split it up. The first day is more of a mixed genre show, ranging from acoustic, to pop punk, to indie, to hardcore.

Day two is an all-hardcore show. We thought that would be fitting because that’s the genre that is most deeply rooted in the venue. Our first…

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​This season, FM Symphony Orchestra gets personal

September 21st, 2016

The Masterworks Concert Series put on by the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra during the 2015-2016 season was a real blockbuster, both literally and figuratively. Not only did several of the shows during that season sell out, but “Blockbuster” was the running theme. Whether referring to the numerous guest performers, the many well-known popular pieces, or the 150-piece choir for their stunning performance of Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’, FM Symphony Orchestra executive director…

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​Stories that stay with you

September 14th, 2016

By Ben Haugmo

benhaugmo@yahoo.com

Those who have passed through Fergus Falls, Minnesota may have had the chance to drive by the old Regional Treatment Center. The hospital has been closed since 2005, but there are ongoing efforts to preserve the historic Kirkbride building that serves as the property’s main attraction.

Even with a permanent solution for its restoration seemingly far off, the space still finds occasional use. It has been discovered, for instance, that the former…

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Anything but anonymous

September 7th, 2016

By Jacinta Macheel Zens

jacinta.zens@gmail.com

HPR: How and when did you become involved in the group Wide Eyes?

SA: I joined Wide Eyes in late 2004. Little known fact: when I first met Tony & Dimitry (of Wide Eyes) they were already making music under the name, but it was a 2 piece drum/dj combo. After a few weeks of meeting up to freestyle and make beats, they invited me to join the group. A few months later we recorded a few e.p.'s in random basements around Minneapolis, then things…

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​Steppin’ Out

August 24th, 2016

“I don’t know how many times I’ve done this tour, but it’s fun every summer. I get to go all around the U.S., see all the people and play all the great songs. It’s kind of like a carnival or a travelling circus,” says Mark Lindsay, former lead singer of the 60s rock and roll band Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Lindsay along with The Cowsills, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, Chuck Negron, formerly of Three Dog Night, The Turtles, and The Spencer Davis Group will be playing at…

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​He gotta move

August 24th, 2016

“We parked right in front of the camera and someone walked right up and busted the window, got in, drove it away, and they found it like three or four days later, the window was busted out, the gear was all gone, but our merch was still in it. I guess they didn’t want to take the merch to the pawn shop.” Laughs 23 year old Americana singer songwriter Parker Millsap on the theft of their tour van in Minneapolis last May.

He elaborated, “It’s a rite of passage--every other band I…

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​Gemini Syndrome: new album ‘Memento Mori’

August 24th, 2016

By Bryan Grob 

bryangrob@hotmail.com

A little over five years ago when Los Angeles 5-piece Metal act Gemini Syndrome stopped at the Nestor Tavern for their 5th show in the region, they had reason to celebrate.

The day prior they’d signed their recording contract with Warner Brothers Records, only a few miles down the highway at the Mainline in Downer, Minn. It came as no surprise to anyone who’d heard the band’s self-released 5-song EP or caught the band live.

A bombastic blend of…

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​Don’t keep that noise down!

August 17th, 2016

“Noise music” might sound like an oxymoron to some. The first word calls to mind the harsh, chaotic, and abrasive, while the second word tends to make one think of the practiced, synchronized, and oftentimes catchy. But to Brandon Wald, the organizer, founder, and promoter of the first ever Fargo Noise Fest, organized under the moniker of ‘Black Ring Rituals Presents’, his record label and radio show on 95.9 FM, nothing could be further from the truth.

Instead, in his words,…

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​Zig Zags

August 10th, 2016

By Ben Rheault

Every so often, local venue The Aquarium, sneaks out of the confines of its location situated above Dempsey’s Public House to give the public a free taste of the delights it has in store. It’s a good way to introduce people to musical flavors they may not yet be aware of, and give exposure to up-and-coming bands before they get too big to play smaller stages.

This month, The Aquarium is proud to present Los Angeles based Zig Zags (no relation to the rolling…

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​Weird Al Yankovic, a national treasure

August 4th, 2016

By James Osbourne

Musician, actor, comedian, director and most recently Bandleader on Comedy Bang Bang!, Al’s an entertainment polymath with universal appeal.

Much of my exposure to pop music is through Weird Al parodies. Pop’s aggressive sexual themes and superficiality, elements which turn a lot of people off, are gone with a Weird Al treatment. I heard Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines after Al’s Word Crimes parody. Once you strip the douchbaggery away from Blurred Lines you can…

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