Hello and welcome to another edition of the Iowa City Weekender. We’ve highlighted three must-see events spanning three days, giving you just a taste of the happenings around Iowa City this weekend. Details after the jump!
Gabe’s Iowa City
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Gabe’s to screen “Pussy Riot: A Punk Rock Prayer” April 3
Want more proof that Mission Creek Festival is more than just a Music & Literature Festival? On April 3rd, at 7PM, before the White Lung show, FilmScene and Mission Creek Festival will be screening the Iowa Premiere of Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Live Music Preview: 3/25 through 4/3
The Mission Creek Festival will soon be upon us, and Iowa City is holding its collective breath until it finally arrives. While Mission Creek’s main entrée is music (with healthy portions of literature and culinary arts), I won’t spend too much time explaining the festival here. That being said, much of this issue’s noteworthy live music doesn’t hit us until the fest starts on April 1.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Pallbearer
Pallbearer brings their crushing brand of doom-metal to this year’s Mission Creek Festival for a show at Gabe’s on Thursday, April 4. Since the release last year of their first full-length studio album, Sorrow and Extinction, they have become one of the most well-respected metal acts in the country
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Exitmusic
NYC-based duo Exitmusic will play Gabe’s on Saturday, April 6. The group’s songs of lost romance and haunting loneliness hit upon common themes, but singer Aleksa Palladino’s wavering vocals build tension and longing in a way that feels neither forced nor melodramatic. Together, the two musicians (Aleska Palladino and Devon Church) feature a strong theatrical style full of restrained guitar and subtle keyboard lines.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Julianna Barwick
Barwick loops layer after layer of her ethereal voice over understated piano and guitar samples. You’ve likely heard loopers before, but not like this. She takes the popular looping mechanic and elevates it to a level that borders on gospel, creating sweeping, meditative music that’s fit for a cathedral on the Seine.
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On The Beat: Aesop Rock, White Mystery and more coming to Iowa City
Right now, Mountains may be one of the best in the business when it comes to ambient, experimental music. Longtime friends and bandmates Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg got together and released two albums in 2005 and 2006 under their own label, Apestaartje.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Future Rock
Chicago House-Music trio Future Rock are slated to play a show at Gabe’s on Friday, April 5. They are known for combining samples from artists like The Chemical Brothers, and Neon Indian with synth loops and heavy bass to create wholly danceable tracks all their own.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: White Lung
Gabe’s plays host to a Mission Creek punk-rock extravaganza Wednesday, April 3. Headliners White Lung will play their brand of fast and loud Canadian punk alongside Iowa bands Slut River, Gluestick, and Nerv.
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Iowa City Weekender: February 21-23
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Weekender. Starting with Thursday, Iowa City’s Home Ec. Workshop is putting on its fourth annual Craft Crawl this weekend. Attendees have four days (Thursday – Sunday) to purchase discounted items from 6 different local businesses, and participate in activities they have arranged…
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On the Beat: Paul Collins, Menomena and more in Iowa City
The next couple of weeks offer a diverse lineup of shows. There are remarkable rockers who influenced the sound of groups like Blondie while they were in their prime. There will also be shape-shifting indie rockers who continue to mature and grow as musicians, along with a trio of former rockers who have become one of the country’s major electronic dance music draws.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Prairie Pop: Jonathan Richman’s playground punk
Most proto-punk legends don’t write songs like “I’m a Little Dinosaur” or “Ice Cream Man,” but Jonathan Richman isn’t your typical rock ‘n’ roll dude. Since forming The Modern Lovers in 1970, he has made a career out of defying expectations.
