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The Prids and Soft Tags, both hailing from the Pacific Northwest, gave us plenty of reason to get out of the heat and into The Yacht Club with back-to-back high energy sets of indie rock. The students may have shipped out for the summer months, but that hasn’t kept Iowa City from rocking with bells on, and we have the video to prove it.
Portland’s System and Station and the more local rock group Modern Day Satire–based in Des Moines–came by Gabe’s this weekend to play us some music. The show was a nice cherry on top of an otherwise action-packed Iowa City weekend, of which the Iowa City Pride Parade and Festival was the centerpiece, and we have plenty of video for you to sink your teeth into.
This week on Little Village Live we were joined by Des Moines’ Thankful Dirt, a semi-local duo featuring Molly Matthews on vocals and Darren Matthews on acoustic guitar. Check out video from the show or grab the mp3 for the full hour-long program.
The two bands are set to take off on a wild month long tour to the west coast, up the coast, and back. Considering that these are two of Iowa City’s staple local acts, and that they both kick ass, this is an occasion you don’t want to miss. The Wandering Bears just released their self-titled and self-released bombshell of a record in June and have been taking the world by storm ever since.
Cutting broad gestures as though he’s channelling Freddy Mercury, with a slightly less svelte physique, Sam Locke Ward projected what can only be termed comical savagery.
The Haps: June/July 2010 ~ Well, underage kids: The party is over. June 1st is here, and depending on who you ask, it means either the end of live music as we know it or that things are going to be basically the same. Only time will tell, I suppose, but I tend to agree […]
Iowa City’s The Gilded Bats came by Little Village Live this week for some of that old time string music. The group, together since 2003, have a certain authenticity when it comes to practicing their craft, evident in their ability to write alarmingly catchy folk tunes.
If David Byrne, Slash, and Joe Strummer united to form a rock supergroup—and if, miraculously, things really clicked—that band would likely sound something like Aktar Aktar. The Chicago four-piece will headline Gabe’s this Saturday night, borrowing the best ingredients of art rock, cock rock and punk rock and mixing them into their tasty signature blend. […]
If David Byrne, Slash, and Joe Strummer united to form a rock supergroup—and if, miraculously, things really clicked—that band would likely sound something like Aktar Aktar. The Chicago four-piece will headline Gabe’s this Saturday night, borrowing the best ingredients of art rock, cock rock and punk rock and mixing them into their tasty signature blend. […]
On Wednesday Night, Grupo Fantasma made a great first impression on Iowa City. A sweaty, funky, irresistibly dance-able first impression. Playing songs in a variety of Latin American styles, anchored by a world class rhythm section, and topped off with a tight, funky brass section, Grupo Fantasma were muy caliente y muy picante!
With all of the Iowa Arts Festival excitement from last weekend, you may have missed some of the other shows taking place. Long after guitarist Sonny Landreth had finished up on the festival main stage, Merlin and Mad Monks were still rocking hard at Gabe’s.
Few groups in recent years have had a larger footprint in the Iowa City music scene than Euforquestra. They are all monstrous musicians no matter what style they play. They manage to bring together Jazz fans, Jam Band camp followers, and people (like me) who think there’s nothing better than live dance music, no matter the genre.
Little Village is a free, independent and community-supported news, arts and culture publication based in Iowa City and covering communities throughout Eastern and Central Iowa. Little Village's free print magazine is distributed to over 800 pickup locations around the state, and paywall-free online stories are published daily.
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