The Codfish Hollow barn has been referred to as the crown jewel location of the Barnstormer tour, and it’s easy to see why. Concertgoers pulled cars into a large meadow, and then waited in droves by the gate. After a few minutes, a smiling, coveralls-clad man pulled up in a tractor, and encouraged everyone to […]
Things to do in Iowa City
Posted inArts & Entertainment
May Day Music Recap at the Blue Moose Tap House (VIDEO)
Local rock legends of Iowa City–accompanied by The Fret Rattles of Minnesota–took over the Blue Moose Tap House Saturday night to blow our collective minds. Fresh off his Wednesday performance on Little Village Live, Sam Locke Ward and the Boo Hoos hit the stage earlier in the night to play us a few songs. Check […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Dennis "Daddy-O" McMurrin and the Demolition Band at the Yacht Club (VIDEO)
What better way to end a Saturday night than with Dennis “Daddy-O” McMurrin and the Demolition Band getting their smooth groove on at the Yacht Club? Check out the following video for a few different clips of the blues troupe doing what they do best. When other bands had long since packed up, Daddy-O and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Fueling the Fire
Prairie Pop: May 2010 – British collage artist Vicki Bennett balances her avant-garde sensibilities with a dose of goofiness–perhaps more so than some of her other peers in the sound collage underground. The British experimental music magazine The Wire describes her music as “a freeform, unfolding imaginary landscape that is liberally peppered with slapstick.” Bennett–who performs under the name People Like Us–demolishes the demarcations between high and low culture, and she has brought her unique aesthetic to highbrow arbiters such as Tate Modern, the Walker Art Center, and the BBC.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Midwest-by-Midwest
Experiencing this year’s Mission Creek Festival after having just returned from SXSW brought a few things to mind. First, there can be no argument: These are two of the best-run and brilliantly programmed festivals around. Hosting a mind-boggling assortment of shows simultaneously at various venues around a city-center hub is a concept SXSW pioneered 23 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Talking Movies: O Mother, Where Art Thou?
Talking Movies: May 2010 – It’s always risky making generalizations involving gender. But what’s life without a little risk? Motherhood is the social role most likely to devour a person’s identity. It seems much easier for a father to take off the father hat. When a mother wakes up in the middle of the night, her first thought is usually, “Are the children safe?” In Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s new movie Mother, playing at the Bijou May 7-13, the main character is rarely named. She is all mother.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Show Review: Barnstormer III – April 27, 2010 – West Liberty, IA
The Secret Octagonal Barn in West Liberty, IA. The Secrest Octagonal Barn in West Liberty is a vast, open space built in the eight-sided style popular in 1883, when it was built. On the night of the show, a line of cars stretched all the way down the dirt road leading to the barn—with license […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender: 4/29-5/2
THURSDAY Take Back the Night | 7-10 pm | Pentacrest | FREE Who’s doing real work to make Iowa City a safer place? Clue: It’s not the City Council. Take Back the Night is an international organization that organizes public demonstrations that speak out against sexual violence, empowers victims and unites allies to voice refusal […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Samuel Locke Ward on Little Village Live
From KRUI Studios in Iowa City, Iowa, we are happy to present a performance by one of Iowa City’s most celebrated musicians, Samuel Locke Ward. Locke Ward has released too many tapes (such as Boombox by Bedside, reviewed here on Cassette Gods) and albums to mention them all. He has toured extensively with The Bassturd […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
That 1 Guy: Gabe’s 4/25/10 (VIDEO)
Classically trained bassist Mike Silverman, known as That 1 Guy, gave Gabe’s a taste of his Magic Pipe Sunday night. By that, we of course mean his homemade dual steel pipes, featuring multiple trigger points for samples and effects, two orchestral bass strings and a few helpings of ingenuity. The Magic Pipe was accompanied by […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Monotonix/The Tanks/Liberty Leg: Blue Moose Tap House 4/22/10 (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Photos by Zak Neumann Thursday night’s three three-man-band bill at The Blue Moose Tap House’s Blue Room (upstairs) was a master class in the power of the trio. All three bands on stage repped a drummer, a guitarist/bass player and a vocalist, and none suffered for missing a conventional piece of the rock ‘n’ roll […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Antlers/Phantogram: Blue Moose Tap House, 4/21/10
Photos by Zak Neumann If you’re going to make an album like Hospice, you have to deal with the consequences. The Antlers debut held a place in my top five records of last year, and for good reason: it’s one of those increasingly rare albums, you know, the kind that must be absorbed in full, […]
