He’s a Minneapolis native who’s been involved in the music scene for most of his life, and yet even L.A. Buckner was surprised by the sprawling scene at Bauhaus Brew Labs’ annual Liquid Zoo party this time last year — which for the past 30 years has been Art-A-Whirl time in northeast Minneapolis.
“I was shocked to see 3,000-plus people in the crowd,” the iTunes chart-topping jazz/funk drummer and bandleader recounted. “I had no idea how big [it] was.”
The party scene for Art-A-Whirl might be as big as ever. Bauhaus is just one of six swill-making establishments hosting live music festivals around the all artists’ displays in the Northeast corridor this weekend. See also: Indeed and Padraigs breweries, Sociable Cider Werks, Minneapolis Cider Co. and Earl Giles Distillery.
There are lot more music stops than those, too. The scene-bolstering nonprofit DEMO (Diverse Emerging Music Organization) is hosting a three-day party at the Twin Ignition Startup Garage event space. Elias Metal Studio, one of the first places to weld together a live music calendar for Art-A-Whirl, will be rocking all weekend again. Community TV station MCN6 is parking its fun “Bands on Vans” mobile stage outside the 331 Club. Even the neighborhood food co-op, Eastside, has a big parking lot party planned again Saturday.
Bauhaus’ Liquid Zoo party probably will wind up being the biggest Art-A-Whirl music bash again — thanks in part to Buckner, who is headlining the Saturday lineup there with White Boy Summer, his new duo with guitarist/singer Thomas Abban. The group’s name is intentionally a misnomer, because Buckner said the concept is “two Black history buffs playing the Blackest music you’ve ever heard.”
He is thrilled to be in the Art-A-Whirl swirl again.
“It’s the Twin Cities’ musical family reunion every year,” Buckner said, “where all of the different scenes and cliques that are usually siloed off into their own small communities can come together. Every bill has a huge contrast of bands and artists.”
As always, though, that huge contrast can create a lot of scheduling conflicts for music lovers trying to navigate the busy calendar. Here’s one semi-informed local music fan’s personal picks of which bands to see when, with an hour-by-hour top choice and one good backup option.
