WEEKEND TUNES: National players go local
In the mood for some live tunes this weekend? Here are my picks on where to go and what to hear:
FRIDAY
Warning. Only three Fridays on the Promenade concerts remain this year. Held outside in the pedestrian space surrounding the Roth Fountain, Fourth and Virginia streets, bluegrass will be the music du jour Friday. Pert’ Near Sandstone, a high-octane, gritty, hard-driving string band from the Twin Cities takes the stage from 6 to 8 p.m. Bring a chair. $2 at the gate.
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Is that the blues rock band Indigenous you hear? No, it’s just Indigenous minus lead singer/guitar virtuoso Mato Nanji. Mostly because they rock, The Kris Lager Band became the Indigenous rhythm section a few years back. Occasionally they take a break and get back to their roots as a four-piece from Lincoln, Neb. Texas Blues will be on tap when this group takes The Chesterfield, 1225 Fourth St., stage at 9:30 p.m. Unknown cover at the door.
SATURDAY
The cash-strapped can rejoice. Bills Bar, 2110 Court St., is hosting three bands for FREE starting at 9 p.m. Hearing these bands is worth paying some sort of cover. Locals MAN eats BEAR (alt-rock) and Three Dog Knife (a past Battle of the Bands winner) open for Jake Bellows, a folk rock singer/songwriter hailing from Omaha. Bellows is best known as the frontman of Saddle Creek recording artist Neva Dinova and as an occasional member of Conor Oberst’s band Bright Eyes. Again, it’s free.
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A few years back this band was inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame. Now Bonesteel is getting back together for a 9:30 p.m. show at The Chesterfield, 1225 Court St. Although Bonesteel officially called it quits in the 1982, a few sell-out reunion shows prompted the group to return to the studio in the 1990s. One track from those sessions, “Big Sioux River” raced up the indie charts and missed Billboard’s by a few points. Mat d. opens. Unknown cover at the door.
