Rock the Garden @ Walker Art Center
Posted on June 22nd, 2008 – 11:29 AMBy Jon Bream
Gorgeous day, great crowd, cool setting. (It was wonderful to be able to go in and out of the Walker, though it’s too bad the old Guthrie space, now occuped by a mini-golf course, was fenced off as an obtrusive, too-large VIP area.)
Family obligations kept me from seeing the first two acts (Bon Iver, Cloud Cult), but caught the New Pornographers and Andrew Bird. Without Neko Case and Dan Bejar, the New Pornos lacked personality (highlight: a cover of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down”). Bird showed more personality in his first two songs than the Pornos did in their hour. Unfortunately, lightning in the distance forced Bird to take a 10-minute mid-show break, after which he seemed to lose momentum.
What did you think of Rock the Garden? The setting? The lineup? The performances? Please post your comments here:
3 Responses to "Rock the Garden @ Walker Art Center"
I beg to differ with the assessment of The New Pornographers. Case and Bejar are OFTEN absent from the ranks, and TNP fans don’t rely on that “star power” to appreciate the heart, soul and joy of this transcendent band. They played a fine set, which we enjoyed immensely.
Expectations will always mess with one’s head. Let go of them.
I too enjoyed The New Pornographers the most. The setting was pretty cramped. Maybe next time they can vacate traffic from the Hennepin/Lyndale/I94 commons for the show.
The best two bands played first. Andrew Bird was fine, but he’s been around this block too often in the past 18 months to still be interesting - particularly as a headliner. The policy of ID’ing everyone upon entrance was ridiculous. They only need ID drinkers once in the venue. They could have moved the entrance lines much quicker. They also oversold the venue - too crowded, particularly food lines, etc. Even with all that bitchin’ - I had a great time. Beautiful night, beautiful people. Great music.
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters