Thursday, May 21, 2009

Weekend What's What 5/21-5/26

HOLIDAY, CELEBRATE!

If you've got one of those pesky Monday through Friday jobs, you're probably rejoicing in the fact that you've got Monday off. And lucky for you, this weekend is packed with a healthy abundance of potential hijinx. From dance parties to theater, and art events to outdoor hip hop fests, l'étoile expects you'll find something to go buck-wild about. The official transition to summer is upon us -- and Monday's Memorial Day holiday kicks it all off, so don't forget the sunblock!

xo-l'étoile




THURSDAY MAY 21ST

RetroRama

@ Minnesota History Center
345 Kellogg Blvd W.
St. Paul, MN

7-11pm / $15 ($12 MNHS Members)

Fashion trends are like a revolving door – what goes through eventually must come back out, although hopefully a bit more refined. With a tagline, “Fashion Comes Full Circle,” this year's annual RetroRama fashion show has decade evolution and style recycling theme in mind. Produced by Anna Lee and hosted in an outdoor tent on the Minnesota History Center grounds, RetroRama guarantees to be a “back to the future-esque” fashion experience where style retrospect is the inspiration. Local vintage-adoring designers, Ivan Idland, Max Lohrbach, Calpurnia Peach, Sarah Holm and Abigail Caperton will be showcasing their revamped takes on individual decades - from the 1920s through the 1960s, styled by the lovely dames of Eclecticoiffeur. DJ Jake Rudh pumps out the catwalk jams while you sip on cocktails from the Bradstreet Crafthouse, enjoy live music from A Night in the Box and sift through stylish goodies from local vintage boutiques Swank Retro and Via's Vintage Wear.

BONUS: Need a little help deciding what to wear to this year's retrorific shindig? Visit our own Jahna Peloquin's blog at St. Paul's stpaulstaycation.com for fashionista tips, including how to pick a decade-inspired look that best fits your style. Also read blogs by l'étoile's Kate Iverson and Juleana Enright, while you're there!

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE RETRORAMA SITE



THURSDAY MAY 21ST

Alphabet Keychain Release Party

@ ROBOTlove
2648 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis

6-8pm / Free

The illustrious DJ and Burlesque of North America designer Mike Davis (you know, the 2600 King) has teamed up with Kid Robot to release a series of zipper pulls based on the whimsical illustrations from his Alphabet poster - the perfect accoutrement to your American Apparel hoodie. Grab all 26! There will be live in-store DJ sets from Kenny Kingston and Jimmy 2 Times, and Burlesque will be giving out tons of free stuff and debuting a brand new art print designed by Mike Davis as well.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE ROBOTLOVE SITE



THURSDAY MAY 21ST

Slap!

@ Kitty Cat Klub
313 14th Ave SE
Minneapolis

10pm / 21+ / Free

After partying down ROBOTLove style at the Alphabet Keychain release party, go get slap happy at the Kitty Cat Klub with unstoppable ménage Tendercakes and Millz Billz, this month accompanied by super special guest Wes Winship. These bad-asses are constantly finding newer, kinkier ways of mashing up hip-hop, dance music, and rock ’n’ roll, making it nearly impossible to have a bad time. And as always, Slap will include jams, drinks, dancing, laughs, DJs, photos, kisses and lots o' SLAPS!

SLAP! is sponsored by l'étoile magazine!

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE KITTY CAT KLUB SITE



THURSDAY MAY 21ST

Punk Rock Poetry Night

@ Gallery 13
811 Lasalle Ave
Minneapolis

7pm / Free

Gallery 13 is going all out. Grant Hart and Mary Jane Mansfield host this artist salon and poetry night, featuring an artist's talk, a performance of Dada Café, and readings and songs by local poets. What makes it punk rock you wonder? Other than the veteran of punk rock, Mr. Grant Hart himself, the attitude of the night embodies rock and roll at its most artistic.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE GALLERY 13 SITE



FRIDAY ART PICK: BRIAN WALKER

Contemporary photographer Brian Walker creates playfully kitschy scenes that fuse illustration and fashion with a surrealist element of surprise. His latest series, aptly titled Plastic Fantastic, features compositions such as battery packed human figurines, fur clad models destined for the meat market, and a post modern take on nursery rhymes. His own website offers this amazingly poignant description: "Viewing this work is the equivalent of a photographic excursion into the mind of a serial filler of funtime plastic-fantastic realities. Brian Walker is a world renowned digital artist, with a playfully kitsch postmodern view on the world at large. View them with a grain of salt in hand ready to rub into your own proverbial visual wound that he taketh pleasure in inflicting"

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE BRIAN WALKER SITE



FRIDAY MAY 22ND

Go Live III

@ FIVETWOSIX
526 Selby Ave
St. Paul, MN

6-10pm / Free

In live art, there are no mistakes only new creative junctions. Witness the impromptu work of local artists in the third installation of Go Live at St. Paul's FiveTwoSix Gallery. Featuring a collaborative painting and music from artists MJ Heubach and Booka B, experimental art from MCAD grad, Aron Taylor and avant-garde creations by 526 stylists working their magic on live models showcasing the designs of Brittany Hughes and Renalie Bailey. Inspire some creativity as you sample snacks and sip delectable wine from St. Paul wine hub, Solo Vino.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR
Past collaborative work from Heubach and Booka B



FRIDAY MAY 22ND

Freshcool

@ Cliche
2403 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis

7pm/free

Artist and photographer Laura Hallen presents her new Photo-Plexibox paintings, layered multi-media studies on plants and organic existence in acrylic, plexiglass, beeswax and colored shellacs. In addition, Cliché is offering 10% off during the opening, and DJ Talk Radio spins while you sip wine and chomp appetizers. Gorgeous!

CLICK FOR THIS ART EVENT AND MORE AT MPLSART.COM



FRIDAY MAY 22ND (THROUGH SATURDAY)


Ten Minute Play Festival

@ Bedlam Theatre
1501 S 6th St
Minneapolis

6pm & 8pm / $10 for one, $15 for both

We know it’s hard, considering your a.d.d., to sit through an entire play. That’s why the 8th Annual Community ten minute plays are perfect snack-sized productions. The plays are performed in four separate sets, so you can mix and match what you want to see. Each play is exactly ten minutes, and the definition of a play is loosely interpreted in some instances. Stop by early or stay late and munch on the Bedlam's Polish-inspired menu items.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE BEDLAM SITE



FRIDAY MAY 22ND

Rebel Rebel: Rock for Pussy VI

@ First Ave
701 1st Ave North
Minneapolis

8pm / 18+ / $8

This Friday night, glitz, glitter and glam reign supreme at Rock For Pussy – the 6th annual tribute to David Bowie. Curated by 89.3 The Current fave Mary Lucia, sexy musical savants include Jeremy Messersmith, Jim Walsh, Chris Pavlich, Venus and All The Pretty Horses, Matt Coffee, Ciaran Daly, Dave Campbell, Liam Watkins, Lori Barbero (woo-hoo!), Marc Perlman, George Mckelvey, Laurie Lindeen, and Chris Lynch in a musical homage to the Thin White Duke himself. Dress up in your Bowie best and shakedown to the hottest glam jams provided by DJ Mark Wheat in between sets. All proceeds benefit the Minnesota Valley Humane Society Cat Shelter. Seriously people, who doesn’t want to help a bunch of destitute little pussies? Meow!

Click HERE for the 1st Avenue site.

Flight of the Concords Bowie clip via 1st Ave blog




COOL LINK: MUSEUM OF BAD ALBUM COVERS

Over the years, musicians have made a plethora of bad choices. Guys with feathered and teased hair, uberly tight jumpsuits...Christmas tributes. And now The Museum of Bad Album Covers pulls another stack memorabilia out of the embarrassing music career closet these artists thought they could hide from. Browse through the gallery that boasts a display 156 of the most hideous, shocking and down right disturbing album covers in music history designed to “assault both your ears and your eyes at the same time.” Vote for your faves or buy a T-shirt featuring the “best” of the worst cover art from the gift shop.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE WEBSITE



SATURDAY MAY 23RD

Ghost Comics Book Release Party

@ Arise Bookstore backyard
2441 Lyndale Ave. S.
Minneapolis

4pm / donation

Parties in Arise’s backyard equals summer, and book release parties with bands are the crème de la crème of this radical bookseller. Ghost Comics is a Xeric Award-winning comic anthology featuring a grip of comic artists, including Zak Sally, Ed Moorman and Will Dinski. It’s a big deal! Clamor around the artists for a signing at 4pm, get cozy at 5pm to listen to no less than seven bands, and stick around for the outdoor movie at 8:30. All proceeds from Ghost Comics benefit local substance abuse treatment facility RS Eden, so it's a win-win!

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE ARISE SITE



SATURDAY MAY 23RD

Lookbook

@ Turf Club
1601 University Ave W
St. Paul

9pm / 21+ / $5

l’étoile’s current fave band (and hopefully yours too), Lookbook, will be dishing out their impossibly addictive electro-pop beats at the Turf tonight, and we wouldn’t dare miss getting our fix. Drawing on influences as diverse as 80's pop, electronica, and modern indie rock, Lookbook creates a formula that captivates our ears every time we hear it. The utterly endearing duo of Grant Cutler and Maggie Morrison adds an impeccable style and unique flavor to their performance that we are simply gaga over. Openers We Are Hex and Kill to Kill kick things off.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE LOOKBOOK MYSPACE



SATURDAY MAY 23RD

Traffic Light Party

@ Clubhouse Jager
923 Washington Ave N.
Minneapolis

10pm-2am / 21+/ Free

Admit it. Spring makes you...well, let's just say, HOT. But with all the ambiguous and drunken flirting going on in the club scene it's tough to know who's available and who has a large, jealous significant other waiting just around the corner. Luckily, Dirty McKenzie and Bass-United Recordings have devised a color-coded party that takes the guess work out of meeting hotties. How does it work? Wear green if you're single, red if you're taken, yellow if you're undecided, and none of the above if you're a killjoy. Dirty McKenzie and Slater & Walker spin the best in new wave, disco, 80's and 90's jams while you spend the night dancing among the rainbow of possibilities, care and fancy-free. A jealous ex-significant other, now that's another story.

Sponsored by your favorite matchmakers, l'étoile magazine!

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE FACEBOOK EVENT



SATURDAY MAY 23RD

Big Quarters CD Release Show

@ Triple Rock
629 Cedar Ave S.
Minneapolis

9pm / 18+/ $7

Local rappers and hip-hop debonairs, Big Quarters, celebrate the release of their sophomore album, From the Home of Brown Babies and White Mothers tonight, West Bank style. Known for their stage presence and energetic sound which incorporates all of the best aspects of rap from the last decade. On top of being critically acclaimed musicians, Big Quarters have collaborated with fellow hip hopper P.O.S., are regulars on campus airwaves Radio K, and are a fierce representation of the sort of smart heat the local rap scene is packing. Live sets from Mankwe Ndosi, Kill the Vultures, Alissa Paris, DJs Noam the Drummer, Todda, Benzilla and special guests.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE BIG QUARTERS MYSPACE



SATURDAY MAY 23RD

West Rocks “U.S. of May” Party

@ Uptown Bar
3018 Hennepin Ave. S.
Minneapolis

9pm-2am/ 21+/ $5 with Flyer or RSVP

In the early winter months of '07, a club night devoted to exposing new talent emerged in West London. Two years later, it's become an infamous monthly dance extravaganza and live music showcase known simply by the moniker,“West Rocks.” Tonight, we're privy to a loving spoonful of the “rockin'” club party as West Rocks leaves its West London digs for a U.S. tour starting right here in MPLS. The MPLS installment features local acts, Guystorm, Idle Hands, Bouncer Fighter, Communist Daughter, Chelsea Boys, Camel of the Sea, Absent Arch and DJ sets from A-Ray, Guystorm, Solid Gold, Ryan PN and of course, charismatic party founder, Tara Rocks. We have a hunch Solid Gold's golden shoulder-rubbing connections at SXSW - where they shared a stage with West Rocks – are at least partly responsible for this party venturing to the Twin Cities. Kudos boys; we promise to take full advantage. RSPV @ westrocksguestlist@gmail.com for $5 cover charge.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE WEST ROCKS MYSPACE



SUNDAY MUSIC PICK: MIKE WATT


Last Friday the Twin Cities was reminded of what pure punk rock is all about. Mike Watt rolled into town in his van, with a bass in his hand, to shake the 7th St. Entry. Without Watt’s bands The Minutemen, fIREHOSE, and work with Sonic Youth as Ciccone Youth, rock and roll wouldn’t exist as we know it today. An anchor necklace, a penchant for plaids, and his own vocabulary make him a character we adore. So, even if you missed last week's show (which was neglected by us due to Art-A-Whirl) we suggest you take a refresher course in good old fashioned rock n' roll a la Watt.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE MIKE WATT MYSPACE



SUNDAY MAY 24TH

Soundset

@ Canterbury Park
1100 Canterbury Road South
Shakopee

11am-8pm / All Ages / $35

The second annual Soundset, self-described as the Official Mid-West Summer Kick-Off, is set to go down Sunday at Canterbury Park (of...um...horse racing fame) with eight raptastic hours of hip hop, b-boy battles, live DJs, a low-rider car show, skateboard demos, and plenty of awesome performances by a bevy of local and national artists including Atmosphere, The Pharcyde, MF Doom, Brother Ali, Sage Francis, Immortal Technique, P.O.S, El P with Mr. Dibbs, Eyedea & Abilities, Prince Paul, Buck 65, Blueprint, Heiruspecs, Sims of Doomtree, I Self Devine, Awol One, Mike Mictlan & Lazerbeak of Doomtree, Toki Wright, Grieves, Unknown Prophets, Plain Ole Bill, BK One, King Otto, and way more than we can list here. The fest is totally kid friendly, so bring your young’ns down for a rap spectacular on this lovely holiday weekend!

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE SOUNDSET MYSPACE



SUNDAY MAY 24TH

Gastro Non Grata

@ Triple Rock Social Club
629 Cedar Ave S
Minneapolis

6pm-10pm/$3 or food donation

Nom nom nom. If you were lucky enough to catch the Gastro Non Grata at the Modern during Art-a-Whirl, you know what deliciousness is in store. Tonight you’ll try samples of Rush River Brewing Company’s beer while chef Heather Hartman of Spoonriver offers a mushroom pate and Vietnamese Grilled Pork salad, then enjoy sweetness from Rogue Chocolatier. Oh, and p.s. -- Birthday Suits, His Mischief, Evening Rig, and our very favorite, Dreamland Faces are playing. ALL FOR $3!!!!!!

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE GASTRO NON GRATA SITE



TUESDAY MAY 26TH

JagerCon: Sci-Fi Tuesdays

@ Clubhouse Jager
923 Washington Avenue N.
Minneapolis

Every Tuesday
10 p.m. / 21+ / Free

Join hosts Kate Iverson (l'étoile magazine, Secrets of the City) and Beth Hammarlund (l'étoile magazine, A Tiny Machine) every Tuesday Night for JagerCon! JagerCon is a weekly sci-fi party featuring screenings of classic nerdy movies and television shows such as Buffy, Firefly, V, Star Trek, Blade Runner, Forbidden Planet and more -- topped off with 2-4-1 cocktails all night served by Star Captain Paul!

Mingle with like-minded sci-fi geeks, discuss D&D strategies, and use that Captain Picard impression you've been perfecting to pick up chicks at the bar. Snort-laugh the night away while bragging about your MMORPG addiction and enjoy a cozy, nerd-friendly environment.

Kate and Beth are life-long sci-fi fans who also dabble in art and fashion. They appreciate Joss Whedon, Karl Lagerfeld, and Matthew Barney on the same level. They can also party like Sci-Fi Conventioneers. Kate and Beth strive to unite the segmented nerd culture of the Twin Cities the only way they know how: with alcohol and awesome Sci-Fi entertainment.

Upcoming Events:

May 26th: Zardoz
June 2nd: Runaway
June 9th: Hackers
June 16th: The Road Warrior
June 23rd: Space Camp
June 30th: Ice Pirates
July 7th: Robo Cop 1 and 2
July 14th: Repo Man


For more info visit www.jagercon.blogspot.com

Wear an orange loin cloth and win a limited edition Squad 19 Zardoz print! (or just ask us nicely, but we'd really enjoy seeing you in a loin cloth)

THIS WEEK'S FILM IS ZARDOZ!



GUEST BLOGGER: A TINY MACHINE

Beth Hammarlund shares a little summer romance.

chanel, je t'aime

the new Chanel No.5 commercial, starring Audrey Tatou and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

For more posts from A Tiny Machine click HERE.




GUEST BLOGGER: LE PETIT CONNAISSEUR

Jahna Peloquin gives us a sneak peek of Thursday's RetroRama Fashion Show at the MN History Center.

RetroRama Preview

You should already have your tickets to annual historical fashion show RetroRama at the Minnesota History Center this Thursday. If not, allow me to me whet your appetite with designer sketches by RetroRama designers Max Lohrbach, Ivan Idland, Calpurnia Peach, Abigail Caperton (Princess Warrior) and Sarah Holm (Re-Evolution), exclusive to the Le Petit blog.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE LE PETIT BLOG FOR MORE IMAGES
Sketch by Max Lohrbach



What's What Editor: Kate Iverson
Contributing Writers: Lacey Prpic Hedtke, Robyn Lewis, Juleana Enright, Kate Iverson, Beth Hammarlund, Jahna Peloquin

CONTENT © L'ETOILE MAGAZINE 2009

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