The Green Room: From on stage, back stage and the theater seats, the Performing Arts blog illuminates the intersecting worlds of dance, theater, and music.
The Rock the Garden 2013 Lineup has been announced! On April 16, Mary Lucia and Jim McGuinn (89.3 The Current) with Philip Bither (Walker Art Center) revealed this year’s bands. Here’s who’s playing the festival: 5. Dan Deacon (Baltimore, MD) 4. Low (Duluth, MN) 3. Bob Mould Band (San Francisco, CA) 2. Silversun Pickups (Los [...]
The Rock the Garden 2013 Lineup has been announced! On April 16, Mary Lucia and Jim McGuinn (89.3 The Current) with Philip Bither (Walker Art Center) revealed this year’s bands. Here’s who’s playing the festival:
Tickets will be on sale to Walker and MPR members only this Friday, April 19, starting at 11 am. Any remaining tickets go on sale to the general public Saturday, April 20.
REMEMBER
Last year’s festival sold out in less than an hour, so be sure to mark your calendar and double-check that your Walker membership is up-to-date. Walker/MPR membership ID numbers will be required for all pre-sale purchases.
There wasn’t much to complain about at this year’s Rock the Garden. The skies gave us a go ahead by clearing up just in time for the show, the “goat path” stayed in place leading to easy movement up and down the hill, the food offerings were delicious, and the bands all seemed happy to [...]
There wasn’t much to complain about at this year’s Rock the Garden. The skies gave us a go ahead by clearing up just in time for the show, the “goat path” stayed in place leading to easy movement up and down the hill, the food offerings were delicious, and the bands all seemed happy to be there and gave it their all.
Oh, and the Mayor once again proved that he knows what it takes to be awesome on Twitter.
(More of those tweets plus photos can be found right here on Storify.)
Reviews:
“Reverence for the Twin Cities music scene was in overflowing supply during the 2012 running of Rock the Garden.” City Pages‘ Gimme Noise blog review every band and also reports on the number of mosquito bites the reporter received during the show: 3. (There were mosquitoes out?)
During the show, Local Current’s Andrea Swensson wrote a play-by-play of every band’s performance, including posting their set lists.
Rock the Garden a city unto itself: Star Tribune’s Chris Riemenschneider says that we were “daring” by changing up the formula by including so many local bands, and says this is why: “A punky hip-hop group — the first rappers ever booked at RTG — going on before a bluegrassy string band, both following an Afrobeat-influenced experimental group, with two straight-up, guitar-heavy rock bands for the opener and headliner. That’s how widely Saturday’s RTG lineup reached.”
Rose City Live admits they were watching the #rockthegarden tag all day long.
METRO finishes off their review saying, “No, Minnesota is not the center of the musical universe. But on this afternoon, at this venue, it seemed pretty close.”
Cake in 15 wants us to expand our drink selection and has a fantastic animated gif of Sims really, really moving.
Photo round-ups:
First of all, thanks to everybody who posted their photos and stories on our Rock the Garden wall! We love having them there.
Three opportunities to find yourself in the Current’s interactive superzoom crowd photos taken from the VIP Skybox, press pit, and the top of the hill.
Rose City Live’s Stuart Wainstock’s set on Flickr.
Secrets of the City has a nice photo round-up of bands and happy concert-going couples.
Ryan Siverson has a gallery of 120 photos, including lots of shots of each band.
We are still awaiting Vita.MN’s photobooth album, until then, here is their set of festival shots.
Leslie Plessner of shuttersmack‘s set of beautiful close-up shots, called out on Twitter as the “best photos I’ve seen so far from #rockthegarden” (@cleverkate.)
The Rock the Garden 2012 lineup was announced at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul Wednesday. Here’s who’s playing this year’s show: 5. Howler, Minneapolis, Minn. 4. tUne-yArDs, Oakland, Calif. 3. Doomtree, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. 2. Trampled by Turtles, Duluth, Minn. 1. The Hold Steady, Brooklyn, New York Don’t miss our interview with the Hold [...]
The Rock the Garden 2012 lineup was announced at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul Wednesday. Here’s who’s playing this year’s show:
Whew! How are you all feeling? Standing my ground on a goat path of mud and avoiding dirty-footed crowd surfers in the marsh pit took quite a bit of energy out of yours truly, but I’m jazzed to see all the reviews and photos on the web and Twitter from before, during, and after the [...]
Getting rocked. Photo: The Current
Whew! How are you all feeling? Standing my ground on a goat path of mud and avoiding dirty-footed crowd surfers in the marsh pit took quite a bit of energy out of yours truly, but I’m jazzed to see all the reviews and photos on the web and Twitter from before, during, and after the show.
Here is a round-up of some of your tweets: @hansenwithane: My Morning Jacket melts faces. #RTG2011 #amazing @misslibrarian: I wonder what hair products Jim James uses. #hairtwins #RTG2011 @_SamChoo: #RtG2011 was sprinkley, but good. Bands were solid – though this will be known as the the year I finally tasted @chefshack1′s mini-donuts! @ChaseThisBear: Favorite part of #rtg2011 was lost child alert and to pick him up at the Vodka tent and Mark Wheats annual drunk speech. @thatredgirl: Oh the glory of dry pants and clean feet! Who knew it was so lovely, thank you @RockTheGarden for reminding me of this pleasure #RTG2011 Celebrity sightings!@EamonCoyne: Saw Craig Finn, the Sklar Bros and Josh Hartnett @RockTheGarden today. Oh and some pretty good music too! #rtg2011 – you have exhausted me! @maggieckane: “You could stare into that cherry [on the spoon] for hours and hours. God bless it.” –My Morning Jacket #rtg2011
And related (intentionally or not…) @vholst: My Morning Jacket was the cherry on top of an amazing day. #rtg2011
And finally… @dane_ray: It may have rained, but it sure was fun as hell! #rtg2011 @mlindstrom: Watching @mymorningjacket as the sun goes down in the best city in America. #rtg2011
Reviews:
* = reviews that mention Jim James’ reverent comments about Spoonbridge and Cherry
City Pages was doing some livebloggin’ all day long over at Gimme Noise. *
The Star Tribune covered the day inside and out: in this review for the print edition, a recap of Neko Case and My Morning Jacket and their set lists on Artcetera*, and this short piece and slide show about a few of the 10,000 people who came to the show–rain, mud, and all.
Photo Round-Ups:
The Current has great behind-the-scenes, crowd, and band pics on their page. They’re still updating!
The Pioneer Press slideshow opens on a shot of people drinking beer in ponchos: a representative photo.
Derek Johnk has an album that offers a sneak peek into the life of RTG VIPs.
And last, but definitely not least, some amazing folks over here at the Walker have put together an extra special time-lapse video this year. Check it out and re-live your entire day in 4 minutes:
The number one question I hear when someone finds out I drive the bands around at Rock The Garden is: “How the (expletive) can I get a job like that!?” Actually, the process is quite simple. Deep inside the corridors of The Walker Art Center is a small room that contains a broken golden [...]
The number one question I hear when someone finds out I drive the bands around at Rock The Garden is:
“How the (expletive) can I get a job like that!?” Actually, the process is quite simple.
Deep inside the corridors of The Walker Art Center is a small room that contains a broken golden harpsichord. When WAC’s Performing Arts department is in need of a nuanced and compassionate Production Assistant, they collectively brush their hands against a few specific strings. All you have to do is recognize the particular vibrations and meet them at the correct unspoken space and time. For me, the experience happened something like this:
Me: (cautiously approaching my buddies):“So… I think I’m gonna move to Minneapolis.”
West Coast Musician: (approvingly) “Prince is from there.”
West Coast Musician’s Girlfriend: (amazed)“Target is too…”
Naturally, I moved to town for yearly tributes to the gods of rock.
Today, my fellow PA Jesse Leaneagh and I will be picking up bands from the airport, listening to their stories of being on the road, answering questions about Minneapolis (“So, how many people live here?… How cold does it really get?”) all the while trying to prepare them for this ‘little’ midwest rock show that brings 11,000+ people and is an impressive orchestration of solid work from the Walker staff. They always leave quite impressed with the event: the crowd’s enthusiasm, the a excellent outdoor venue, and especially the stellar Tech staff that bring them the best possible support.
We drivers have a little trick in our back pocket we like to call The Glory Lap. If a band needs a pep talk, nothing wakes them up after a long flight (aside from the Sugar-Free Red Bulls they request) than a drive around the perimeter of the site, starting with a view of the hill from the top. It’s a cool scene indeed, an impressive stage/vendor set up, with the skyline as a backdrop.
Since I probably won’t have this blessed job forever, I took advantage of an opportunity to document this experience. I will be posting from time to time throughout the weekend to give you the inside scoop. You, the reader, can ask yourself questions like, “What is it like backstage and on the road?” - “Do the artists sing in the van or ask for blue M&M’s?” or “Did this guy luck into this gig or is his presence more like manifest destiny?” And hopefully I’ll have the answers!
See you at the big show,
Dave Good
DG with Sharon Jones and Gabriel Roth at RTG, 2010
It’s May 18, one month to go before the crowds assemble on the Walker’s field for Rock The Garden 2011. This image was made at last year’s event. Click here to download a QuickTime version. And here’s a link to last summer’s panoramic from the photo pit during Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ performance.
It’s May 18, one month to go before the crowds assemble on the Walker’s field for Rock The Garden 2011. This image was made at last year’s event.
Click here to download a QuickTime version. And here’s a link to last summer’s panoramic from the photo pit during Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ performance.
This 360° panoramic was made by stitching together six wide-angle vertical images. They were made during the first song by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings during Rock the Garden 2010. You can also download the high-res quicktime movie.
This 360° panoramic was made by stitching together six wide-angle vertical images. They were made during the first song by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings during Rock the Garden 2010.
Inspired by outdoor events covering the Twin Cities summer calendar, in 1998 the Walker put together a concert that brought the Garden and the Center together for a day of drinking and snacking and mingling and, of course, rocking out. That first Rock the Garden, featuring the Jayhawks, was a relatively small-scale endeavor: Put up a [...]
Inspired by outdoor events covering the Twin Cities summer calendar, in 1998 the Walker put together a concert that brought the Garden and the Center together for a day of drinking and snacking and mingling and, of course, rocking out.
Rock the Garden, 1998, on Vineland Place
That first Rock the Garden, featuring the Jayhawks, was a relatively small-scale endeavor: Put up a stage on Vineland Place, bring in a band, show some Garden visitors and music fans a new side of our contemporary arts center. It was an immediate sucess, and in fact drew larger crowds than expected, thus inspiring another outdoor show in 2000.
Jayhawks in 1998
For Rock the Garden 2000, Sonic Youth came around and were joined by Stereolab, and the Walker had another success on its hands as masses of concert-goers flooded Vineland Place.
The next year, Rock the Garden 2003 became a full-on, multiple-band festival. Still rocking Vineland Place as a sweetly oversized block party, the Walker hosted Fog, The Bad Plus, and Wilco as guests crammed together in sweaty celebration of indie music.
RTG, as it’s known to Walker staff, was on hiatus for 2005, 2006, and 2007, as Vineland Place transformed. The Walker’s expansion went up, along with an underground parking ramp, and the ’60s-era Guthrie came down. In 2008, the festival was revived in a new partnership with a public radio station that had gone on the air in 2005 — 89.3 The Current – and welcomed not three but four bands: Bon Iver, Cloud Cult, The New Pornographers, and Andrew Bird.
Andrew Bird in 2008
Last year, Rock the Garden’s stage was turned 90 degrees to face the rolling green hill along on the west side of the Walker. This seemingly minor adjustment made for a whole new kind of experience as fans got off the street and spread out on the lawn — and the festival escalated to grande proportions in a fantastic show put on by Solid Gold, Yeasayer, Calexico, and The Decemberists.
Me: (cautiously approaching my buddies):
David Byrne in 2004 
