Hudson Wisconsin Nightlife

August, 2014Archive for

Friday, August 29th, 2014

It’s getting crowded out there on the dance floor …
– A recent band at the Smilin’ Moose, PsychoFonik — which plays again on Friday night, Aug. 29 — went away from the usual
classic rock or its approximation theme and played right-up-to-date stuff that you’d hear on pop radio. It included two male
singers with the range to pull off almost anything. It should be noted that they were wearing hats ala Bruno Mars. Would that
be, back in the classic rock days, men with, or Men Without Hats?
– In what was a great way to kick off the Labor Day holiday weekend early, singer Amanda and the band Jawsy packed the main
room at Dick’s Bar and Grill on Wednesday. This will prove to be one of the last chances to see them for a while, as the trio is
taking a hiatus. A bit early in the month, there was another overflow crowd at Dick’s, with the fiddler Doug Solberg doing his
annual show, and taking the time between sets to mingle with the audience for sometimes an hour or two.
– And with it being a Monday holiday, there will almost certainly be another full house Sunday night at Dick’s for the one-man
band, Jeff Loven, even when taking into consideration that it’s the very end of the Minnesota State Fair.

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

Don’t be a Dweeb, run like a Rhino:
– With motorcycle rallies, bigger is not always better, as runs that are less involved can also be fun. In the same weekend as an area Memorial Run celebrates its 20th anniversary by wrapping up what it calls the largest western Wisconsin run — starting anywhere and anytime — on Saturday in Ellsworth, there is another option. This is the Dick’s Ride ‘Em Hard Run on Sunday, where the operative number is 33.3. That’s the average number of miles between the three featured stops, before participants find themselves back at Dick’s Bar and Grill at 5 p.m. Registration is at 11 a.m. and riders leave at noon.
– There will be Rhino in town for the second time in a week, just going to show that the Smilin’ Moose is not the only creature on the loose in Hudson. Rhino, fittingly will play the Moose on Friday night, following a performance at the North Hudson Pepper Festival last Saturday that’s one of their many in the Hudson area in the last few years.
– Speaking of Pepper Fest, the Dweebs closed the place down on Sunday night, showing that they are talented musicians and more than just a novelty act — with more stage presence than the average geek. Of particular interest, for me, was the way they mixed in the echo during In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins. Some locals had wondered aloud, are the Dweebs actually on stage locally on a Sunday? Well, having been dubbed America’s Favorite Party Band, they are slated for festivals all this weekend, Wednesday through Sunday (yes), getting started by playing the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.
– And speaking of that theme, coming off their big corn feed earlier in the month, the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt this Friday and Saturday will have the The Brothers Mayer and Strangers, respectively.

Saturday, August 16th, 2014

There are stages that get active all over the place this weekend …
The North Hudson Pepper Festival has a music lineup that starts with a great big voice then just keeps getting stronger.
On Friday night, Aug. 15, taking the stage is the Devon Worley Band, followed on Saturday night by Rhino and Sunday night by The Dweebs, as a variety of styles are featured. The sponsors are, in order, Hudson Ford, the Village Inn and WESTconsin Credit Union.
Worley is a teenage Minneapolis country singer with a huge voice and stage presence, and even auditioned for The Voice. She is backed by some veteran musicians in this seven-piece band who have had connections with some big names, from widely differing genres. The band’s second album solidified their reputation of one of the Midwest’s top country acts.
One of the last times Rhino played locally, the lead singer, who looks like a less scruffy Larry the Cable Guy, at one point turned his back to the audience and wiggled his tush in a lengthy way worthy of Jennifer Lopez on American Idol (rather than The Voice). However it was the music, a variety of rock and country rock, that stole the show.
The Dweebs have been Pepper Fest favorite, closing things down with a musical and comedic bang, for years.
Friday through Sunday is the Summer Set Music and Camping Festival at Somerset Amphitheater, featuring dozens of electronic dance, hip-hop and jam bands. Patrons to the third annual show might have to brave some heat, but will have some things going more their way, such as accessability to additional water stations, and a set-up in the several-acre, bowl shaped theater at the edge of the village that has little shade but reportedly gives them more freedom to flow over to stages at the southeast.
Also on Saturday, a block or so away from the main Pepperfest stage, Seasons Tavern will feature a downstairs band and earlier — not to be outdone by the pepper and spaghetti eating contests — is its Wicked wings Challenge.

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because that’s where the entertainment is!
– The band Ditch Chicken has been described online as everything from a variety band, to current and classic rock and country. Yes, you get all those styles with one group! See for yourself when they play the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Friday, Aug. 8, starting at 9 p.m.
– Downtown classic car shows have been all the gas in the last week or two. All day Saturday, Aug. 9, Walnut Street will be closed to all but the vehicles of Brit Fest, which features the Euro models of several car clubs. There was another car show the previous weekend, and part of what’s featured was late night blues music in the Lakefront Park band shell. That meant some of the music you were hearing in the vicinity of Locust Street was from another place then the Smilin’ Moose, which has the distinction of their tunes bouncing off the streetscape as you walk along Second Street — literally hitting the brick above Micklesen Drug Store, banking back to the area across the street and being heard by the cigar shop, where patrons often sit in the evening, relax and take it all in. Again, tunes bouncing right off the pharmacy. Sound psychedelic enough to you?
– Imagine being a karaoke singer and having any song in the history of rock ‘n’ roll at your disposal — again.
That was the case at Pudge’s Bar late in July, and will be again Saturday, as part of an ongoing arrangement for gigs it has with Like The Radio Productions.Their karaoke meister, Aaron Bergman, says that because of a special technology arrangement, his company can use Wifi to access any song that’s ever been recorded. And you can sing it, all from the comfort of the outdoor patio at Pudge’s. That means that passersby can hear just how good you sound performing these hard-to-find gems.The company also has “screen ticker” technology to let singers know if they are one of the next three to come up, so they can make a trip to the bathroom or get a drink, and a database that tracks all singers and their favorite selections.
The shows run from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on July 24, on Saturday, Aug. 9, and on Friday, Aug. 22.
– There are several local bar regulars who are contemplating — or have decided not to — get back in the ring for things like Ultimate Fighting. Maybe they need to get back in shape, or maybe recover from injury. One of them who leads the way by virtue of having a former sponsorship from Spalding, has been bartending at the Cajun Club, but in a few days will go back to a task that is more in his comfort zone, being a bouncer there. So you have a limited amount of time, kind of like the length of a typical bout, to track him down for some conversation about the biz.
– Rock Godz are on stage at the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night, Aug. 8, and they certainly dress like their name implies, namely like an ’80s hair band. When they took the stage at the back patio of Bo’s ‘N Mine for River Falls Days, there were listeners duded up in the same way, and when there was a set break and the Godz themselves mingled with the crowd, it was hard to tell exactly who was with the group, and who was a groupie, and just how many band members there were.
– There is no point to fiddlin’ around with a lot of detail for this promo, simply, the acclaimed Sun Mountain Fiddler, Dick Solberg, brings his unique brand of humor and various musical styles to Dick’s Bar and Grill on Thursday, Aug. 14, starting early at 8 p.m.

Friday, August 1st, 2014

Flooding and fireworks effected local nightlife, bust or bang …
– Earlier flooding by the Stillwater bridge meant that, essentially, Houlton was shut down for several days. Both Guv’s Place and the Cajun Club closed early a few times, spurred mostly by the fact that few customers could get there. Another place that had such a problem was the Valley House banquet facility, although they noted — oddly — that the recent detour because of construction on the new Stillwater bridge was not as much of a worry. That detour, which diverted Hwy. 35 traffic around on County Roads V and E, meant that cars could not go directly from Houlton to the Valley House, but needed to head east and then most of the way to Hudson, then north again. Still, their staff said it was not that big a hassle.
– Blame it on the fireworks across the river? A young man was heard on Second Street in Hudson to say, “We’re in Stillwater, aren’t we?” Just like a patron at the Smilin’ Moose who said erroneously about Pudge’s Bar, “that’s five miles south of here.”
– Just in time for the Fourth of July, Dick’s bar and grill began serving Capital brewery drink, which had a logo of a large dome on it. It has now arrived much later than any prohibition era vote that might have taken place under such a dome, which is good because Dick’s advertises itself as being open continuously since 1860.
– A customer at Dick’s who works nights in St. Paul said that the fireworks shooting there, including people at each other — which probably were purchased in the Hudson area — got so rowdy that the cops essentially threw up their hands for lack of ability to get it under control and left these hardened criminals have at it.
– This caused me to say offhand to one of my bartender friends on the hill, with tongue in cheek: “Did you hear that Beer Can Island was blown up? But there was so much alcohol to be found, that it put out the flames.” He responded, “I thought Beer Can Island was underwater because of the flooding!” Back at ya.
– On recent weekends, three busloads of theme-party dancers strutted their stuff all at once at Dick’s, and at the opposite end near the former More-4 parking lot, two buses parked, meaning you had to walk a ways to shake your booty!
– Some of the almost-double-wide tractor trailers that late on a recent weekend were filtering through downtown Hudson on their way back to Interstate 94, reminded me of the good old days when there were dozens of these coming from the summer mega-concerts in Somerset. Particularly in my memory, was the Sevendust huge bus with band imagery plastered all over the side that left a motel on The Hill and made its way to the freeway headed toward Milwaukee for another show. And as long as we are on the subject of vehicles promoting things, has anyone else noticed the long gone, or so we thought, recent reappearance on the late-night scene of Packer flags affixed to driver’s side windows? Or the small stringed instrument being strummed by a taxi cab driver outside of the Smilin’ Moose to “drum” up business? Or the Packer-like signs on propped up on the windows of the local lodge’s dedicated taxi service?
– With the river flooding closing up things right and left, did you notice that early on, when the city closed down the northbound left turn lane on the Main Drag heading away from the Dairy Queen intersection, two of the first three cones on the south end of the detour were knocked over? Apparently, some gawkers cannot be stopped. On a related note, a bartender at Dick’s said that as a double-edged-sword type of scenario, if he’s flooded out and can’t get to work so will be most of the downtown. Yes, he lives on First Street but no, as a full disclaimer, he added he lives on the second floor.
– There also has been construction aplenty on streets near the bar zone, but not enough so you couldn’t park a tiny little red sports car. There was one so small that it could be seen legally parked in the same stall as a pair of orange road-work drums, which took up ten feet of space themselves.
– And at the Blackout Night at Dick’s, there was this very wordy promo: “Our annual turn the lights down and out so you can put your glow on while dancing to the DJ.” When attending, I was wondering if my Smilin’ Moose wristband conflicted with the glowsticks around the lower arm that they were handing out. I also saw a woman making the northward trek up Second Street, past Stonetap, sporting her glowstick like a headband. I also saw a crew of dancers in the dark wearing T-shirts that said sickkick, apparently a partial reference to the soccer World Cup. (I could see them because the shirts were white).
– In another fashion feature, bartender Jessie was working while wearing shades after being back from near the sunny Equator, where she didn’t do a lot of sunning, rather loads of volunteer service work (and not behind a bar). The shades were so coolly big that she had to wear them at the tip of her nose to see to rinse the dishes. And, on the Fourth, one of the servers had a large top-hat decorated in red, white and blue colors, which was only topped by a co-worker’s take on a Raspberry Beret.
– Also at Buffalo Wild Wings, a decorated board almost the length of a soccer goal (OK that’s a bit of an exaggeration) had the head holes cut out like a pillory so people could stick there own in and be photographed. Two thoughts: If you are a member of the Brazilian team that suffered an embarrassing loss, is your posing mandatory? And, is it true that if you’ve headed too many soccer balls and your head is embarrassingly swollen, are you barred from striking a pose (OK I’m kidding).
– A guy approached me during Booster Days, who I at first thought was a member of that club, then found otherwise. He had a novel story idea he thought I had the special where-with-all to pursue: a certain version of UFOs are real! He then told me at length about an allegedly secret government plot called Dreadnaught, which involves a mega-ship a mile or so in length that is unsinkable. This vessel, he said, was dispatched to aid in the conflict involving Syria, or was it that other country with a like-sounding name that was invaded by Russia over its independence?
– Speaking of Booster Days, the overflow after their bands finished into the Smilin’ Moose was huge. The number of people at the Kozy Korner beanbag toss tournament, part of their sixth anniversary celebration, also was one for the books.
– You can see weird vehicles in Hudson after hours, but none moreso than one that looked an extra-long golf cart, quickly crossing the Main Drag about two blocks north of the Smilin’ Moose. Also passing by was a car with literally dozens of foot-long flame decals decorating the sides.

Local woman makes good in L.A. with award-winning videos, with Gizmo’s help

Friday, August 1st, 2014

From “Puppies and Tiaras” to creating an award-winning web series, Jahnna Lee Randall has done it all as an actress, model and producer since moving to L.A. from the Star Prairie area a few years ago.
I met her when what was then the Twisted Grille in Hudson hosted a preview party of her stint on an MTV reality show, Meet Or Delete, where she swapped placeS with another model, from New York City, for a week, and it was all caught on camera (including her replacement’s awkwardness with cows). Randall was doing modeling in the Twin Cities at the time, and it led to an appearence on this show on MTV a few years back, and others like it.
All levels of Twisted Grille were packed with people for the preview party, and there also were cameras there from MTV and interviews done, readying for a follow-up broadcast.
Randall was wearing sometimes fuzzy, white-themed boots and sweater, and was the star of the show. This recollection I had recently led me to wonder, what’s she doing these days? That outfit from a few years ago could have been a clue.
Randall had developed her own film companies (yes plural), and her success in L.A. started with Puppies and Tiaras, which speaks for itself to a degree, and the video Fake Pocket Dial, both in 2012. In her full schedule, she spends her mornings auditioning, days filming and nights writing, she said. Often this work is in tandem with Gizmo the Chihauhau, as part of her film company Why Wait Productions, started after she dedided to move forward strongly and stop waiting for gigs to simply appear. “Why Wait” does videos in the style of series, short films and sketches.
Randall’s work has won five awards at film festivals for best web series. Most recently, a series of 11 shows called Dating Disasters began airing on Tuesdays via YouTube, and there still are a few installments left.
She currently is shooting a music video, which is bringing her back to Minnesota and Wisconsin for filming!

Friday, August 1st, 2014

You will have more than checkered success if you go to view bands this weekend.

– The Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt is continuing to broaden its base of bands, while being able to continue offering the popular standards, because it has almost a dozen concerts each month. They continue both ends of that trend this weekend. On Friday, Aug. 1, the Willow brings in the new band Checks from Minnesota, and on Saturday is a veteran of the same venue, East River Rock. Music starts at 9 p.m., which means you might want to get there early and enjoy a Carbone’s Pizza, offered at the same location, before the show. And the price is so inexpensive that yes, you probably won’t even need to write out a check.

– Friday also is the return to Hudson, after what’s probably been years, of the rock group Brat Pack Radio, which offers its own format of old school tribute band. They will be at the Smilin’ Moose, and have not been seen much around these parts since the heyday of the former Dibbo’s nightclub.

– All day Saturday is another return, that being the Bar Olympics in North Hudson and downtown Hudson, which means more of the best of, well … more bar games. We’ve all played them at one time or another, and they go well beyond just darts. Places that will be hopping with this activity include Kozy Korner and Dick’s Bar and Grill, among others. See your bartender for details.

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