These are Joe Winter’s picks for fun things to do with Hudson-area nightlife in the coming week.
— Longtime crooner Dave applauds his friend Lori for adding more Josh Turner
and even Weird Al Yankovich to her karaoke play list. Her act can be seen at
Ellie’s on Wednesday nights, the Bungalow most Fridays and Shooter’s in River
Falls many Thursdays. Also check out Bo’s ‘n Mine in River Falls on Thursday
nights, for a very crisp and clean sound, the Corner Bar in River Falls on
Wednesday nights, for the noteworthy lighted list of singers that can be
regularly edited, and the Hudson Bowling Center, home of one of the longest-
running years of karaoke you’ll see.
— On weekends at Dick’s, dance mix is on tap. On Friday nights, the deejay is
Eric Bolden. (For a long time, I thought people were saying Burden, like the
singer for The Animals!) On Saturdays, the deejay is named Bob, and the word is
he’s really into funky Michael Jackson (think Thriller).
— Across the way at Ellie’s, there also is a weekend deejay, who spins a little
of everything and is good about requests.
On Thursdays at Ellie’s, there are acoustic guitar soloists and duos, who play
diverse styles of music that include more laid-back covers of rock songs that
originally were chock full of power cords.
— Epic 5 plays Dibbo’s on Saturday night, sporting a wide variety in its song
mix that includes dance-able rock. The group is billed as playing very tight and
with a lot of professionalism.
— At Uncle Mike’s, its B-Bourbon on Friday night and Alley Rats on Saturday,
and the following Tuesday features the return of an open “Mike” night that
includes some bluesy musicians in the house band who have done this for years. I
got my start in singing Hendrix with this crew way back around the turn of the
millennium. The open jam is every other Tuesday from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
— On Friday at the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt, its the Bootlegg Brothers
band, and then on Saturday, it’s Blind Dog, a band that’s well-known regionally.
“They’re really fun,” said a bartender, adding they’re widely renowned for that.
— The Viking cheerleaders will hit Woody’s in Bayport from 6-7 p.m. on Friday,
to help you forget the current Purple Pain. Then, from 7-8 p.m., is a party
featuring Batch19, a rediscovered beer from pre-Prohibition days. The old recipe
was found in a brewery logbook, and it is described as “a hoppy yet surprisingly
balanced lager” from Coors Brewery Archives.
— Country will also hit River Falls on Friday night. The Corner Bar is
featuring the party country band Daisy and the Dukes, and at Shooters’s its the
black-hatted 2 Mile Final.
— Still the best place to watch the Packers, if you like the most TV screen for
your money, is the Village Inn and its 20-plus televisions when the Green and
Gold play again Sunday at noon.