What follows is the promised post mortem of very well-attended recent “outings.” They included the electricity calling it a night, and various events packed into a couple of weeks, with all forms of entertainment (and what would a “post-mortem” be without a report on a slew of metal bands).
— This is the third time now, in the last decade or two, that the power went out at a heavy bar rush time. The Village Inn in North Hudson was full to the brim when holding bingo, and needed to go across the main drag to Mama Maria’s to get a bunch of candles to keep calling. I guess the players, even though many are somewhat elderly, must have good eyesight. The past two times the electricity cut out at an inopportune time was on a weekend in downtown Hudson, and people then also coped nicely. Flaming rum drinks were made to create a brief moment of light. Bands at Dibbo’s went acoustic. A woman came back into Pudge’s after going to her car and asked, tongue-in-cheek, if anyone had “seen” her coat. And at a couple of other places, the clocks were stopped for a couple of hours at a time starting a ways before midnight before they and the power came on again, leaving people to wonder just exactly when bar close was to occur.
— My friend Abby and some of her friends and family celebrated a recent holiday at Woody’s in Bayport with some bowling — in tutu skirts. Abby said she was unaware of this dress requirement, or who even planned it, when she showed up, but her cohorts had her covered, as they’d brought an extra for her. Abby did say that the way the thing flared out around her hips made it difficult to bowl, just like it had been one time when she tried the sport while eight months pregnant. In both cases she was able to overcome, and post a respectable score.
The last time tutus got this much attention was when they were a theme for the Hot Air Affair ballooning event, and Dick’s Bar and Grill held a preview activity where everyone dressed accordingly. That included the bartenders, some of whom were otherwise manly guys. They consented to a photo, after I had told them — sincerely — that my editor wanted it for a deep-inside-the-newspaper special section. In other words, buried. Turns out my editor liked the photo so much that he put it on the front page! My sincere and ongoing apologies to the guys in one-time-only tights. And thank you for not cutting me off.
— All the night spots were filled on a weekend when a prestigious international tournament for youth hockey hit town, with bar culture meeting culture from the world over, as people mingled. It was noteworthy that the customer traffic that started early included a dearth of people on the dance floor, anywhere. One of my main bartender sources put it this way — we were hammered early, then things slowed for a while, followed by a “pop” in business along the rail, then steady for the rest of the night.
— Virtually the entire city of River Falls got into a weekend series of concerts in April that were folkish in style. While there were many venues and bars hosting, the one that stands out most was the one at the West Wind supper club, since it was the only Sunday night offering and still packed the place.
— Things got diverse when a fundraiser was held at Ellie’s on Main for a local humane society, with a lot of sponsorship from the Ugly Sister boutique next door. Those sisters must like to rock, because the offerings were a day of hardcore heavy metal bands, with diverse twists on their lineups, that set-up in a space where the dance floor — mosh pit? — once was. The event was organized by Alice, a longtime fan of such music going back to Decibel days at Dibbo’s. She got going with this by doing some intriguing on-the-spot video interviews to be put on the web site of band members she knew.
— Things were really hopping at Hefty’s in Bayport one recent weekday when Andersen Windows held their employee appreciation party. All hands were already on deck at 5 p.m. and the place was already getting full. It only got busier, in waves, as the night went on, as patrons were treated to a musical duo that included something you don’t often see, a woman on a violin.
— Early Saturday brought the start of the main fishing season, but there was another event that was unusually well attended, and I for one call taking in my aluminum cans for cash a legitimate event! The County Market parking lot saw so many people coming in to do so, that their oversize 10-foot-tall bin was full to the brim. What does this have to do with a nightlife web site? My unscientific poll, conducted merely by looking through the mesh, revealed that there were a lot more cans for beer than anything else like soda. On Wisconsin, for both recycling and tipping a brew!
— I was going to make a point of it to mention to Jeff, the one man band guy, and bartender and one of his cameo singers Amanda, the goings on of the last Earth Day. They both wore signature green shoes, an unplanned bit of matching I’m sure, to go with the green beer that was being offered for the day. I’m assured that it was not left over from St. Patrick’s Day, as that limited-time-only discount had long since gone the way of the snakes in Ireland.