The more things change the more they are the same, such as when band members and their names sound like each other, with bonus points if at the same venue on the same weekend?
Shooters Pub in River Falls, as we have not plugged them for awhile because of the Pierce County 25 percent occupancy rule, so they say get there early, has bands on Friday and Saturday that sound much alike name-wise, but couldn’t be much more different as far as stage presence, if this is shown by sheer numbers. First there is the one-man-band of acoustic country, Travis Thamert, then the next night a four piece that rocks out a bit more, Bantix, with both country and yes, rock.
Urban Olive and Vine on Thursday night is where there is Aldo, who will be playing tunes from his new CD, Note by Note. The man looks much like the late Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, with a bit more gray and in the hair and lightness in skin tone, (a look aided when Looking Through the Front Window Glass by the vaporized streaming). They both resemble the musician who stands tallest in Lady Luck, who played the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt land week, and will soon have a return engagement, so with a little trekking around here and there, on more than one weekend, you could see if you agree with my assessment of their features, because both rock and especially these days country, place a premium on appearance. That is underscored by the good looks of the lady in Lady Luck.
Hudson has succumbed to the wayward, (that’s a purposely vague term, I get it), coming from Minnesota, but now because of various types of added rowdiness (read more about boatloads on information on this here, and you’ll only get it here as much of this analysis comes from being on the local beat for decades, once all the various municipalities redact their ways) … the Hudson City Council has decreed that on the big bar nights of each and every weekend, there is a mandatory closing time of 10 p.m. through Jan. 3. (Ouch for New Years all-night-and-well-into-the-morning celebrations that have been typical). But it was decided this decision would not take effect until Friday night, which means there is still tonight to get your “rocks” off. It would seem that front and center is the on-and-off open mic session at Dick’s Bar and Grill — now that type of service is more the latter — but it is officially off tonight, via the co-owner. Thanks for that heads-up Rochelle.
That music was heavy on folk, light rock and even jazz, but sprinkle in some old-time music and you’ve got the one last thing that is appears to be a go, although things change by the hour. And the weekend closures at 10 are not only Friday and Saturday, but also Thursday, as high customer-traffic-weekend is defined, so Time Is Not On Your Side. But with that said, at Urban Olive and Vine, there is a duet or duo by that style that will indeed be on from 6-8 p.m. tonight, that being Thursday. (All such things seem to be wrapping up sooner than they had been, so maybe no third set or especially an encore). So you have to get their earlier than most typical rock shows that are being held locally. They also have killer food in styles you don’t always see — but hey, that is one of the greatest things about Hudson — so the tunes likely start when you are indulging in one of their trademark desserts. These days, food choices are being topped off to bring in a recurring base of customers, and that now is more vital then perhaps ever before. This option should be open on Thursday nights through the remainder of the year. Stay tuned for updates. When I called this venue and talked briefly to a staffer, she said, and go figure with the onslaught of Minnesotans, that they were so busy there was no time to talk. What band was playing? Couldn’t really tell and the owner/chef didn’t have time to look it up. But A Message From Above, you get the genre(s) you are likely to hear. Last before I go scope all this further, and will report back, it is the CRITICAL need to note that all that’s at play for music and nightlife depends on the fact that the CITY of Hudson is not the only game in town, there are the adjoining villages and towns by the same name, and even the county as a whole that are not effected by the city’s weekend early closure action. Skies still basically the limit for weekends there, except for the mask and distance and capacity requirements that are often ignored anyway.
And there is the Cowboy Country every Thursday night at Ziggy’s; haven’t heard of any changes although they can occur at any time. And ongoing as-far-as-day piano bar and acoustic one-man shows will not be belabored because they are done playing, including encore, before the closure shuts things down (and will the local cops be out in force to enforce such things)?
So where to go tonight (Friday) and Saturday? There are music hot spots that fall under a different municipality’s rules, or lack of new ones to this point. In the town of Hudson, note that’s different than the city, there have always been band(s) every weekend at Uncle Mike’s in the old JR Ranch building across from the truck stop, and closing time is still roughly the same closing time. Much the same at Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse, and the last word should tell you where to look, halfway between North Hudson and Houlton, as they’ve typically had at least one band in a weekend. And all kinds of different music-and-otherwise-based offerings are at T-Buckets, are just a jog to the northeast. As you push eastward into St. Croix County there are other small bergs that also are under different rules, and they should till be fair game for full bar time on the weekend, although again, things could change on a dime, so maybe call first before venturing over, or just hit one of the other spots, still open, in the vicinity. And at least as far as municipal rule, Willow River Inn in Burkhardt can strive forward with their not one-but-two band a weekend regimen. To actually name a name, there is Blue Moon Drive there tonight (Saturday) for what regrettably could end up being a gig that’s once in a blue moon. And then there is ol’ Village of North Hudson, which appears to have bars taking much the same tack as their counterparts to the south in the city as far as hours, although not quite as stringent — depending on the day or the week.
Back several days, the bars in one fell swoop in both the city and village decided to close at 2 p.m. on weekends, not 2:30, to lessen the rush of people from the Twin Cities running northward to get a one last drink at last call. Phone lines were open between the various bars to see who might be still coming by, and brace yourself if in the village for a bit of possibly questionable behavior. Thus, Starr’s Bar has been closing down at midnight on most nights, but even moreso they do go right up to the last few minutes before showing people the door, and being nice while being assertive. Across the way at the Village Inn, a 10 p.m. limit has set for weekends for people to enter, and while that is being enforced almost to the minute if your party is large, regulars might be let in on the QT up until say, 10:15, bartenders said. In what may be a first for North Hudson, there will be a doorman watching the clock. How long to stay open is a grey area, and may depend largely, as you would guess, on just how many people are inside into the wee hours. In the middle of last week, it was said that although being totally slow at around the witching hour, there had been big spurts, so the possibility of holding out until 2 p.m. was still being held open. Same on Thursday night, but after being busy, then very slow, the hoards all piled in around 12:30. But Starr’s was as busy at it has ever been on a weekday, and maybe even more.
Now to speak of Sunday, Jeff Loven at Dick’s indeed brings on a whole new surge of immediacy, as the 10 p.m. curfew is — and will be — lifted as of the day before, as it’s no longer considered the weekends we have all been working for, but a new day into the next week. And the one-man-band just might need just a bit of backup, as he is broadening out for the first time to at least one other Hudson venue. It’s in the works. Read about it here. And the other option you might consider, again variable, is the music at Madison Avenue Spirits, tucked away on The Hill just past Fleet Farm, and you want to talk about additional comfort food? They have cool candy for about half the price of other stores, when on special. As for Sundays, they typically have had bands early, Like Urban Olive and Vine does on the other side of the week, so they have the new rules kicked both ways.
<<There still are trophies to be had and tunes to be heard here, maybe, as the virus deaths over yonder have hit a new level. What is old is, also, new again>>.
But with that said, on Saturday, Dec. 12, there is a makeup for the dearth of bands in some places with Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse going back to the roots of rock and more with its first band in December, Rubber Monkey, not be be confused with Rubber Soul by The Beatles or Shock The Monkey by Peter Gabriel. Also, the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt bucks the trend and pushes onward with two bands EVERY weekend. (They do skip Dec. 25). There is the Centerville All-Stars (Saturday, Nov. 28), which are a throwback to old musical/baseball type stuff, methinks. More on that bit later. And if you missed Dean Weisser the night before, take heart and soul, he will be back there on both Dec. 18 and 31, at that’s the big New Year’s Eve party, of course, like I have to tell you.
And if you have had too much turkey (leftovers count) and it makes you sleepy, or from partying too much on biggest bar night(s) or sitting in the deer stand or even in front of the football TV screen too long, or maybe all three of those (mere mortals can only pull off two), there is 99 cent coffee at both the old Freedom Station and the nearby just-to-the north Kwik Trip, but its at the old Freedom that it specifies in big ads it includes all coffee sizes and the Big C version too.
So, you need to do the quick remake of a Thanksgiving dinner. But the guests will soon be here, before the halftime shows resume, and some stores for those last ingredients may have closed early anyway. So what to do? Make it indeed a remake, as I will show you, again, how to use what you likely have in the fridge already, and if nothing else, pare down what you need from the store to round it out, in the time taken by a timeout — as its so easy for the people you are welcoming to food and Packer football. And I am not going to list specifics of how many cups for each ingredient, as I will leave that up to you and yours, to taste, and maybe a bit of trial and error with adding a bit more of a thing to balance out the mix — as you have the time.
Start with turkey, and as has been pointed out in flyers, you have to get the smoked flavorful of this ingredient Just Right, and we are not talking about the Old School cereal. And by the way, just what is “natural smoke flavor.” Seems contradictory, but you can win it as a cook by taking a few toothpicks and pointing one into the bird where light on this seasoning, two for a middling amount, and three for getting hotter for all to see as a guide. Just have to make room on the countertop. But less contradictory, at least for Wisconsin, is the idea of beer baste in the turkey where stuffing should go — and maybe still could. The recipe that my sources tell me — and I will not reveal in case their idea tanks and you wasted a whole can of brew — calls for just flipping open the pop top, Jimmy Buffett style, sticking it in and allowing the juices to mingle. OK I get it, that does not sound good.
What sounds better is that old holiday staple, cranberries, and here I do have to invoke going to the store and while their at my fave, Kwik Trip, you can also buy a low-priced and likely discounted take home meals — again in a pinch. But the old question of jellied versus whole berry? Hey, cans of it can be found for about a buck, so offer both, the difference in texture shown by using a fork for propping up the berries. And maybe do what my mom used to with her hard steel grating grinder, mix in a batch of oranges and apples for an extended version of the taste.
In the following half-baked recipes, there is plenty of chance to spice up and then chill out, with these things that just seem to go with anything and, again, can likely be in plain view in your spice rack: Oregano leads the way, and also minced onion, garlic of course, red pepper flakes if used sparingly, all spice, breakfast topping and basil, which can be within. For your ham, if you are a ham family and not a turkey-goer, consider this for a new glaze: a slightly creamy salad dressing such as hummus-based, goddess, or some Italian, with yellow and brown mustard mixed in and can be used in combo with horseradish or stone-ground base, and then the topper, literally, of hot sauce or maybe chipolte, then all stirred together, although The Last In Line can be used as a drizzle. Some of that leftover hot sauce, you don’t want to overdo it and offend Odd Uncle Sid and his well-known blandness that’s part of his old-guy act, can be drizzled over French cut green beans for a bit more zip. Or on regular cut green beans, top off with a few of the glazed and sliced pecans that are atop the pie that I know you as a chef supreme are offering later.
Stuffing can be used as essentially salad croutons, all sorts of zowed up green and red bell peppers and sliced onions and even bits of hot peppers (watch out Uncle Sid) as a garnish on relishes and pickles and olives, the forementioned minced onion on sweet potatoes with the brown sugar that should be in greater supply for the dish, and vanilla to amp up your desserts.
Two things: With your regular deserts add a new variety of ice cream, in the form of sea salt caramel as a friend swears by; and for Thanksgiving Eve, slice small tomatoes and take the cauliflower that is always the first veggie to fade and apply olive or canola oil and mix in any of the above spices that can include cilantro, and then can be zapped in the microwave for an even two minutes. Add slices of cheeses from our state, or serve separately, and can be given a bit of extra sizzle when applying those spices.
Hope these quick and inexpensive dishes can make your dinner shine and even clean out the fridge as you go. You don’t have to be a pro, as I know. Joe.
What? He’s given you the news? Because Super Bug contamination has proven to be only growing, that would be the soon-to-be-finalized decree coming out of Minnesota that there will be renewed closures, thus going back to the future, although targeted in an anti-virus response leaning very far to what have been identified as the worst offender categories, and it starts with bar and grills, and in ways that may continue onward the 25 percent rule of capacity. Whew! That’s written contamination, as needed with Walz as the culprit. Hey, New Richmond was schooled on that — even if its not old schooled — and the response of taverns over Halloween was to have a Hard To Handle Now approach toward managing numbers that can be gained via use of that old standby, making it only private parties. So what to do? The answer is not Blowin’ In The Wind, rather not blowing smoke when I say its Three Doors Down (or blocks?) from the Village Inn in North Hudson Into The Southland residential area. And yes, we are talking garage band stuff, literally, if you can find the right garage. That’s where there have been regular jams led by that Old Tyme leader of the band, strummer Bob, in the vein of taking his beyond-classic-rock guitar to heights if not new, then scattered, followup to open mic days going back before the Millennium switching. They want to hone their act, he and his old standbys, by rehearsing, before taking their act on the road, even if that road is only the St. Croix Valley, but who knows could even find them among the weekend music lineup that continues to the north, unlike some, at Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse. And could you join in when The Boys Are Back in that garage. Well, yes, if you can find it as one might the old Safehouse venue. Just bring your voice and/or an instrument and they will likely accommodate you with an albeit small stage or platform for your talent, unlike the standards that have to be met if they bring you up mid-concert at one of their actual concerts.
Want music all day? Then jam for Jayme, the exuberant and energetic and longtime sprite of a fast-moving server at Next Stop Bar in Houlton, who has been diagnosed with cervical cancer. A benefit at Ziggy’s in Hudson will go on virtually all day on Sunday, Nov. 8, with band stacked upon band and beginning at 2 p.m. so you can check out just a bit of football first, also. There also is a large-scale silent auction. And if you can’t wait that long for music, Apollo’s Beacon is playing the night beforehand until 1 a.m.
What plays in Vegas stays in Vegas, but it starts with winning a killer costume contest at T-Buckets in rural Somerset on Halloween eve, that gets you three days and two nights in the city offering the best in entertainment in the U.S. — after T-Buckets that is.
The contest judging is at midnight, the witching hour, although the party will have been rolling for four hours by that time, and it goes on to bar close. Second prize in the costume contest is $100 and third $50, and even that would get you 25 of the jello shots that will be sold all night for $2 in this, the seventh annual Halloween party on Saturday night. There also is a DJ and karaoke from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., a full five hours worth, as well as hauntingly good specials on snacks and apps. The show is so pumped up that one of the staff members at T-Buckets has been given the exclusive assignment of coming up with frightening ways to make your evening fun.
Then on Sunday, it is pro football, in this case the big Border Battle that stretches just a bit away from the boundaries into western Wisconsin, taking center stage, and with it a potluck and huge drink specials — in the T-Buckets tradition that always has happy hour prices going for a whopping 3-for-1. In this case on Game Day it’s on volumes of beer and $5 Captain Morgans and you get to keep the mug.
Sweet Beets in New Richmond is far beyond a bakery, and they will show it midday on Saturday, as Halloween comes calling. There are “dark” (chocolate) black pieces of eight-or-more of cool, decked-out-for-the-holidays desserts that are as great to look at as eat. There also are holiday themed cakes in which to indulge, and can be ordered ahead if you really get going and follow up on this post, and the trio-or-more include one that has Frankie written all over it, and can be sampled just like the big hands of a zombie, That Are Pointing Right At You, with their fingers that are also an edible, or so says Iron Maiden. And they will be made from scratch as the dawn rises, just like from the trucks of flour that arrive every morning. What is all the fuss with these treats, and more of the more typical things you would expect to see, in addition, to get the kids juiced on sweets? Check these out before trick-or-treating …
Kozy Korner has bought Guv’s Place and there are changes for his holiday in North Hudson … or are there? The same over-the-top Halloween decorations are in place, plus that skeleton that has been seen hanging over and out on one of the many sports bar TVs, but at an angle so he could watch the Wisconsin teams. (More on that in a bit). And that beastie has been slumped in its place for awhile, at which time its this-year, new creator and arranger said she had more coming, and there were dozens of creatures already that were pinned to the ceiling that would vouch for that. Its old creator and former owner had passed the torch, but left it in good hands, before she decided to give a shot to moving her game on down to Texas — to follow as No. 1 fan a Little ‘Ol Band methinks, but hey that actually is Motley Crue. One could say this kinda, sorta amounts to Jessie Does Dallas? And the game that lives on at the New Guv’s with new owners is both darts and sand volleyball, and they had gotten going with the two-on-two bumps in the night as one of the first, and most legal, ways to reopen after virus, when the weather first starting making it seem like an option. And your other option to take in the haunt is the Halloween party, so mark your calendars for Friday night as we all could not wait, when there will also be a duo playing tunes (mostly acoustic) and a hint — it’s not Kyle who had been the standby for many a such gathering, so there will be — dare I say it — new blood!
<<Welcome back to the hottest who are cool! Lipstick Dynamite is at Ziggy’s in Hudson on Friday night, and you know what you are getting from this party band by the name, specifying the lead singer, who looks like, and has the looks, of two other women I know who are always hot on the local scene. In addition in that vein and well deserved vanity, and I hope I don’t hit a vein, just where are you these days, AJ of Boogie Wonderland? Haven’t seen you, twice, since Hudson’s Booster days shut down, and I was in the crowd — a recall back to a backstage brief encounter at the old Dibbo’s, in the cafe really, when the millennium was turning. Maybe tonight …
And as far as the famed sorta namesake, Bonaparte, from way back in France? Google called him a “statesman.” He came up sixth on my hits list search, as far as having a stature complex. And I gotta say it again, the late Ronnie James Dio, from the trusted source of Maxim magazine — don’t see them on the shelves much anymore — ranked as 16th in the top short people of all time. Some are revered, moreso, only after their death. More on this in a coming post, and the connection that has local tangents, from knowing Eddie Van Halen, also now deceased. Also, the ways decades-long local musicians are chomping at the bit to get playing again … with sparse opportunity.>>