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Forty metal bands and 25K-plus fans brave the initial cold to forge the Northern Invasion fest — and they can ride the West Wind and take in buffets too

The two-day, three-stage, 40-band, two-Maynard-group, 25,000-plus-fan, low-as-45-degree, and at least one-Scotty Ian-lookalike extravaganza, will hit the Somerset Amphitheater with a Northern Invasion fest on the whole weekend of Mother’s Day, like she’d approve!?! More on that further down.
The traffic to Somerset was stop-and-go starting early Friday evening, all the way back to the 694 bypass, with the first driver of note sporting the same long, stringy beard as the Anthrax frontman. At least the congestion was broken down in spurts by stoplights going through Stillwater, and the first year the new St. Croix River Crossing has been tested by a metal fest.
Other names on the lineup include Avenged Sevenfold, (one of my fave guitar-driven bands), Breaking Benjamin, Black Stone Cherry and Atreyu on Saturday, plus Alice in Chains, (top of my list for grunge), the newly remade Stone Temple Pilots, Black Veil Brides and Andrew W.K. on Sunday.

— The caves have been around for centuries. So was it worth the wait? We may have to wait a bit longer, at least to get the complete picture. For there might be drinks under them there hills, as these are the places where Casanova Historic Liquors and The Nova have held their occasional tastings , but later this Saturday, May 12, its on the patio adjacent to the caves where the wine will flow for people to sample. Rose wine that is.

— This Sunday is Mother’s Day and some local brunches are being offered with items that would make Mom swoon. Food items that is. So here is a sampling of some of the more adventuresome choices you’ll be able to find, among the couple-dozen or more at most venues, and we’ve opened up the geographical area beyond just Hudson to give a wider area a little love. Because mom is all about love.

There is leg of lamb actually hand carved by a host at the West Wind Supper Club in River Falls, along with the standards of roast beef and smoked ham to make three meats that get sliced there, and complement the Swedish meatballs. Across the way at their buffet, the Kilkarney Hills Golf Club presents pesto salmon and apple bourbon pecan chicken (three toppings) among its meats. And at one more golf club in RF, there is house-smoked brisket at part of the brunch. Featured at Mallard’s in Bayport, you might need to shell out a few more clams, but that will include oysters in your buffet. But by comparison in Somerset, at Not Justa Bar and Cafe, there is an unusually sweet deal that joins together six of your favorite meats including the prime rib. Lastly the Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse has in addition to its ribs the flavor of smoky slaw and Snicker salad.

But we really need to go back to West Wind, and add some intrigue on how they could really cater to mom, because we know she can be a rocker, (if for sure not one of Somerset’s Black Veil Brides). At West Wind, when you put together the brunch buffet and dinner buffet, you get at least 12 hours of dining opportunities of that type, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., much more than the ending of 3 p.m. that is typical of most places for mom’s brunch. At West Wind they do that same timing, but then also for five hours starting at 4 p.m., switch over slightly from a brunch buffet to dinner buffet format. The rub here is that there are enough time options, some of them for late in the day at the time bands typically hit the stage, for mom to have her buffet, then head on over to the Northern Invasion and have her music too. The same schedule of hours is true for attendees of what’s become a tradition at West Wind, the UW-River Falls graduation buffet, held on Saturday, May 12. This buffet has in addition, starting at 2 p.m., “endless options, featuring unlimited slow-roasted prime rib.” As they say at West Wind, especially after commencement, let’s meet up.

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