Yes smokers, the Hideaway head and vape shop in Hudson, and elsewhere in the Twin Cities area, again on July 10 is offering its specials such as for 4-20 with high percentage off many products, and buy-one-get-more products. The offers typically and for the best deals include glassware.
There are other, diverse reasons to shop the remodeled Hideaway. They have added a cigar humidor, and on Wednesday feature extra discounts than even their usual on cigars, and their staff has been called knowledgable in many areas by reviewers.
They have, for example, a supply of dream catchers and a wide series of deoderizer products that include organic to enhance your experience, with decorative figurines atop the display to make you laugh, smile and appreciate. As to show their thoroughness, alongside the door is a lengthy list presented as a guide to the range of THC levels in theirs and other items.
The manager, who is on site during most of the wide business hours the Hudson Hideaway is open, is known as especially friendly and she and staffers answer the phone promptly at their location along Coulee Road, the north frontage road to Interstate 94, between the bridges at 11st Street and Carmichael Road. The number is (715) 808-0491.

Music is where you find it. So I mouth that truism, times two.
The latest late-night tuneage, on two different speakers on the two ends of their space, is pumped at the Main Plate, also being known for having breakfast and lunch, but now the band plays on well after they are done serving. The first song I heard from them, from the street, was Take It Easy by The Eagles. Well chosen.
At the next corner up, at the Smilin’ Moose, there a while back were tunes coming from a typically non-music night for the pre-spring, at 10 p.m. I’m guessing that a group had rented out the space to rehearse — before the venue had started up its annual summer offering of acoustic music three times on weekends, but going no longer than 9 p.m.

Nothing says Easter like … Lefse, if you are Scandiwhovian like in my neck of the woods … Or hummus, getting much closer to the root of the food, and there is likely soon yet another Israel war goes on post coming from me as commentary.
But back to how to use lefse, which is a food that you may still have in your freezer, or maybe even if your stomach is not touchy fridge, as it is most popular around Christmas but Google says can extend all the way through spring in its celebration, as such.
What to do? Maybe not Easter fare, but … Lefse can be seen as much like a tortilla, so use it as a base for nachos, as it is torn easily into quarters, and add a little hot pepper of any color for flavoring and melted into your cheese of basically any type, as lefse is to say the least, mild. So hot sauce friendly too. Easter ham if leftover can play in, also. Hey Cinco De Mayo is coming, too, if your lefse lasts even much longer…
And hummus can be a basis for more added such, and used as a dip for lefse. Blend in some hot mustard, or even melted American cheese, like above, or any other thing like that such as certain Indian sauces — theme — if you have them, like mustard for zest, even bits of salmon or certain veggies. And to use more up, and flavor it up in such vein, canned tuna or even chicken can be spread and scattered on the side of such hummus, if on tortilla.

They are now five years old at Ziggy’s Hudson and running, and if you multiply that by seven — as in a touchdown and extra point — you had Barker’s at a recent 35th anniversary, also in the downtown, as King Football will lead to killer taco specials at the first-mentioned venue. Those are from 1-3 p.m. along with drink specials, too, as The Vikings are on the big screens, at this bar that honors Those Purple as much or more then The Green. Longtime Twin Cities weatherman Dave Dahl, living in Hudson all those years and often seen at its nightspots, will again serve as an emcee.

The full fall color season also means even more football, and the ways to grab cool eats as you watch. So if you are at Buffalo Wild Wings, as I have not noted them for a while, there is some truly great grub that’s a better twist on the old staple of liquor-infused buffalo wings, and I must add that anything tinged with Jack Daniels is always cool, though often seen. This new version that is only available for a short time — as in likely football season and more on that below — has the taste buds tapped by BWW bringing back your Bulliet bourbon (or brandy?) BBQ flavorings on the chicken wings. With Badgers? You could grab it when taking in their newly seasonal, as in football season, Saturday and also Sunday and more offerings, as they hawk themselves as being your college football headquarters. Division I especially, and/or top 20 teams. So this only starts with UW and U of M.

But on pro football days, with the two Minnesconsin teams, and BWW is even more of a presence across the way, there is a free shot given on days when Green Bay scores a passing touchdown, (safer bet for them now that Rodgers is gone?), or the new Purple People Eaters record two or more sacks, (enuf said.) But oh, you do have to run up a tab of at least $20 to qualify, so you are sorta sacked.

Across the street at Green Mill, they have a series of specials during such pro games, (with no minimum as with their neighbors/peers), and leading the way is their killer personal pizza, with crust that goes beyond thin, two different toppings chosen, for $8.99.

With the fall color at or just past its peak, more likely, right now are still the peak days for strolling through the streets and doing one way I love to revel in the autumn leaves, and that’s kicking up a clump of them when donning my now-needed boots, and all the better if there are enough of them thick on the sidewalk to keep it going for a few strides. On Second Street in Hudson and some of its side streets, there still is that yard marker.

To wit, as reds and yellows and oranges continue to turn to browns and purples, The GasLite set on many wooded acres just outside Ellsworth might be considered your sponsoring venue to see — such data is listed through their web page — for the official Wisconsin report on where the see the best and when. The main source of the info is the state DNR.

So all you Twin Citians can Head East on State Hwy. 29, then over on Hwy. 10, and that’s Badger not Gopher, crossing the St. Croix River and its beautiful and not nearly just buff-looking bluffs at places like Hastings/Prescott, or even the far wonderous Red Wing, and see what the Wisconsin rolling hills have to offer.

The fall status in River Falls, just a bit north of Ellsworth, for example, still sets at 35 percent of peak, at the time of this first posting, with the full spectacle set for this weekend or early next week. In some nearby areas, however, and moving south generally, the whole shebang is not set to hit until even the fourth week of October. Perhaps the best local gauge, over in Eau Claire, its at a full-blown half of peak, with the best slated for October’s third week.

As chillier temps and winds do not always head straight east-west, just going horizontally isn’t automatically your best bet for fall color. Merrill, for example, weighs in at fading peak right now. This leaves room for local variables.

The Pierce County area prizes views along the many small streams, with trees overhanging the banks. Such is the Trimbelle, where The Gaslite on its banks even has tent and RV campsites, on 17 acres. See go view! And maybe even toss some horseshoes in the fall air.

They just can’t really be that crappy. A group that lampoons themself by going by the name Some Shitty Cover Band will play Ziggy’s Hudson two times before the end of the month, a tough act to follow there, going on stage both Sept. 21, a Thursday, and on the 30th.

The next night, Sept. 22, is a women’s twilight walk, at the Pleasant Pasture Sanctuary in New Richmond. Yet another time to get your spiritual out with a stroll. As another walk of many this month, some covering quite a distance, so taking The Long Way Home?

Get outta bed, even if you partied late on Friday night, Sept. 15. There is a Bloody Good Time promised on Saturday’s Bloody Mary Walk, but you gotta get it moving quickly, as these drinks don’t typically wait until the evening comes. There are two flights, good word, throughout the day, a north walk and south walk, each offering such drinks at four downtown Hudson venues. The downtown has only a few blocks in which to differentiate, so even if you become in essence a Bloody Mary zombie, you can still make the haul, such as it is. The event benefits the Hudson Hot Air Affair.

Forging out the folksy and more during five weekends in September — two of which, last and first, are split between two different weeks, Saturday and Sunday — these are types of events that are ongoing throughout the fall at various venues. So walk our way.

These are hosting, among other things, history walks in some of the bigger area communities, in fact because they trek all throughout the old in their cities, bill the tours as needing the wearing of comfortable-as-you-can-get shoes, tennies and not heels, at times for (if you choose) multiple trips in a single day. Block across block we rock, Victorian and other vintage, finding what went on here, including various hijinks, as early as the early 1800s. Consult local libraries, Chambers of Commerce, city halls, and ad hoc historians and authors across St. Croix County, for details on outings such as these that are too numerous to mention. Thus too is the situation to cross into the many caves built into the bottoms of blufflines in the heart of Hudson, so see spires and sip spirits in September, as cavernous in scope that you might also need added ankle reinforcement as you amble, thus call Casanova Historic Liquors.

Another set, this time fund-raisers that are multiple, is for the NRYHA — and that’s not the NBWOHM or NYPD — as businesses that are mostly in downtown New Richmond will help contribute to the local youth hockey association. Pick a plate and preserve the opportunity to chase pucks. Again, for dates and times and places and other info, contact the local Chamber and Tourism Bureau, etc.

All good things must come to an end. As is with an area set of convenience stores and a host of special deals and discounts, billed to sunset as this week ends. That was listed as, I believe, 9.15, and that could be either the time (a.m. or p.m.?),  the date of Sept. 15, or the preferred price of $9.15. After all, its a silly number’s game and not about winning the lottery.

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Here is where to hit, in varied ways, this summer weekend. And for sure, you’ll love it.

Sunday night marks the return of Jeff Loven to Dick’s Bar and Grill after a (long?) and any amount of time would be too long, hiatus. The ultimate one-man-bander will not clash with my regular-performance-with-him of The Clash, so you No Doubt will see me redo it for the umpteenth time. With maybe a few other and odd flourishes then usual even from me, as I reserve these for when we get the band back together after again, a long hiatus. Like those arena-rock shows that had been on hold since what, 2019? (OK its not been nearly that long for Jeff. And he should be back every Sunday through Labor Day).

Also playing Sunday, at Ziggy’s in Hudson, riding on the coattails of what there was the previous Sunday, at the songwriter showcase, is Them Pesky Kids. The marquee had inadvertently called Them Pesky Kids, The Pesky Kids, which is Them Pesky Kids minus the M. (The M was written in with pencil after the fact, and certainly not long after the fact). Wouldn’t do that with MNM. And they did get it right to put the The at the front of the name, as this is not Foo Fighters (only two words). So anyway, make sure to check Out The(m) Pesky Kids mid-holiday-weekend.

Last and maybe most important, Saturday is a meat raffle to support Kaitie Leising and her left-behind wife and child. The meat raffle for the fallen officer is sponsored by The Hudson Police Department and Jonesy’s Local and runs from 2-4 p.m. at Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse. Judging from the outpouring of community support — and proliferating fund-raisers — Kaitie was indeed one of the good guys. Almost made me rethink what I wrote earlier, about not quite all of these guys being good guys. But only for a moment. That other message needs to be heard also. But for now, let’s remember Kaitie. And if there is a conflict, check this out before Them Pesky Kids.

It may not be enough to bend your mind, as in the following post, but the river bender sandwich at The Sub House that made such Hudson sandwiches famous is no doubt approved by the St. Croix boaters that be, such as they are now that weather is warming and they are congregating and later need a bite. It boasts a full eight ingredients, including Chipotle, avocado, provolone and bacon. Get them while they — and the more temperate weather — last.

And with the dawn of summer, new music in Hudson and New Richmond, both in the immediate downtown areas, is soon (and forever shall be?) expanding its reach at each to Thursdays and Sundays. And not just in the eve. More on that as it unfolds.

The kings and queens of 4-20 are getting set to party, and for them that can be a process, and they will rock out just as they chill out.

The Ignite dispensary in New Richmond will have a band from 4:20 to 6:20 p.m., if I heard that right, and you gotta love that symbolism. Oh, the player on 4-20 is Jesse Katzman. And their proprietary race car and race car driver will be out there in the parking lot, just don’t expect any wheelies. There’ll be comfort food, provided by the 65 Bistro just down the street, as we know these types love their munchies when they are in the moment. Just no opening up shop at 4:20 a.m. That is only Old School.

A few other topical tidbits, where it’s list it now or never. Target is offering PJs and loungewear starting at $8.99, with their contactless shopping. But if the shoe is on the other foot, and as we know the lady clerks hawking the merch have their own sense of flashy style to do what they do, hey, do you really want it to be contactless? Wouldn’t you want to meet them?

The St. Paul Saints had to postpone their home opener, as so much depends on the weather. But how did that effect the effort to give away proprietary hoodies when they were still needed because of the cold. No worries — which is back as a buzz word or two — if you had tickets for That Day when the hoodies were to be handed out, you could reticket for a different game and still get your hoodie, as they appear to be in demand, if only at this venue. How so? Long ago, many banks decided that they would not let inside swarmy types wearing such outerwear. So don’t expect such a promotion at US Bank Stadium. But maybe Target Field.

Lastly, Taco John’s sent be a nice set of coupons heavy on their lighter fare for Lent such as bean burritos. Problem is, by the time it reached my mailbox, you’d have to race there same day on Good Friday to even have a (hot) shot. Easter as a much cheaper option to brunches? But don’t fret, as there are many other coupons still in the game, such as two Taco Bravos for $5. (Been a long time since they were 99 cents, back in the day when I’d hit this taco hut virtually every day when driving back home from college classes, last stop on the north end of Wausau, and mom even checked off on the option of adding black olives. Even the supersize mega soda was pricier, but maybe not per ounce, as grandpa thought that amount of sugar water was excessive). But wait on that applicable coupon, as on Taco Thursday you can get a Taco Bravo — and not have to buy the second — for $2.49 and save your penny(s).  Maybe that’s what perked up the bunny ears of many a clerk, like the Energizer Bunny albeit with the top half bent over at a right angle on the left ones, as they appeared on the scene to be seen well before St. Patrick’s Day.

If you can wait for another winter, there will be a 35th version of the Hudson Hot Air Affair, ripe with music but also possibly 2023 cold, come 2024. But until then, you can still see some of that fashion sense while out and about — in particular at Ziggy’s.

But if creative, you don’t need to wait before getting your bevy of balloon fixes. For and this is not hot air, their photos and artistic renderings are everywhere — especially on the many tapestries hung from street light poles, as their are Street Light People everywhere in this Journey, that thanks to the local and state-wide Chamber types can be seen in major cities all around the Badger State. Just depends on the number of street lights you have in your city/village/town. And you can see multicolored balloons on all kinds of downtown storefront windows and even sidewalks right before their front door.
They can even see seen on the state tourism-department-backed website’s group of images, but among them are the geographical mix-ins that you will on most all such sites, heavy on those picturing pretty little partiers from Belfast, and I think that’s more than just an ode — or ditty — to the recent St. Patrick’s Day. That one lass holding a dark beer was just stunning, as is described below, and was that a leprechaun tattooed on her hand? From a site that’s mostly high-brow, but sometimes come one, come all and not always carefully edited? Make up for it, due to the ladies shown who are quite stout. Mix in a few pix hailing from Leipzig as well. Did the downtown Hudson Winzer Stube resurrect, just prior to Easter?
A last bit of post-holiday posting. The man The Day/Night After St. Patrick’s Day, was fully decked out, but ordered only a regular-size-cup glass of water and was eating — what? — a slice of pepperoni pizza. On this particular weekend? Is that even legal? Maybe salvation though, as it could have had on it some corned beef, or Canadian bacon, (I always get those two meats mixed up!) Turns out he was with the band, but more about him and his group’s stage presence later …

Back to the Eve of the Hot Air Affair, this could be called, if not being objectionable, the land of many MILFS, with carefully crafted, mostly clunky shoe styles that call attention to the entire wardrobe. Al Bundy called it the shoe game. But the queen of this has to be the lady I met on the first Friday of February, frosty as it was, and oh was she friendly. And her look on that well below zero day was made more solid than recent snowbanks as she was wearing … open toed and strappy shoes.
It was OK, she assured me, as she was going to hop a cab to her motel come 3 a.m. But I said, repeatedly, do not wait outside for long for the taxi to arrive — and don’t get trapped outdoors come last call — as more than a few minutes outside would give you frostbite.
So we conversed as I guy I’d met just moments before joined in. She was not speaking in tongues, exactly, but with a strong accent that could be interpreted many ways. Was she Aussie? Or Irish, I asked. The guy next to me took it further, and tabbed it as British, as she responded by using a whole variety of lilts from all around the continent, changing with every other sentence.
And why the expertise?
She had lost a bet. Way earlier in the day.
And what were the terms? She would have to speak in an English accent for the entire weekend. Well beyond when the last of the balloons would launch, and they did this year, as the breezes died down from the time they’d been the source of dangerous nighttime wind chills. That brought enough people into Ziggy’s for them to win the crown, weighing in just during the weekend, of having the best bloody Mary in town — patrons could even cast their vote many different times!
The crowd originally slim crowd picked up, especially on Friday, as the entire evening progressed. Places that catered to families, such as Hudson Tap, saw a reverse pattern. And Smilin’ Moose, and even Dick’s Bar and Grill, which draw different groupings of patrons as the night wears on, showed that predictable pattern even more, so the torchlight parade had traffic more spotty on the different parts of the street than usual.
Weeks later, on Fat Tuesday, obviously the other side of the week, saw similar scenarios of customer traffic pickup. But beads again were not a thing, as I told a bartender more than half my age, and she had very scant knowledge of that New Orleans tradition, although she had the goods and could have ruled such a scene. But no one was milking it on this evening either. Lastly, asked someone behind the bar-rail closer to middle-age, and she was also somewhat immune to such knowledge and the way it had played out in earlier decades.

This could be bigger than what you’ve seen.
The Groove Kings are the those who would be king, and as longtime masters of their style bring their royalty, so to speak, to Willow River Saloon on Saturday night, Jan. 14. That follows up on another gig there that could be gargantuan, name-wise, by Bigly in one of their recurring set of shows locally at various venues.

These are new times. So would it surprise you to learn that there are new ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve, that have not been promoted on these pages before.

And, as voices of the old and new, Mondays had/have been the holiday place to go on Mondays, after the weekend blowout, at Dick’s Bar and Grill in downtown Hudson. That’s all of these days, held in the early evening and going through the start of this new year. Each are on a different theme and taking in topics such as sports and music and games in general, and pairing them with something from Xmas/New Years, as they thought, better think twice.

But going back to a last promo of 2022 … At the ol’ Wild Badger in New Richmond, there are still a few seats left for their ultimate party zone — that being the word just before closing Friday night and via the bartenders — as in your table for two, or more, that feature a personal server and shot girl access (get your head out of the gutter), champagne beyond just a mere glass, midnight munchies, hydration station(s), and more that will put you front and center for the newly added ball drop. Options are pricey, but not nearly as much so as what you’d pay in many other places.
The GasLite in Ellsworth brings back CoCoNut Tiger (their caps mostly) for another madcap performance. How so? By their faces you will know them. That funky lead singer, as referenced in part last year, she’s got the look and attire — that is dead-on for a bartender at The Badger — and for my niece who has been known at attend concerts down in Milwaukee, then Madison, then Tomah for family vehicle breakdown, then Austin, (not band names I know, as a generation gap is to blame for the genre jumping), as yes, she’d gotten busy with using her new BA degree. A metalhead friend maintains that The Badger purveyor of beer and more is pretty hot.
An S-as-first-initial of a supper club name (don’t see them around much anymore, think mostly the Laurel on your way there) in Amery may be a bit far afield, but since its situated on a Lake loaded with Pike, may be worth the trek on the early part of the Eve. They are offering six special entrees to choose from, so I’d guess that represents all the major food groups.
Lastly, next-door to the Badger at Mallard’s they are shutting their doors to regular holiday patron traffic in order to host a wedding reception. So there will be a band, but only privately to be enjoyed — much like the upstairs offerings at Ziggy’s in Hudson prior to the main music act coming onboard. How do we know at Mallard’s they’ll party on, in the tradition of the long-hours holiday? A hint: They don’t open New Year’s Day until 3 p.m.

Then there was that party principal that reached a new pinnacle. Maybe.
Christmas Eve is on a Saturday, which means that the Home for the Holidays crew, lots of them the college crowd, can go out and kick up their heels, or hooves, on the night before, as the 23rd typically serves that purpose. But even moreso having it fall on a Friday? With some of the White Collar crew having a really White Christmas, in advance, as they are able to turn more blue collar in part, as in go party, by even being able to take Thursday off.
But there is that White thing in the holiday, and the snow might put a damper on — or cancel out the advantage — gained for the beer state to do its thing. May depend how close you are to the north end, and freeze is the word even moreso than snow. Follow I-94. Wind appears to be a constant, could gust up to almost over 55. As in mph both ways. More on the impact that has on plans, or on just winging it, in coming posts.
*** But a late-breaking, sorta, piece of news for Christmas Eve, by the venue who had The Tree up around Halloween. Mallards in New Richmond offers a four-course feast from 4-8 p.m. So can do any last shopping before, and if your not too stuffed still deliver the gifts later. This baby is heavy on creative seafood, as its four courses draw from all seven seas, virtually, as some have more than one kind of festive fish in a single entree! It runs you only about $10 a course, as in $39.99 for the whole enchilata, so to speak. Do call for reservations, now! Don’t wait and check the thermometer one more time.

So where’s the best place to be naughty and/or nice this Saturday night, finally, as it is the 17th of good ol’ December?
Get wild in the holiday way, meaning ugly sweaters and more — just don’t go as far as being Coyote Ugly — at the Wild Badger in New Richmond. And of course, the band is, as would be appropriate, My Famous Friends. We all have them. Or say we do. And the more you have the more you have … Its just that I thought mine were A-Listers. Turns out the bring a blushingly bad grade of B-Minus. See if the Badger is better … great name for a group, in any case.

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They’ll be brewing up something big in the north end of the county, and I insist that it’s all about distilling.
The band Distilled hits the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt on Friday night, and the next night its the 100th or so performance — my overplayed joke — of the Zebra Mussels, who never really get old, and could be said to be aging like fine swine, (pigs fly, in thus named many types of ale.) Oh I’m very sorry, I meant to type wine. But this is how they follow-up to Distilled, get it, going for that 101 total number of gigs.
Also Friday, with music from from 5-7 p.m. is the Apple Fest in New Richmond far-south-end, one of the more prominent ones of this type in the region. The Chamber is a bit coy about just who this band at Ready Randy’s is, building suspense, so you’ll have to check it out and report back. And as with Distilled, fermented apples can be dished up in way, lyrically and physically present in your drink, to be very cool. And Apple Fest is also on most of the day Saturday, with all the things you would except from something like this in fall.

All long as were into fall, why not fall for fall fests? The highlight of Bacon Bash in thus a way, is the Free Fallin’ Tom Petty tribute band, who has not fallen here for a while, on Friday night in River Falls. And so many times it is bookends, and this is no different, as New Richmond is lit up all weekend with big facilities, to the south at the 45 Parallel and Lift Bridge buildings with bluegrass and even bourbon, (like a thusly name fest each April in RF).

— Other diverse Bacon Bashers include, and continue forward with their food from throughout the area, the RF main man, Smokey Treats Fusion BBQ, Agave Kitchen (with accompanying third-floor Bullpen Cantina), Benny’s Bigfoot BBQ, Lucky8’s Grill Gyros, Pepper and Fries, Babushka Polish Eatery, and Paddy Ryan’s Irish Pub and Boxty House (with their big foot in both Hudson and River Falls). —

Stuck in the middle in New Richmond is The Wild Badger, with Uncle Chunk and the Dweebs of course owning the evening, but also falling into place with everything German from beer to food to music, so to fill the void left by The Winzer Stube’s departure in Hudson from this usual autumn role. And all this attendance may be dependent, with your plans, on if your high school football or more team — in the form of the Tigers and Raiders, or even Wildcats or Falcons, or maybe the Panthers — is home or away, or taking snaps within a reasonable distance. That means basically St. Croix County.

Why picks of the week? It is now the first day of school and students everywhere are celebrating the options — and not which algebra class to signup for. If they only include a chance to again make time with that cutie you saw across the lunch room back in May. Or what will the teacher be like, or look like, this year? Same turf. Not just football.
So in New Richmond, the busses runneth over with kids trying to again find their way. Maybe a new school? New cutie, maybe in a new place or classroom? Or a slightly new configured bus route as the area grows? And getting there, now, if mom and/or dad have yet another of the job changes we see so often these days, and the family a.m. plan gets again, reconfigured. Hey, the local company can help. With a name like Kobussen, you gotta figure they know their road plan.
The first time I saw this was uhm, yeah, last May. I beheld the caravan of busses heading in tandem, of course, toward the Newer School Central Hub, and leading the way was something I’m guessing you will only see in NR, although their could be others. There was a pickup truck that led the procession, intended or not, with a few flags flying and message to go along with. Hey, in Hudson somebody would sue over that.
Of things still needed by that new freshman going away to school, if only across the state, and at last mast there is the mattress. Or get two for the discount, and throw one the way of that new roommate you will try so hard to get along with. The multiple brands at multiple stores of several different kinds runneth over with other discounts, such as one where you get a whole bunch of accessories essentially thrown in with your purchase. Like an extra pillow case to catch your tears as you go out on your own, and for that reason also the Ultra Mega laundry soap. But don’t worry — attitude adjustment — soon it will be homeroom and more organization and wait! There’s that new cutie assigned a seat right beside you! Break the ice fast, to strike when the iron is hot, and invite her to the new student dance mixer with not only whatever kids listen to this term, and this is truly old school, the Ultra Mega heavy metal band. She will think you are so old — as in past teen years — and wise.
What, the show sold out? Last ditch effort as you will not be saved by the bell. Culver’s not far from NRHS recently has had as their daily specials to essentially close out summer, various cool sounding ice cream dishes. Andes cool mint meets blackberry compote. On Labor Day proper, the place was open but the sign did not list a special. But today is a new day …

The problem presented to the world as we know it via my home page, is actually a clue for a little ol’ local place, in Boardman. That would be Meister’s, and OK they do have as much space as most, when you factor in the back room and porch and spilling out toward a cornfield.
So what’s the problem?
The owner, whose bar takes his name — sat hi Dave — adds that his bands that now, for at least the second summer in a row, are drawing in a crowd so big that he really doesn’t need the publicity. That’s almost every weekend and even the Thursdays leading in. So trek on over to Boardman and continue to his pretty good problem to have. And I was happy to help.
To make it a fuller night, there is the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt on the way over, which also has bands (plural) every weekend, and the Boardman Bypass across the street and their offerings that include — uh, going sans bands. And for Meister’s, there is more than one venue by that name in the north end of the St. Croix Valley, so you can make your full experience even fuller. (Is that a word? Hey spellcheck took it).
Roaming forward, you can check out a full night at the opera by veering over to downtown Stillwater on Saturday, July 30. It features 13 singers in that genre — and since this is opera, we have to wonder if there is some significance from mythological tales to that usually unlucky number. For more information, contact the local Chamber of Commerce. (But wait, they are out of the office on a European tour to find more chamber musicians! Just kidding).
We’re not kidding when we tell you other events of the weekend, into the next month and beyond is killer!
Fiddlers Green Run, to aid veterans in need, is Saturday and includes several stop-off bars around the northeast quadrant from New Richmond, even Star Prairie, but does not venture into Tiger country. An earlier run was a bit the same, shunning Hudson but hitting many venues just to the north.
The Hudson police are keeping it home when offering a get-to-know-your-friendly-neighborhood-cop event on Aug. 2, and it even features a dunk tank (no, this is not a typo, there is no R). But seriously folks, if you were pulled over by That Guy, now you can send him splashing, let him explain over a soda why he did so, then let it be water under the bridge.
Then on Aug. 8, its the Jonesey-Local-based “High Socks” golf tournament, to help monetize his charity fund, which has a broad reach that is shown by the full wall of thank you notes at his venue. His style of foot and ankle and calf wear never has worn out its welcome.
Nor has Them Coulee Boys, a local group that’s been playing gigs down near Milwaukee, Wauwautosa to be specific. As for Beer City, its current Summerfest lineup has not an once of metal, rather its well representing various genres with less volume.
To call it a wrap, or maybe just rap, the Wild Badger in New Richmond boasts several weeks running of Friday evening solo acts on the patio that represent women of various ages, and therefore likely music styles. There’s Hailey James, Trandy Blue and Samantha Grimes, in order of appearance.

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The Hudson Boosters are at it again, and their Days have been actively googled prior to this holiday. And those days are numbered, as in five (stars).
By that man at Starr’s Bar — in that complementary and/or enemy locale of North Hudson — who was overheard a full week ago saying that the bands this Fourth of July weekend that is Booster Days are even more stellar than usual. He specified those on Saturday and Sunday. To the point that he did some research, curious as he was. So he got online and watched some of their videos on YouTube, and methinks they were not the extended versions that are available. Or checked out both?
The name is cool, and if the music is anything like it … Latria and then Tim Butler, reverse order, that is in the afternoon as the fest starts winding down. Save the best for (near) the last?
Going on late on Friday, also, is the band Sugar Buzz. More ADHD rock stars? And at other times in the weekend and its music acts that extend close to a dozen in number — and that’s only at the bandshell — there are tried and true names that are more familiar.
And this may go against form as far as a three-county area on the east side of the St. Croix, but the Hudson fireworks over that body of water as always are Sunday night, so more bang for your buck in what that wise NH sage said there would be musically.

Do then best rides come in threes? That’s even better then having that hot babe on the back of your bike, which makes it a twosome.
There is the Alzheimer’s Run on Saturday to end at the GasLite in Ellsworth, followed by — a birdie told me while trying not to get nipped by the flame — another charitable motorcycle rally a week later and yet another on Aug. 20 that goes by the name of Scotty’s Run. And at least for June 18, there will again be their musical friends Coconut Tiger, so check out at 7 p.m. the seventh annual event and see their haughty hot babe, who may just be dressed in a combo of black and white, and blue jean shorts, and various sizes of fishnet holes on arms and legs, tights and otherwise, like shown on the Facebook page. A breath of fresh air after a 90 mile ride.

It has it all, starting with a music act that characterizes its multiple styles with being Hootenanny, and even the fest they formed in honor of that to ply the trade.
But we’ll start with what’s at the GasLite in Ellsworth this holiday weekend, to in retrospect throw out there Saturday night’s band, Alex Zachary and the Highway Starz, and this is more than Classic Deep Purple. We’ll let them describe their style: “It’s been a long time, but we are back! Enjoy everything from the 50s all the way to today’s hits classic new country rock ‘n’ roll, Motown, funk, and even some originals!”
The night before, on Friday, its back to the core at the GasLite with Hitchville. Their songs have been penned by some of Nashville’s biggest hot hit-makers, including two-time Grammy honoree Ben Glover. You may also, between gigs in western Wisconsin, hear their tunes played at Twin’s games, or at big music hoedowns such as WE Fest. And they are fresh off from — spring break style — a Hard Rock Hotel gig in Cancun.
There is attention to detail here, like describing one of their mates as a “primary” backup vocalist to support the man and woman duo who lead off the way.
And off topic — would we? — a toss to something I’ve considered as an occasional mini-feature here. As far as such, this in the dead deer suicide index, and that’s not a metal band. We could see that across the highways and byways going to see bands, there was about one per mile that tried to battle a vehicle and lost and ended up along the roadside. Not highway stars?

What, I just got googled that this is perhaps the most checked department on this website? Continue to check The Headliner also, as we will often place — as the dearth of music gigs continues to wax and wane and still slowly come back — what we do have to offer right up front, since its just too good to bury inside.
And there will soon be a new club with a lot more music coming in an already well populated area for nightlife. So get to it guys, so people can go to it. When that time comes, read about it in The Headliner. With band-by-band updates in this department.

Halloween, and other seasoned, costume parties can be for adults, but tricks also are for kids. Here are things to do that don’t involve zombies coming to life so they can dance to a wailing guitar.
— The Phantom of the Opera will come alive to the organ/piano of Dennis James and a silent movie to boot, courtesy of the Phipps Center for the Arts on Oct. 31. This is not your mother’s version of the tuneage, which given her decade would be the same song by Iron Maiden, in which case the frontman pleads to those in their maiden voyage into such concerts, if you don’t get this song, you don’t get Iron Maiden. So ye are forewarned.
— Up the street is a family function at The Living Word church, which from 4-8 p.m. will feature all the many things you would expect of a party on this holiday.
— Various TV networks are in the midst of an offering of Halloween movies, from scary to silly, running anywhere between 10 and 31 days. Otis my horror movie friend and fave bouncer, where are you now? Kicking zombie butt during enforcement of rules, somewhere else?
— All over the place are kiddo parties, possibly at your favorite haunt, where the prizes and freebies take a different turn and are not in the vein of a free beer.
— And then that pumpkin patch sale, both nearby and at the same time off the beaten track, and it is location, location, location. It is a half-mile south of I-94, when you take the Somerset exit. And it is across the road (less traveled?) from a warehouse that at one point housed dozens of many-hundreds-of-years-old, terra cotta soldiers exhumed in China. Fitting way to finish a post on Halloween activities.

I’d like to think that soon he will be playing Austin City Limits, being enough of a success to ease gently from his Austin to his Bentley, like late Deep Purple.
He goes by the playing name of Austin, and there could be some Austin Healy thrown in there too. Those names should frame the style you will see and hear, but right now he is just looking for gigs, and based on his quickly-learned groove for those styles and others, that should not be difficult, said his friend, who bartends at The Smilin’ Moose (but not been around long enough to help Austin get a gig there as part of their at least three shows a week, varying a bit by season).
What is atypical of Austin is he just got a guitar thrown his way about three months ago by a friend, but is a quick study and has championed enough chords to throw down some rock and roll with extra rhythm, said the server buddy as he looked over his shoulder from the lower patio to assess what kind of music would soon be going on in Lakefront Park. Austin is one of the occasional up-and-coming local players who we will feature on this website from time to time).
For now, on Thursday, Oct. 21, the act at Urban Olive and Vine is St. John Ash, who looks a bit more like a punker then most who appear in this place, but has a higher level of sound then most in that occasionally stripped down genre coming from a standard-looking guitar, and his various music styles carry forward over and above that.
The next night it is Phil Berbig and what you hear is more like this: The usual classic acts you love plus leading the set list with a few less-often-catered-to choices like another one-word wonder, Train.

The qualifications the judges will weigh at the BBQ cook-off on Saturday at T-Buckets just southwest — interesting that I invoked that style — of Somerset are their tasting of one of your ribs and/or wings that you provide.
(We know that you have more than that one rib, broadly speaking as in Adam in the Bible, and whether that holds true of your wings depends on how literally you think).
Bring your own equipment to create your Masterpiece, as there is judging at 6 p.m. and random tasting drawings of more than drawn butter. Also, the band will play on from 5-8 p.m. There will be prizes for the best BBQ bonanza that cooks like you boast; there is a $25 entry fee.

This weekend The Gaslite will feature all kinds of sights and roars, and we are not just talking about the sound of music.
The Rumble on the River Part 2 was held last Saturday, as in a cool sequel to an event earlier in the summer. Featured are “heavy and hot” farm tractors and trucks, as She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy. And this is not a delusion, although it is uncertain if you are supposed to bring your Cab Cadet.
But in case you missed that, this Saturday, this time The 25th, at the spacious area adjacent to The Gaslite’s actual bar and grill, are the grass drags put on with the capable help of the Indianhead Motorcycle club.
Then at 8 p.m. its the Dweebs with their songs from as far back as The 60s with their partying and interactive show. Crazy stages antics and colorful costumes just in time for Halloween are mixed in with the songs: To give you an idea, their set list includes an AC/DC tinged Hokey Pokey, and they have a good dozen originals as well.

On the 18th, there’s music as part of Derby Days in Bayport, as well, going above and beyond the Mighty Duck races that are always faves. Just don’t expect the speed of breakaways with a puck. There are The Mockingbirds playing Sept. 18 in the late afternoon, part of a street dance series, (Okay we’re only talking two days and nights), as pitched at Not Justa Bar and Cafe with a big flowing-sideways sign less then ten feet from the main street.

Follow the (somewhat) long and winding road past torn-up-all-around-the-edges Hudson and continue to Burkhardt to see Mike Poot on a break from his headed west tour at The Willow River Saloon on Saturday night, (with Justin Burk possibly added as a largely impromptu pop-up). This acoustic show on Aug. 28, following up one of theirs at the same spot when it had its annual corn and chicken feed in early August, could also steer you way over in the direction of Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse north of Hudson around one of its detour routes. But wait, the music has died there in July and August after a respectful showing for largely Minnesota folk in the spring, as one of the few venues then doing this. But their largely loved BBQ can still be had.
If you brave the construction in downtown Hudson a few blocks to Ziggy’s, there is Candy Shop on Friday night (off a stint in New Richmond not long ago), and another food themed band on Saturday evening, Sushi Roll, following up an act that could be seen as really eating them up on Thursday, Jawsy. Its leader and singer has been working the nightclubs since a teenager, and now has as many years logged on stage as one of the month-long newer servers in the bar area below has on the planet.
And there will not be a redo up on The Hill — of what had been pulled over from Eau Claire and again focusing on what could have been this weekend — of the bringing in of Naked Sushi a couple of years ago.

All different kinds of choppers can be cool.
An actual such copter, which flew missions over Vietnam not too many decades ago, will be the highlight at The Gaslite during a China Beach gathering that whirs virtually all day Saturday, Aug. 14, not just motorcycles, although those will be there too. Its fly-in at the annual event at the Ellsworth bar, which also features camping availability, helps support the pilots and their families, and includes types of benefit opportunities to contribute to the cause. It namely is the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, and if you did not know the breadth of the service they provided, the group has more than 17,000 members nationwide. The Midwest chapter is the main sponsor for the gathering, which is open to the public and can provide an opportunity for information and education, support and sustenance, camaraderie and conversation, to the degree to which the veterans wish to share their stories.
The actual helicopter that will make a landing is the same one, or at least a similar style, to a machine also making its appearance on the Gaslite website, showing a large bulk of carefully crafted metal in the foreground of the photo, and tail angling to the back way past the impressive rotary blades. It strikes quite a pose. The helicopter is dark enough to fly its mission, but has a colorful logo on the side door.
All the usual amenities that accompany such an event, of course, are available at The Gaslite.
— All this would give The Moose a reason to smile. But the venue on the north end of the Hudson downtown also continues to supply its own version of camaraderie, via the acoustic shows playing with their late afternoon starts Outback, and having names that might trip your trigger. All have been there earlier in the summer, so they are experienced, and now hope to cap it off: Blake Zak on Aug. 13 will show the flipside of heavy metal’s guitarist Zakk Wylde, Walden Pond on Aug. 15 will invoke Thoreau in their own way, and Glen Everhart on Aug. 20 will try to keep pace with redheaded-model namesake Angie. All these references go Way Back in the Way Back Machine. So they are experienced.

The Tommy Bentz Band is taking it to the limit, on the road again.
If they keep this up, they might be able to buy that Mercedes Benz.
To wit. And don’t wait. Or they will be in another town.
First, the Bentz Bros. will be in River Falls Days at 12:30 on Saturday, July 17. Then later that same day, they will trek to Trempealeau for a B-Day Show (this is so important that on their schedule, it is added-in special for their printer version) for Howard “Guitar” Luedtke of blues fame and Dave Rogers.
After a Sunday show at 2 p.m. at the Rush River Brewing Co. its a Wednesday gig in Tomah for Americana Music in the Park, (an ad I saw two different times at the truck stop there during my own recent travels). The very next evening, its Vino in the Valley at Maiden Rock, then rockin’ at the Hop ‘N Barrel Brewing Co. in Hudson the next day at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday evening sees barreling to Barley John’s Brew Pub in New Brighton, Minn.

Some guys and gals have all The Luck. Or at least the great genes. Or location to go further into Wisconsin for your partying. THAT BAND will play the Wild Badger in New Richmond on Saturday night, following up on the Great New Reopening when they had Trandy Blue and Sunday’s Regret in for Fun Fest, that being earlier in June.
You can also go eastward more and see what’s happening in Luck, an hour northeast of the Twin Cities. Or wait for country rockers Lady Luck to come around again. Or travel out of The Two-State Region and catch another band called The Luck, and this is where the great genes come in: This is the best looking duo, brother/sister or otherwise, you will ever find/see.
Or just stay closer to home, minutes past the Stillwater bridge, and catch The Band That Is Luck, and as Judas Priest would say, put your bid in, and Head Out On The Highway to catch their diverse genres, right here in New Richmond.

There are bands that open for national acts on an occasional basis.
And then there is Hitchville.
Maybe it is the diversity that comes from having a seven-member lineup, which boasts two different lead vocalists. But the Minneapolis-based band has a much broader reach than the Twin Cities.
Hitchville has opened for some of the biggest superstars in country: Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, and Luke Bryan, to Big & Rich, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, and Blake Shelton. Led by vocalists Heidi Owens and Matthew Kneefe, the group is known for both their harmonies and vocals, and unforgettable instrumental solos.
They came to the Gaslight in Ellsworth twice earlier in the spring/summer, and they conquered. It is worth the trip a bit eastward into Wisconsin to catch their act, as they will likely be coming again soon before fall arrives.
— Where do the cabbies go for a break, and they of all people should know the lay of the land. One such driver said she was taking a fare a fair distance away, in Afton, and then wound up with a second fare on the other side of the St. Croix. So what’s a girl to do? Get a steak made on the noted wooden stove at Uncle Mike’s Em Pour E Yum in the town of Hudson. Or so she said.
There then was the Tom Bernard comment on KQRS on im-peach-mint being, actually, a real food. (Like Mike’s Em Pour E Yum?) I guess we all have to see the fruits of our labors. And was it not the Georgia election that indirectly led to all such impeachment talk anyway? And this is the peach that’s the state fruit, after all as I digress, that originated none other then Jimmy Carter.
— Lastly, the Purple Tree in downtown Hudson is a mecca for social-justice-based merchandise of all types, like your favorite band might sing about. And they go beyond the sacred fifty-percent-off figure. That’s right, their winter gear — theme here? — was being sold at a full 60 percent off!