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Jesse Ventura In-Store Signing at Down in the Valley, Golden Valley (30 June 2024)

Jesse Ventura In-Store Signing Read More Jesse Ventura A little trivia, but did you know many stars of wrestlers are from Minnesota? Sure, we all know Jesse "The Body" Ventura is from here, but Minnesota is home of these wrestlers: Barry Darsow, Greg Gagne, Verne ...

Former WWF wrestler, governor, writer, and actor, Jesse Ventura, did a one-hour public signing (from noon to 1pm) at Down in the Valley, in Golden Valley, to promote his new THC edible company, Ventura Farms.

During the signing Ventura joked that he’s joined the Willie Nelson train and that he’s a true believe in the “Keep America Stoned” slogan. On a serious note, he explained that pot saved his wife’s life. He said that traditional medicine didn’t help, but the THC edibles help calm down the stress. However, insurance won’t cover THC so that’s why he decided to form his company Ventura Farms.

Ventura also mentioned that he’s in talks to get back to WWE, now that Vince McMahon has resigned. He didn’t expand on his involvement, as they’re still in talks, but perhaps we might see some future merchandise.

Ventura was very generous with his time and said he would sign only one item. He also offered to take photos with fans, but asked that we not shake hands. He also didn’t force anyone to buy his new product, but Down in the Valley did offer samples for those interested.

Many fans had brought out their Jesse Ventura 12” Action Figure, which came in three variants: Navy Seal Version, the Governor, and Football Coach. Some brought his book I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed to get signed. When asked what they think of the book, the correct response is, “I Ain’t Got Time to Read.”

Jesse Ventura in-store signing at Down in the Valley, Golden Valley (30 June 2024)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Mikaela Davis at Turf Club, St Paul (17 Aug 2023)

Mikaela Davis Setlist Home in the Country Cinderella In My Groove Far From You Leave It Alone Promise The Pearl Saturday Morning Get Gone Don't Stop Now Candyman (Grateful Dead cover) -- Encore -- Pure Divine Love Tour Dates 08/20 Evanston, IL SPACE 09/16 Navarro, CA Camp Deep End 10/02 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up * 10/03 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco Theater * 10/05 San Francisco, CA August Hall * 10/06 San Francisco, CA August Hall * 10/07 Sacramento, CA Ace Of Spades * 10/09 Spokane WA Martin Woldson Theater * 10/10 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House * 10/11 Bozeman, MT The Elm * 10/13 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre * 10/14 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre * * w/ The Mountain Goats Read More Mikaela Davis Supporting Watson will be harpist/singer Mikaela Davis from Rochester, New York. Willie Watson Upcoming Tour Dates: 10/18 Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi + 10/20 St. Louis, MO @ Sheldon Concert Hall + … Pit Stop Pit Stop, a fresh, new band from Minneapolis, plays original tunes combining elements of Americana, Blues, Country, Folk, Rock and a dash of Doo-wop. …

Harpist Mikaela Davis headlined the Turf Club in St Paul on Thursday night.

Opening the show was Minneapolis-based Ryan Gebhardt. Originally from New York, with his band The Humble Cheaters, but he decided to go solo with his self-debut LP, Stanley, in 2017, with his move to Minneapolis.

We first heard of him when he opened for Alice Phoebe Lou in Feb 2022.

About half-way into the show, before “Monday Lover”, Ryan announced a special guest, Sarah Mevissen, from Pit Stop, to help sing the remainder of the set. We actually like Pit Stop, having randomly caught them a few times in 2022, so this appearance was a real treat.

Songwriter and harpist Mikaela Davis closed out the night. You don’t normally see a giant harp in this type of rock venue. I’m not trying to discourage it, but it’s hard to appreciate chamber music or orchestra in a noisy bar setting. Maybe it’ll be better at the Cedar Cultural Center, which she did play in Oct 2014, where the audience would be of the NPR variety.

If you didn’t know, Davis first found fame when she covered Elliott Smith’s “Twilight”, using her harp, which is a unique take on the song.

Mikaela Davis, with her full band, featuring Alex Coté on drums, Cian McCarthy on guitars/vocals, Shane McCarthy on bass/vocals, and Kurt Johnson on steel guitar, is currently touring in support of her Kill Rock Stars debut And Southern Star.

Mikaela Davis at Down in the Valley (16 Aug 2023) photo courtesy of Jesse Roberson

As part of the touring promotion, Davis did a meet and greet at Down in the Valley record store in Golden Valley the day prior. This is a great way for fans to meet their favorite artist. Davis, adding, “Thanks to all who came to my in-store at Down In The Valley and bought a record/ CD 💿”.

At her show at the Turf Club, Mikaela Davis mistakenly announced that this was their first ever headline show in the Twin Cities… but her guitarist quickly corrected her, “We played the 7th Street Entry, a long ass time ago.” (they headlined the 7th Street in Minneapolis on October 23, 2018, with Dem Yuut as opener).

She knew the difference between St Paul and Minneapolis, of course, telling us that they originally listed the Turf Club as “Minneapolis” on the tour poster. She noticed and thought that no one would care… but at the last minute decided to “hold the press!” and made the correction on the tour poster to “St Paul.” So, the moral of the story is that they worked hard on the poster, that you should buy one.

Davis ended her set with a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Candyman”. What I think happened was Bob Weir called up Mikaela Davis on his residency in New York, and she joined the The Wolf Pack (the band with a horns and strings section), and she played on the remainder of his set, including “Candyman.”

Mikaela Davis came back for the encore to play an early 2016 single, “Pure Divine Love”. The lyrics of the song was actually co-written by drummer Alex Cote, with the chorus of “Pure divine love is here, love of mine have no fear. You found me.”

After this headlining 2023 tour ends tomorrow (August 20th at Space in Illinois), she’ll be opening for The Mountain Goats throughout October… or as we like to call it, Rocktober.

Ryan Gebhardt (with Sarah Mevissen) Ryan Gebhardt (with Sarah Mevissen) Ryan Gebhardt

Ryan Gebhardt

Mikaela Davis Mikaela Davis Mikaela Davis

Mikaela Davis at Turf Club, St Paul (17 Aug 2023)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Kid Koala at Down in the Valley, Minneapolis (28 July 2023)

07/28 Kid Koala at Down in the Valley (Signing) Tour Dates 07/29 Minneapolis, MN @ Chase Bliss 07/30 St Paul, MN @ Clutch Brewing Company 07/31 Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

Canadian scratch DJ/music producer Kid Koala held a free mini-show and signing at Down in the Valley record store in Golden Valley on Friday evening.

Kid Koala did about six songs, some were Los Angeles’ Lealani songs (“Minuscule” and “The Night”) and one freestyle jamming.

This was Lealani’s first time on tour, first time in Minneapolis, and it must be so overwhelming with all the travel and checking into different cities across the country. She seemed really shy, and spoke softly that it was hard to hear without a microphone.

Lealani’s music weapon of choice is a “Beat, beat machine”, which she would press various colorful buttons to produce specific sound.

Kid Koala started with a ska song from his Carpal Tunnel Syndrome album, followed by “Moon River” (which you can listened to Kid Koala’s version here).

When asked if he had a “ska phase,” Kid Koala answered, “All my life has been a ska phase.” Meaning that he’s was always fascinated about dub and ska.

Near the end of this brief 25-min set, he played an untitled song that he was working on, which used a Dan the Automator song with Damon Albarn (Blur) vocals, that some fans have bootlegged and put on YouTube under an erroneous credit of an unreleased Gorillaz song.

When asked when the new Deltron 3030 album is coming out, Kid Koala answered, “That’s the question of the century.” What it comes down to is that both Dan the Automator and Del the Funky Homosapien are on the West Coast, and they don’t often get together. However, Deltron will reunite for a few one-off shows, including opening for Wu-Tang Clan and Run The Jewels, in Colorado.

This current Kid Koala tour is to promote his new album Creatures of the Late Afternoon, an album that was created during the pandemic. The album also doubles as a board game, which his family helped created. Of course, the irony is that none of the songs he was creating (using three turntables) at the record store were from the new album. That is because of noise ordinance, and apparently songs on the new album are loud. He’ll save these songs for the Chase Bliss Anniversary show.

Speaking of which, you can catch both Kid Koala and Lealani at the free Chase Bliss Anniversary all-day event at Bauhaus Brewery, in Minneapolis, happening today (Saturday). You can read all about it here.

If that’s still not enough, you can see more Kid Koala at Music to Draw To at Clutch Brewing Company, on Sunday, from noon to 2pm.

These Minneapolis/St Paul events are free, courtesy of Chase Bliss.

Kid Koala and Lealani at Down in the Valley, Minneapolis (28 July 2023)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Soul Asylum at Down in the Valley in-store, Golden Valley, MN (21 Apr 2018)

Soul Asylum at Down in the Valley Poster Setlist Get On Out String of Pearls Lately To My Own Devices New World Farmer John (Don and Dewey cover) Don't Bother Me Never Really Been Somebody to Shove Misery Tour Dates 05/25/2018 Savannah, GA The Stage On Bay 05/26/2018 Winston-Salem, NC Gears & Guitars 06/16/2018 Burlington, IA "Burlington Steamboat Days" 07/06/2018 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park 07/07/2018 Jacksonville, FL Daily's Place Amph 07/10/2018 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park Amph 07/11/2018 Saint Petersburg, FL Al Lang Stadium 07/13/2018 Pelham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheatre 07/14/2018 Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast Coliseum 07/15/2018 Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell 07/17/2018 Irving, TX Toyota Music Factory 07/18/2018 Cedar Park, TX H-E-B Center 07/20/2018 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amph 07/21/2018 Maryland Heights, MO Hollywood Casino 07/24/2018 Chicago, IL Huntington Bank Pavilion 07/26/2018 Minneapolis, MN Armory 07/27/2018 West Bend, WI Washington County Fair 08/03/2018 Clearfield, PA "Clearfield County Fair" 08/04/2018 Kalamazoo, MI Wings Event Center 08/07/2018 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery 08/08/2018 Huber Heights, OH Rose Music Center 08/10/2018 Gilford, NH Bank of NH Pavilion 08/11/2018 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center 08/14/2018 Farmingville, NY Amphitheater 08/22/2018 Greensboro, NC White Oak Amph 08/24/2018 Nashville, TN Ascend Amph 08/25/2018 Simpsonville, SC Heritage Park Amph Read More Soul Asylum Yeah we knew the tiny 7th Street Entry could not contain all the fans for Soul Asylum, or as we kid that it's just the Dave Pirner band.... Both dates at 7th Street Entry (12/17 and 12/18) are sold out …

Finishing its eleventh year, Record Store Day has become more popular than ever, and in the case of most established stores, their biggest sales-volume day of the entire year. 

Most independent stores organize day-long events for the occasion and buyers/collectors have a chance to purchase limited run, mostly vinyl editions of sought-after titles and re-issues. 

One such release was the limited-to-3000 edition of Live from Liberty Lunch, Austin TX December 3, 1992 (Legacy Recordings) – a previously unreleased recording that captured longtime alternative band Soul Asylum in concert, just after the release of their breakthrough album, Gravedigger’s Union. 

To help celebrate, singer/songwriter Dave Pirner called local record store Down in the Valley, to arrange a special acoustic set on the evening of Record Store Day.  Customers who bought the vinyl release, were allowed first in, via a priority line, while the overflow of non-buyers filled another, until the store capacity of 150 people, was filled. 

Pirner brought along current guitarist Ryan Smith and friend Liz on stand-up bass, for a forty-minute performance, punctuated by Pirner’s usual dry wit between songs.  “Half off all rolling papers” Pirner jokingly announced ahead of the set, looking around at the store’s departments, eyeing the smoking section across the room. 

The set started with ‘Get On Out’ (also on the live recording) with Pirner espousing his admiration for record retail- “I love record stores – let’s keep ‘em all in business”, he said ahead of 2006’s ‘Lately’.  After the song (and in Pirner form) he plugged not the Soul Asylum album, but that of friend Kraig (Run Westy Run, Jayhawks) Johnson, who had just released a record himself. 

The set continued, not with songs from the release or with just hits, but with clearly what Pirner wanted to play, carnival barking after a rustic ‘Farmer John’, that his next in-store sale would be “two-for-one bongwater”, again eyeing the smoking accessories. 

After reaching all the way back to 1986’s ‘Never Really Been’, Pirner wondered aloud if the store sold any Bob Marley posters (duh!) then played the familiar opening chords of biggest hit, ‘Somebody to Shove’.

The trio concluded with the store owner’s favorite Soul Asylum song, ‘Misery’ - “it tells you something about what it’s like to own a record store”, Pirner chuckled. 

Soul Asylum next gears up for a busy spring and summer, playing a few shows themselves before joining on to the Three Doors Down / Collective Soul tour that will take them into bigger venues and outdoor amphitheaters.  But, for the lucky few in Minneapolis on this collector’s holiday, it was a chance to get up close and personal, with a local band with over three decades of history. 

(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)

Soul Asylum at Down in the Valley in-store, Golden Valley, MN (21 Apr 2018)

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic