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Laamar Setlist
Luke LeBlanc Setlist
Clare Doyle Setlist
Vuart Read More
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This year’s Cocktails at the Castle theme, at the American Swedish Institute, was “Country House Party”. Audience members were asked to dress in their country gear, and everyone got into the spirt of it: jeans, button shirts, cowboy hats, jean jackets, and western boots.
The entertainment portion were also on the Country/Western theme, with headliners LAAMAR, Pit Stop, and Clare Doyle, as well as Line Dance with Billie (which seemed like a big hit with audience) and drag performance with Sasha Cassadine and friends.
If music and dancing weren’t your thing, there’s also collaborative weaving with Riley Kleve, Riddle Masters of Hollow Hill in the Mansion, Flower Pounding Fiber Craft with Maddy Bartsch, Wax Hand Craft with Fun Jumps Entertainment, Inc., Make your own Bolo Tie station, Permanent Jewelry by Sneaky Link for Purchase, Pop up performances in Mansion, Fiber Arts Demos, various food, drinks, and, of course, the curated cocktails.
First band on the bill, Clare Doyle, fit right in with the country theme. You may recall that she was named one of First Avenue’s “Best New Bands of 2023” (see listing). Originally, Doyle is from St Paul, but moved to New Orleans. Somehow, she ended up back in the Twin Cities and have been part of the music scene since.
During “Another Place to Cry”, possibly one of the saddest songs on the set, a couple decided to start dancing. Doyle seemed pretty upbeat for someone singing despairing songs. She only has released singles (“The Catch”, “Devices”, “You and My Guitar”) so far, with the latest single called “Maybelline.”
She would later show up on LAAMAR’s set, but we’ll get to that later.
There were two stages at the Cocktails at the Castle, with the bigger stage being outside in the lawn area. The second stage, while we wait for stage setup, was inside the only castle in Minnesota. Peter Ruddy was supposed to play in the hall, but there was no sign of the guitarist.
While the next band was being setup in the lawn, the dance lawn was taken over by Line Dance with Billie, who did two sessions (both different). Perhaps it was hard and follow what Billie was doing (or people were just drunk), but, and I hate to say it, the audience was doing a terrible job! It didn’t really matter if you follow the steps or synchronize with your dancing partner, as long as you were having fun and laughing, that’s what counts.
The next band was Pit Stop, which we’ve mentioned many times, that we actually really like the local band. The first time we saw them, in Oct 2022, we said, “Opening the show with a brief 30-min set was local country, Americana group Pit Stop. One of the songs they played was called “Good at Being Alone”, which singer and guitarist Sarah Mevissen said that she cried when songwriter, singer, guitarist Jake Balistrieri first sent her the song.”
Due to obligations and other matters, you only really see Pit Stop as a duo (Jake and Sarah), so it’s really nice to see the full band together. They mentioned they were putting together songs for their next album, but in the meantime, they played songs from their self-titled debut album, including “Good At Being Alone”, “I'm Smiling”, and the set closer, “Pit Stop.”
Luke LeBlanc admitted his name was on the French side, but he was happy to be playing inside the mansion. His set had mostly original songs, with some covers, such as Gillian Welch's “Look at Miss Ohio.”
Finally, LAAMAR, came on stage with a full band: Geoffrey Wilson (singer/guitarist), James Taylor (drums), Steve Bosmans (guitarist), and Jason Wells (bassist).
When Laamar was starting out, they were billed under Geoffrey Wilson’s middle name, Lamar, as early as Feb 2020 (at least when we started writing about them). What was happening, was that the name ‘Lamar’ is so common and associated with Kendrick Lamar or Lamar Williams Jr., that Wilson started billing under his full name Geoffrey Lamar Wilson… but that didn’t last very long. I think they finally found their identity with “Laamar”.
The band is introduced as a “soulful country band”, and the band does the job of blending in soul and country. Wilson, in his best country gear, with a jean jacket, had to take it off due to the warm weather. You got to suffer for your art, man!
Highlight of the set was seeing Clare Doyle resurfaced for a couple of songs on his set, including “Home to My Baby”.
While this year’s country theme Cocktails at the Castle wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, as we previously wrote, there’s still plenty to do, so you’ll never be bored. If all else fails, you can always self-tour inside the mansion, which goes up three flights (and a well-lit underground kids area) and every corner has something unique to offer.
The entertainment portion were also on the Country/Western theme, with headliners LAAMAR, Pit Stop, and Clare Doyle, as well as Line Dance with Billie (which seemed like a big hit with audience) and drag performance with Sasha Cassadine and friends.
If music and dancing weren’t your thing, there’s also collaborative weaving with Riley Kleve, Riddle Masters of Hollow Hill in the Mansion, Flower Pounding Fiber Craft with Maddy Bartsch, Wax Hand Craft with Fun Jumps Entertainment, Inc., Make your own Bolo Tie station, Permanent Jewelry by Sneaky Link for Purchase, Pop up performances in Mansion, Fiber Arts Demos, various food, drinks, and, of course, the curated cocktails.
First band on the bill, Clare Doyle, fit right in with the country theme. You may recall that she was named one of First Avenue’s “Best New Bands of 2023” (see listing). Originally, Doyle is from St Paul, but moved to New Orleans. Somehow, she ended up back in the Twin Cities and have been part of the music scene since.
During “Another Place to Cry”, possibly one of the saddest songs on the set, a couple decided to start dancing. Doyle seemed pretty upbeat for someone singing despairing songs. She only has released singles (“The Catch”, “Devices”, “You and My Guitar”) so far, with the latest single called “Maybelline.”
She would later show up on LAAMAR’s set, but we’ll get to that later.
There were two stages at the Cocktails at the Castle, with the bigger stage being outside in the lawn area. The second stage, while we wait for stage setup, was inside the only castle in Minnesota. Peter Ruddy was supposed to play in the hall, but there was no sign of the guitarist.
While the next band was being setup in the lawn, the dance lawn was taken over by Line Dance with Billie, who did two sessions (both different). Perhaps it was hard and follow what Billie was doing (or people were just drunk), but, and I hate to say it, the audience was doing a terrible job! It didn’t really matter if you follow the steps or synchronize with your dancing partner, as long as you were having fun and laughing, that’s what counts.
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Pit Stop at First Avenue (10 Mar 2022)
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Due to obligations and other matters, you only really see Pit Stop as a duo (Jake and Sarah), so it’s really nice to see the full band together. They mentioned they were putting together songs for their next album, but in the meantime, they played songs from their self-titled debut album, including “Good At Being Alone”, “I'm Smiling”, and the set closer, “Pit Stop.”
Luke LeBlanc admitted his name was on the French side, but he was happy to be playing inside the mansion. His set had mostly original songs, with some covers, such as Gillian Welch's “Look at Miss Ohio.”
Finally, LAAMAR, came on stage with a full band: Geoffrey Wilson (singer/guitarist), James Taylor (drums), Steve Bosmans (guitarist), and Jason Wells (bassist).
When Laamar was starting out, they were billed under Geoffrey Wilson’s middle name, Lamar, as early as Feb 2020 (at least when we started writing about them). What was happening, was that the name ‘Lamar’ is so common and associated with Kendrick Lamar or Lamar Williams Jr., that Wilson started billing under his full name Geoffrey Lamar Wilson… but that didn’t last very long. I think they finally found their identity with “Laamar”.
The band is introduced as a “soulful country band”, and the band does the job of blending in soul and country. Wilson, in his best country gear, with a jean jacket, had to take it off due to the warm weather. You got to suffer for your art, man!
Highlight of the set was seeing Clare Doyle resurfaced for a couple of songs on his set, including “Home to My Baby”.
While this year’s country theme Cocktails at the Castle wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, as we previously wrote, there’s still plenty to do, so you’ll never be bored. If all else fails, you can always self-tour inside the mansion, which goes up three flights (and a well-lit underground kids area) and every corner has something unique to offer.
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LAAMAR at Cocktails in the Castle (14 Sep 2024)
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