Bastille Day 2009 ♥ flyer |
Fête Nationale or Bastille Day is the national holiday for French citizens every July 14th. It's the uprising and storming of the Bastille fortress-prison and the start of the French revolution. Why Minneapolis is celebrating Bastille Day - I don't know why, it's not like Minneapolis has a large French population. I suspect it has a lot to do with the main sponsor, Barbette Cafe (in association with Vita.mn and strong support from The Current Radio).
The seven-band line up for Bastille Day was open and free to the public block party, however if you wanted to drink alcohol, you had to pay $1 for a wristband (the privileges of paying more to drink). There was only one food vendor and they mostly served burgers and brats.Vegetarians will have to settle for their fries as their only option. (Edit: I am told there were also black bean burgers and coleslaw, which I actually misunderstood as burgers with beans.)
I saw most of the bands on the bill, from the gypsy-style music of Yid Vicious, to hip-hop Sims & Paper Tiger of Doomtree, to Americana Romantica.
I was mostly there to check out Idle Hands, whose influences of British 80s music (Bowie, Smiths, Pulp) was enough for me to want to get there early to see them. It sounded like a rocky start with their first song with the vocals and guitars fading in and out. The music got better and better, as they went on. I suppose it's not surprising when you think about that the band had no sound checks and you would think the first song is the soundcheck.
Inbetween setting up music, you were entertained by aerialist Jim Domenick, street performers (wasn't sure if some of them were official or not!) and the not-too-exciting Rollergirls.
The last band I saw before we left was Halloween, Alaska, who ended their set with a Bruce Springsteen song, "State Trooper". Which actually doesn't sound like any Springsteen song I've ever heard (and that's the best part).
The seven-band line up for Bastille Day was open and free to the public block party, however if you wanted to drink alcohol, you had to pay $1 for a wristband (the privileges of paying more to drink). There was only one food vendor and they mostly served burgers and brats.
I saw most of the bands on the bill, from the gypsy-style music of Yid Vicious, to hip-hop Sims & Paper Tiger of Doomtree, to Americana Romantica.
I was mostly there to check out Idle Hands, whose influences of British 80s music (Bowie, Smiths, Pulp) was enough for me to want to get there early to see them. It sounded like a rocky start with their first song with the vocals and guitars fading in and out. The music got better and better, as they went on. I suppose it's not surprising when you think about that the band had no sound checks and you would think the first song is the soundcheck.
Inbetween setting up music, you were entertained by aerialist Jim Domenick, street performers (wasn't sure if some of them were official or not!) and the not-too-exciting Rollergirls.
The last band I saw before we left was Halloween, Alaska, who ended their set with a Bruce Springsteen song, "State Trooper". Which actually doesn't sound like any Springsteen song I've ever heard (and that's the best part).
07/13/2009 10:27:54 ♥ vu (
) ♥ bastilledayblockparty.com
