Swingin' party In true Replacements fashion, the official hero of last weekend's tribute to the 'Mats at First Avenue was a scruffy-looking, PBR-swilling amateur. Rochester native Erik Hendrickson won a slot in the live remake of the "Tim" album by submitting an online video, since organizers couldn't find a "pro" willing to sing "Dose of Thunder." Not only did Hendrickson strike lightning with "Thunder," he did a great job selling "I'll Buy" when that song's would-be singer, Jim Walsh, couldn't be found at the time (also very Replacements-like). Walsh did co-helm the sweetest moment of the night, though, when his Mad Ripple crew with singer Ben Glaros delivered Big Star's "Ballad of El Goodo" in tribute to 'Mats hero Alex Chilton. On tap for next year: a 30th anniversary revival of "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Jayhawks rise again Reissuing their two best-known albums and playing a short tour in January would've already made 2011 the Jayhawks' most active year since 2004 (or 1995 if you go by Mark Olson's departure). The day after announcing their winter itinerary, though, the Twin Cities alt-country heroes gave RollingStone.com a scoop: They plan to have an all-new album out by summer. Recording commenced last month at the Terrarium in northeast Minneapolis. "Our goal is to make the best Jayhawks album that's ever been done," co-leader Gary Louris said. "Mark and I both feel that there is some business left undone." The first order of business is a two-week tour that will wind down Jan. 29 at First Avenue, where the band played three nights in June. Said Olson, "I want to continue to play with Gary for the rest of my life."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

A 'Christmas' truce When word reached I.W. that a stage titan (Children's Theatre Company) was trampling its smaller kin (St. Paul's Mounds Theatre), we had to get the skinny. For six years "A Christmas Story" -- adapted from the 1983 holiday movie -- has been a moneymaker for Mounds, a fledgling group in a vintage art deco house on the East Side. But when it sought the rights again this year, it was refused. CTC, the nation's largest family-focused company, had already secured the rights for this market. The Mounds folks called up the CTC folks and made nice over lunch. CTC artistic director Peter Brosius then called the rights-holders to allow both shows to go on. The Mounds production opens this weekend and will run for nine performances, while CTC's continues through Dec. 31. "It could have been a horror story, but it had a very happy ending," said Mounds artistic director Greg Eiden.

ROHAN PRESTON

Bach around the clock After Tuesday's thrilling performance of the Paul Taylor Dance Company at Northrop Auditorium, I.W. was equally thrilled to run into dancer Sean Patrick Mahoney. "I'm so glad we got to perform 'Esplanade' here in Minneapolis," he said -- a sentiment shared by the audience -- and then he shared a tip: the exuberant Bach-fest is available on YouTube. It's performed by the original 1975 cast (in their mid-'70s shaggy-haired, bell-bottomed glory), and the cast includes national treasure Bettie de Jong, now the company's rehearsal director. Lucky for Minneapolis, De Jong was in the house on Tuesday night. Also performing in "Esplanade" was Rose-ville native Robert Kleinendorst.

RICK NELSON

West Bank revival Palmer's isn't a bar you'd typically want your teenager hanging around. But a group of young filmmakers definitely deserve a seat at the bar Saturday afternoon, when they'll screen their delightful 10-minute documentary "Gone Fishing: The West Bank's Forgotten Scene." The film -- which retraces the neighborhood's late-'60s music boom -- came out of an IFP Media Arts youth workshop last summer and won a top prize at the recent Minnesota Historical Society's 1968 Project film competition. Through interviews with local legends such as Spider John Koerner and Papa John Kolstad, the film explains how the area's clustering of bars created "a perfect storm" for this hippie-folk hotbed. Koerner says it best in the doc: "We got our own kinda attitude and approach here. Which I, you know, quite appreciate." The bluesman will bring the movie full circle with a performance directly following the screening. (4:30 p.m. Sat., 500 Cedar Av. S., Mpls. www.ifpmn.org)

TOM HORGEN

Atmospheric pressure Playing a sold-out show at First Avenue should be old hat to Slug. But throughout the first of his group's two shows last weekend, the Atmosphere frontman said he was nervous. He blamed it on a leg brace under his jeans and other random stuff before finally revealing the real reason during the encore: "This is the first time I've had to get up and perform in front of people since my homey Eyedea died," he said. "I was worried about getting up here and putting on my clown face and all that, but you made it a lot more comfortable for me to do this, so I thank you." Before delivering a song he wrote after his father's death, "Yesterday," Slug asked for a moment of silence, which was like an alcoholic asking for a Shirley Temple at the bar -- it might've been the most serene thing at First Ave since Low last played there.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

When holiday cheer goes wrong Note to bar owners: When advertising drink specials for a holiday that is already fraught with mixed emotions, it's not a good idea to prop up racist stereotypes, as the Station 280 sports bar found out Thanksgiving weekend. The St. Paul bar (located at Hwy. 280 and Como Avenue) found itself in hot water after advertising its weekend parties with a flyer that read: "Drink like an Indian, party like a Pilgrim" -- complete with cartoonish imagery and a photo of a buxom woman in fake Indian garb). After reportedly getting a slew of angry phone calls from around the country, Station 280 took down the flyer from its Facebook page. No big deal? Only if you think the historical decimation of an entire continent's people and the ensuing years of broken treaties, poverty-stricken reservations and alcohol abuse is no big deal.

TOM HORGEN

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