Live music adds fire to Animales BBQ’s buzz in Minneapolis

Playing to a full house at Animales BBQ just after 4 p.m. on Saturday, Al Church changed the lyrics to an iconic Fleetwood Mac song to reflect the fact he and his band weren’t the day’s star attraction.

“Well, there you go again, you say you want your barbecue,” the rocker sang.

Heavily anticipated by Twin Cities-area foodies, the barbecue maker with one of the hottest food trucks in town opened its new permanent location in Minneapolis’ Harrison neighborhood just west of downtown this past weekend. Patrons who had been dreaming of Animales’ smoked meats had to wait until 4 p.m., the earliest the barbecue can be served every day due to unhurried smoking procedures.

Along with the meats, Animales is also serving a hearty side of live music every Thursday through Sunday — enough to make it one of the most noteworthy new music venues in town alongside its restaurant buzz.

Saturday’s lineup proved there’s reason for music lovers to also get fired up over the place. Church and his nimble band kicked off a grand-opening lineup that also included jazzy piano legend Cornbread Harris toward the end of dinner rush, followed by synth-rock mainstays Solid Gold for late-night grooves.

Layout-wise, Animales’ sizable stage is set across the sprawling 12,500-square-foot room from the long bar, with ample wraparound booths and picnic-style tables in between. It’s ostensibly a supper-club setup, with room for 220 seated patrons and about 500 standing. There’s also ample space in front of and beside the stage for standing and/or dancing.

Old-school Twin Cities music lovers may liken the new venue to the old Famous Dave’s space inside the former Calhoun Square, what with the barbecue tie-in and Animales’ focus on Americana music and other rootsy-flavored sounds. But the remade space is also reminiscent of the warehouse-turned-supper-club vibe at Icehouse in south Minneapolis and your average brewery taproom, too — like the one right next door at La Doña Cervezeria, which should get more deserved attention with its bustling new neighbor.

Whittier said of Animales’ bookings, “We’re starting with a focus on folk, rock and Americana, and later we’ll see how we can expand on that.”

Maybe as vital as the style of music is the way patrons are being asked to pay for it: through “donations,” aka tips.

QR codes are included on menus and on signs around the Animales space — including some very strategically placed emblems above urinals in the men’s room — for patrons to contribute to a fund for that day’s performers. There’s also a big plastic pig on the side of the stage with a slot for old-school tipping with dollars.

Cornbread Harris’ trombone player, Nate Berry, did a good job explaining the donation policy to patrons on Saturday.

“We decided not to charge a cover, and we’re trusting you to do the right thing,” Berry said, praising Animales for the new gig (Cornbread and Co. will perform there every first Saturday of the month starting Dec. 6).

While he had little time to step off the food line and enjoy the bands on Saturday, Animales’ founder and meat guru Jon Wipfli seemed happy to have added live music to the menu.

“Eating barbecue isn’t just about the food. It’s also about gathering with friends and family,” Wipfli said. “Our music here will be an extension of that, something else to gather around.”

The music wasn’t just an afterthought, though. Cody Audio of Minneapolis installed the sound system at Animales, having built a strong reputation on the sonic setups at both Berlin and the Green Room. Former Bon Iver band member Mike Noyce, who also works at Berlin, is serving as the new venue’s in-house sound engineer.

“This is very different from Berlin,” Noyce noted with a no-duh smile as he worked the room on Saturday.

Pointing to acoustic padding and other treatments installed around the large, high-ceilinged room, he added, “They put a lot of money into making sound improvements that a lot of venues like this won’t do.”

That “everything,” of course, includes the wait staff and patrons being able to talk to each other without drowning out the bands, and vice versa. Even as Solid Gold turned up its atmospheric whir and drummer Dave Powers churned out heavier grooves later on Saturday night, there was still plenty of room for conversations around the room except for at the tables nearest the stage.

Watching Solid Gold from the wings after playing the same stage Friday night, singer/songwriter David Huckfelt — who will also play monthly — raved about the sound in the room and one other trademark of Animales: There’s a playroom for toddlers, too, some of whom took a break from all the fun to come check out his set a night earlier.

“I had a lot of requests for ‘The Wheels on the Bus,’” said Huckfelt, whose 6-year-old son Billy was among the attendees.

More seriously, Huckfelt added, “I think if they can convince people that there is value to hearing live music — and I think they can — this is going to become a really important new venue.”

When: 8 p.m. every Thu., Fri., Sat., and 3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Tickets: Usually no cover; donations requested.

Full calendar: animalsbbq.com/calendar

Upcoming highlights: Pleasure Horse (Thu.); Phantom Fields (8 p.m. Sat.); David Huckfelt’s Mystery Lights (Nov. 6); Emmy Woods (Nov. 7); Adam and Ava Levy (Nov. 8); Cole Diamond (Nov. 13); Becky Kapell (Nov. 15); Cornbread Harris (every first Saturday starting Dec. 6). Many of these will be monthly gigs.