A staple in northeast Minneapolis every Memorial Day weekend (and one of the coolest music fests of the year), the eighth annual Heliotrope Festival is leaving the Ritz in Nordeast and will instead be held at the Loring Theater on the south side of downtown this year. Fest organizer Flaneur Productions has been involved in a couple other shows this past year with the revamped former Music Box Theater, and apparently things went well. Beyond the venue change, it looks like Heliotrope 8 is going to be the same wild extravaganza as past years, with Roaratorio-backed improv duo Joe McPhee and Chris Corsano coming to town to play the three-day fest alongside experimental/psychedelic/none-of-the-above local favorites. Those will include Skoal Kodiak, Mother of Fire, International Novelty Gamelan, Daughters of the Sun, Paul Metzger, Thunderbolt Pagoda, Tender Meat, Hastings 3000, Votel (the new name of Maggie Morrison's electronic act H.U.N.X.) and about 20 more. The $24 three-day pass and $12 daily tickets are on sale now at www.loringtheater.com.
