Pirner sins for Saints
After a decade of splitting his time between New Orleans and Minneapolis, Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner used last weekend's blitz-paced First Avenue gig to show where his true allegiance lies -- at least when it comes to this year's big NFC showdown. The singer brazenly opened up his shirt Superman-style midshow to reveal a New Orleans Saints T-shirt. His action drew boos from the few fans who recognized the logo. There were more jeers over the outcome of the quartet's preshow huddle. "We had a band meeting and decided we're gonna spare you watching us work out any new material onstage tonight," guitarist Danny Murphy informed the crowd, following reports that the band has a new album in the can. "It's rocking stuff, though, we promise." Pirner did his hometown proud by dedicating "Easy Street" to bassist Tommy Stinson's late brother Bob, and "Leave Without a Trace" once again was for SA's late bassist Karl Mueller.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
It's a fact: We rule
In case you missed it, Travel + Leisure magazine named two Minneapolis restaurant/bars in its list of "25 American Hot Spots." The November story focused on hotness in not-so-big cities. LynLake's sake brewpub, Moto-i, was mentioned for being just that: the rare sake brewpub outside of Japan. Spoonriver received a mention for its commitment to local ingredients. The Twin Cities also received kudos in the magazine's online survey "America's Favorite Cities." We were ranked No. 1 for having the country's most intelligent people. Yay, we're both hot and smart.
TOM HORGEN
Ho, ho, hot!
A few observations from the New Standards' holiday show Saturday at the Fitz: Pianist/singer Chan Poling is beginning to look more and more like his father-in-law, Walter Mondale, who was sitting in the audience nearby. Unadvertised guest Dan Wilson still has the most gorgeous male pop voice in town. Who knew Jayhawks frontman Gary Louris could rock a tie and sport coat? (He said his wife dressed him.) A rare duet of Louris and Wilson doing the Kinks' "Father Christmas" -- "the dark side of Christmas" was how bassist John Munson introduced it -- made the night. Steve Roehm's vibraphones are what makes the New Standards the New Standards. As always, he never spoke, playing the silent Teller to Munson and Poling's garrulous Penn.
JON BREAM
When Justin met Al
Last week's bus accident that injured Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo cut Motion City Soundtrack's six-city tour with the "Raditude" posse, but the Minneapolis quintet is still rolling steadily into a big rollout for its fourth album, "My Dinosaur Life," out Jan. 19 on Columbia Records. The disc was included in Spin magazine's list of 23 "upcoming albums that matter most," and Billboard magazine gave it a big writeup this week. The band has been crisscrossing the country to tout the new disc, including a stop near Washington, D.C., where singer Justin Pierre made the very unrock-star point of joining Sen. Al Franken's lunch with constituents, an encounter recounted on the promo site MyDinosaurLife.com. "I've been a fan of his since SNL," Pierre wrote. "He's like the Flaming Lips: Ever changing, but always awesome." Too bad Franken's detractors are so against humor, or they could have a field day with the comparison -- quips about a guy who works in a bubble and a band that uses a lot of smoke and mirrors pretty much write themselves. The band's First Ave show is Jan. 23.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
