An event created to benefit music students, the second annual McNally Smith River Rocks Festival, really gave a boost to one young band as it kicked off Friday afternoon on Harriet Island in downtown St. Paul.
The metal quintet Spaceblood -- students from St. Paul's McNally Smith College of Music who picked their name right before taking the stage -- drew a large audience thanks to the trickle of rain that briefly drove some of the opening day's 5,000 or so attendees under the tent where the band performed.
Over on the big stage, Mexi-Cali hip-hop band warmed up the rest of the crowd as the rain passed. Singer/rapper Justin Poiree joked, "In Los Angeles, we call this a hurricane."
After Ozomatli finished its set with a drumline procession through the crowd, another L.A. player with Minnesota roots, Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan, took the stage with his laid-back, twangy new solo band (on the same day his dad announced a Northrop Auditorium gig on Election Day). Dylan is among the national performers making a difference at River Rocks this year, after last year's all-Minnesotan lineup drew a disappointing crowd.
With a better weather forecast and bigger names on the lineup for today, including hip-hop stalwarts the Roots and local hitmakers Semisonic, the festival is expected to draw a much bigger audience for Day Two. Tickets will be $35 at the gate. Look for a review of the whole fest in Sunday's Star Tribune.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
