"We're slowly floating our way to our next gig in Winona!"
The Stnnng's frontman Chris Besinger shouted that toward shore a few songs into his band's most fluid set to date (rimshot!). He and the band performed on a pontoon floating in the middle of the Mississippi as part of Creative Electric Studio's Art-a-Whirl show. Talk about the perfect antedote to the winter duldroms of indoor club shows. While it's a miracle nobody fell in the water, a couple hundred people watched from the docks down the hill from the Sample Room. Quite a few ducks were in attendance, too, including a mom with a trail of ducklings who bravely swam close to the floating stage.
Thanks to calm waters and one guy working his butt off with a paddle, the Stnnng managed to stay pretty close to the docks. By choice, they pushed their way down to Gabby's shore front for their final two songs, with Besinger repeatedly screaming, "More paddling!" to the music. He summed up the event as being "a lot like playing Big V's when PJ is bartending... We can't see, and the stage is moving."
Before the Stnnng's set, Zak Sally performed atop the docked houseboat where Creative Electric has its art installation. Afterward, Bella Koshka played under a tent in the Sample Room parking lot, where promising new local brewery Fulton had its IPA on tap. I really can't recommend this, um, venue enough. Click here for more details. Tonight's free show (7 p.m. start) will feature Mayda and -- its members fresh from last night's Gayngs show -- Marijuana Death Squad, who reportedly plan to perform in multiple spots on the river. Bon voyage!
