Northern Spark: What just happened??

Last weekend was the second-ever Northern Spark, a dusk-till-dawn smorgasbord of art happenings throughout Minneapolis. The night was filled with performances, exhibitions, installations and interactive experiences in five "zones." But Northern Spark seemed to have more to do with the idea of experiencing the city at night, outdoors. The experience of strolling around a city ablaze with people, performers and pop-up art felt refreshingly European. -Jahna Peloquin

Zone D: MCAD-MIA: 9 p.m. Sat

At the MCAD/MIA consortium, giant papier-mâchè puppets tromped around, and a "Palace of Wonder" felt like some Jim Henson-ian hell on acid. Yarn-bomb provocateur HOTTEA's indoor installation had golden yarn cascading from the ceiling, creating a church-like, sun-shower illusion for those lying on the ground beneath it. A disco ball constructed outdoors (Aaron Dysart's "Celebrate") gave the illusion of a dance party under the stars. -Jahna Peloquin

ZONE A: TEN SECOND FILM FESTIVAL, 10 P.M.

Despite a slight migration in date (from July 4), the Soap Factory's Ten Second Film Festival once again drew a big crowd to see 100 micro-films. The genial Kevin Albertson of MPLS.TV hosted; his comedy troupe the 3rd Kind contributed to the amusing intro segments and performed an intermission sketch. The event was as entertaining as always, but got a little long. By the time the film fest ended, the crowd was itching to get Sparking. -Jay Gabler

Zone A: Stone Arch Bridge, 11:45 p.m.

The Stone Arch Bridge area was the most foot-traffic-heavy zone by far, with onlookers walking along a row of interactive art installations on SE. Main Street, at Father Hennepin Park (where a decentralized dance party had broken out), and the bridge itself, where Robin Schwartzman's "Think and Wonder, Wonder and Think" installation put those words in lights on the surface of the bridge. There were interactive games like PixelTron150 and Body Pong, and a row of Art Shanties. Michael Murnane's "Under Ice" projected changing imagery on the expansive side of the historic Pillsbury A Mill, and you could stand barefoot on a series of lightboxes and take cool photos. -Jahna Peloquin

ZONE A: 'CAPTURED DREAMS' AT OPEN BOOK, 12:30 A.M.

Koo Koo Kanga Roo was performing for an enthusiastic audience of a few dozen at Open Book, where lit mag Paper Darts was hosting an overnight event. In addition to author readings, Paper Darts was constructing a magazine from stories and illustrations submitted by visitors -- some of whom probably wrote their entries slightly under the influence of one of the multiple varieties of box wine on tap. -Jay Gabler

Zone B: Foshay Tower, 1:30 a.m.

Attempts to view "Eunsu Kang, Shin'm Piñata," in which colorful candy drops form the shape of your body in video projections, and Caly McMorrow's "Observation Tape Deck," an interactive light and sound installation for the Foshay's observation deck, were thwarted by long lines to the elevator at the W Minneapolis hotel. But it was entertaining to see the mix of artsy hipsters intermingle with the slick, heavy-drinking crowd drunkenly pouring out of the W's Living Room bar. -Jahna Peloquin

Zone C: Walker Open Field, 2:15 a.m.

People were huddled around a campfire for "Acoustic Campfire & Bedtime Stories," but not much else seemed to be happening. Earlier in the night, a signature by Andy Warhol had been burned in the Open Field campfire. It was part of "FireWorks," an exhibition/performance that consisted of a three-dimensional wooden object that would, instead of being accumulated by the institution, be "liberated by a sacrificial act of burning." OK, then. We were too arted out and overstimulated at this point to take in much more. -Jahna Peloquin

ZONE D: MIDNIGHT PLAYGROUND AT MCAD, 3:30 A.M.

A balloon battle had just ended, and organizers were trying to figure out what to do about the fact that the sprinkler system had just turned on -- an unplanned attraction. Planned attractions were still in full effect -- among them a neon face-paint station and Keetra Dean Dixon's beautifully surreal set of swings hanging from the skyway ceiling. As we turned home just before dawn, the swings were full of bleary but happy Northern Sparkers, some sprawled on their bellies across multiple swings and swaying gently in the art. -Jay Gabler

'True Blood' inspired by Bachmann

Alan Ball, creator of the HBO vampire series "True Blood," told Entertainment Weekly that Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann's bid for the presidency figured into the religion-and-politics story arc for the show's fifth season, beginning Sunday. "My first instinct about going into religion and politics was from watching Michele Bachmann, who thinks she has a direct line to God." Ball told EW. "What would happen if she became president? A lot of right-wingers would like to see a theocracy in America. From there we thought, 'What would a vampire theocracy be and how would you justify it? What kind of impact would it have on humans?'"

• Kristin Tillotson

Cowboy Jack's rides into downtown

One week after downtown Minneapolis saw the opening of its largest bar in years (the Pourhouse), another one has come along to bump it aside. On Monday, Cowboy Jack's opened a three-level behemoth spread across 14,000 square feet.

The sixth site of the popular Twin Cities chain is next to Epic, a block from Target Field. The owners, the After Midnight Group, have billed the roof as an adult playground, complete with full bar, multiple fire pits and swings(!). Inside, the space is fully decked out with Cowboy Jack's usual mix of barn wood and biker attitude.

The owners are expecting more of a party at this location, so they've anchored the room with a big ol' mechanical bull. Obviously, they're banking on a lot of baseball business -- streaming across one wall is a 60-foot sports ticker.

We asked co-owner Chris Diebold if he was nervous about opening one of the biggest bars downtown. He responded with steely confidence, sounding a bit like John Wayne: "It's business as usual."

• Tom Horgen

Lee's not sold yet

Four months since he halfheartedly ran an ad offering his bar up for sale, Lee's Liquor Lounge owner Louie Sirian said last week that he has received a few "nice offers," but he is still a long way off from making a decision. "I'm not sure what I would do with my time if I sold it," said the 76-year-old bar vet. Maybe Wednesday's gig by Texas honky-tonker Dale Watson, who wrote the song "Louie's Lee's Liquor Lounge," will convince him to hang on to it for a while longer.

• Chris Riemenschneider

Primebar delayed

Primebar was scheduled to open June 28 in the former Il Gatto space in Calhoun Square. One day after announcing the date, the gastropub's PR team said that the opening has been delayed. No word yet on when it will open. The bar/restaurant comes from Restaurants-America Inc., a Chicago-based company that has Primebar locations in Dallas, Florida and Chicago. The menu is "contemporary American." Highlights: buffalo calamari, bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers, "two-handed" sandwiches (including a footlong grilled cheese) and wood-fired flatbread pizzas. Sounds like they don't mess around when it comes to beer: There will be 60 taps at the bar. They'll also roll out an aggressive happy hour: 3-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri. The dining room will seat 180.

• Tom Horgen

Motion City back in action

The new Motion City Soundtrack album, "Go," arrived in stores Tuesday via Epitaph Records. The disc was recorded locally with Ed Ackerson producing, which -- along with the fact that the band returned to the indie realm from Columbia Records -- might suggest the band had stripped things back. Au contraire. "Go" has some of the more sophisticated and ambitious pop noise of MCS' five albums, and probably its best overall songwriting. Foremost among the new tracks is a trickle-to-monsoon rocker called "Timelines." Motion City will hit River's Edge Fest in St. Paul on June 23 amid a run of summer tour dates.

• Chris Riemenschneider