Art-A-Whirl 2025

The 30th Art-A-Whirl in Northeast Minneapolis had a lot going on, as highlighted in our preview. The pretty cold weather may have been a deterrent for some, but there was plenty to see as it got going around noon on Saturday, May 17th. I swung over to Eastside Coop, just as vendor tents and the stage were getting opened. And while it looked a little empty at first, even as the first band, 26 Bats! got through their sound check, it had started filling up with people.

We last saw 26 Bats! opening for Eric Mayson at Turf Club in January. It was a bit of a different set up from then, with lead singer Babo on a keytar. Acoustics were surprisingly good considering the outdoor and windy conditions. Appearing as a quintet (trumpet, keytar/vocals, keyboards/bass, guitar, and drums) the band continues to play their groovy, synth heavy rock. The second song ended with an extended drum solo. The dual keys made for some fun jam sounds, especially when Babo added the autotune vocal effect. A statement on having just gotten over bronchitis got us a “stay safe out here”, before moving into the next song. I would never have guessed Babo had just gotten over that given the strong singing, so well done there. A song about the monotony, called TV Head, had the most raucous guitar work yet and was a lively number.

Everyone was doing what they could to stay warm. The guitarist was rubbing and blowing on his hands between some of the early numbers, and there were a number of coffees in the audience, as well as a few dancers. 26 Bats! moved into a slower, and to my ears one of their best musical songs, with trumpet solo and Babo at their best singing. The slower mood continued with the song Grief with Babo switching the keytar to a stand and playing more like a traditional keyboard. After a brand new song, 26 Bats! closed out with a final song, with fun guitar and trumpet intro. They finished strong and the change over began. (Side note: major kudos to the sound crew who were phenomenal in keeping things on track and sounding great.)

I walked around the Coop parking lot during the break. It was a great mix of vendors in the tents. There were a number of artists of various media, but also food trucks, drink vendors (good to see Fair State Brewing), and even face painting (several kids were very happy indeed). It had everything you would hope for in the situation, with children running around, and several pleased dogs.

Eleganza! was next to the stage. Prior to starting, as the set list was being distributed, the comment “I may have put too many songs on here” came with a half-hearted shrug. This is a band that is centered on rock & roll played by a veteran group of performers. But they also edge into multiple genre directions, including soul, punk and even Americana. The opening song Only Time, had the layered music of this sextet (three guitars, bass, keyboards and drums). Dual (and even triple) vocals, overlapping keys and guitar solo, there’s no end to the depth of sound. The second song, Big City Filth, was high energy blues rock and those four guitars create that wall of sound.

That high energy was apparent, as the drummer quickly shed his coat before the next number, even as the bassist was flexing cold fingers. View from Nowhere kept that rock sound going, and a Rolling Stones comparison (or at least inspirations) seemed apt. These guys looked to be having a blast and the musical interludes were complex without becoming jam band style length. Skin Deep featured a very good guitar solo, but it was greatly helped by the terrific bass work underneath it.

We got a country rock style song with Checking Out and it was fun to see how Eleganza! could make seemingly minor modifications to their playing and have drastically different genre sounds. The talent and skill of the band is pretty impressive. Journey (“our big pop hit!”) started a little slower tempo, but was classic rock & roll. It turns out the set list had been a little overly ambitious and we had some late changes to the plan, moving onto Here Comes Trouble. As they were deciding on last songs, you could see the good humor between the band mates, with a joked “We just broke up!” followed by a deadpanned “It happens”. Eleganza! finished with the song Move Me, a rollicking number and easy to see why it was the closer. As the band started to break things down, it was clear that the Eastside Coop and the Art-A-Whirl organizers had done a good job booking a variety of interesting local bands.

On a much brighter, if not significantly warmer, Sunday, I made my way over to Twin Ignition Startup Garage. This was an indoor arrangement, with art scattered throughout the building and a stage closer to the front. There was an art giveaway of a children’s book, The Moons, authored by Chan Poling of The Suburbs and The New Standards, and illustrated by Lucy Michell (who as an artist drops the final e, while as a musician goes by Michelle).

Havana Quartet was first on stage. This was a classical quartet (violins, viola and cello) playing a mix of classical and contemporary music for strings. The Cuban born musicians are the artists in residence for CAYO, an organization supporting US-Cuban cultural exchange. They chose their music well, with bright and buoyant numbers that skipped along. The four performers were clearly very comfortable with each other and able to work within the constraints of a loud (and some barely paying attention) crowd, as well as some distracting lights at the front of the stage. A bit of a medley towards the end of their set was excellently placed, and let violins and viola have their moments to shine. A quick introduction of the group led to their final piece and a fine introduction to the day of music.

Next up was Lucy Michelle. We last saw her performing as part of Little Fevers at Turf Club in December, 2024. She was playing guitar as part of a duet with Eamonn McLain on cello. The first song, Heart Race, had a bit of country feel, with almost a twang from Michelle. McLain provided a nice soft vocal sound to Michelle’s bright tone. Honestly, the cello also played well against the acoustic guitar and on Apple Tree, with both vocals and instrumentation appealingly in contrast. Michelle mentioned that it was going to “be a real grab bag of songs”, getting both Little Fevers and Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles’ numbers.

There’s something compelling about these songs being stripped down to their core like this; the MTV Unplugged series was popular for a reason. Having heard a number of these songs in their band version in December, it was a fun alternate listen. Puget Sound was a quick and cute number, and really, these were really pleasing numbers. Michelle and McLain are quietly engrossing performers and this was the perfect kind of music to have on a bright summer day like this one. A shout out to Matt, who had been part of The Velvet Lapelles, led them back to the music with a slower tempo Strange Love.

We were told that several of these songs were in their first performance as the duo. Male Truck, off the newest Little Fevers album, had long cello solos both in the middle and to end the song. Easter Best, off a solo 2019 solo Michelle album, had McLain back to finger plucking the cello and Michelle foot tapping a percussion. Coming near the close of the set, The Living had a swell of an introduction and was a very strong number. As they finished their set on Just a Kid, Michelle & McLain nailed a fantastic set for their part of Art-A-Whirl.