The Cloak Ox tops City Pages' Picked to Click 2011

The ballots are in for 2011's Picked to Click and, unsurprisingly, The Cloak Ox topped City Pages' annual best new bands list. Filling out the rest of the list: Poliça (#2), Howler (#4), Robust Worlds (#5), The 4onthefloor, blood&stuff (tied for #6), Nightosaur (#7), Gramma's Boyfriend, MaLLY (tied for #8), Dream Crusher, Elite Gymnastics (tied for #10), plus a couple of bands that have performed at LOL/OMG Meetups: UMAMI (#9) and Night Moves (#3).

A few choice Tweet responses:

Oh, we totally agree.

Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

Rolling Stone hit piece on Michele Bachmann appears to steal from local blogger coverage

A piece published yesterday in national culture blog The Awl has linked a recent Rolling Stone hitpiece on Michele Bachmann to a 2006 story from City Pages and Dump Michele Bachman blog. Apparently, the City Pages piece has been a major source for national news coverage on the presidential hopeful. We won't go into the parallels, but you can check it out for yourself at The Awl.

[Art by Robin Eley for City Pages]

Via Steve Marsh
Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

Local writer's fued with Cee-Lo lands on Oh No They Didn't! & Kare 11

As we reported last week, City Pages music editor Andrea Swensson's review of the Rihanna and Cee-Lo Green show at the Target Center caught they attention of Cee-Lo himself, resulting in a mean-spirited Twitter rant in which he called Andrea "gay" and said she was "offended" by his "masculinity." Now national gossip blog Oh No They Didn't! picked up on the news, adding that:


"Cee Lo quickly deleted the Tweets after being slammed for his homophobic remarks and offered the requisite apology,

'Apologies gay community! What was homophobic about that? I said I was guessing he [was] gay which is fine but its nice to [know] what u think of me.'"

Not much of an apology, is it?

Via Steven Yasgar

Also, Andrea was on Kare11 this morning talking about the incident!



Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

Dan Huiting captures the scene at SXSW

City Pages posted an epic video recap by the amazing Dan Huiting today that is seriously makin' us Minneapolis-bound LOL/OMG-sters jeally that we aren't in Austin too. Watch for our own Jahna Peloquin and Robyn Lewis/@LOLOMGSXSW to make cameos in the vid! Read more on City Pages here.

What the @#$% happened last night? A City Pages SXSW recap of 3/16 from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

City Pages' Best of the Twin Cities polls now open

Wanna give props to your favorite local restaurant? Throw in your two cents on the best local band - or best hangout? Then get thee to City Pages' annual Best of the Twin Cities poll. Voting ends March 30. (We're digging the Mad Men inspired cover, of course.)


Via Jen Boyles on Facebook

Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

City Pages slims down to Vita.mn-sized

We hate to stir the pot when it comes to competing publications, but we just couldn't pass up the bit of news that City Pages has slimmed its publication down by 7 percent. As MinnPost points out, it's now about the size of Vita.mn.

MinnPost says: "As you can see below, City Pages' new size is now nearly identical to its sharply designed entertainment-side competitor Vita.mn (though the latter is not trimmed or stapled). Bartel says editorial changes include "more space to food and restaurant news and reviews, and expanded the music and concerts section"; some simple listings have been moved to citypages.com.

Bauer also notes in his article: "Bartel says CP's owner, Village Voice Media, did not dictate the new format, though many of the chain's papers have "made the change for the same reasons."


Via Simon Peter Groebner on Facebook

Submitted by @jahnapeloquin

Funniest Blizzard vids a la City Pages

City Pages posted a nice little round up of the funniest local videos from over the weekend. And yes...the Metrodome collapse is included.

But we especially LOL'ed at this one. Some dude puts on three sweat suits and takes us on a tour of his back yard.



Submitted by @TheIverson

The votes are in: Pink Mink tops the 2010 Picked to Click list

City Pages' annual best new band list, Picked to Click, is now online! And who else but the punk rockin', lady-fronted outfit Pink Mink tops this year's list. Congrats ladies and gents! We're sure Scott Seekins is proud.

To check out the full list of bands that snared a top 10 spot, plus a full list of all ballots, visit City Pages HERE or pick up a print copy on newstands Wednesday.

Four Nights in Loring lineup announced!

Remember how devastated we all were when we heard our favorite movie night, Music and Movies in the Park, was being canceled? Yes, that was not cool. But thanks to City Pages who lobbied on all of our behalf, we now have Four Nights in Loring: Local Bands, Local Films.

The first announcement came just over a month ago, revealing that the event will take place four consecutive Tuesdays this summer, August 3, 10, 17, and 24. A full line-up of bands/movies was announced today and it's pretty impressive: Communist Daughter, Marijuana Deathsquads, Mayda, Red Pens? We're so there. The organizers came up with a pretty good list of "local" movies: Raising Arizona and Fargo by the Coen Brothers, Diablo Cody's Juno, and Nobody, a movie directed and co-written by Minneapolis transfer and 40 Days and 40 Nights writer, Rob Perez. Bonus: following the movie screening each night, the action will move to Nick and Eddie for an official after party with awesome DJs and dranx.

For full schedule and more details go to Gimme Noise blog.


Submitted by @marrina.

P.O.S. serves up some gourmet beats

Thanks to our friends over at the Hot Dish blog, we discovered this tasty vid of P.O.S. checking out a NYC restaurant and trading secrets with the chef! According to Hot Dish, Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal, two New York music insiders (at Atlantic Records and Warner Music's Independent Label Group, respectively), decided to put their know-how about what music-heads want to eat while out and about in NYC to good use by forming the food review website Immaculate Infatuation, a space they describe as being free of "pretentious foodie hobnob." Their latest project brings P.O.S. to Pure Food and Wine restaurant, where he and chef Sarma Melngailis talk about raw zucchini lasagna and how to make beats in a kitchen. Check out the video below.



Submitted by @marrina.

City Pages saves the day!

We know you were a little more than miffed when it was announced that the long-running Music & Movies in the Park series was to be canceled this year. We were miffed too. BUT, our pals at City Pages have stepped up to the plate to give the Twin Cities what it wants!

Andrea Swensson announces via Gimme Noise: Upon hearing that the event was in jeopardy and hearing the massive outcry from the Minneapolis community, City Pages and Lunds (who both have helped sponsor the event in the past) stepped forward to coordinate with the Park Board and ensure that the popular event would still go off without a hitch. Continuing in the spirit of the former "Music & Movies" series, we will showcase bands from the Twin Cities' diverse and historic music scene followed by a movie with Minnesota ties, selected by Twin Cities residents.

From June 28 to July 19, City Pages will hold an online poll to decide what movies to screen. The winning movies and band lineup will be announced on July 28.

Awesome!!!

Photo by Ben Clark

submitted by @letoilemagazine

Psycho Suzi's to take over Gabby's?

Rumors are afoot that Psycho Suzi's may be moving from its long-time spot on the fringe of Northeast down the street to the building that currently houses Gabby's Night Club.

According to City Pages' Hot Dish blog:

"...the Strib's Tom Horgen got at least one of the parties to confirm the story. Suzi's owner Leslie Bock said she has signed a purchase agreement while Gabby's owner said it was too early to comment and that Gabby's will continue to operate as usual until a deal is reached. If the move does go through, Suzi's killer patio would move to even more awesome riverfront digs."

Horgen also quotes Bock as saying, "I will actually have natural features to work with this time, vs. creating a tropical paradise out of thin air and magic."

Social media hounds seem to be on board with the idea...

Jamie Schumacher: even closer stumbling distance to home!!!

Nancy Sartor: good news indeed. hopefully this will curb the repetitious public urination and disturbing the peace shenanigans that have plagued the neighborhood in recent years.

Janella Fesenmaier: SWEET! Gabby's sucked!

Photo courtesy of Psycho Suzi's

P.O.S. to play surprise show at the Turf tonight

City Pages alerted us to the fact that the hot hip hopper will be making a surprise appearance at the Turf tonight! In anticipation for his performance at Coachella this Friday, Stef and crew have decided to test out their set, much to the delight of Twin Cities fans. Doors open at 7 p.m., with Toki Wright and Marijuana Deathsquad kicking things off. Get there early if you know what's good for ya.

We have reason to believe this isn't the ONLY secret show P.O.S. has up his sleeve this week, as he cryptically tweeted last night: "Some of you know already, but we might try the new set out around mpls and St Paul a few times this week."


Submitted by @letoilemagazine

City Pages debuts new art and fashion blog

We've had a hard time keeping a lid on this because we're so excited, but our pals at City Pages have just debuted a brand new blog: The Dressing Room! Focusing on fashion and art (and basically anything cultural that isn't music-related -- they'll leave that up to Gimme Noise) the new blog will feature awesome articles and interviews with Twin Cities creatives. Today's debut even includes a couple interviews (by yours truly!) with local art darling Jennifer Davis and jewelry maker/Fox news anchor Robyne Robinson (who, if you read LOL/OMG last week, you'll know just scored a gig making jewelry for Beyonce!)

We're diggin' the new look of City Pages website too!

Click HERE to check out the Dressing Room!

Bookmark it, it's going to be good.

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

City Pages 'Best of the Twin Cities' now polling!

For years upon years City Pages has been bringing you some of the best local stories and scene coverage. So it's no wonder that one of the most highly coveted local nods any Twin Cities business, resident, or organization can score is a slot on CP's annual "Best of the Twin Cities" list. The list covers all facets of life in the cities, from the best places to eat, to the best place to hear live music, and of course, the best local blog (wink wink).

Ya'll can vote online through April 5th by filling out the poll (don't worry, you don't have to fill out every category if you don't want to) but we DO recommend that you vote for LOL/OMG (or l'etoile!) for the best blog! The issue will be released the week of April 21st. Happy voting!

Submitted by @letoilemagazine

Vampire and his underage girlfriend nabbed by police

If you've been following the disturbing saga over at City Pages this week, you've likely been baffled by the strange case involving a 16-year old runaway and epic wingnut, 44-year old Jonathan Sharkey. A self-proclaimed Satanist and vampire (and no, not the hot kind a la True Blood or Twilight) who also made a failed bid at running for governor of Minnesota awhile back, Sharkey met 16 year old Paige Brewer on an online vampire message board (where else?).

Today after arranging a meeting with social services, the police swung in and nabbed the girl and her vamp, who are being held for questioning. Apparently, no actual crime has been committed, as Sharkey claims the two have not had sex, but public outcry and the extreme creepiness of the whole situation -- not to mention the fact that Brewer is an underage runaway -- are grounds for an intervention.

Hopefully this girl comes to her senses with the help of her family! We can only imagine how embarrassing this story will be for her in a few years. A classic case of "What the hell was I thinking?" if you ask us.

Here's a creeptastic/embarrassing vid of Sharkey proposing the Brewer via YouTube.



Here's a hilar pic of the vamp wrapped in a blanket, weilding a sword.

Video recap of City Pages' Gimme Shelter benefit event

The video gurus at Mpls.TV team up with Dan Huiting and Anthem Heart A/V to bring you a recap of the most rockin' event of the weekend. City Pages' Gimme Shelter benefit for Haiti blew the roof of the Ave with sets from the likes of Mark Mallman, Solid Gold, Zoo Animal and Peter Wolf Crier and featured an artist showcase that included work by local talents like Chuck U, Rogue Citizen, Garrett Perry, Jesse Draxler and more. Bet you wish you went, if you didn't!

Also, check out a great CP's photo slide show from John Behm.

Gimme Shelter: A Benefit For Haiti from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

City Pages hearts Haiti

City Pages music editor Andrea Swensson piqued our interest last night when she posted a Facebook status update about "a big announcement tomorrow morning." Well, true to her word, this morning Swensson posted the details about a rockin' benefit show on February 6th called "Gimme Shelter: A Benefit for Haiti." The show features an all-star local band lineup featuring co-headliners Mark Mallman and Solid Gold along with Peter Wolf Crier and Zoo Animal, and DJs Jimmy2Times and Mike 2600. Also on hand will be artists Chuck U and Anthem Heart, who will be selling their work at reasonable prices for the benefit. City Pages says 100% of the proceeds for the night will go to benefit the Red Cross Haiti Relief & Development Fund and Architecture for Humanity.

Bonus: The event will be hosted by CP cuties Swensson and Jen Boyles! Hott!

Know of any other great Haiti benefits going on around town? Post them in the comments section! MNSpeak suggests a few HERE.


submitted by @letoilemagazine

Best New Band Showcase video recap a la City Pages

We perked up at an excited tweet by @Gimme_noise this morning announcing that they "made a movie!" If you missed First Avenue's Best New Band Showcase on Friday night, City Pages brings you the full video recap with the help of MplsTV, Anthem Heart, and editor/DP Dan Huiting. City Pages music editor Andrea Swensson interviews all the bands (complete with musical interludes) including Slapping Purses, Leisure Birds, Moonstone, No Bird Sing, Peter Wolf Crier, The Twilight Hours, and Red Pens.

Read the full article on City Pages' Gimme Noise blog HERE and check out a slew of photos from the event by Jon Behm HERE.

First Avenue's Best New Bands of 2009 from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

Rock out with Romeo: Vote Now!

Last month, City Pages and the Guthrie Theater kicked off a fun songwriting contest, encouraging local musicians to submit a ditty in celebration of the Guthrie's upcoming production of Romeo & Juliet. The winner of the contest will receive a super sweet prize package that includes tix to the Guthrie, an electric guitar, studio and mastering sessions, and tickets to First Avenue shows for a year!

The submissions are in an we're happy to see that two of our pals, Brad Senne and Hannah Vonn are both top 5 finalists! Congrats guys!

Listen to the tunes and vote for your favorite HERE!