Jayhawks & Cactus Blossoms

An extremely cold evening & the second show at the Palace. The history that building has could make for a great song – I’m hearing Vaudeville, maybe some 1940’s jazz. The good old days of St. Paul did host some well known music. Mayor Coleman was a huge champion in the renovation of this old landmark theater. A perfect fit seeing the mayor jam with the Jayhawks. The mayor is a good rhythm player & you can often see him at a concert our showing up for good local music.

The renovation of the Palace leaves much of the original interior & added the necessary modern amenities. Almost $16 million to renovate & the Palace, it is now a 2,800-seat venue.

Mark Olson, Gary Louris, Marc Perlman (bass) and Norm Rogers (drums) have been doing this since 1985 – certainly one of the best bands coming out of Minnesota. Tonight Mayor Coleman sat in on Waiting for the Sun, Two Hearts, and Comeback Kids-the mayor sounded great.

If you are a fan of these guys you might have mixed feelings about some of the material on Smile. I feel Smile & that time frame defined the Jayhawks as an American band. I’ve never heard the term “ruralturnative” until well after the release of Smile-I really like that word. Ryan Kearney wrote a review in 2000 that describes their music in a Sunday afternoon listening thing. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4221-smile/

Cactus Blossoms started with “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”. Their vocals always beautiful & their country influences are many some old school. The guys have this dark thing that is subtle & it sneaks up on you. Their song “Mississippi” is featured on Twin Peaks. Listening to that dark side they could make a perfect song on a Coen Brothers flick.