Laurie BoeDee on electric guitar, backed by bassist Sean Zarn and drummer Todd Garland. Photos by Jill Fisher. 

That’s right, Duluth’s Homegrown Music Festival is still a little more than three months away (April 27-May 4) and, to keep us primed for those gigs, the organizers gave us the Winter Fiasco this past Friday, Jan. 10. 

Invading four of Superior’s bars, the action kicked off at 6 pm by Thor Leseman of Eveleth at the Superior Tavern, which I missed. He was followed by Sugar on the Roof in that location and Chasm at Tower Avenue Tavern, all of which I unfortunately missed. 

As during the spring Homegrown, it’s impossible to take in all the performances so it’s kinda hit or miss.
However, the Curmudgeon and I got over to Havana’s by 7:30 to see Laurie BoeDee on electric guitar, backed by bassist Sean Zarn and drummer Todd Garland, stun the substantial crowd with their rockin’ set of original tunes plus a couple covers. 

Beginning with the short rock intro “Come On Now” they segued right into “Boxcar,” which gave us a taste of BoeDee’s take on punk, which was quickly followed by a more pop-like “Bonzai Blues.” 
Then it was back to snarly and dark with “Bottom of the Deck,” another BoeDee original life-based experiences.   

The covers BoeDee and company played included Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny,” an instrumental that allowed BoeDee to further display her electric guitar chops. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” a 2004 release by Green Day, had a dissonance suggested by the lyrics that examine the dismal side of life. With time for one last song, we heard “The Clown,” another BoeDee original that expresses the despair of lost love. 

Despite that downer message, this first set at Havana’s got the bar dancing and ready for more up-tempo rock and roll music.

Second up was The Leave Alones, a band that reformed after nearly 15 years of “normal life” as they say. Cole Holstrom (guitar and vocals) is the purported leader of the band, though the explanation of how they got back together suggests that drummer Mike Ballard was the initial driving force. 

This is easy to imagine after witnessing his intense, energetic, athletic and relentless percussion on this evening. Dave Mold held down the bass line nicely besides adding harmonies, while Erik Sather provided more electric guitar as well as vocals.  

The Leave Alones released its debut album All the People We Know with original compositions last June (recorded by Rich Mattson at Sparta Sound) and played seven of the nine songs on it, including the title track “Ppl We Know.” This explains why I didn’t recognize any of the songs. I will after this.

Holstrom was a totally committed performer, not holding anything back vocally or physically, with bows, hair flopping and manic jumping in time to Ballard’s drumming. This was punk rock verging on metal. It was piercingly loud (ear plugs were handed out to attendees) but definitely music to dance to. 

A couple of covers were included in their set. The first was “Zombie” (The Cranberries, 1994) for which Erik’s wife, Erin Sather, joined the group to channel Dolores O’Riordan, with Erik harmonizing. The second came near the end of their set: “Stand By Me” (Ben E. King, 1962, via Otis Reading) which was given a fabulously fiery rendition. 

After that exciting set finished we made our way over to The Main Club, arriving in time to hear the last few raps by Dre aka Jamaican (Andre Robinson), a hip hop artist who was full of charm and fun. 
Here again, I didn’t recognize any of the pieces he was performing (assuming they weren’t improvised), though the lyrics were clear. Before his gig was over he gave a shout out to any “Harry Potter nerds” that were in the audience and entertaining us with a rap that referenced that character. Dre was groovin’ with the man spinning the tunes.

Have you ever had the experience of discovering something new and shortly afterwards encountering the same thing (or person) again? It’s like your brain created a niche for this information so that it was receptive to noticing it. Well that happened at this show. I got to see DJ Jaze (Jesse Jaze Unger) in action again soon after first hearing him curate digital recordings for our dancing pleasure at Carmody Irish Pub on Christmas Day. Dre and Jaze together were something else. Both the Curmudgeon and I immensely enjoyed what we saw of the set. 

For those who’d like to see what this DJ stuff has evolved into, check out the scene at R.T. Quinlan’s at its  Friday Night Lights show on Jan. 17 with Youms, DJ Adub, Jesse Jaze and the UMD Techno Club. The fun starts at 9 pm.

The last show of the Winter Fiasco followed Dre at The Main Club. It was a band of guys from Grand Rapids, Underground ‘til Sundown. The band’s website identifies them as punk rockers with a melodic hard-core. 

The four men comprising the band are brothers Mitch McCarroll and Brad McCarroll (guitars/vocals), Ryan Juntunen (bass), and Teddy Dowling (drums/vocals). They came on at 10:10 pm like gangbusters with a powerful punk performance that might have blown your mind or at least your eardrums out!
UTS played all original material primarily from their 2024 album An Orchestrated Chaos, though they began with a new piece, “Carrington’s Echo.” Five of their eight-number set list was on that album—“…Too Be Lost In the Orbit of Neptune,“ My Vintage Mind,” “Lithium Life,” “Tornadoogenesis” and “Birch Hills Drive.” 

The name of the group is the title of a track on the group’s 2021 album, The Places That We Haven’t Gone Yet while “Imposter Syndrome” is another newer composition that has yet to be released. UTS has also released two EPs (extended play recordings) of six songs each: Red Skies in Hopeful Eyes (2015) and A Resurrection of Past Events (2016). 

This band of bros performs like there isn’t a sensitive soul in sight. (If they are, they had better be wearing earplugs.) UTS has taken its fantasies and mental explorations to the limit and musically is what I would term a “holler band.” If you’re a fan of punk rock, this is the band for you. 

They were in  last year’s Homegrown Iineup and I understand they’ll be back in town for this year’s festival.

UPDATE: The Depot Jazz Quartet is transforming! Three of the long-time members are leaving: pianist Paul Ierino, bassist John Thorene and drummer Jerry Siptroth are leaving the group. Stepping in for them are Bobby Purdy (jazz guitar) and Rick Bruner (drums) who will play with Randy Lee this season. Gordon Lewis filled in on bass this past Saturday and may do so again until a regular bassist is named. This should add some interesting amendments to the group’s repertoire in this season’s ongoing jazz gig that happens each Saturday afternoon, 3-6 pm, through April.

UPCOMING: One intriguing musical event happening this week is at Sacred Heart Music Center which is hosting “A Morning with the Felgemaker” on Saturday, Jan. 18 from 10-11:30 am.  Although it is geared to the younger set (kids accompanied by an adult), it sounds like it could be a fun time for anyone interested in hearing Saint-Saens’ 14-movement The Carnival of Animals played on this fabulous historic organ.