HUGE show down in the Cities this Friday -- catch it if you can!

A Benefit For Brad Kern
Friday, October 8, 2010

First Avenue Mainroom

$22.50 advance/$24.00 doors 

18+ show

6:30pm Doors

With performances by:

Semisonic

Mason Jennings
Jeremy Messersmith

Twilight Hours

The Hang Ups

Two Harbors

Host by Mary Lucia from 89.3 Current

+ Music between bands by DJ Jake Rudh

Produced in cooperation with Twin Cities Music Community Trust

Tickets on sale Friday August 20 at First Avenue, The Depot Tavern and all First Avenue and Ticketmaster Outlets.

Brad Kern has been working as a live sound and recording engineer in the Twin Cities and around the globe since 1988. At one time or another, Brad has mixed live or recorded every band on the bill, since his initial work with Trip Shakespeare in 1991.

Brad was the victim of a hit and run, while biking to his home last month. He had extensive injuries but is expected to fully recover. Proceeds from this event will go to cover medical bills and lost wages during his recovery.

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SEMISONIC
http://www.semisonic.com/

  

After the breakup of Trip Shakespeare, Minneapolis natives Dan Wilson and John Munson teamed up with drummer Jacob Slichter to form Semisonic.  From 1995 to 2001, the band toured the globe and released four recordings; "The Pleasure EP",  "Great Divide", "Feeling Strangely Fine" and "All About Chemistry". “Feeling Strangely Fine,” sold over 2 million copies worldwide and remains a touchstone of late-90’s alternative rock. “Closing Time,” the band's biggest hit, for which they received a Grammy nomination, was ubiquitous around the world and remains a familiar and recurrent radio presence in many countries. “Secret Smile,” which became a chart-topping single in UK and Europe a year after the album’s release in the US, is equally long-lived. Semisonic's appearance at this benefit marks their first live show in over two years.

MASON JENNINGS
http://www.masonjennings.com/

Mason Jennings is a Minneapolis based singer/songwriter. His latest studio CD Blood Of Man, on which he played all the instruments, was given a 4 star review in Rolling Stone and called 'His best album yet'." Mason will be performing with his original band mates Robert Skoro (bass), Edgar Oliveira (drums) and Chris Thompson (sax) it’s a ten-year reunion of the "Birds Flying Away" album released at First Avenue.

THE TWILIGHT HOURS
http://thetwilighthours.com/

Originally cooked up as a nom de rock for music veterans John Munson and Matt Wilson's latest collection of songs, The Twilight Hours have evolved into a cohesive quintet, comprised of some of the finest rockers in Minneapolis.  Along with Jacques Wait on guitar, Dave Salmela on piano and Steve Roehm on drumset, Munson (bass, vocals) and Wilson (guitar, vocals) have forged a sound that is at once timeless and fresh.  The group was named a Best New Band of 2009 (!) by First Avenue Staff and music biz insiders.  The record, Stereo Night, was named among the top ten of 2009 by both The City Pages and Star Tribune.  The band is in the midst of creating a new recording, which will make full use of the mighty chemistry they have concocted.  Look for it early next year.   And visit thetwilighthours.com for more in-depth analysis, videos, downloads and delightfully inscrutable nonsense.

THE HANG UPS
http://www.myspace.com/hangupsmusic

Having grown from a trio formed at art school to a quintet boasting accomplished albums and highly respected credentials in music circles around the country, the Hang Ups have elevated their skills and creative vision to deliver some of the most appealing guitar-pop tunes fused with a psych-folk edge heard this side of the Village Green. It’s no wonder the Minneapolis-based group’s memorable arrangements, beautiful melodies, and infectious hooks have attracted fans such as Pete Yorn, Don Dixon and Mitch Easter (producers of the group’s "Second Story" lp), Semisonic and their producer, Brad Kern (who produced The Hang Ups self titled lp)), and Soul Asylum ’s Dave Pirner.

TWO HARBORS
http://www.myspace.com/twoharborsmusic

  

Originally known as Colonial Vipers Attack, this Minneapolis dreampop band returns with a new name and a tighter, grander sound on their second album All the Places We Would Rather Be. The Two Harbors trail begins around 2006 when the band released a self-titled album (under the original band name) with a lineup that included bassist John Schrei and keyboardist Dax Eckel. The first album made a good splash with local radio and press, listeners appreciating the music's dreamy, textural tone and the band's slyly catchy song writing.

TWIN CITIES MUSIC COMMUNITY TRUST
The Twin Cities Music Community Trust was co-founded by Myles Kennedy and James Baker to help out members of the local music industry with medical bills and other expenses. Previous beneficiaries of The Twin Cities Music Community Trust are sound engineers Chad Weis and Matt Lindquist, and First Avenue stage manager Conrad Sverkerson among others.

City Pages

Semisonic and the Hang Ups reuniting for benefit

By Andrea Swensson, Fri., Aug. 13 2010 @ 3:07PM

A benefit for live sound and recording engineer Brad Kern is shaping up to be quite the remarkable lineup, thanks to Kern's extensive involvement in the local scene. Since working with Trip Shakespeare in 1991, Kern has mixed or recorded countless acts, and now the bands are honoring Kern with a fundraiser in the First Avenue Mainroom on October 8.

In addition to performances by Mason Jennings, the Twilight Hours, and Two Harbors, the First Ave show will also feature two reunions: headliners Semisonic, who last performed locally in 2008, and the Hang Ups (led by Brian Tighe of the Owls and the Star Folk), who were most active in the mid-'90s.

Brad Kern was the victim of a hit and run accident while biking home last month. He is expected to recover completely, but sustained severe injuries and has been unable to work. Proceeds from the benefit show will soften the blow of his medical bills and lost wages.

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Star Tribune

August 13, 2010 - 5:25 PM

In other concert news, Minneapolis favorites Semisonic -- who never officially broke up (so don't call it a reunion) -- will play their first show in two years Oct. 8 at First Avenue, a benefit concert for sound engineer Brad Kern. Mason Jennings, the Twilight Hours, theHang Ups and Two Harbors will also perform. Kern was in a hit-and-run bike accident last month. Tickets ($22.50) go on sale next Friday at noon via www.First-Avenue.com.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

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A.V. Club

Updated 09/30/2010

• Fri Oct 8 6:30 pm
  
  Semisonic, Mason Jennings, Jeremy Messersmith, The Twilight Hours, The Hang Ups, and Two Harbors at First AvenueWith the recent reunions of bands like Guided By Voices and Pavement, ’90s nostalgia is in full effect. So why shouldn’t the Twin Cities have their own version? Semisonic’s biggest mark on the alt-rock world was “Closing Time,” but earlier releases like the 1995 Pleasure EP and the following year’s Great Divide are packed with equally infectious hooks. While Semisonic’s last show was only two years ago, it’s been a bit longer since indie-pop band The Hang Ups took the stage, though leader Brian Tighe has continued to hone his talent for sweet, sing-along melodies in The Owls. The bands are reteaming to play a benefit for sound engineer Brad Kern, who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident while biking a few months ago.
  First Avenue 701 1st Ave. N., Twin Cities, MN 18+ $22.50/$24

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Mpls Music Live 

Brad Kern Benefit @ First Avenue on Friday, October 8th ($22.50): Semisonic reunion?  That alone is a must see.  Now throw in Mason Jennings, Twilight Hours, The Hang Ups, and Two Harbors and you know you are going to have to be there.  The benefit is for Brad Kern, a long time local sound tech who was recently hit by a car while riding his bike.  It’s an unprecedented line-up, making it both a great value and a good cause.  Horrible circumstances, to be sure – but, let’s support some great local musicians supporting their friend.

Source: Tinderbox Music