Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Marijuana Death Squads performing on the Mississippi River, a house boat, scattered docks and the Mississippi River bank behind The Sample Room as part of The Slow Mirror and the Metronome during Art-A-Whirl 2010 in Northeast Minneapois, Minnesota.
As with every other MDS set I’ve seen, this one was unique. I wasn’t fully prepared for just how unique, however. There was a drummer perched atop a high berm far behind us, a guitar player and possibly other instrumentalists strewn about the shoreline amidst the crowds and a drummer and synth maestro jamming on a houseboat. The disassociation of spacial arrangement fit the sound incredibly well. Snares echoed off of the far bank, creating a double-tick time that was as disconcerting as it was intriguing. A floating barge of aural assault, helmed by a trifecta of MDS core members (Ryan Olson, Isaac Gale, Stef Alexander) drifted menacingly down the river blaring staccato synth bursts, white noise and incredibly loud blips somehow in time with the other scattered performers.
Yes, you could say this performance was unique. Also, nearly impossible to photograph. Which, incidentally, was incredibly fun.
Awesome! (and you didn’t even drop your camera in the water! )