Ross Raihala (Alpha Male) 🌈
@rossraihala.bsky.social
Pop music critic at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. All shade very necessary. Former dancer at the Grind. World weary, cynical arbiter of taste. Proud Union member. Gen X.
Noah Kahan's songs are kind of empty, but he's quite likeable. An audience of more than 40,000 absolutely loved him tonight at Target Field. Here's my review, which includes a bit about how some of his fans shit on the floor at his shows. Gift link:
Concert review: Noah Kahan thrills sold-out Target Field crowd
The 29-year-old Vermont native announced his summer tour of stadiums and ballparks in February and watched it sell out instantly.
twincities.com
Congrats to my friends at Racket for turning five! I'm thankful to live in the Twin Cities, which financially supports so much media, both traditional and independent. Trust me, it's not like this everywhere.
em cassel@biketrouble.bsky.social · 17h agoracket is five years old!!! i find that fact very hard to swallow and yet it’s true. here’s our fifth annual report to prove it. i feel very, very lucky that this is my job and my life!!!
This is the worst thing the Madden Brothers have ever done. The second worst is the music that Madden Brothers have made.
@tombreihan.bsky.social · 16h agoThis is some bullshit right here. Brooklyn Vegan has done incredible work for a mind-bogglingly long time. It's never enough for the freaks who own the companies.
I saw a couple of mutuals wondering what good a one-month extension on the looming hemp THC ban would do. So I asked someone who knew. midwest-excellence.ghost.io/hemp-chat-wi...
Hemp Chat with Bob Galligan
Midwest Excellence, a newsletter by RandBall's Stu (from the internet)
midwest-excellence.ghost.io
My doctor's office just called. They're mailing me a box to poop in.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and his dad added as producers on the upcoming, overhauled version of the "Purple Rain" musical coming to Broadway next year. The team behind the show say they're refocusing it on Prince's music. Gift link to my story:
Broadway production of ‘Purple Rain’ adds ‘Hamilton’ star Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father as producers
The Mirandas saw the Minneapolis show a week before it opened.
twincities.com
So I did end up watching this doc last night (free w/ads on Prime) and it was a whole lot of fun. It includes the Jesus and Mary Chain, Teenage Fanclub, Primal Scream and so on. And it turns out Sean Dickson, lead singer of the Soup Dragons, is a gay(!) He grew up to become a hot bear daddy!
Ross Raihala (Alpha Male) 🌈@rossraihala.bsky.social · 3d agoThis was the first I heard about it. It prompted me to look up the Soup Dragons on wikipedia and I learned there's a documentary, Teenage Superstars, about the Glasgow indie scene from 82 to 92. I'm going to watch it tonight!
My contribution to today's Sting discourse here on Bluesky. I interviewed him, in person, in 2019. He was promoting his musical, The Last Ship, which was coming to the Ordway (and was canceled due to the pandemic). He was professional and polite. He was also very small and wrinkly.
Sting performs private show in St. Paul to promote his musical ‘The Last Ship’ at the Ordway
In April, Sting will star in his musical “The Last Ship” in St. Paul, and he’d really like you to see it. That’s why Sunday night, the 67-year-old superstar performed a selection of songs from the sh...
twincities.com
On this day 22 years ago, I walked from my Lowertown apartment of a few days (that a friend had toured for me and I moved into sight unseen) to my new workplace, the St. Paul Pioneer Press. I spent the first 10 years of my career working in Fargo and Olympia and was ready to start the next chapter.
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD KYLIE AND MADONNA DOING LOVE SENSATION TOGETHER IN AMSTERDAM I AM NOT OKAY
put roundabouts at the ends of the aisles
leon@leyawn.bsky.social · 4d agothe shopping carts at costco should have turn signals
I was worried the family had gotten rid of it, because the backyard has been set up for badminton all summer. But I just drove by this afternoon and the trampoline is back! (My speculation is that maybe they share/swap backyard items with another family.)
Ross Raihala (Alpha Male) 🌈@rossraihala.bsky.social · 9mo agoThere's a house in my neighborhood with a trampoline. Every time I see kids playing on it, they are having the mfing time of their lives. It fills me with joy whenever I see it. cc: @brenface.bsky.social
Anyone have an opinion on the Lunds and Byerlys house brand frozen pizza?
I (mostly) agree. I do like Achtung as well. But Zooropa is a masterpiece.
James Umbanhowar@jumbanho.bsky.social · 5d agoZooropa is the only good U2 album.
I am now only here for the Morelli's updates.
You won’t catch me out here often defending Gen X or Millennials but I will say we understand how to go to a concert without pooping on the floor www.pastemagazine.com/music/noah-k...
We’re entering a “shitting on the floor at concerts” epidemic
Paste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover your favorite albums and films.
pastemagazine.com
Great piece by @chrisrstrib.bsky.social on the first Lollapalooza, which hit Harriet Island 35 years ago tomorrow. I was there, were you? It was my first time seeing Nine Inch Nails and that remains one of my favorite shows of all time. I believe @jakerudh.bsky.social met his wife there?
Remembering the day Lollapalooza came to St. Paul in 1991
The tour that marked Gen-X’s takeover of the music industry came to Harriet Island made a lasting impression.
startribune.com
It's funny. We were talking about Pearson's and I told Patric I always look at the cafeteria every time I pass it. He said he was the same way. Neither of us has ever seen a single person in there.
Chris Steller@chrissteller.bsky.social · 7y agoPearson's employee cafeteria is busy at 5:30 a.m. so YOU can enjoy fresh Nut Goodies.
Go take out the trash or wash the dishes, do a chore you’ve been putting off, clean up just a little bit. Nothing huge, just one thing that takes 60 seconds or so. You will feel better, I promise you. Your brain could use the dopamine hit.
