Okay, this should be something to witness (or, not). Insane Clown Posse — a Detroit hip-hop duo known equally for its crazy costumes and crazier antics — is coming to the Wilma Theatre. Once deemed offensive “not for their obscenity, but for their stupidity” by Spin Magazine, the duo nonetheless has amassed a devoted following of so-called “Juggalos,” selling millions of copies of their records along the way.
Needless to say, I’m thinking this isn’t a show for grandma and the kids. [Read More...]
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Every year for the past half-decade, the River City Roots Festival has welcomed a parade of nationally recognized musical headline acts for two days of free outdoor street concerts.
This weekend, it’s time to feast on the Leftovers. Leftover Salmon, that is.
Fans of the band – and they are many in this area – already know what’s coming. For those who don’t, Roots Fest itself has offered some tantalizing morsels in recent years. [Read More...]
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It’s remarkable to ponder the path of the Mission Mountain Wood Band. Back in 1977, the Missoula-founded band of Montana natives released its first and – until this year – only studio album, “In Without Knocking.” The record produced no national hit songs – although the party anthem, “Take a Whiff On Me,” was hardly unfamiliar to college students across the country. The band toured relentlessly between 1971 and 1982; the five original members even guested on “Hee Haw” once.
Yet in most parts of the country, the band never quite rose above serving as support-act for a diverse array of artists, from the Grateful Dead to Dolly Parton.
Then, the band broke up, and for another decade never played together again. In the fast-moving music industry, Mission Mountain’s homey bluegrass- and country-flavored sound largely faded from relevance in the age of New Wave. Founding members Rob Quist and Terry Robinson formed the Montana Band and built their own regional following, until Robinson was killed in a plane crash in 1987.
In 1992, the surviving members of the Mission Mountain Wood Band finally reconvened for a gig. Unlike some reunions of previously popular acts these days, the news did not garner mention in the national music press.
Yet in Montana, it was like the party had never stopped. Since that first reunion, the band has continued to pull together semi-regular gigs and occasional tours in the summers, always drawing large crowds wherever they play. [Read More...]
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From the moment that audience members enter the Montana Theatre for Montana Lyric Opera’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro,” it is clear that this won’t be a traditional production of Mozart’s most famous comedy.
In front of the stage curtain, an enormous, white, lower-case ‘r’ lays precariously toppled above the orchestra pit – the scantest fragment of an unformed idea.
The orchestra begins to play the opera’s overture – itself a series of fragments of musical ideas – and the curtain rises to reveal more letters: an ‘a’ and an ‘e’ tilted sideways, an ‘o,’ and an ‘m’ laid on its back. As the small but well-drilled orchestra dashes toward the overture’s finale under the baton of conductor Luis Millan, a group of people in peasant-like clothing scurry on stage and rearrange the letters – though still into nothing that resembles a word.
Thus the stage is set for a distinctly modern production of one of the most enduringly beloved operas in history, a 225-year-old comedy in which mixed-up words, misinterpretations, and concealment form the very basis of the humor and beauty before aligning themselves into the ultimate meaning of it all. [Read More...]
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On Wednesday, Montana Lyric Opera opens its production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
It is an opera with no direct historical connection to Missoula other than a few scattered local performances that took place centuries after the Austrian composer’s death. It is an opera sung in Italian about characters living in and around a palace in Seville, Spain.
And yet if ever there were an old opera for the here and now, it is this one. [Read More...]
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Today, the University Theatre on the University of Montana campus announced a return concert by Greg Brown, the husky-voiced singer/guitarist who has played the UT a bazillion times. It’s starting to seem like he must like this place or something; it probably doesn’t hurt that Missoula audiences love him. Anyway, here’s the press release direct from the source with show details… [Read More...]
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