The Sun
October 13, 2005
Ascot Room, Minneapolis, MN

I have never been so disappointed in the Minneapolis music scene. Last night The Sun and Apollo Sunshine played at The Quest’s Ascot Room to a paying crowd of 2 people. Across the street at the Club 3 Degrees, more than 150 people were jammed into the door. Son Volt and Wolf Parade had great shows at First Avenue/7th St. Entry. 2024 had a small showcase with about 50 people, and I’m sure Vince Gill did well over at the State Theater.

And this isn’t some crappy band. They’ve been opening for The Flaming Lips and Hot Hot Heat, Rolling Stone billed The Sun as, “Not to be missed,” Spin gave them a positive review, and as critic who hits at least one show a week, I’ll swear on a bible that this group is going places. There are more than enough music fans in the Twin Cities metro and beyond to fill venues for these good bands playing great shows, so where were they? Talking to the tour manager last night, he didn’t want to blame The Quest for poor promotion (i.e. shoot self in foot), but I’m apt to say there’s a reason Myth in Maplewood is taking off so well.

Yes, there are a LOT of great bands that come through this town, but last night I was super disappointed. The tour manager said the group filled a club in Chicago on Wednesday night and were expected to have a sellout tonight in Iowa City, but Twin Cities turns out two people and it’s not evening snowing yet? As for me, I don’t want to drive to the burbs, park at Toys R Us and see a Clear Channel act (Nickelback - barf). I want to see a frickin’ rock show at a credible venue downtown. Oh, and I want there to be more than two people show up, so Apollo Sunshine doesn’t have to bust our their unrequested variation on “Freebird” for the bartender, waitstaff, me and my friend.

I digress, here’s the review of the show everyone else missed–
The Sun is an Ohio quintet ripe with songwriting smarts and outstanding musical maturity, and they put on a great show. With songs ranging from lo-fi Pavement/Archers of Loaf rock anthems with Death Cab for Cutie gravitas to driving Grohl-flavored garage rock with catchy pop hooks. Their debut album, Blame it on the Youth, is “The World’s First DVD Album” (with burnable wav files embedded in the disc) featuring an original video for all 14 tracks that do not disappoint. Professional and amateur videographers help give the disc avoid the brevity of other video collections. The videos range from cartoons, faces of people as they masturbate and even following a psychotic bride as she falls in love with and murders each member of the band. It’s great stuff.

When playing live (even to a small crowd), The Sun knocked out gems like “It Must Be You,” “Justice” and their recent MTV video hit, “Valentine.” Singer/guitarist Chris Burney may refer to himself as “attention-starved whore” and a “pathetic little hipster” (”Waiting on High”), but on stage he’s on fire and commands his comrades on a musical assault. Drummer and co-songwriter Sam Brown wrote about half the album and adds vocals to many of the songs. After the show, Burney took time to chat up the few fans that stuck around for the show (the club cleared out before Apollo Sunshine got through their third song post-Freebird) and was very thankful to those that came. As I said before, these guys are going places, so be sure to check their remaining tour dates and unless you’re a bird that will never change, try to show them support when they hit your town.
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Download Blame It On the Youth here: