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    1. Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, Squeeze
      26 July 2010

      Squeeze - MN Zoo Amphitheater (Apple Valley, MN) - July 22, 2010

      by Kathy Easthagen

      Their hour and a half set was packed with classic songs and the crowd were on their feet from the opening notes of “Black Coffee in Bed”.

      Read more...

      the Hold Steady
      26 July 2010

      The Hold Steady - First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) - July 4, 2010

      by Kathy Easthagen

      There are songwriters and there are storytellers. Craig Finn is a storyteller. Half the fun of a Hold Steady show, especially in Minneapolis, is listening to Finn’s stories and reminiscences.

      Read more...

      Courtney Love, Hole
      18 July 2010

      Hole with Foxy Shazam - First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) - July 16, 2010

      by Kathy Easthagen

      It’s hard to say how many present at the final stop on Hole’s US tour were there expecting (hoping?) to see a train wreck or how many were there out of curiosity.

      Read more...

      Devo
      11 July 2010

      Devo - Minnesota Zoo (Apple Valley, MN) - July 3, 2010

      by Kathy Easthagen

      If someone would have told me that the most anticipated concert of the summer would be a band that hasn’t played here since 1988, just released their first album in 14 years, and performs in identical costumes, I would have thought that person was insane.

      Read more...

      Richard and Tim Butler, the Psychedelic Furs
      1 July 2010

      The Psychedelic Furs - Minneapolis - June 12, 2010

      by Kathy Easthagen

      They may have performed these songs thousands of times, but there was nothing dull or rote about the show.

      Read more...

      Steve Diggle, the Buzzcocks
      16 June 2010

      The Buzzcocks - the Fine Line (Minneapolis, MN) - May 24, 2010

      by Kathy Easthagen

      Read more...

    2. Kathy Easthagen’s Top 10

      Week of July 18

      My Top 10 Summer Driving Songs

      1. Baba O’Riley – The Who

      2. Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

      3. Let’s Go – the Cars

      4. Foreplay/Longtime – Boston (or really anything off “Boston”)

      5. Crosstown Traffic – Jimi Hendrix Experience

      6. The Boys Are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy

      7. Paradise by Dashboard Light – Meatloaf

      8. The Weight – the Band

      9. Runnin’ on Empty – Jackson Browne

      10. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

      About Kathy Easthagen

      Kathy Easthagen started making photographs when she was given a camera for her sixth birthday. Hating to have her picture taken, it didn’t take her long to figure out that the person taking the pictures usually doesn’t appear in them.

      A lifelong Minneapolis resident, Kathy began documenting the local music scene during the 1980s, her most frequent subjects were the many Replacements and Husker Du all-ages shows.

      “It was a great time to shoot bands, there were no rules, none of the ‘first three songs only, no flash’ that’s the norm now.” Kathy explains. “I’ll try to stay off my soapbox, but it was so much freer then. The punk ethos, the whole DIY-thing, it was great! I’d buy a ticket, bring my camera and no worries. By the mid-90s alternative music was big business and everything changed. It’s so much tougher now and the chances to get that killer shot are so slim. It’s a good thing I love a challenge and thrive on stress!”

      Kathy started shooting and writing the occasional live review for the Big Takeover in the late 1990s and credits the Big Takeover with keeping alive the sense of community that she first found in the Minneapolis music scene back when she was still a teenager. “Yeah, the best thing about the Big T is different opinions, different tastes are fine, no one is trying to be the hippest kid on the block. God knows I’m not.”

      In addition to the Big Takeover, her freelance music work has appeared in Mojo, Spin, the NME, CMJ New Music Monthly, among others, and as a traditional photojournalist her work has appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the (London) Daily Telegraph, Minnesota Independent, City Pages, Twin Cities Daily Planet, as well as the college paper where she was a staff photographer while completing a dual degree in journalism and studio art.

      “One of my favorite memories of college was writing a term paper for a Shakespeare course between sets at a Charlatans show that I was photographing for the Big T! Seriously. I was up front and leaned my notebook on the monitor to write while the bands set-up and tore down. This would’ve been around the summer of 2001. I went home after the show and typed up the paper and turned it in the next morning.”