Loki’s Folly, Prairie Clamor, Carlisle Evans Peck, Friendly Puppy Laboratory at Eagles #34 (06/24/2023)

It was quite the weekend in Minneapolis with the Pride Festival at Loring Park, Taylor Swift performing at US Bank Stadium and Loki’s Folly, Prairie Clamor, Carlisle Evans Peck and Friendly Puppy Laboratory playing at Eagles #34.

Friendly Puppy Laboratory kicked off the evening with members of the Prairie Clamor (Will Bjorndal on guitar and lead vocals, his brother Peter Bjorndal on guitar, Sydney Reuter on bass and Rossie Rossie on drums).

Being an off-shoot it gave the band an opportunity to try some new material like the rollicking “Rock and Roll Ain’t Killed Me Yet” and a country anthem “Don’t Let Go.”

Next up was singer-songwriter Carlisle Evans Peck performing a solo set. His website states that he is “… equally at home in a wooded glade or a cabaret stage.”

His set was subdued and reflective as he started on acoustic guitar before moving onto keyboards. In 2018 he released his debut album Electric Porcelain, which is currently highlighted on MNspin Spotlight for Pride month. The first songs he played for the evening were “… brand new and still in a beta phase.” He even took the opportunity to throw in a brief kazoo solo.

Prairie Clamor was up next as Peter moved to run the lasers and lights as Will, Sydney and Rossie were joined on stage by Kyla Sisson on keyboards and Otto Kowalski on guitar and harmonica.

Prairie Clamor is an ever-evolving art project created by Will, first starting as a solo enterprise before moving into a full band with a “… revolving cast of sonic and visual collaborators.”

Whereas Peck was subdued and reflective, Prairie Clamor came right out of the gate with a high-spirited set that had lasers, a fog machine, pounding drums and raucous guitars.

Prairie Clamor’s third album True Songs is an album that was born out of a time of musical isolation during the pandemic when Will was spending many days in western Minnesota researching bee colonies. The songs in the album reflect the dichotomy/intersection of man and nature and how to make sense of it as in “Energy Park” where Will sings:

In the ultraviolet light

Not a single cottonwood cloud in sight

All I wanted was to make my life right

But I took three left turns now

Loki’s Folly finished the evening with their typical flair of exuberant punk.

Loki’s Folly (26 Feb 2023)

We caught them at Seventh Street Entry in February of this year for their debut release party for Sisu, which is a Finnish word meaning perseverance. Vu noted that “singer/guitarist Annie [Kuchenmeister] is like a firecracker, bouncing and jumping around the stage.”

There was no less intensity last night as Annie was joined on stage by her sister Nissa on drums and Oskar on bass as they kicked off their set with the rambunctious “The Love Song”, which had Annie and Nissa screaming into their microphones: “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” From there it was straight-ahead, pure, unadulterated punk that had Annie’s voice testing the limits of the venue’s speakers.

Loki’s Folly has been a naturally evolving project between sisters that first wanted to learn how to play instruments, play in a band and do it all before they could legally drink. Along the way they have garnered the attention of local music legends and were recognized by First Ave as one of the best new bands in 2020.

Not a bad start for two young ladies who finished their set by singing Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation.”