Last weekend events were so tightly packed together, that we wondered where the music promoters were in February when everyone sort of sat around twiddling the thumbs. Of course if we could have a dozen great bands and venues to choose from every weekend, wouldn’t Minneapolis relive its golden years?

While the recession seems to be sinking everyone from coffeeshops (Vera’s) to car salesmen (Denny Hecker), a rare opportunity of sorts has opened for music bars. They know people who can’t make the Audi payment are still going to spend their last few dollars on booze.

For our local bands, it’s an opportunity too, to build their fanbase at once unknown corners of the city.  Over on the condo-burgeoning Washington Avenue, the Mill District folks have moved in from the ‘burbs and now they’re looking to enjoy that city life promised to them.

MILL DISTRICT REVIVAL

Enter 501 Club located at 501 Washington is tucked at the corner of a remodeled building, made to appear as a strip mall. Most know this corner for its Caribou Coffee and Minneapolis’ alternative gay+leather club, the Eagle. Touting “never a door cover” 501 is sure to keep its patrons flowing in.

At first entry, I’m reminded of the days when Nochee across the street served upscale atmosphere in a neighborhood bar atmosphere.  A large wall mural and backlighting on their two bars seems to send that resonance. The upstairs bar is aglow in red like an Ikea display. Rows of tables indicate the a dining area, and it stretches toward the back where a patio opens onto empty parking lots, remnants of Minneapolis’ once great Printer’s Row.  Circular booths along one wall scream bottle service but there’s no VIP section to speak of.

Overall, the 501 is a more refined version of your typical Minneapolis music bar. The video game machines tend to dispel any notion of elitism. Meanwhile the stage could use better lighting. The sound system was rich and deep, not overpowering. Lookbook came on and the place rapidly packed up. I noticed an age diversity not found elsewhere, a lot of adult regulars were relaxing on a Friday night while the hipsters and le douches rubbed shoulders. Brutal Becomings and Aaron and the Sea also had great sets but certainly the crowd was a LB fanbase.

SAUCE IT

Saturday night, Sauce Spirits and Soundbar had its second sort of soft grand opening bonanza. The former La Bodega has been completely reworked. The main room is now secondary to the Lyndale room (once used for fine dining) and the corner entrance at Lake and Lyndale is just an emergency exit. The winding mosaic bar is reduced to a short wall, devoting the large space to standing room crowd.

By the time I arrived for Mercurial Rage, it was packed. Again, a wide mix of ages kept the place lively. And again, lighting people, lighting! If the room was any larger, you wouldn’t be able to see the performers. The slightly risen stage wrapped the Lake Street wall with a messy black curtain sort of covering half the windows. Clearly, this room was Sauce’s “sound bar”, but there wasn’t much wow. Either the curtains be opened completely and the beauty of Lake Street’s whizzing cars be the backdrop or cover the whole thing up.

And invest in stage and ambient lights, please.

Nonetheless there was a sense of excitement and hype that night. Mercurial is always entertaining to watch. Meanwhile Sauce seems to have a neighborhood bar feel but it can manage to be a little more designery without being too trendy. Maybe take a page from both The Herkimer and Moto-i.  La Bodega certainly lost favor with its faux pas of expensive. On the other extreme, many music locals will recall downtown’s Urban Wildlife “Bar and Grill” didn’t last long as a trashy music bar.