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 Cloud Cult |
 Margot and the Nuclear So and So's |
 Cloud Cult |
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Story and photos by Matt Schwenke With a feature length film documenting Cloud Cult over the last 10 years set for release on DVD in stores later this month (including a digital download card for five live tracks printed on plantable seed paper no less), the Minnesota-based eco-friendly indie rock act seems to have hit a milestone, or at least the chance to take a breath and celebrate their own success in celebrating life and love through their music and art.Offsetting their carbon footprint while touring to larger and larger audiences, their eco activism has expanded from singer/songwriter Craig Minowa's efforts, through his own not-for-profit and environmentally conscious Earthology Records, to the band's recent partnership with Esurance, which has worked to green the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks and the Sasquatch festival at The Gorge and happens to feature a Cloud Cult song in a recent commercial. Appearing at Turner Hall without Connie Minowa, wife to Craig and one of two performance artists typically on stage, the band's stage setup was further downsized by the use of two small video screens, which appeared to be running off of a bio-fuel setup, in place of a large video projection at the back of the stage. Despite a small tour amid a brief respite from the business side of things and a less than sold out show on a Tuesday night, Minowa announced the band was happy to be there and would strive to make it the best show possible after starting the show by himself with the openhearted "Love You All" from the latest album, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) and expansive "Hope" from the 2007 release The Meaning of 8. Minowa's softer reflections through song, which often evolve from an initially childlike observation or philosophy, dominated the set list, such as the electronica-tinged "No One Said It Would Be Easy," the slowly rocking "Chemicals Collide," or the simply beautiful "Pretty Voice." But any celebration of life and love wouldn't be complete without dealing with the lack thereof, which found it's way through the defiantly strong "2x2x2," the forward-driving "Brain Gateway" and the reflective "Everybody Here Is A Cloud" to end the night-- all the while reiterating both a singular and communal sense of hope and leaving fans with a somehow personal stake in the music and anticipation for what is yet to come. Co-headliners Margot and The Nuclear So and So's were often more obscure in scope and at times lacking in direction, but a handful of tunes from the Indianapolis-based octet's 2008 releases Animal! and Not Animal were an inspiring mix of textures led by slightly gritty vocalist/guitarist Richard Edwards and complimented by keyboardist Emily Watkins' softly sedate vocals. "As Tall As Cliffs" and "A Children's Crusade on Acid" explored a unique folk sound, "At The Carnival" was as diverse as it's subject, "O' What A Nightmare!" exhibited a rock savvy, and "Mariel's Brazen Overture" added yet another element-- all lending credo to the growing buzz, or atomic hum perhaps, around the band. |
 Cloud Cult |
 Cloud Cult |
 Margot and the Nuclear So and So's |
 Margot and the Nuclear So and So's |
 Cloud Cult |
 Cloud Cult |
 Cloud Cult |
 Margot and the Nuclear So and So's |
 Margot and the Nuclear So and So's |