Heliotrope Music Festival Returns To Minneapolis!
Very excited that one of our favorite local events, the Heliotrope Music Festival, is finally returning to the Twin Cities after a multi-year hiatus. Heliotrope is a three day fest for underground, experimental, and risk-taking music. “A festival for the freaks by the freaks” according to their announcement.
As in year’s past the festival will showcase some of the local scene’s most forward thinking musicians, including Paul Metzger, John Zuma St Pelvyn, IE, Iceblink, American Cream, and many more. Additionally, the festival will bring in some talented out-of-towners such as ONO and Jordan Reyes. Full lineup below as well as the announcement.
PRESS RELEASE:
The eleventh installment of Heliotrope, a festival of underground music, is set to return to the Twin Cities from May 30th through June 1st. This is a three day festival highlighting an often overshadowed part of the music community.
The time is here to take risks. We need to make the environments we desire. The Avalon Theatre at 1500 East Lake Street (the beloved home of In The Heart Of The Beast Puppet And Mask Theatre) is the perfect venue. With its finely aged grandeur, public accessibility, and community energy, The Avalon Theatre allows for a presentation of care and scope.
Locally, there is a patter of musical homogenization underway as access to quality venues and air time come from fewer and fewer sources. Heliotrope is making a return after a hiatus in an attempt to balance the scales a little bit and have a good time in the process.
The underground is where boundaries are tested and broken, and where all great movements (and their stars) are born. Heliotrope celebrates the strong community and audience that continues to exist for the underground. The festival embraces those who seek adventurous, sometimes even challenging, listening experiences. Most importantly, at its core, Heliotrope intends to honor the musicians and performers who commit to their sound and the scene, regardless of the ebb and flow of popular trends.
Heliotrope was born from love of a fertile underground and a sincere desire to give unsung or underappreciated artists a more engaging and encompassing environment than they would usually get in town. The festival has returned once again to meet the need of the scene. As fun as it is to complain, it’s even more fun to channel that energy into an event that allows musicians and performers to present themselves authentically via access to a performance-oriented setting with a large stage, theatrical lighting and film projection capability. Often relegated to basements, DIY spaces and tiny out of the way clubs, Heliotrope seeks to elevate the artists of the underground.
Heliotrope celebrates the lifer, the freak and the lifer freak. To that end, the pursuit itself takes the forefront while genre fades to the background. One of the aspirations of the festival is to provide an environment for artists to have the potential to meet and see other artists they might not come into contact with otherwise. Each installment seems to bring about at least a few fruitful relationships. We attempt to present a variety of musical styles, and a diverse group of musicians will perform. ONO (Chicago) will perform Saturday June 1st, and are the living embodiment of the spirit of this festival. Following their own path for well over 30 years, their vision is truly unique and compelling. Fronted by the indelible founders P.Michael and Travis, ONO will bring their singular “Industrial Avant Gospel Noise” (and maybe a ballgown). The dark polyrhythms of early 80s Minneapolis death rockers Dark Carnival will provide an excellent climax to Friday’s proceedings with a rare live appearance. Emerging acts and performers such as Iceblink and Anthony Amelang will also provide much needed exploration of the sonic landscape.
Heliotrope will feature a high portion of new sounds and new groups (electronic mysteriosos Beach Mountain and industrial rockers Weaping Mask, for instance) as well as stalwarts who have been there from the beginning and will continue into the future (Milo Fine as a member of Teenage Boatpeople, the mobile bullhorn and percussion duo White Map, improvisational banjo virtuoso Paul Metzger, International Novelty Gamelan to name a few).
Carefully crafted visuals from Emily Kaplan throughout. Her work in animation and film montage reflects an obsessive commitment to form and adds a great deal to the proceedings onstage. This is no mere concert; this is an event!
This has always been a community supported, DIY event without financial backing or grants. A festival for the freaks by the freaks. Our equally committed and faithful audience seems to like it that way.
All people of all ages welcome.
Thursday, May 30 – Saturday, June 1, 2019
6:00 PM to Midnight Daily
$15.00 per day or $30.00 for a three-day pass
Avalon Theatre
1500 East Lake Street
Minneapolis MN
FULL LINEUP: Ono, Salubrious Invertebrae, Dark Carnival, Teenage Boatpeople, International Novelty Gamelan, Paul Metzger, John Zuma St Pelvyn, Wax Lead, Jordan Reyes, Comets Ov Cupid, The Quaking Bogge, IE, Iceblink, Beach Mountain, Marisol, Anthony Amelang, ABNA, Weaping Mask, Mahngüs, Dallas Orbiter, Noise Quean Ant, Wild!!Wing, White Map, Celica, Zwaremachine, American Cream, Food Team, Arp of the Covenant
