In off-brand 2000s action movies, when the bad guys are robbing a bank, they leave the scene in a white van, police in hot pursuit. Driving under an intricate set of underpasses as the music crescendos, they come out the other side, with two identical vans on either side of them. Each of the three take different exits, leaving the cops stumped.
Trying to find the lead singer at the Chanel Beads show was something like this, but, instead of decoy white vans, it was skinny men with mini-sideburn mod haircuts and tabi boots, milling about the stage during intermission. While making bets on which of the malnourished specimens fiddling with cords and removing equipment would turn around and start singing, Shane Lavers, previously unseen, hopped out from the crowd right next to me and onto the stage, scattering his decoys to the wings.
As the string and synth combo that would persist throughout the show began, Lavers eyed the mic. He wore a faded hoodie, slacks and a sheepish grin. While the strings mounted, he left the mic, bouncing up and down around the stage. Instead of singing in his characteristically feminine and melodic voice, he grabbed the mic and hit himself in the head with it.
“Yeaaaaah,” he said, swinging it by its cord and bouncing around the stage like a Bad Brains show in ’82. The static ripped through the guitar and audience, but Lavers seemed unfazed, joyous in a synthy haze of his own making.
The show continued much like this: an elusive interdigitation of pop and ambient sounds with DIY, hardcore imagery. The four musicians were backlit by construction-grade floodlights that brought a caliginous, house-show-esque energy to the venue. A small crowd of around 300 or so stood and swayed, moshing when the artists ditched their electric violins or basses to crowd surf.
Lavers, born and raised in a Minneapolis suburb but currently based out of New York, had a goofy mien on his homecoming, continuing his rhythmic mic-beating theatrics and stopping mid-set to interact jokingly with the crowd. At the end of the show, refrains of “one more song!” echoed until they played an unreleased track meant to be part of their upcoming album.
Besides the good music and fun crowd, Zhora Darling, the North East Minneapolis bar and music venue, was a quality new find. A shining light for post-pandemic establishments, Zhora Darling is a performance space that doubles as an upscale bar with a full menu open til 2 a.m., attracting scenesters with their pool tables and late-night eats. Started by two Brooklyn transplants, the spot was full before, during and after the show. Middle-aged couples shared smash burgers in inside booths while younger crowds milled around outside, smoking joints between index and pointer fingers like they were cigarettes.
The venue’s recent success comes at a hard time for the Twin Cities scene, as beloved Palmer’s Bar shuttered its doors on the same night. Open since 1906, the closing of Palmer’s represents a shift in the nightlife of the Twin Cities. Due to increasing financial pressures in the post-pandemic environment and operational difficulties, Palmer’s joined a string of classic Twin Cities bars to permanently close.
Zhora Darling’s success in the face of this unfortunate news represents the cruel vicissitudes of the food, bar and music industry, but also offers positives for Twin Cities night life. An upscale late-night eatery promises a new local haunt, and its live music and events will bring in new customers of a specific flavor. I had never heard of Zhora Darling before this show, but I will certainly be going back — they host live music four to five days a week. The Chanel Beads show was a wonderful introduction to a new corner of Twin Cities nightlife.
