Last Thursday, June 1, my wife and I took a mini-vacation and drove up to the Twin Cities to hear a concert by the Twin Cities band The Hopefuls (formerly the Olympic Hopefuls). They were the first band to perform in Mill City Live, a free summer series at the Mill City Museum. I can recommend the series and the venue.

The weather was perfect as we sat in the ruined courtyard of an old flour mill, the sky open above us. The crowd was amazingly diverse, with young professionals just off work, families with small children, and older folks as well.

The music was fun and upbeat. I had heard about the Hopefuls and downloaded some songs from their MySpace Music site and iTunes the night before. Erik Appelwick can hit some nice high notes, and I especially like Darren Jackson’s wry sensibility. He reminds me a bit of a young Elvis Costello.

The concert also featured dancing by an energetic fan named Rupert, whom the band tolerated with some amusement as he pranced about and even joined in the vocals.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 5th, 2006 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Minnesota, Music.