The other day I finally decided to check out the ”seriously underrated” Cinema & Civics at Stevens Square Park in Minneapolis. Basically, it is a community event similar to a town hall meeting, except the “meeting” part consists of nothing more than a five-minute speech by a community watch representative, flanked on both sides by a generally awesome band and an equally if not better flick. Seems like a killer combination, right? On this particular evening, the performing band was Zoo Animal, Minneapolis natives, and the film was the immortal Ghostbusters. It really doesn’t get better than a combination like that. I’d been trying to see Zoo Animal for weeks, but a combination of laziness and…well just laziness prohibited me from doing so. Therefore, I grabbed a pal, a bottle of wine, and a small white dog and made my way across town.
The way it works is that the band begins playing at eight PM, and then the movie begins once dusk falls. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a thick, heavy haze of summer heat (on this particular day the temperature topped out somewhere around 95Ñ). Still, a small crowd had gathered to catch the opening of ZA’s set. Holly, the lead singer and guitarist, began with a nice, quiet, slow jam (as many of their songs start) as the crowd began to gather, and a few hipsters shot baskets on a nearby basketball court. Turns out, those guys were actually the other members of the band, and they sauntered up in time to start the next song without skipping a beat.
As they went along, more and more people came along and claimed their plot of land for the evening. The crowd is fascinating and diverse in that area, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen more fixed-gear bikes in one location. A wild group of hippie children immediately began doing thrusty, flailing dances in front of the band, which was cute until the screaming started. Still, Holly was totally cool with it and alternated playful banter between them and the crowd. She was very chill and surprisingly funny, especially as she handed one of the flower children a quarter from the ground, saying, “someday, I’ll be rich and I’ll have lots of quarters to give. But right now, I don’t have many quarters.” I laughed, and once the show was over I went up, gave her awesome compliments, and promptly paid her 60 quarters for a tshirt. I hate change anyway.
They left just as the headliner, Bill Murray, came out all young and hilarious and ghost-hunty. Through the opening credits, we watched as bats flew around above our heads, eating all those bastard mosquitoes that I hate so damned much. The heat persisted, but cheap popcorn (and a surprisingly attractive 80’s Sigourney Weaver) distracted us adequately. Many sigh-worthy moments that made it really feel like summer is here to stay—for at least the next month and a half. I’d basically recommend this experience to anyone who enjoys people watching (all the cool kids are here), live music, throwback movies, cigarette smoke, sweaty tshirts, bug spray, “civil responsibility,” and good company.
Follow the link for the upcoming schedule. Hell, hit me up and I’ll go with you.
http://www.cinemaandcivics.org/site_12/main/
-AH
twincitytalk 