After an opening week canceled by bad weather and a scare over one of its headliners’ ability to perform again, St. Paul’s popular Lowertown Sound concert series kicked off its 2025 season with a massive crowd, warm weather and high emotions Thursday night.
Several thousand music lovers turned out for the pairing of Twin Cities music scene vets Tina Schlieske and the New Standards for the free weekly event in downtown’s tree-lined Mears Park. Citing a run of tapped kegs at the beer stand early in the night, organizer Clint Roberts said it was one of the biggest crowds he had ever seen for the series — and one of its most meaningful nights, too.
Schlieske’s opening set was extra-moving thanks to a spirited cover of “Family Affair” in tribute to the newly deceased Sly Stone, and to passionate versions of “Those Were the Days” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” filled with references to women’s rights and recent political matters.
The New Standards’ annual appearance in the series was in question after bassist/co-vocalist John Munson suffered a stroke in February. He opened up about the circumstances a half-hour into the 90-minute set.
“When my stroke happened, it was like, ‘Well, I guess we’ll have to cancel in Mears,’” said Munson, also of Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic fame (the latter of whom had to cancel its summer gigs).
“But I was like, ‘Wait!’ We need to play Mears.”
Play they did — including Munson himself. Though he is still relearning the mechanics of playing the bass during his recuperation, he managed to pick up and play the instrument up for a few songs on Thursday night.
The first of those was in a lilting cover of the Magnetic Fields’ “Book of Love,” one of the many remade cult classics in the show delivered by Munson with a strong voice and what sounded like an extra bit of sentiment. He kicked off the set singing David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” and Thomas Dolby’s “I Scare Myself,” each done up in jazzy revisionist style that has become the trademark of Munson’s trio with Chan Poling of the Suburbs and vibraphonist Steve Roehm.
