The Truth last night

How was last night's The Truth show at Trocadero's in Minneapolis? I was completely planning to go, but had what I like to call a sleeping accident. What's the place like? How was the band? Will you go again?

Good show, the band was pretty tight. They generally played cover songs from the 70’s and 80’s. The venue is very nice it’s a good room I will post more pictures from this event in the near future




www.trueprincestories.com

Thanks for the pics. Anybody got any youtube footage to put up?

BlaqueKnight said:

sosgemini said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Thanks for the pics. Anybody got any youtube footage to put up?

no links to boots...

BlaqueKnight said:

sosgemini said:

no links to boots...

How is a footage of a cover band a boot? Please explain. No. I will. Bootlegs are unauthorized releases of artists doing ORIGINAL material. There are thousands and thousands of cover bands across the country. I can't believe any of them have the nerve to be selling videotapes of their performances of other peoples' music. If the original artists got wind, they could EASILY ask for a piece of the profits. You do know that performing an artist's tune without securing a mechanical liscense is illegal, don't you? Most cover bands don't get them and most artists just let it slide. Just because these guys are more famous doesn't make it any different. Its still a cover band, right? A little youtube from the club wouldn't hurt nobody.

Good to hear. Anybody else go?

Setlist?

Who played/sang what? (especially what was Eric playing keys on? Screams of Passion?)

Please?
[Edited 6/19/06 10:52am]

GaryMF said:

Setlist?

Who played/sang what? (especially what was Eric playing keys on? Screams of Passion?)

Please?
[Edited 6/19/06 10:52am]

NOSLEN633CSI said:

GaryMF said:

Setlist?

Who played/sang what? (especially what was Eric playing keys on? Screams of Passion?)

Please?
[Edited 6/19/06 10:52am]

The show was awesome.... they even pulled out some madhouse songs. I'm telling you it was off the hook and to see Eric Leeds blow man....they also whipped up some Erotic City which had everyone in the whole place dancing...

Thursday nights will never be the same now. It will be fun to see these guys play on every Thursday.

Paul also did Mutiny, nothing compares to u... there were a lot more including Kip blackshire doing his songs off his Cd....

I was there June 15! It was a funky time. I was on the dance floor most of the night. D.M.S.R. and 777-9311 were great, also a little Stevie Wonder, Erotic City and Kips Song "I Got What You Need" was awesome!

Go to www.myspace.com/thetruthmpls and check it out!

I hope to get back for another gig before the summer is over.

Forgot to add this: http://www.startribune.co...3605.html\

The Truth: All in the family
Several of Prince's disciples form a new funk band to revisit those magical Purple Daze.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune

The band's first rehearsal wrapped up with a can't-miss party medley of Prince's "Dance Music Sex Romance" and the Time's "777-9311." But singer Paul Peterson seemed to be struggling, and it wasn't because the 1980s phone song hadn't been updated with a 612 area code.
"Whatsa matter, Paul?" saxophonist Eric Leeds purred in his best Prince voice. "Can't you play two keyboards at once?"

Laughter erupted in the rehearsal room.

Prince's fingerprints are all over this new Twin Cities band that calls itself the Truth -- its members cut their teeth with the Purple One in three different decades -- but these guys aren't operating under his thumb anymore.

"His presence is there, no question. I'm Prince's disciple," said guitarist Jellybean Johnson, the original drummer in Prince-hatched projects the Time and the Family.

There's no nonsense in this no-frills rehearsal space, home to two decrepit upright pianos and couches probably plucked from somebody's curb. The musicians, ranging in age from early 30s to early 50s, are disciplined. They show up on time. They've done their homework on the songs. They work efficiently without breaks, booze or babes hanging around.

On this June evening, it feels like a reunion of the few, the proud, all of whom trained under the same drill sergeant. If Prince said: "Be here at 11 p.m.," they obeyed, never mind that the music might not start 'til 3 a.m. and stretch until 8 a.m. -- with a callback at 2 p.m. If he didn't like your uniform, he'd commission a new one whether it was your style or not.

In the Truth, however, there is neither a boss nor big egos. These guys are brothers, created (and underpaid) equally.

• • •

Local manager/agent Jeff Taube came up with the idea this spring: an all-star funk band to celebrate the so-called Minneapolis Sound of the 1980s, made famous by Prince and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at Flyte Tyme Studios. His first call was to Johnson.

"I had my doubts," Johnson, a Twin Cities bar-band warrior, said later. "It's one thing to say 'Yes,' and it's another thing to show up to rehearsal and gigs."

Within two weeks, Taube had contacted seven semi-famous sidemen and called a meeting May 16 at Trocaderos, the spiffy new Warehouse District nightspot where the group would begin a regular Thursday gig 30 days later. He lured them with a free lunch and a promise of work, including talk of $30,000 for one show in Japan.

"Apiece?" asked saxophonist David Eiland.

Everyone chuckled.

First order of business was figuring out a schedule, since everyone is busy with part-time gigs. Each guy took a calendar and Xed out the days in June, July and August when he wouldn't be available.

Peterson's calendar had so many X's it looked as if he were playing cover-all Bingo.

"It looks like Paul can do only one gig," Eiland observed.

"Should I bow out?" Peterson asked. "I want to be fair about it."

"Do things slow down in the fall?" Taube asked.

"I hope not," Peterson said.

Next order of business was to discuss substitutes at each position, with all the players needing to have a Prince or Flyte Tyme connection. Within minutes, Taube had a depth chart with three or four potential subs for each instrument.

"My sub gets 50 bucks," Peterson suggested, "and I get the rest no matter what country I'm in."

After Taube gave a quick overview of his marketing campaign, it was time to choose a moniker. Funk Mob, Funkapolis and everything on Taube's list got the thumbs down.

"I like the name 'The Truth,' " drummer Kirk Johnson piped up.

Peterson and Jellybean Johnson seconded. Then Taube asked each player to e-mail him five songs the band should perform.

After 50 productive minutes, the Truth was born.

• • •

Taube distributed recordings of the suggested songs -- by Stevie Wonder, James Brown, George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix, Rick James, the Ohio Players, the Time, the Family, Mint Condition and, of course, Prince -- to each musician to study. On May 25, the Truth gathered at Trocaderos to shoot publicity photos.

Taube also had some news: Eiland, who performs regularly at a Christian club, had dropped out because "he's struggling with secular music." But Leeds, a longtime Prince sideman, was now on board, and Matt Fink, one of Prince's first keyboardists, was another possibility.

After posing for photos, the Truth headed to a rehearsal space in northeast Minneapolis for the heavy lifting: Deciding who would sing lead on which songs, and who would play which instruments. Then it was time to jam.

• • •

Buff, bald drummer Kirk Johnson looks like a Marine, but runs rehearsals with the focus, finesse and friendliness of a popular high-school football coach. Each of the musicians takes notes, and some record the final takes for study.

Their musical depth is striking. So are their memories. They can recall Prince's precise arrangement on a recording and how he simplified it for the stage. Leeds, Peterson and Jellybean Johnson even remember four songs from the Family -- their short-lived but underrated group that first recorded "Nothing Compares to You" -- as if it were yesterday instead of 1985.

Just in case, Kirk Johnson keeps all the lyrics in a loose-leaf notebook (in plastic sleeves) on a music stand next to his drum machine.

Even on an unfamiliar song -- "I Got What You Need" by the Truth's youngest member, 30-year-old Kip Blackshire -- the band is fast and true: It took just 40 minutes to master.

Fink, however, was a bit tentative at his first rehearsal. Now a studio denizen and married father of 8- and 11-year-olds, he hasn't gigged with a band in more than a decade.

"I thought you were scared," Jellybean Johnson said to Fink after a nearly four-hour session. "You said you hadn't done this in a while."

"That doesn't mean I'm scared," said Fink, 48. "I'm fried. I'm not up this late these days."

Indeed, June 6 (Jimmy Jam's birthday) had just turned into June 7 (Prince's birthday). Fink had a 40-minute drive home, and the Truth would have three more rehearsals before show time.

• • •

Eight hands are joined in a pile like a basketball team. "It's all about the Truth," Kirk Johnson declares like a team captain ready to take the court.

Fink dropped out after one rehearsal. So did his replacement. New sub Donnie LaMarca had two rehearsals. And Jellybean Johnson is on tour out East with the Time. All that doesn't matter now. It's the moment of the Truth.

By the second verse of the first song, the dance floor at Trocaderos on Thursday was full. When Blackshire burst into "Higher Ground," the joint was jumping. And the ensuing "Funky Good Time" definitely described the scene.

After the first set, keyboardist Chance Howard teased his bandmates: "You guys are terrible." Then he got serious: "That was funky."

Said Peterson: "For Gig 1, I'm not complaining. I've got a couple personal improvements I'll make. But I think that was pretty darn good for the first gig."


THE TRUTH

When: 9:30 p.m. every Thursday.

Where: Trocaderos, 107 3rd Av. N., Mpls. 612-465-0440.

Tickets: $5.

Info: www.trocaderos.com.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719

©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

thanks for posting the bream article. much props to the truth band!

That is, perhaps, the least romantic, most realistic portrayal of musicians I've ever seen in print. Outstanding.
Semi-famous, super-talented musicians working it out.

Awesome stuff.

Reminds me of my full-time band days

so has Jerry Hubbard(Jesse's old bass player) joined in yet?

what songs did Eric play keys on?

please come to NY guys!!! BB Kings would be an excellen venue!

I TOTALLY understand the need to make money, but damn. They're all highly creative and talented people... I don't get it.

Please- if any of you are reading this- make new music together. Lead to the future instead of playing on the past. Come out from under that shadow... You're all just as gifted. Don't feed the myth. Make new ones.

That's what W+L, Fink, Sheila, Moir, J-JAM & co are doing.

I know y'all can do it...

Take a chance.

From someone who believes in you...
Scarlette P.
[Edited 6/27/06 21:50pm]

ScarletteP said:

Yeah, relax. The Truth is just a fun gig with old friends performing some good old fashioned classic music.

BTW That article on the band is probably the best one I've ever read about any professional musicians. Fantastic.

i'll DEFinitely check this out. definitely!