Chris DeLine

The second annual Clapperclaw Music & Arts Festival will cover two floors of Minneapolis’s Sound Gallery. Co-organizers Dom Davis and Matt Perkins both described the event as something creatively distinct from last year’s, with Davis adding, “Our focus this year was expanding within a single location, shaping the intensity of last year’s two days into a sharpened and more interactive one-day extravaganza.” Whereas last year’s event scheduled some 20 musical performances, this year’s hosts only nine, mixing DJs with a list of live acts that includes the XYZ Affair, Big Quarters, and Doomtree’s Cecil Otter. In addition to musical performances, Perkins described a new addition to the festival: “Like last year, we set out to highlight some other art elements like fashion, theatrics, and local artists represented in an unconventional gallery space. This year we are doing the same thing except we replaced the theatrical component that was created by Lamb Lays with Lion with local films.” Also new to the festival this year is a $5 “happy hour,” which buys you admission and, thanks to some of this year’s sponsors, free drinks.

[This critics’ pick was originally published by City Pages.]