Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a good day eh.  Here are the first 39 issues of the Rivendell Reader as my and Grant's gift to you. Don't worry, I'm sure his welds are better than his scans.

Surly Minneapolis

I went to Surly's new Minneapolis brewery last night and had a few really tasty beers including super-fresh Abrasive that hasn't even hit the stores yet.  The design is Scandinavian modern and the public areas are huge with seating for a couple hundred downstairs and a bunch more space upstairs.  I talked to a number of cool employees and other people.  They are pretty serious about the food apparently and are going to have a reservations-only restaurant upstairs in addition to the current table service in the near future.  I didn't get a chance to purchase a t-shirt or poster before I left though as the over-zealous security douche kicked me out, after popping-up and calling me back from the desolate patio edge bushes, when I asked him if I could finish peeing first.  Fucker. They must have cameras.  It was time to go anyway.

Opeth @ Mill City Nights

The infamous Mill City Nights AKA the Brick.  Opeth, In Flames, Red Fang, Sean, Me and not Steve last night.  Fucking Steve.  It has flaws but it's a pretty good venue as it turns out.  The main floor is one big space front to back, no stairs no barriers just bodies.  It gains corridors between bands but is a forest otherwise.  One bar and few but acceptable beer choices.  We found a comfortable place to stand at the back where the sound was good and the crowd was thinner.

There are a variety of environments available for the antsy including upstairs with quieter back bar and screen views of the stage, limited seating, balcony edge standing and bathrooms.  Or downstairs past the smoking exit and ticket window to the basement with bar, merch, a mellow vibe and more bathrooms.

Red Fang was better than I expected, In Flames was worse.  Opeth sounded great and played unbelievably. The thirteen minute Deliverance the end of which contains one of my favorite grooves ever was the last song.

When you say excuse me he understands you might bump into him but he isn't going to move as you try to step past.  These kids today...