Andrea Swensson

Contributing Writer

Email: no-reply[at]howwastheshow.com
URL: http://minneapolitanmusic.blogspot.com

Andrea Swensson awoke to this realm in Moose Lake, Minnesota, on a spring day in 1983, the only child of two people who met at the local State Hospital (as employees, not patients, though that would explain a lot). Her parents, shunning the pop music of the eighties and early nineties, exposed her to a limited variety of sixties and seventies music and holdouts, to the point of influencing her almost exclusive taste for Beatles music as a child.

While in college she was exposed to the local bar music scene attending feverous events with the likes of Dan Israel and Ike Riley. She was immediately appreciative of the way great performers could connect with an audience and how significant these events could be to a room full of music fans. Andrea decided that her two passions in life - music and writing - were best experienced as a combined force, and has been scribbling furiously ever since.

Reviews by this author:

Click on the review title to view the whole review.

Data	Title	Band(s)	Location
2/21/2010	Podcast: HowWasTheShow CD Reviews for February 2010	Dewi Sant, Joel Bremer, Rogue Valley, Solid Gold, The Brass Kings, The Wapsipinicon
10/1/2009	Podcast: HowWasTheShow CD Reviews for October, 2009	Lookbook
6/1/2009	Podcast: HowWasTheShow Minneapoliscast CD Reviews for June, 2009	Aby Wolf, The Alarmists
2/1/2008	ExerciseEXORCISE	Lamb Lays with Lion	The Bottling House Theatre
1/11/2008	Podcast: HowWasTheShow/Minneapoliscast CD Reviews for January, 2008	Battle Royale, Big Ditch Road, Dallas Orbiter, Eddy Burke, Heiruspecs, Meg Ashling
12/14/2007	HowWasTheShow/Minneapoliscast CD Reviews for December 2007	, Alicia Corbett, Dance Band, Dreamland Faces, Humanboy, Little Sister, The 757s, Trailer Trash
11/2/2007	HowWasTheShow/Minneapoliscast CD Reviews for November, 2007	Bec Smith, Fog, The Evening Rig, The Glad Version, The Owls
10/12/2007	HowWasTheShow/Minneapoliscast CD Reviews for October, 2007	Action Versus Action, Crossing Guards, Dan Israel, Dan Wilson, Eliza Blue, Stook
8/10/2007	HowWasTheShow/Minneapoliscast CD Reviews for August 2007 (podcast)	City On The Make, Mark Olson, The Alarmists
6/17/2007	The Abdomen	The Abdomen	Stone Arch Festival of the Arts
5/6/2007	Autistic License	Stacey Dinner-Levin	Illusion Theater
3/31/2007	Peter Mayer	Peter Mayer	Cedar Cultural Center
1/27/2007	Justin Timberlake	Justin Timberlake	Xcel Energy Center
1/21/2007	Interview with the Twin City Playboys	Twin City Playboys
1/17/2007	Radio K's Best New Bands Showcase	Jeremy Messersmith, Maria Isa, One For The Team, The Alarmists, Vampire Hands, White Light Riot	First Avenue
12/19/2006	Interview with Stuart D'Rozario	Stuart D'Rozario
12/6/2006	The Northern Drift	The Northern Drift	Cabooze
11/26/2006	HowWasTheShow Does Homegrown	Alpha Consumer, Doomtree Collective	Drive 105
11/4/2006	Rift 36 Hour Songwriting Contest #3	Accelerated Love Affair, Andra Suchy, David Brusie, David Hanners, Eliza Blue, Grace Darling, Sam Keenan	Bryant Lake Bowl
11/3/2006	The Mad Ripple Hootenanny	Janey Winterbauer, Jim Walsh, Marc Perlman, Phil Bayer	Java Jack's
10/19/2006	Ursus Minor with Brother Ali and Umar Bin Hassan with Pablo Cueco	Brother Ali, Pablo Cueco, Umar Bin Hassan, Ursus Minor	Fine Line Music Café
9/29/2006	Atmosphere	Atmosphere	First Avenue
9/23/2006	The Jonathan Earl Band CD Release Show	Jonathan Earl	Bunker's
9/6/2006	Benefit for Conrad	Baby Grant Johnson, Dan Wilson, Golden Smog, John Munson, Koalas, Kraig Johnson and the Program, Matt Wilson, Mighty Mofos, Retribution Gospel Choir, Soul Asylum, The Birdy Four, Tim O'Reagan	First Avenue
8/29/2006	New Holland	New Holland	Big Vs
7/23/2006	Golden Smog	Golden Smog	First Avenue
7/14/2006	Awesome 80s Prom	Awesome 80s Prom	The Hennepin Stages
6/30/2006	Tim O'Reagan In-Store Performance	Tim O'Reagan	Electric Fetus
6/24/2006	Mason Jennings	Mason Jennings	Orpheum Theatre
6/23/2006	Jose Gonzalez	Jose Gonzalez, Juana Molina, Psapp	Cedar Cultural Center
6/22/2006	Leroy Smokes CD Release	Leroy Smokes	Fine Line Music Café
6/8/2006	The Lee Boys	The Lee Boys	Cabooze
6/3/2006	Ike Reilly	Ike Reilly	Station 4
6/3/2006	One For The Team CD Release Show	Battle Royale, One For The Team, Viceburgh	Triple Rock Social Club
5/25/2006	Todd Newman	Todd Newman	Hexagon Bar
5/19/2006	The TV Sound CD Release Show	The Alarmists, The TV Sound, This World Fair	The Varsity Theater
5/10/2006	Tunes for Tails Benefit Show	After All, Ben Connelly, Draper Daniels, Erverators, The Jayhawks, Tim Mahoney	Fine Line Music Café
5/9/2006	The Trimmed Hedges	The Trimmed Hedges	Fine Line Music Café
5/6/2006	The Vestals CD Release Party	Chris Koza, Hanz Erik and the Hims, The Deaths, The Vestals	Suburban World Theater
5/5/2006	Stook CD Release	Stook	The Terminal Bar
4/29/2006	Rock For Pussy III	Chris Koza, Chris Perricelli, Jeaneen Gauthier, Jeremy Messersmith, Jim Walsh, John Munson	First Avenue
4/22/2006	Ani DiFranco with Hammell on Trial	Ani DiFranco, Hammell on Trial	Cedar Cultural Center
4/17/2006	The Fantastic Merlins	The Fantastic Merlins	Dakota Jazz Club
4/15/2006	Josh Rouse with Strays Don't Sleep	Josh Rouse, Strays Don't Sleep	Cedar Cultural Center
4/11/2006	The Strokes with Eagles of Death Metal	Eagles of Death Metal, The Strokes	Orpheum Theatre
4/8/2006	Mach FoX and Thosquanta Dual CD Release Show	Mach FoX, OneNeoEon, Severin24, Thosquanta	Club Underground
3/31/2006	Jenny Dalton CD Release	Jenny Dalton	The Varsity Theater
3/30/2006	Beight, Charley Dush and Nick Leet	Beight, Charley Dush, Nick Leet	The Terminal Bar
3/24/2006	Planes for Spaces	Planes for Spaces	400 Bar
3/11/2006	Tracy Bonham and Martha Wainwright	Martha Wainwright, Tracy Bonham	Fitzgerald Theater
3/10/2006	Backyard Tire Fire	Backyard Tire Fire	400 Bar
2/19/2006	Electropolis Plays Metropolis	Bill Mike, Desdamona, Diana Grasselli, Electropolis, Jelloslave, Last of the Dinosaurs	Southern Theater
2/18/2006	Mark Mallman	Mark Mallman	The Turf Club
2/1/2006	The Debut	The Debut	Uptown Bar and Café
1/30/2006	P.O.S CD Release Party	Digitata, Doomtree Collective, Heiruspecs, P.O.S., Passions	7th Street Entry
1/28/2006	Eclectone Records Showcase	Big Ditch Road, Dan Israel, John Ewing, Mark Stockert, Martin Devaney, Mike Nicolai, Robert McCreedy	The Varsity Theater
1/27/2006	Canasta	Canasta	400 Bar
1/25/2006	Vandermark 5	Vandermark 5	The Turf Club
1/20/2006	Superdanger CD Release	Superdanger	Triple Rock Social Club
1/14/2006	Ear Candy, TOMHANKS and Thosquanta	Ear Candy, Thosquanta, TOMHANKS	Club Underground
1/13/2006	The Stock Market Crash	The Stock Market Crash	Big Vs
1/6/2006	This World Fair, White Light Riot and Epic Hero	Epic Hero, This World Fair, White Light Riot	The Varsity Theater
1/5/2006	Vicious Vicious w/ One For The Team and The Slats	One For The Team, The Slats, Vicious Vicious	Triple Rock Social Club
12/30/2005	The New Standards	The New Standards	Dakota Jazz Club
12/22/2005	White Light Riot and The TV Sound	The TV Sound, White Light Riot	The Turf Club
12/16/2005	Haley Bonar with Michael Morris	Haley Bonar, Michael Morris	400 Bar
12/14/2005	First Avenue 35 Year Bootlegs CD Release Party	Aesma Daeva, Curtiss A, Dessa, Golden Smog, Jessy Greene, Koalas, Mike Watt, P.O.S., Polara, Rifle Sport, The Hold Steady, The Jayhawks, The Mighty Mofos, The Mood Swings, X-Boys	First Avenue
12/10/2005	Mason Jennings with Jeff Hanson	Jeff Hanson, Mason Jennings	First Avenue
12/9/2005	Reticence CD Release Party	Bill Mike, Cloud Cult, Reticence	Triple Rock Social Club
12/8/2005	26th Annual John Lennon Tribute	Curtiss A	First Avenue
12/5/2005	Electropolis	Electropolis	Intermedia Arts
11/25/2005	Robert Skoro with Coach Said Not To	Coach Said Not To, Robert Skoro	Triple Rock Social Club
11/11/2005	Kingsbury Manx	Kingsbury Manx	7th Street Entry
11/4/2005	Trampled by Turtles with Accident Clearinghouse	Accident Clearinghouse, Trampled by Turtles	Cabooze
10/25/2005	Ben Folds	Ben Folds	First Avenue
10/22/2005	Mike Nicolai CD Release Party	Mike Nicolai	Dusty's Bar
10/14/2005	Spaghetti Western String Company with The Pines	Spaghetti Western String Company, The Pines	Cedar Cultural Center
10/8/2005	Little Man with Heavy Sleeper and Mike Nicolai	Heavy Sleeper, Little Man, Mike Nicolai	Nomad World Pub
10/1/2005	Ike Reilly with The Gleam	Ike Reilly, The Gleam	The Varsity Theater
1/1/2002	Test for pictures	White Light Riot	First Avenue