This past week, I was traveling for work, which kept me from writing up my last couple concerts. I saw Author & Punisher last Saturday, who focused on the new album Nocturnal Birding and performed at such a volume I could feel my bones rattling. And while I was traveling, I stopped into a small arcade/bar/venue in Savannah, Georgia and watched some regional death metal bands like Severed by Dawn, blurrily pictured above. ​There are some more shows coming up in the near future I hope to get to, and I don't see any reason I wouldn't be able to give them proper recaps. I also have some fitness content I plan to write up for the first time in a while. But until then, enjoy this week's picks!

It's a short one today because today has been a cluster. Enjoy! What does the image above have to do with the post? Absolutely nothing! What can I say? I was in a hurry. 

It's Friday the 13th, Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and ICE is supposedly leaving Minnesota? What a weekend! We here in MN will believe it when we see it, of course. Here's this week's promoted fundraiser. Please help if you can. 

Times are tough, and music helps keeps us sane. I have fewer picks than last week, but they're all really solid stuff. Check them out below.

At the In Lieu show at Cloudland Theater in south Minneapolis on Saturday night, one attendee walked around the crowd handing out rebel loon stickers. The show, an album release party for Minneapolis rock band Battery Eyes, was also a fundraiser for MIRAC, a volunteer organization that fights for legal rights for immigrants. This is reality of seeing a concert in Minneapolis at this moment in time. People gather to have a good time, but a good time that can hopefully do some good to help our neighbors under siege. 

For as long as is necessary, I'll open this weekly post with a fundraiser for someone affected by the federal occupation of Minnesota, then move on to the fun stuff. I will be making a donation to every fundraiser I suggest, and I encourage you to do the same. Sound good? Okay, glad we're in agreement on that.

Today's fundraiser is a rent relief fund organized by Grace Lutheran Church for families in Northeast Minneapolis (where I live) who have been financially affected by detention, job loss, or being afraid to leave their homes. You can donate here. 

​Okay, let's get to the music, shall we?

One of the disadvantages of running a hobby site is that real-life responsibilities can get in the way. That's my excuse not getting to this write up of Monday night's Agriculture show until now. That, and the fact that the mental load of *gestures broadly at everything* is completely exhausting. Late as this writeup might be, Agriculture was the show I needed as catharsis from reality.