I Still Love Rock & Roll

Although I've been enjoying a vast spectrum of musical genres lately, my true musical love is rock and roll. One of the best ways to hear full-tilt rock music live in concert is to hear the Minneapolis-based band Flipp perform. When I heard Flipp was returning to St. Cloud to play at the Red Carpet last Friday, I decided to join the rest of the local Flippheads to see the band perform at one of their favorite hangouts.

I got to the show just as the opening act Crashmatic was ending their set. This was a relatively new band that played a mix of originals and cover songs, and their edgier rock reminded me of the raw sounds of early AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Pantera albums. Overall, Crashmatic did a great job of warming up the Flipp fanatics who were anxiously awaiting the on-stage arrival of their favorite freaks.

At 11:30 p.m., Flipp frontman Brynn Arens greeted the crowd, who responded in kind with the customary Flipp one-finger salute (guess which finger if you don't already know), and the band launched into "Clone Me," the first track of their latest album, Volume. Flipp played several songs from this album like "La De Da," "Hairdo," "Oh Yeah," "Whole World's Sick," "Rock-N-Roll Star," and the single "Freak," as well as earlier fan favorites like "Half A Brain" and their slick covers of "My Generation" by The Who and John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane." Brynn even encouraged a few audience members at times to join the band on stage to sing lyrics and play his guitar parts, much to the delight of the crowded house.

Multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Chia Karaoke performed up to his usual standards of excellence on guitar, tambourine, cowbell, backing vocals and even Flipp cereal (which is something you just have to see live to appreciate!). Drummer Kilo Bale pounded the skins with reckless abandon, and bassist/space traveler (and St. Cloud native) Freaky Useless impressed me with his impassioned bass playing. I was also thrilled to see the return of his trademark jetpack/voice box towards the end of the show. Brynn was roaming the stage jamming on guitar and vocals, making sure that every member of the audience was having an awesome time.

At the end of the show, I left the Red Carpet as part of a sea of people with wide grins on their faces, as we talked animatedly about how much Flipp rocked. This was the second time I've seen Flipp play in St. Cloud this year, and I've been impressed by their energetic performances each time. If you want to see a great hard-rocking band perform, go to one of Flipp's concerts, and you'll see that what I've said before is true: you simply can't go away unhappy after their shows!