Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Present Summer Music & Movies: Elected!

Walker Inside Out, Walker Art Center’s summerlong celebration of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden’s 20th anniversary, continues with

Summer Music & Movies

, the Walker and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board’s popular annual series of free concerts and film screenings in Loring Park. This year’s series, the 32nd installment, is presented Mondays July 14–August 18. Entitled

Elected!

, the films focus on Hollywood’s take on politics—from scalding satires of authoritarian regimes by the Marx Brothers to the romantic squabbling of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Featured are Duck Soup (July 14), The Senator Was Indiscreet (July 21), All the King’s Men (July 28), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (August 4), State of the Union (August 11), and The Manchurian Candidate (August 18).

The films are paired with a diverse selection of international and local bands, highlighted by the blending of melodic acoustic compositions and experimental tendencies of Chicago/L.A.-based ensemble Califone (August 18), featuring a series of gorgeous and personal hymnals delivered with the electro-rustic vocabulary of one of America’s most original bands. Other musical performers include the unique and inspiring Brit-pop of the Alarmists (July 14); the West African hip-hop sounds of M.anifest (July 21); Mark Mallman (July 28), the Minneapolis original whose live shows are the stuff of legend; the incessantly catchy indie pop of Mouthful of Bees (August 4); and the boogie, blues, and gospel mash-up of Black Audience (August 11). Celebrity DJs from 89.3 The Current spin music between the bands and films. Music begins at 7 pm; films at dusk (approximately 8:45 pm).

In case of rain, events are canceled unless otherwise noted. For more information, call 612.375.7600.

Copresented by the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.

Summer Music & Movies is sponsored by Lunds. Additional support is generously provided by The Hotel Minneapolis—a Doubletree Hotel, and Elizabeth Redleaf. Media partners City Pages and 89.3 The Current.

SUMMER MUSIC & MOVIES: ELECTED!

MONDAYS, JULY 14–AUGUST 18
LORING PARK, FREE
MUSIC BEGINS AT 7 PM; FILMS BEGIN AT DUSK (APPROX. 8:45 PM)

Monday, July 14
Music: The Alarmists
“Britpop melodies and sneer with the tautness and swagger of Spoon.” —City Pages

Young phenoms the Alarmists are ringing the bell for a new era in Minneapolis rock. Playing the hookiest ‘sota pop around and sparking breathless comparisons to Wilco, Radiohead, and Oasis, the band finds the perfect edge of jangle, indie, and electro. Come see the lads who are making audiences swell and critics gush.

DJ: Barb Abney

Movie: Duck Soup
Directed by Leo McCarey
Skewering the rise of fascism in Europe, the Marx Brothers cook up a series of belly laughs. With Groucho Marx installed as the dictator of the country of Freedonia, no one is left unscathed as his ineptitude brings the country to the brink of war with hilarious results. 1933, 16mm, 69 minutes.

Monday, July 21

Music: M.anifest
“A rapper from Ghana who’s as smart as Talib Kweli and as funky as Kanye West.” —Star Tribune

From Accra, Ghana, to the 6-1-2. Ghanian immigrant Kwame Tsikata, known as rapper M.anifest, was named City Pages “Songwriter of the Year” for his joyful, elegant, and sneaky, slightly snarky rhythm and rhyme. Mastering a seductive sound that gels West African roots, hip-hop, and soul with promise-filled lyrics that touch globally recognized themes of love and life, M.anifest is “out to be the best rapper of any nationality” (Star Tribune).

DJ: Steve Seel

Movie: The Senator Was Indiscreet
Directed by George S. Kaufman
In his directorial debut, playwright Kaufman spoofs the machinations of an ambitious but bumbling senator (William Powell) making a bid for the White House. When his bawdy, tell-all diary goes missing, the senator and those named in it must keep it out of the hands of the opposition at all costs. 1947, 16mm, 75 minutes.

Monday, July 28

Music: Mark Mallman
“Minneapolis’ own glam superstar has more heart than Interpol, less pretense than Franz Ferdinand, and a sense of retro that seems entirely genuine.” —All Music Guide

Piano lounge stylist, punk prevaricator, prolific performance-art rocker . . . meet the many moods of Mark Mallman. This 21st-century showman is on a relentlessly ironic search for songwriting exaltation and has built an ardent following for his legendary live shows, outrageous oeuvre of styles, and a “go-for-broke abandon that’s gawky and threatening and hilarious” (City Pages).

DJ: Jill Riley

Movie: All the King’s Men
Directed by Robert Rossen
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, this tale of the rise and fall of a corrupt politician (based on Louisiana governor Huey Long) swept the 1949 Oscars with Best Picture, Best Actor (Broderick Crawford), and Best Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge). 1949, 16mm, 109 minutes.

Monday, August 4

Music: Mouthful of Bees
“Songs so raucous they sound like they’re on the verge of implosion . . . insanely catchy . . . a combination of the Beatles and the Stooges.” —Vita.mn

Heads bob and pulses quicken when MoB launches into the poppy, hooky, punchy, groovy indie pop that’s made them a local sensation. Much more than a buzz band, their sound balances joyful bounce, sugar-coated sting, and brain-lodging melody as they edge toward “next big thing” status.

DJ: Bill DeVille

Movie: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Directed by Frank Capra
Thinking that they can control inexperienced, wide-eyed freshman Senator Smith (Jimmy Stewart), the political establishment is not prepared for his genuine commitment to service and democracy. When they try to crush him, he fights back to represent the ordinary citizen with one of the most passionate speeches ever filmed. Nominated for 11 Oscars. 1939, 16mm, 126 minutes.

Monday, August 11

Music: Black Audience
“Jayanthi’s great voice along with harmonies, a wicked percussion section, and fine melodies, sent chills down the spine.” —Life of Cyn

Join the hootenanny and dig the old blues for a new day. Topping many best new band lists, Black Audience—armed with washboards, banjos, spoons, and harps—delves deep into traditional sounds gone by with a disarming blend of rustic roots, twisted folk, and reimagined blues shot through with a gospel verve. Featuring Robin Kyle (Valet) and powerhouse vocalist Jayanthi Kyle.

DJ: Dave Campbell

Movie: State of the Union
Directed by Frank Capra
At the urging of newspaper manager Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury), aircraft tycoon Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. In order to put on a committed public front, he reunites with his estranged wife, Mary (Katharine Hepburn), who plays the loving wife despite knowing that her husband and Thorndyke are having an affair. 1948, 16mm, 121 minutes.

Monday, August 18*

Music: Califone
“Califone have always been stupidly underappreciated, and the further we stumble into the 21st century, the more this music starts to feel both familiar and necessary.” —Pitchfork

Soak into the sunset with the new soundtrack of Americana by the nationally acclaimed scrap folk collective Califone. Their noise-speckled roots-rock haunts and hums with blues riffs, down-home drones, found sounds, and organic beats—a gorgeously subtle sonic puzzle that sounds both futuristic and ancient. Don’t miss a rare free performance by this enigmatic Chicago/L.A.-based ensemble.

DJ: Mark Wheat

Movie: The Manchurian Candidate
Directed by John Frankenheimer
This taut thriller brilliantly captures the tension of the Cold War and McCarthy witch hunts of the late 1950s and early 60s. Captured and taken to Manchuria during the Korean War, a U.S. army troop is brainwashed. Upon their release, they’re treated as heroes, while their leader becomes an unwitting assassin controlled by his domineering mother (played by a chilling Angela Lansbury). “It may be the most sophisticated political satire ever made in Hollywood” (film critic Pauline Kael). 1962, 16mm, 126 minutes.

*Please Note: In case of rain, this event will be moved to the Walker Cinema. Seating is first come, first served.