Hey there!
2
Tone Runts has a couple midwest dates coming up next week! It will be
awesome! Catch us at the venue before doors for a chance us to hang and
maybe do some tailgating. We love veggie burgers and energy drinks :)
Help us promote the show in your city! Check out our facebook page
and download the poster for your show! Print it off put it up every
where! Let us know if you want some high quality pdfs! And if you're
already doing some awesome promotion, let us know!
Friday, August 13 Kimberly, WI Tanner's Grill and Bar - 7pm - All Ages with Car Full of Midgets and Cold Feet facebook event Saturday, August 14
Lake Villa, IL
Swing State - 5pm - All Ages
with Nose Goes, False Dichotomy, and Fairview facebook event Sunday, August 15
Royal Oak, MI
Club 309 - 7pm - All Ages
with Real Life, St. Thomas Boys Academy, and Clear Blue Ska. facebook event
SEE YOU THERE!
~Tyrus
7.2.10
We got a big Minneapolis show coming up on July 17 with Umbrella Bed, Secondhand Ska Kings and The Ruckus at the Red Sea. Check out our Shows page.
In other news, on our recent trip to the U.S.
Social Forum in Detroit, or van's transmission took a turn for the
worse. In the pouring rain we were towed from Eau Claire, WI back to
Minneapolis. The van is going to cost more to fix then it is worth. We
have more tour dates with Car Full of Midgets coming up in August
that we will need a new van for. Please help us continue to tour by
donating to our new van fund.
2 Tone Runts was just featured on The Flyover Ska Show hosted by our good friend Courtney from MNska.com. You can also hear Green Room Rockers and Midriff on the show! Check it our here!
4.24.10
JUST ANNOUNCED! The largest and longest-running ska
festival in the Midwest, Skappleton, will be taking
place on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at Tanner’s Bar in Kimberly, WI. The
first wave of bands have been announced:
More bands to be announced! This is a great opportunity to check out
some of the up-and-coming ska bands in the Midwest and is a great
opportunity to meet up with fellow ska-lovers. We at MNSKA will keep
you posted on the details surround this year’s Skappleton!
Live videos from our show at the Red Sea on April 17th!
3.25.10
NEW LIVE VIDEO FROM OUR MINI-TOUR!
"On The Front Line" Live at Swing State
3.22.10
CONTEST: TICKET GIVEAWAY! MNSKA.com just announced another contest. The
red-hot Indiana soul-reggae band the Green Room Rockers
are coming back to Minneapolis, MN to play an ALL AGES show at The
Red Sea (320 Cedar Ave) on Saturday, April 17th.
Special guests include 3 MNSKA bands: The Prizefighters,2 Tone Runts, and Midriff. The doors
are at 5 pm and show is at 6pm.
You can enter to win tickets by emailing Courtney at mnskanews@gmail.com.
Be sure to include ‘Green Room Rockers’ in the subject line. He will
randomly draw a winner on Thursday, April 15th. Good
luck, everyone and remember…it’s just like the lotto: you gotta be in
it, to win it!
3.11.10
ALL AGES MINNEAPOLIS SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT!
If you haven't seen Green Room Rockers before, you need to come to this show. They are some of the most talented guys I've seen take to the stage and there only in town for one night.
2.15.10 Check out this article from Lavender Magazine!
RENT Returns
by John Townsend
Featuring Cast of Local Band Performers
It has been 14 years since the death of Jonathan Larson, as well as
the Broadway launch of the landmark rock musical he left behind. RENT,
for which he posthumously won the Tony Award for Best Musical and the
Pulitzer Prize for Best Play, resonated with a younger generation,
because of its direct portrayal of queerness, interracial love,
economic collapse, addiction, and HIV/AIDS. It signified, despite
conventional market wisdom, that mainstream America was not only
willing but also hungry for a juicy inquiry into these subjects.
Photo Courtesy of Cardinal Theatricals
RENT, a hip reimagining of Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme, went
on to run for 12 years, making it the eighth-longest-running musical in
Broadway history. The terrific 2005 film version, despite mixed reviews
ranging from glowing to negative, since has found its niche as a cult
classic.
Locally, RENT has a significant Twin Cities connection. Original
producer Kevin McCollum, who became President of St. Paul’s Ordway
Center soon after the Broadway opening, brought us its marvelous
national tours. Young new theater-goers and stuffy older folks beheld
the revolutionary musical together.
In the rock sensation’s farewell tour 11 months ago, original stars
Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp played the Orpheum in Minneapolis. The
night I attended, the audience went wild! Some criticized the two stars
for being too old for the roles more than a dozen years after they
premiered them, but for the audience, the experience was utterly
visceral, and for some, downright hysterical.
However, a new generation here in Minnesota is discovering RENT for
the first time, not as an audience, but as the ensemble that actually
performs it. Cardinal Theatricals has found a way into the script that
cuts right to the jugular of Larson’s deepest-held vision of what the
musical is all about. Director Andrew Rasmussen’s actors have made
their marks individually in local bands, and some have been
homeless—something RENT’s characters must take a stand against.
Cast members have played solo acts at First Avenue and Aqua. Some
come from bands like Far From Falling, 2 Tone Runts, and Dreamchyld.
Soul Cafe fave Jamecia Bennett, who plays lesbian Joanne, was named
Lavender’s Best Musical Actress 2007 for Penumbra’s Get Ready.
Rasmussen says, “The show seeks a raw kind of talent, and lends
itself to people from nontraditional venues,” adding, “The show has
amazing themes of friendship, community, and hope.”
Bucking the odds, Rasmussen’s staging was a hit late last year in
ultraconservative St. Cloud for the Great River Educational Arts
Theatre. The cast also has performed excerpts for St. Joan of Arc
Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
Queer audiences love RENT’s romance between Angel and Tom Collins.
Kinaundre Williams, of 2 Tone Runts, who plays Angel, notes, “This
is my first time doing drag, so the costume is part of the battle.
Also, it’s been cool getting to know the type of character Angel is.
She’s cool, caring, kindhearted, giving. And each day, she literally
lives to the fullest.”
RENT challenges Williams because the performer has relatives living with AIDS.
Lorin Yenor, who portrays Tom Collins, admits he had some
inhibitions about the kissing involved, but shares, “Andrew, just by
his tone, helped ease those nerves. And I got to know our Angel pretty
well by working with [Kinaundre] in St. Cloud, because we carpooled out
there. Getting over that shyness was great. Our relationship has become
very natural onstage. I love the fact that we are as comfortable with
each other as we are.”
Indeed, that comfort level and intimate vulnerability make for
passionate theater. Sounds like Rasmussen is onto something by casting
actors who are unafraid to get to know one another, and who bravely
draw from their own edgy experience outside the mainstream to make RENT
the show it’s meant to be.
RENT
Through Feb. 21
Lab Theater, 700 N. 1st St., Mpls.
www.rentminneapolislive.com
2.08.10 2 New shows announced in Minneapolis! One 21+ and one ALL AGES!
1.22.10 Our next big show is only ONE WEEK away! We're offering up 2 FREE TICKETS
to the first person to name the tune and artist we are covering in our
latest video update posted below.
Just e-mail the answer to 2tonerunts@gmail.com and we'll contact you if you are the winner! See you at the show!
Friday, January 29th The Red Sea 320 Cedar Ave S. Minneapolis, MN
Hear some of the new songs we've been working
on and meet our new organ/guitarist Dan Weides. His first show with us
will be on January 29th at the Red Sea in Minneapolis. Don't miss us.
If you would like fliers or posters for the show, send us an e-mail at
2tonerunts@gmail.com.
Raise a fist in the air…and wave it ’round like you just don’t care. Time to take to the streets and speak out for human rights with Twin Cities ska band 2 Tone Runts. And be careful, because tear gas and pepper spray really sting!
Track of the Day: “On The Front Line” by 2 Tone Runts from the album On The Front Line
This episode is brought to you by MNSKA, Minnesota’s Ska Community. If you are in a ska or reggae influenced band and would like to be featured on the show, email Courtney at MSM@fancypantsgangsters.com.
12.01.09
Request us on the Current, everyday. Do it :)
9.29.09
Check out our new drummer, Greg Futchi!
9.14.09 Our next show in Minneapolis is on Saturday, October 17th, with our friends The Projection from Illinois, Zero's Heroes, and Corp D. We will be performing at Eclipse Records located at 1922 University Ave. W in St. Paul, Minnesota. Music Starts at 7pm! See you there!
8.16.09
Thank you for all your support. We were able to purchase a van and we took it to the East Coast with us for an awesome tour. Here's to many more great shows.
7.13.09
On The Front Line is now available for digital download on iTunes and Amazon.com
On July 26th, we will be having a fund raising dinner to buy a van for our next tour. Help us out. Donate Here!
7.9.09
South High students
Zach McCormick, Joe McKenzie and Aaron Mayer created "21 and Under: The
TCU and the Minneapolis All Ages Music Scene," a video about the TC
Underground and its demise. They produced the piece with help from the
Minneapolis Television Network (MTN) through the Voices program.
The Video features members of 2 Tone Runts. Check it out!
6.4.09
NEW SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT: We will be playing with The Briggs, Left Alone, and Violent Shifters on Tuesday, July 14 at the Triple Rock.
5.16.09 Day one of Skappleton is going awesome! We just finished playing and are excited to hear the rest of the bands. Don't miss day two tomorrow at the Triple Rock. Doors open at 5pm (Don't Be LATE)
So if you haven't heard, let me confirm right now, 2 Tone Runts will be playing on the Kevin Says Stage at Warped Tour on August 2nd in Minneapolis! We will have more update throughout the summer. Big thanks to Earn It Yourself, not only for choosing us to play, but for the awesome work that is done on their website. Catch all the updates about the stage on Twitter twitter.com/KevinSaysStage
5.04.09 Skappleton is right around the corner! Not only were we invited to play the main festival in Kimberly, WI, but we are also playing a second date at The Triple Rock in Minneapolis on the 17th. On May 16th, be sure to get there early. Doors are at noon! myspace.com/skappleton
Our next show in Minneapolis is on Saturday, October 17th, with our friends The Projection from Illinois, Zero's Heroes, and Corp D. We will be performing at 
