Middle of the Map Fest, night one: the Casket Lottery, Minden, A Lull, and more

Because I knew it was going to be a long, crazy weekend, I decided to begin my Friday night with a little calm before the storm: a couple of ice-cold beers during the sound check at RecordBar. As I sat with the bar’s staff and a few of the musicians slated to play later in the night, people chatted about which shows they were most excited to catch over the weekend and their particular strategies for covering four venues. I was determined to catch a front-row view of the Casket Lottery reunion show at Riot Room that night, so I was lucky to catch the El Ten Eleven sound check during my pre-show chill session.

The amount of sound that bassist and guitarist Kristian Dunn (who plays a double-neck bass onstage) and drummer Tim Fogarty can cull out of their instruments is more than impressive. El Ten Eleven sat before us in the empty bar and rocked out handmade electronic beats and lush layered sound. The sound check was so good, I almost felt OK about having to miss the band’s performance later in the night.