Northern Spark 2013 in photos

As promised, a gallery and captions from my time at this year’s Northern Spark festival. Enjoy.

 

Never fails to shock me when I see a big crowd milling around downtown St. Paul. From living there, you realize how typically quiet it is after 5 p.m.

The 2 a.m. house burn commanded a large crowd along the Union Depot train tracks. Here, a firefighter looks to actually be IN the fire.

The house went up very quickly despite persistent rain showers. It smoldered for a good half hour.

A drumming exhibit had dual drummers pounding out four-four rock licks for hours. Audience members could sing along chants.

As a second-shifter, I was able to stay awake for the 4 a.m. Mississippi River ride.

The sun started coming up around 5 a.m. Here’s the High Bridge.

At this exhibit participants pushed buttons in front of a cipher of musicians, each with different instruments, to turn them off or on. I kept yelling “Silencio!” Or drum solo. Either or.

Sun is up. Here’s the name of the boat. It boarded at Shepherd Road and Sibley Street in Lowertown.

My favorite shot of the night. With Robert Street Bridge, the train tracks and Wabasha Street Bridge in the distance.

An appropriately screwy angle of a drab St. Paul building in the drab, misty St. Paul early morning. 6:30 a.m. Ready to fall over.

The back alley of the new Bedlam Theatre space. It has a very Lowertown, kind of seedy feel to it to go and smoke a cig and sip a beer.

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