This is about Poster Children, a band from Champaign, Illinois, who have existed in various incarnations from 1987 to the present day in 2026. Although they are not from the Twin Cities, I’m including them with the local bands, because they hail from the Midwest, and there has always been a special bond between the band and their fans in Mpls. And if you really want to get technical about it, Champaign-Urbana are considered Twin Cities in their own right, so I’m sticking with it.
Poster Children are a special kind of band that encapsulates the whole “indie” ethos more than a lot of bands that wear that tag on their sleeve. They set a pretty high standard pretty much from the start, and yet they don’t brag about themselves, although it would certainly be justifiable if they did. I’m not just talking about their music either – they run their own label, they were doing blogs and podcasts years before anyone else, and are still going strong, almost forty years later.
I could go on forever about this band, but it might just make more sense if you just head over to the official Poster Children website.
What follows is a handful of live recordings which the band has graciously allowed me to share on Live Music Archive with other past, present and future fans.
[links to recordings provided in posts below]
1987:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Shannon Drew: drums (1987 – 1988)
1988:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Brendan Gamble: drums (1988 – 1989)
1989:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Jeff Dimpsey [Hum]: guitar (1989 – 1991)
Mike Rader: drums (1989 – 1990)
1990:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Jeff Dimpsey [Hum]: guitar (1989 – 1991)
Bob Rising: drums (1990 – 1991)
1991 – 1992:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Jim Valentin: guitar (1991 – present)
John Herndon [Tortoise]: drums (1991 – 1993)
1993 – 2001:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Jim Valentin: guitar (1991 – present)
Howie Kantoff: drums (1993 – 2001)
2001 – 2026:
Rose Marshack: bass guitar, backing vocals (1987 – present)
Rick Valentin: vocals, guitar (1987 – present)
Jim Valentin: guitar (1991 – present)
Matt Friscia: drums (2001 – present)
Poster Children • 1990-12-16
Mpls, MN • Uptown Bar & Grill
Bill:
Hum
Poster Children
Arcwelder
I didn’t have a venue calendar for this date, but the bill was listed on the setlist.fm site, which raises the question as to why I didn’t record all three bands that night? I’m pretty sure that I targeted the Poster Children set based on a promo cassette they sent me of the Flower Plower album, although I’m not sure if that was in conjunction with my own zine, The New Puritan ReView, or Your Flesh Magazine, as I was pretty busy with both that year.
That promo tape barely prepared me for the powerful set the band delivered that night. Fifteen minutes into the set, and this was already my new favorite band. Setting a tone for their future career in rock, it was already evident that they were not going to remain in one mode of expression for too long. Performing only a few tracks from the current album, as well as both tracks from the excellent single on SubPop, they stormed through nine of the twelve tracks that would appear on Daisychain Reaction, which would be released the following year, and to this day, remains one of my favorite albums of all time.
2, 8, 12 from : Flower Plower (1989)
3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16 from : Daisychain Reaction (1991)
5, 13 from: SubPop single (1990)
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Poster Children • 1991-05-18
Mpls, MN • Uptown Bar & Grill
Bill:
Poster Children
Superball 63
I don’t recall if Superball 63 had been on my radar before this night, but it turned out I knew two of the band members, so I was able to make up for not recording them on this occasion a couple of nights later.
Poster Children once again surpassed any expectations one might have brought with them, by leaping into the future as much delving into their past, previewing three new songs that would eventually turn up two years later on the Tool Of The Man LP, plus another track that would only surface on a UK single. At least half the set consisted of songs from Daisychain Reaction, which was a terrific way to introduce the band to all the friends and co-workers I managed to convince to show up that night. Good times!
2, 5, 12, 17 from: Flower Plower (1989)
3, 11 from: SubPop single (1990)
6, 8, 10, 14, 16, 24, 27 from: Daisychain Reaction (1991)
19, 23, 25 from: Tool Of The Man (1993)
21 from: Clock Street UK single / Bonus unreleased track on 3 Songs From “Tool Of The Man” US promo (1993)
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Poster Children • 1993-11-29
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Superchunk
Poster Children
Balloon Guy
live sound: Randy Hawkins
What an amazing bill! Playing a mid-slot meant having to make some tough choices for the setlist, but they exploded onto the stage and kept the energy level high from start to finish. Kicking off with the first three tracks on the current album, then once again looking to the future with a couple of tracks that wouldn’t appear on record for another two years, giving a slight nod to past classics before skyrocketing ahead for the grand finale. Poster Children really had their work cut out for them, having to condense so much great material into a compact supporting slot, but then again, Superchunk had their work cut out as well, having to follow a set like this! A truly great night of music!
2, 3, 4 from: Tool Of The Man (1993)
5, 6 from: Junior Citizen (1995)
8, 10, 14 from: Daisychain Reaction (1991)
12, 15 from: Just Like You EP (1995)
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Poster Children • 1997-09-14
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
I don’t recall anything about the opening bands – sorry! – but in my defense I was most likely working at the venue that night, which meant letting the deck run on autopilot, while I was running back and forth, only catching some of this set in person. What a set, though! Performing half of the current album, which also marked a departure from the Twin/Tone roster, and making sure to represent just about every previous release, made for a well-balanced rock set that kept everyone on their toes until the last fading note of Where We Live.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent venue known as First Avenue, Aphex Twin and Sneaker Pimps performed an all-ages show, which technically means that Poster Children had top billing that night. Sweet!
1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 16 from: RTFM (1997)
2, 11/12, 13 from Junior Citizen (1995)
5, 18 from: Just Like You EP (1994)
9 from: Flower Plower (1989)
10, 20 from: Daisychain Reaction (1991)
14, 17 from: Tool Of The Man (1993)
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Poster Children • 2000-04-22
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Poster Children
December’s Architects
Mollycuddle
I don’t recall the circumstances that caused me to be so late to the venue for this show, but I’d have to reckon that it may have had something to do with public transit, and if the band hadn’t obliged the crowd with six more songs across three encores, I might have only ended up with the last fifteen minutes of the main set. I have no idea what the rest of the set might have included, although I’d have to reckon it might have included more tracks from the current album, DDD.
Still twelve-ish songs is roughly the equivalent of their full sets from almost ten years earlier, so I’m just grateful for what I was able to capture. The line-up included Howie Kantoff, who also played with Rick, Rose and Jim in Salaryman.
Did I mention how rowdy the crowd was? It seemed that they tried to calm things down by closing with Where We Live in the second encore, but the crowd was not going to let that happen. Rose attempted to initiate a Q+A with the audience, but that quickly took an unexpected left turn, and the band bounced back with the anthemic Not Like You.
This was not the last time I saw Poster Children, but it did end up being the last time I recorded them. This marked the second of three times over the years that my attempts to record them just seemed to be jinxed. The first was when they shared a bill with Brick Layer Cake and Fugazi, on 15 November 1998 at First Avenue – there was some confusion regarding set times, and I showed up just as they were finishing the last song of their set. The last time I saw them was on 4 August 2018, at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon. Apparently I got the set times wrong once again, and somehow managed to arrive as they were very near the end of their set, although at least I managed to get a few video clips from that show. Sheesh.
Here’s what the band was representing on that wild night in Minneapolis:
1 from: Copyright (2001)
2, 3: from DDD (2000)
4, 10 from: RTFM (1997)
6, 19 from: Just Like You EP (1994)
7, 14, 15 from: Daisychain Reaction (1991)
8, 12 from: Junior Citizen (1995)
11 from: Tool Of The Man (1993)
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
It is well worth your time to track down any of the band’s releases!
Some of their releases can be purchased directly from the band:
More releases can be found on the band’s own label – Twelve Inch Records
Other releases by the band are listed on the listed on the discogs site
If you can find a copy, pick up the book Play Like a Man: My Life in Poster Children, by Rose Marshack
Also, tune in to Rick + Rose on their Radio Zero podcast
Download or stream all sets by Poster Children from Live Music Archive
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