This is about Polara, a band that existed in Minneapolis, MN during the years 1994 – 2019, established in 1994 by guitarist / vocalist / producer Ed Ackerson, on the heels of his former groups, The 27 Various, and The Dig. Polara radically subverted the psychedelic pop of Ed’s previous bands, mixing in a heavy dose of Krautrock and electronica with a futuristic spin on mod beat grooves.
What follows are a handful of live recordings which Ed Ackerson has graciously allowed me to record back in the day, and which Ashley Ackerson has generously allowed to be shared on Live Music Archive with other past, present and future fans.
The extended Polara Family:
Ed Ackerson [Flowers Studio, Susstones, 27 Various, BNLX, Capricorn One, Sideways, The Dig] : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens [Siscera, The Wahinis, Ginger] : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris [The Terrarium, The Hot] : Bass, Vocals [1994 – 1998]
Matt Wilson [E Brown, Trip Shakespeare] : Drums [1994]
Peter Anderson [Honeydogs, Iffy, Saucer, Willie Wisely Trio] : Drums [circa 1995 – ]
Erik Mathison : Drums [circa 1997] [Balloon Guy]
Dan Boen : Bass [circa 1998]
Polara • 1994-11-12
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
cassette side A (28:52.39):
[01] start (00:11.55)
[02] Letter Bomb (03:58.05)
[03] Allay (04:18.33)
[04] interim / comments (00:12.39)
[05] Listening Now (05:10.05)
[06] interim / comments (01:11.42)
[07] Source Of Light (03:08.35)
[08] interim / tuning (01:57.00)
[09] Anniversary 6 (04:08.13)
[10] interim / comments (00:52.01)
[11] Avenue E (03:44.36)
cassette side B (27:02.72):
[12] Squelch (06:10.60)
[13] interim / comments (00:19.41)
[14] Scorched Youth Policy (02:07.73)
[15] interim (00:08.58)
[16] One Foot (02:43.54) >
[17] A+B=Y (05:32.50)
[18] interim / comments (00:46.64)
[19] Counting Down (05:41.41)
encore:
[20] interim / applause (00:33.49)
[21] Taupe [Ed – solo] (02:57.32)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Matt Wilson : Drums
Mainroom / early show:
Lisa Germano
Pale Saints
Entry / late show:
Polara
Red Red Meat
Grow Like Topsy
Nectarine
1994 had been a rough year in and out of the indie music community. The grunge scene lost one of its most celebrated icons, and within a couple of months, the ripple effect hit us closer to home, stealing away one of our own. On a personal level, I was beginning to think I was working in the wrong industry altogether, seriously began to question why I ever wanted to book bands, or even write about artists or promote hem in any manner, when it seemed they were mostly being propelled into a spiral of self-destruction. This was the second to last show I recorded in Minneapolis, before packing it in and hitting the road for a while on a nomadic soul-searching journey to self-discovery.
Before that would happen, though, I needed to catch up with a few old friends in the hopes of chasing away some of the gloom, and this was definitely the ticket to perk up anyone’s spirits. Grow Like Topsy was a brilliant group I had been booking earlier in the year, and it was great to see them one last time. This night was all about saving the best for last, and Polara illuminated the dingy Entry atmosphere like pure white supersonic light. In just under an hour, Polara soared through all but one of the tracks from their self-titled debut masterpiece, also premiering a recently recorded single, and winding down with a solo encore finale from Ed. This remains one of my all-time favorite sets from the group, although I would see them continue to grow and amaze fans for years to come.
Both sides of this cassette fade in and out on their respective sides, and the last track is clearly copied from another cassette; all indicating that this may actually be a 1st-gen copy (possibly a hi-speed dub) – in which case, I would have definitely given the original master to Ed. No one else has ever heard this until now. What this recording might lack in fidelity, I think is more than made up for with the high-spirited energetic performance it contains. Hope you can dig it!
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1995-04-06
Chicago, IL • Lounge Ax
[01] start (00:49.52)
[02] Source Of Light (03:23.41)
[03] Allay (04:28.16)
[04] interim (00:26.33)
[05] Listening Now (05:21.49)
[06] interim (00:17.19)
[07] Letter Bomb (03:50.08)
[08] interim (00:31.53)
[09] Anniversary 6 (05:01.51)
[10] interim (00:18.49)
[11] Avenue E (04:10.71)
[12] interim (00:30.09)
[13] Scorched Youth Policy (01:42.49) >
[14] Squelch (05:06.01)
[15] interim (01:01.51)
[16] Attrition (03:17.13) >
[17] A+B=Y (05:16.14) >
[18] Counting Down (05:20.29)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Matt Wilson : Drums
Bill:
Guided By Voices
Polara
Tape received in trade.
Recorded by: Steve Nelson and Gayle Silverman
Transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1995-10-02
Minneapolis, MN • First Avenue
[01] start (00:20.38)
[02] Letter Bomb (03:57.37)
[03] Allay (04:06.14)
[04] Listening Now (05:54.48)
[05] Transformation (03:22.17)
[06] interim / grasshopper joke (00:39.53)
[07] Anniversary 6 (04:55.70)
[08] interim (00:28.66)
[09] Source Of Light (03:11.33)
[10] Other Side (04:03.51)
[11] interim / tuning (00:49.34)
[12] Scorched Youth Policy (01:46.34)
[13] interim / comments (00:11.70)
[14] Confusing Times (04:09.06) >
[15] Counting Down (03:54.38)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Spiritualized
Polara
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1995-10-20
Austin, TX • Electric Lounge
[01] Intro (04:53.70)
[02] Letter Bomb (03:51.71)
[03] Allay (03:55.01)
[04] Listening Now (05:30.23)
[05] interim (00:25.26)
[06] Anniversary 6 (05:05.44)
[07] Avenue E (04:11.74)
[08] interim (00:15.05)
[09] Scorched Youth Policy (01:47.19)
[10] Other Side (03:59.24) >
[11] A+B=Y (05:00.22) >
[12] Counting Down (04:49.25)
[13] end runout (00:20.05)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Spiritualized
Polara
Tape received in trade
Recorded by: Steve Nelson & Gayle Silverman
Transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1996-02-09
Minneapolis MN • First Avenue
[01] intro (02:08.38)
[02] Incoming (03:27.63)
[03] Transformation (03:33.61)
[04] Other Side (04:43.08)
[05] interim (00:12.18)
[06] Light The Fuse And Run (03:36.33)
[07] Elasticity (05:06.68)
[08] Scorched Youth Policy (01:41.49)
[09] Confusing Times (03:35.37)
[10] interim / comments (00:54.59)
[11] Quebecois (03:33.29)
[12] end runout (00:53.07)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Balloon Guy
Polara
Mountain Singers
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1997-04-22
Minneapolis, MN • Let It Be Records
[01] start (00:57.02)
[02] Quebecois (03:23.48)
[03] interim / comments (00:25.45)
[04] So Sue Me (02:29.09)
[05] interim (00:11.10)
[06] Idle Hands (03:17.19)
[07] interim / comments (00:29.17)
[08] A+B=Y (04:00.11)
[09] Pantomime (04:09.33)
[10] interim / comments (00:41.08)
[11] Sort It Out (03:54.40)
[12] interim / comments (00:53.35)
[13] Transformation (03:40.16)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
This was a special in-store performance to celebrate the release of the newly-released album, C’Est la Vie. Six songs from the new CD, plus one from the last release. The band personalized a copy for me, a photo of which is included here.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1997-05-02
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
cassette side A (40:18.46):
[01] start (00:47.05)
[02] Quebecois (03:26.65)
[03] Letter Bomb (04:05.44)
[04] Idle Hands (03:35.53)
[05] Allay (04:07.46)
[06] interim (00:18.72)
[07] Make It Easy (03:25.22)
[08] Light The Fuse And Run (03:38.31)
[09] Other Side (04:11.62)
[10] interim (00:17.16)
[11] Transformation (03:39.63)
[12] interim (00:42.38)
[13] Sort It Out (03:58.08)
[14] interim (00:33.36)
[15] So Sue Me (03:30.10)
cassette side B (21:09.57):
[16] Source Of Light (04:42.46)
[17] Incoming (03:25.51)
[18] interim / tuning (00:10.58)
[19] Pantomime (02:51.32)
[20] interim / crowd (00:12.32)
encore:
[21] interim / comments (00:40.56)
[22] So Sue Me (02:23.13)
[23] interim / comments (00:41.41)
[24] A+B=Y (05:44.60)
[25] end runout (00:16.43)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Polara
ESPs
Silkworm
Little Princess
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1997-05-03
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
cassette side A (42:00):
[01] start (00:27.17)
[02] Quebecois (03:27.34)
[03] Letter Bomb (04:07.65)
[04] Idle Hands (03:34.06)
[05] Allay (04:14.05)
[06] interim / comments (00:16.48)
[07] Make It Easy (03:25.13)
[08] interim / comments (00:33.27)
[09] Light The Fuse And Run (03:31.43)
[10] Other Side (04:28.65)
[11] interim / comments (00:28.13)
[12] Transformation (03:34.57)
[13] interim / comments (00:37.56)
[14] Sort It Out (04:01.25)
[15] interim / comments (01:41.08)
[16] So Sue Me [slow version] (03:31.22)
cassette side B (18:10):
[17] interim (00:10.26)
[18] Source Of Light (03:16.09)
[19] Incoming (03:38.69)
[20] Pantomime (03:28.70)
encore:
[21] interim (01:27.46)
[22] Counting Down (05:11.60)
[23] end runout (00:56.51)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Polara
Olivia Tremor Control
Neutral Milk Hotel
This was immediately following an early 3pm All-Ages bill which featured:
Sleater Kinney
Lifter Puller
Calvin Krime
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1997-05-04
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
early 3pm All-Ages show
cassette side A (41:13.19):
[01] start (00:25.57)
[02] Quebecois (03:29.35)
[03] Letter Bomb (03:49.37)
[04] interim / comments (00:22.17)
[05] Idle Hands (03:38.70)
[06] Allay (04:13.61)
[07] Make It Easy (03:22.48)
[08] Light The Fuse And Run (03:29.22)
[09] Other Side (04:22.74)
[10] Transformation (03:50.18)
[11] Sort It Out (03:53.45)
[12] interim / comments (00:14.48)
[13] So Sue Me (02:18.35)
[14] interim / comments (00:32.72)
[15] Source Of Light (03:08.55)
cassette side B (08:58.30):
[16] Incoming (03:32.17)
[17] interim / comments (00:3824)
[18] Pantomime (03:48.21)
[19] interim / comments / no encore (00:37.40)
[20] end runout (00:22.03)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Jason Orris : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Polara
February
Nectar
This was an early 3pm All-Ages show.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1998-04-04
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
cassette side A (48:34.08):
[01] start (00:45.43)
[02] Pantomime (02:40.11)
[03] interim (00:19.46)
[04] A Brighter Day (03:46.40)
[05] interim (00:11.72)
[06] Trainwreck (04:30.62)
[07] interim (00:12.48)
[08] Whassup? (03:59.35) >
[09] Midtown Greenway (02:19.70)
[10] interim (00:09.68)
[11] Halo (03:06.38) >
[12] Peaking Charlie (01:30.34)
[13] interim (00:15.01)
[14] I Can Believe (01:47.07)
[15] interim (00:17.21)
[16] Semi-detached (03:45.21)
[17] Got The Switch! (04:34.56)
[18] interim (00:14.41)
[19] So Sue Me (03:24.39)
[20] interim (00:31.24)
[21] Tread Lightly (04:07.41)
[22] Light The Fuse And Run [version] (06:03.15)
cassette side B (09:33):
[23] interim (00:24.31)
[24] Verbing (04:05.01)
[25] interim / comments (00:39.63)
[26] Counting Down [acoustic version] (03:52.33)
[27] end runout (00:32.02)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Dan Boen : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Polara
Lunar 9
Sukpatch
Live sound: Nick Settich [?]
I recorded this entire evening while working in the ticket booth, monitoring my deck with headphones. So, Although I saw very little of the show, I could hear most of it from the Entry foyer while ringing up admissions.
Curiously, the recordings I made of the opening bands on this bill were an on the fly soundboard / room matrix mix, but this recording seems to be strictly a room recording. Possibly the person running sound for Polara re-routed some cabling and I lost those line outputs in the process. Just as odd is the brand of cassette I used to record this [Memorex CD2 110] – it’s completely unfamiliar to me, and may well be the only one of it’s kind in my entire archives, so it’s likely that I recorded over something else.
There is a bit of over-saturation on some of the louder songs [tracks 2, 8, 21] in this set. Possibly I was running 3 PZMs, or powering the mics with 12v batteries instead of 1.5v.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1998-07-25
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
cassette side A (43:58.19):
[01] start (02:08.66)
[02] Pantomime (03:01.18)
[03] Letter Bomb (04:03.36)
[04] A Brighter Day (04:05.15)
[05] interim / comments (00:25.72)
[06] Sort It Out (04:07.68)
[07] Trainwreck (04:37.26)
[08] Whassup? (06:12.32)
[09] interim / comments (00:47.69)
[10] Halo (02:54.13) >
[11] Peaking Charlie (01:34.68)
[12] I Can Believe (01:47.61)
[13] Corporate Hegemony (Smash The State!) (04:15.66)
[14] Tread Lightly (03:55.09)
cassette side B (17:51):
[15] Light The Fuse And Run [slow version] (05:38.28)
[16] Counting Down (05:14.40)
[17] interim / comments (02:26.09)
encore:
[18] Semi-detached (04:32.43)
*post-show:
[19] end runout (26:07)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Dan Boen : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Polara
John Strohm
Lunar 9
Live sound: Nick Settich
*Track 19 is absolutely not necessary, unless you long to hear the ambience of the Entry after a show, from more than a quarter of a century ago.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Polara • 1999-04-03
Minneapolis, MN • 7th St. Entry
cassette side A (13:23.72):
[01] unidentified title [who are you hiding from] (01:21.66) [beginning truncated]
[02] interim / comments (00:41.37)
[03] I Can Believe (01:41.54)
[04] interim (00:28.25)
[05] All Is Fair Is Fair (04:59.05)
[06] interim (00:25.03)
[07] Light The Fuse And Run (03:46.32)
cassette side B (41:56.14):
[08] interim / comments (01:08.29)
[09] Semi-Detached (03:50.32)
[10] interim (00:13.43)
[11] unidentified title [get it back together now] (03:41.08)
[12] interim (00:08.20)
[13] Wig On (05:21.41)
[14] interim / comments (00:24.72)
[15] unidentified title [you seem a little bit different] (03:54.63)
[16] interim / tuning (00:15.71)
[17] Jetpack Blues (04:32.42)
[18] interim / crowd (00:30.30)
[19] interim / comments (02:00.25)
[20] Quebecois (03:38.63)
[21] interim / comments (00:18.56)
[22] Faster And Higher (04:41.71)
[23] interim / encore (02:25.16)
[24] Pantomime (04:28.42)
[25] end runout (00:20.49)
Ed Ackerson : Guitar, Vocals
Jennifer Jurgens : Keyboards, Vocals
Dan Boen : Bass, Vocals
Peter Anderson : Drums
Bill:
Polara
Lunar 9
Myriad
Live sound: Dan Turnlund [?]
This recording marks the last time I ever saw Polara.
Somehow, over the years, this cassette became separated from the case and whatever notes might have originally been attached, so figuring out the date, etc, required a bit of sleuthing.
At the end of the regular set (prior to the encore), Ed mentions that Lunar 9 and Myriad played on this bill.
At the end of the set, the sound person announces “tomorrow is Easter Sunday” and “Vader and Goreguts 2 shows in the Entry”.
- A Vader / Goreguts bill did take place on April 5 1999 [Monday].
- Easter Sunday in 1999 was April 4.
Based on this information, my best estimate is that this Polara show took place on Saturday April 3, 1999.
This was confirmed by documentation in Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) pg 117
The first song is missing the first couple of minutes [?], so my best guess is that I was racing to the show from my day job, although it seems that the tape was flipped after recording only 13 minutes, so that might suggest there was some kind of deck malfunction. All these years later, it remains a bit of a conundrum.
There are also a few songs performed in this set that I can’t seem to identify from any of the band’s exisiting releases, but perhaps it will come to me later. It is what it is.
This is definitely an audience recording – no indication of a SBD feed in the mix. It sounds like it was recorded on a portable deck with an external mic, in contrast to my usual ceiling-mounted PZM set up.
This fileset is a raw 24 bit / 48kHz analog > digital transfer from what seems to be a 1st-generation raw un-edited copy; no further processing has been applied in the analog > digital transfer.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
I always say this (only because it’s true!), but it is well worth your time to track down any of the band’s releases:
First and foremost, I would direct your attention to the Official Polara bandcamp page
…where most of the full-length releases and a few singles (physical and digital) can be found
Secondly, there is also the Susstones bandcamp page
…featuring BNLX, Ed Ackerson solo releases, The 27 Various, The Dig, The Mood Swings and much more!
Of course if all other avenues are exhausted, there are a few other things that have been spotted on the discogs site
Download or stream all sets by Polara from Live Music Archive
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