This is about Arcwelder, a band from Minneapolis, who have existed from 1987 to the present day in 2026.
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. There are still several earlier recordings I have yet to upload to LMA, and there are also several recordings made by other audio archivists which are hosted there as well. So what are you waiting for? Get over there and start rockin’ out already!
[links to recordings provided in posts below]
Scott MacDonald : drummer / singer
Rob Graber : bassist / guitarist
Bill Graber : bassist / guitarist / singer
Arcwelder • 1993-03-20
Mpls, MN • Let It Be Records
Here’s something one doesn’t see every day – a nearly acoustic set from Arcwelder, celebrating the release of their 1993 LP, Pull. I say “nearly”, because it sounds like the bass may have been plugged in, and there is definitely a snare drum present – no bongos that my ears can discern, at any rate. Of course I’m speculating, because I wasn’t there, and this is not my recording. Evidently something prevented me from being able to attend – most likely work obligations, as 1993 was a harried year for me, and found me in a constant state of transition between jobs, living situations, etc.
Fortunately, this rough-and-tumble recording made its way to my PO Box, so I could experience the sound of a stripped down Arcwelder by proxy – which seems to have been no less a raucous event then any of the plugged in sets I did have the good fortune to enjoy in person. Here are eight of the thirteen songs which appeared on the recently released Pull LP; three classics from the previous year’s Jacket Made In Canada, and one from the debut LP, This. And of course, the Master Of Ceremonies is none other than Ryan Cameron, who left Northern Lights Music eons ago to found Let It Be Records, and is still selling records in 2026!
This recording came from a cassette received in a tape trade [most likely from a former tape trading pen pal Steve in Fargo]. Notes on the tape indicate it was a 1st-gen copy from a DAT master source. As with other recordings of this nature, the levels fluctuate a bit between the musical segments and the sound of the audience, and some of the interim conversations are a bit distant, but then again, I don’t know how many opportunities there would have been to experience these songs in this manner, so it’s a stroke of good fortune that someone had the tenacity and presence of mind to capture this fun event.
There is an alternate recording of this posted on youtube, recorded by another audio archivist called fuzzmonster
Recorded by: Steve Hanson
Transferred / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 1993-12-18
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Gneissmaker
Drown
Aardvark [?] [Champaign IL]
Live Sound:
Frazer Gardner
This was a fun night of terrific bands I recorded fairly often, who also were pals in the local scene. I had been recording Arcwelder for a few years at this point, but this recording marked a turning point – the first time I by-passed the soundboard, and started recording them from the room. I had only recorded Gneissmaker a few times between ’92 and ’94, but we hung out together at a lot of the same shows, and they were great guys all around. As a side note, Paul from Drown was a co-worker of mine at Kinko’s – together we created their deprecated band logo, and a few tracks from the Christmas show a week later ended up on their cassette album, Fistful Of Flowers.
During the Arcwelder set, all but three tracks from Pull were performed, giving that album a solid representation as they break into nearly half of the forthcoming Xerxes LP, only four months away; joined by four more from Jacket Made In Canada, somewhat conspicuously stepping away from This for the moment.
It seems there may have been some sort of brief technical glitch between Freebird and All Mixed Together.
All My Want For Need was on the setlist but not played.
Evidently they played the following night as well – there is a recording on youtube (made by a different taper called fuzzmonster) with the date listed as Dec 19th.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 1996-02-24
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Cooper
Strumpet
Flour
Talk about a showcase! Flour [née Pete Conway] was an already established force of nature in the local scene, since his formidable days in the legendary Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus, Pigface, and Brits Out Of America, going on to release four solid LPs of imaginative material spanning garage rock and tangential industrial pop. Over the years, Flour also developed a reputation for curating nights like this which emphasized the diverse talents of the local scene, while encapsulating a true spirit of community; bringing together whoever happened to be the cream de la creme at any given moment [this time around being the quirky industrial pop of Cooper, and the dual bass prog-punk assault of Strumpet], the result being as much of a gathering of friends as a bona fide event.
This was the first of two nights.
A whopping twenty-one legitimate tracks in all:
Six tracks of the fourteen tracks from Entropy, which would be released two months later – April 16th, to be precise.
Four from the 1994 LP, Xerxes.
Six from the 1993 LP, Pull.
Four from the 1991 LP, Jacket Made In Canada.
Regarding the one illegitimate track:
The band invited an audience member onstage to do a rap improv, but what they thought they were hearing on stage wasn’t the same as what the audience heard. One man’s “rock the house” might end up being something else entirely. The following night, they mentioned having listened to the tape, and expressed some embarrassment about the content therein. In the end, they took a chance with an anonymous person who didn’t seem to get where the band was coming from, and it just ended up having nothing to do with Arcwelder, so I’ve chosen to leave it out here. Trust me, you’re not missing a thing. Let’s get back to the rock already.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 1996-02-25
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Cooper
Strumpet
This was the second night.
A whopping twenty-one legitimate tracks in all:
Six tracks of the fourteen tracks from Entropy, which would be released two months later – April 16th, to be precise.
Four from the 1994 LP, Xerxes.
Six from the 1993 LP, Pull.
Four from the 1991 LP, Jacket Made In Canada.
Three encores.
‘Nuff said.
Recap:
During the previous night, the band invited an audience member onstage to do a rap improv. At the beginning of this set, they mentioned having listened to the tape, and expressed some embarrassment about some of the content therein. No one outside of the band has ever heard it played back, and given the band’s take on it at the time, I reckon I’m obligated to keep it that way.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 1998-03-07
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Brick Layer Cake
Frances Gumm
Live Sound: Frazer Gardner
If there is any one of my Arcwelder recordings that shows just how strong the bond is between the band and their fans, this might be the one. Despite a malfunctioning sound system, the band pushed on, delivering twenty-six tracks in all – possibly the longest set I’ve ever seen them perform, including three encores – filling up the entire cassette. Clearly, the crowd was not ready to let them call it a night, and the band was quite willing to oblige.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 1998-08-22
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Broadcaster
Brits Out Of America
Track 18 was introduced as Head In The Clouds.
This recording raises the question once again, which I’ve asked myself several times over the years: where are any of the recordings I made of Brits Out Of America?
I’m afraid I have no recollection of Broadcaster – since I was employed at the venue, possibly I was working in the adjacent room [First Avenue, for anyone who may not know this].
Everything else aside, this is a terrific set with some great energy in the room from both the band and the crowd, resulting in one of the longer Arcwelder sets I had the good fortune to witness and record.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 2002-05-04
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Brick Layer Cake
Flour
Effloresce
Live Sound:
Andy [Al] Gustafson
Another terrific multi-faceted bill curated by Flour, connecting the dots between a few old favorites, and showcasing the next generation of local underground talent with a (relatively) new kid on the block Effloresce, whose time in the local scene spotlight was much too short, in this writer’s opinion, anyway. All in all, another great evening of entertainment!
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 2002-10-19
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Arcwelder
Plate-O-Shrimp
Kontrol Panel
Robot Boy
Live Sound:
Eric Pierson
A great night of music all around, and it was good to see Eric Pierson in the sound booth again.
The band mentions that Jay McHale [of the legendary 2i] had passed away just earlier in the week, and when the song “Favor” had been written, Bill was late for Jay’s birthday party that same year.
This is perhaps the third longest Arcwelder set in the archives.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 2002-11-24
Mpls, MN • First Avenue
Bill:
Mission Of Burma
Arcwelder
This was a perfect bill, in my humble (or not) opinion, representing a literal passing of the torch from one generation to the next. The proof is right there in the last track, if anyone needed a quick history lesson. Definitely a night to remember.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 2003-01-29
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
annual cover band contest / David Bowie set
with Eric Pierson (keys)
and Gerard-Jean Boissy (guitar)
All songs by David Bowie
The 2003 annual cover band contest included:
Arcwelder + friends: David Bowie set
Plate-O-Shrimp + friends: Pretenders set
Uberscenester: Blue Weezer Cult set
Mammy Nuns: Guns + Roses set
Panel Of Experts: Clash set
These cover set contest were always a blast. This set featured a couple of friends sitting in with Rob, Bill and Scott – notably, Eric Pierson, a longtime friend to many bands in the scene, as a sound engineer and a musician. I’ve been in the booth with Eric on a number of occasions over the years, but this was the first time I had ever seen him on the stage. Additionally, another longtime figure in the Twin Cities music scene, Gerard-Jean Boissy, who first left his mark in the legendary Rifle Sport, and then re-emerged in Kontrol Panel, as well as Thunderbolt Pagoda and The Quaking Bogge.
Oddly enough, I found myself involved in the 2003 event, when Panel Of Experts asked me to stand in as a harmonica player in lieu of of a second guitarist for their set of Clash covers. Even more odd is the fact that we were chosen as the winner, considering all the other amazing talent that was on the roster that year. Personally, my vote would have been torn between this set of David Bowie songs by Arcwelder and friends, or the Pretenders set by Plate-O-Shrimp, but I’m just as glad that I had the opportunity to document these sets, showing another side to these bands that you don’t get to see every day.
Recorded / transferred / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Arcwelder • 2005-02-26
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
Bill:
Rifle Sport
Arcwelder
Flour
Brick Layer Cake
Kontrol Panel
Another one of the many Flour-curated events which linked a few generations of the Twin Cities music scene, helping to move that legacy forward into the next era. I mean, look at that line-up! Yes, that’s right, Rifle Sport was the headliner, meaning that just about everyone in any of these bands was performing double-duty – in their own respective bands as well as supporting roles in some of the other groups. A truly stellar night of entertainment.
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:
Touch & Go Records bandcamp page
Their newest release can be purchased directly from the band:
Other releases by the band are listed on the discogs site
Here’s a 1990 interview / feature that appeared in my old ‘zine, The New PuritanReView
Download or stream all sets by Arcwelder from Live Music Archive
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