Gear Daddies at the Zoo

There are few things better than an outdoor concert on a Minnesota summer evening, when it's unseasonably cool so the mosquitos are staying on the down low, and the band is Spamtown's own iconic Gear Daddies. Add to the mix a great group of cousins, several beers, and several poor but delicious food choices, and you have an evening to remember.

The Gear Daddies have been a part of the lives of many Minnesotans since the late 80's when they melted our hearts in bars all over the state singing their trademark alt-country songs about girls and alienation and getting out of their small towns before they can't. They even appeared on David Letterman once, and their song (I Wanna Drive a) Zamboni is well known in hockey circles, but they never became the super group I think we all expected they would. So now that adorable lead singer Marty Zellar lives in central Mexico with his family, the Gear Daddies only perform for a very few select engagements throughout the year. The Minnesota Zoo has to be one of the best places to see them.

We're all older now, the audience populated with folks in their 30's and 40's, the band members dragging their kids around with them. But when the Gear Daddies play She's Happy, we're all a bunch of kids again ourselves, thrilled to relive a time of our lives when the future was unknown and anything was possible.