For 46 years, Twin Cities musician Curt Almsted, also known as Curtiss A, has kept the memory and message of John Lennon alive through his annual John Lennon tribute show. This year, the concert moves from its longtime home of First Avenue to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, a first in the concert’s history.
Minnesota musicians and fans will gather at the Fitz on Dec. 8 to remember the legacy of the British musician and activist nearly five decades after his assassination. With a lead performance from Almsted, who has played every tribute show since its genesis, the night invites both longtimers and newcomers to celebrate peace and love in the Lennon way.
“Curtis has stressed that in his stage dialogue over the years,” said tribute musician and manager Gini Dodds. “The country may be going through confrontational times, but this is a night where everyone can just get together and really love the music and hang out with each other in a peaceful way.”
Born January 31, 1951, in the season of Aquarius, Almsted was named for the Curtis Hotel, an iconic historical landmark for any Minneapolis resident. While moving multiple times in his youth to different cities in the Midwest, including a small residence in Milwaukee as a teenager, the Twin Cities remained home to him.
As a long-standing figure in the local music scene, Almsted was one of the original artists at Twin/Tone Records, an independent label that operated from 1977 to into the ’90s. He also formed the band Wire in 1969 and played with countless musicians throughout his career.
In 1981, Almsted opened for Prince’s first-ever performance at First Avenue, then called Uncle Sam’s. He described the Purple One as “one of the biggest artists to ever live.
“Now, I’m mostly known for this Lennon tribute, which has been nonstop since the night he was killed,” Almsted said. “It takes up all of my Sundays in November, rehearsing.”
A St. Paul native and fellow musician, Dodds is the lead singer of Gini Dodds and the Dahlias and was a longtime fan of Almsted before meeting him at a show more than 24 years ago.
“He came up to me and said, ‘You look like one of my old drummers,’ ” Dodds said with a laugh. “And that’s how I met him.”
The pair have lived together for 24 years in St. Paul. Their basement has been completely dedicated to Almsted’s extensive action figure and comic book collection.
The nearly 10,000 action figures have all been arranged to Almsted’s particular taste, according to an interview with MSP-St. Paul Magazine earlier this year, forming a montage of classic comic book characters and other favorites of his.
“He’s very eccentric,” Dodds said. “He is interested in a lot of topics, UFOs, paranormal stuff. He knows a lot about modern music; he’s really a walking music dictionary.”
Equally inspiring as the Beatles in his musical journey, Almsted was greatly influenced by an extraterrestrial encounter he said took place when he was returning from a performance with his band in Michigan in the summer of 1969.
“I just remember the flying saucer coming over the car,” Almsted said. “This was a month after the moon landing in ‘69 … and space was on everybody’s mind. But this was not the power of suggestion.”
Almsted described seeing a UFO take off at a 45-degree angle toward the sun and exit the Earth’s atmosphere while driving from a gig to another in Neillsville, Wis.
“It changes you, you know,” Almsted said. “After that happened, I feel like I became more expressive.”
Growing up with the Beatles
Almsted recalls being a young boy when he first heard the Beatles, and even younger when he heard Elvis Presley, another influential artist in his life.
“I remember my mom hearing Elvis Presley for the first time while she was ironing,” Almsted said. “She said to me, as I was sitting down at her feet, playing with blocks or something, ‘Mark my words, that boy is going to be big.’ ”
The same could be said when Almsted, then a teenager in the early ’60s, first heard the Beatles when they were gaining traction in the United States. Almsted described the band as filling a hole left in the absence of other great musicians.
“All there was was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and then there was nothing until Elvis, and then he went to the Army, and there was nothing till the Beatles,” he said. “And then the Beatles, they really grabbed hold. There was no way to stop it.
“If you’re a fan of the Beatles, then you know that they have a lot of puzzle pieces that made them up,” Almsted said. “Rock and roll is a funny thing, because mostly, it was about rebellion and fun. And I think that was very important to the Beatles too, to each one of them in different degrees.”
The Beatles rose in popularity in 1962 and continued to produce music throughout the decade before splitting up in 1970.
After the split, guitarist and lead singer Lennon pursued a solo career, focused on both personal experience and world politics at large, before his assassination on Dec. 8, 1980.
This was a turning point for Almsted, who had long been influenced by Lennon.
Remembering Lennon
Known as the grandfather of Twin Cities Rock and Roll, Curt Almsted will be leading the 46th Annual John Lennon Tribute concert this Monday. Almsted, also known as Curtiss A, is a longtime performer in the Twin Cities area. (Photo courtesy of Paul Lundgren)
The Beatles’ continued outspokenness on social issues had greatly inspired Almsted as a young man, like Lennon’s strong opposition to the Vietnam War in 1969, with his songs “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine” becoming prolific in the peace movements of the ‘70s.
“You know, it’s always been that way. You have people in power and people that wish they had more power and and are upset because of many inequalities,” Almsted said.
The power of music in politics has long been of importance to the musician, who said it’s his role as an entertainer to draw attention to what’s important.
“You gotta make things attractive,” Almsted laughed.
After Lennon’s death, Almsted was asked to join the first tribute at First Avenue, which was organized soon after the singer’s death. And every year since, he has performed, no matter the venue or crowd.
“It’s fun,” Almsted said. “It’s the most fun I have each year. And yes, there is sadness, because he’s dead, but the beautiful part is people show up to celebrate his life and his message.”
This is the message that has been celebrated for almost five decades, and hopefully many more with Almsted at the center stage.
“This is a band of stellar musicians with both a string section and a horn section playing live with the main band,” Dodds said. “I’ve always thought that this tribute band sounds better than the Beatles themselves, because they didn’t play live that much. And when they did, you know, it was a million girls screaming over the sound.”
John Lennon Tribute ft. Curtiss A
When: 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 8.
Where: Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E Exchange St., St. Paul
Tickets: $45.98 to $33.40 via first-avenue.com
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