Cloud Cult has animal magnetism
Above, Cloud Cult performs in Bozeman May 5, 2009. Below, Cloud Cult violinist Shannon Frid performs as Connie Minowa paints in the background.
Chamber pop band Cloud Cult performed Tuesday to an audience at Bozeman’s Emerson Theater following the theatrical premier of the National Geographic series Expedition Grizzly. Cloud Cult’s delicate riffs drifted throughout the piece, as frontman Craig Minowa wrote all the music for series.
Naturalist Casey Anderson introduced the film. Anderson, a Montana native, is featured in the series that chronicles his travels in search of the elusive grizzly bear through Yellowstone National Park. The premier gave an insider’s look at the grizzly culture with the aid of a life-sized model, Anderson’s 800-pound co-star, Brutus. The grizzly bear, raised by Anderson from a cub, was shown in the film demonstrating the immense power and beauty that grizzly bears present, as well as the dangers they face.
Cloud Cult frontman Craig Minows performs acoustically.
When Cloud Cult took the stage, Minowa told the crowd it was the concert he’d been looking forward to most on the band’s current tour because he got to hang with Brutus. In honor of the special screening, the band’s live painters created two separate paintings of bears to auction off at the end of the performance.
Cloud Cult’s second performance in Bozeman, the band first performed in the tiny dive bar, the Filling Station. This time around they were able to sprawl out on the Emerson Theater’s stage, and it was exciting to see the band in a theatrical setting. The backdrop was more fitting for a band of its complex instrumentation, large lineup (seven people setup onstage) and swooning melodies.