Timeless rock. Clever humor.
After playing to a full house on March 13, we will go “Back to the SRO” on Saturday afternoon, June 19, outdoors.
We also enjoy playing private parties and fundraising events, too. In fact, we are already booked for a party on August 14 here in the Twin Cities, and we are finalizing another event on August 21 in northern Minnesota.
Do you and/or your organization want a reliable and professional band for a special event? Then reach out to us! And we thank you in advance.
We, Elephant In The Room, will make our debut appearance at Back to the SRO in Oak Grove, Minnesota on Saturday, March 13, 2021. Their menu ranges from starters and kid-friendly fare to prime rib, burgers, lasagna, and several homemade specialties.
We will be bringing some fresh covers, including Bob Seger’s “Main Street” – and if you’re lucky, Mitch will do some of his hilarious tragi-comedic storytelling, with the band playing in A minor behind him.
Back to the SRO is located at 18919 Lake George Blvd NW, Oak Grove MN 55303. Opening chords are at 6 p.m. Join us!
Well, it’s almost the end of 2020 – a year that started with a couple of good gigs, and yet another crash of our website. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of the crashing, but not the gigs.
We’re actually lucky, in band terms – we’ve had a couple great gigs (and we hope to get pics up soon:
We’ll hope to have pics up from all of ’em soon!
OK – onward into 2021!
We, Elephant In The Room, will appear at Stillwater Eagles 94 six more times this spring and summer! Three pairs of dates are on the calendar:
Friday and Saturday
April 5 and 6
8:00 p.m. CT
Friday and Saturday
May 31 and June 1
8:00 p.m. CT
Friday and Saturday
July 12 and 13
8:00 p.m. CT
If you have not dined at Stillwater Eagles 94, not only are their burgers and chicken excellent, but their Ellsworth Cheese Curds are a can’t-miss appetizer. Please join us there! No cover charge!
Elephant in the Room will be back out at the Outpost Bar and Grill this coming Saturday night, October 13, from 9PM to 1AM!
Our real lead singer, Tommy, is on vacation (the gig came up unexpectedly), so we’ll be our old four-piece incarnation. But that’s never stopped us – and it’ll make people appreciate Tommy all the more!
It’s a fun room, the food is really good, and there should be a nice crowd on a brisk night.
Stop on by and see us!
(Twin Cities resident John Augustine wrote a review of our July 27, 2018 performance at the old Stillwater Eagles 94 club. This article is excerpted from that review.)
This band is very capable and entertaining, with an extensive list of songs from the 1950s through the 1990s. They opened with an enthusiastic rendition of Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns, and Money.” I had heard them do this before, and Warren Zevon’s songs fit vocalist/lead guitarist Mitch Berg’s range and personality very well. EITR ventured into previously-unexplored territory for their next song, “Found Out About You” by the Gin Blossoms. Other songs EITR does particularly well are Golden Earring’s “Radar Love,” “Closer to Free” by the BoDeans, “Bye Bye Love” by The Cars, and material by the Eagles, Tom Petty, Sister Hazel, Wilson Pickett, Ian Hunter, Bob Seger, Bob Marley, Tommy Tutone, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, Stray Cats, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Georgia Satellites, the Steve Miller Band, and the Greg Kihn Band. A very wide variety.
Lead vocalist Tommy Huynh makes it easier to have more post-1990 songs in their setlist. Because Tommy’s voice is in tune and powerful enough to be heard over hard-rock music, it frees Mitch to thrash harder on the guitar when he doesn’t have to carry the vocals.
EITR band leader Mitch Berg is a very capable singer, writer, and musician. You can hear that on his solo album, See Red (by “The Supreme Soviet of Love”). He can play blues, punk, rockabilly, country, and even some reggae.
Jon Heyer plays rhythm guitar (electric and acoustic) and occasionally, bass guitar on some songs. He also sings some of the slower, bluesier, pre-1980 songs.
Drummer Paul Yackel can really play and can sing lead on some songs as well.
Torleif Sorenson often stays in the background during performances, but provides whatever texture is needed (bass, keyboards, backing vocals) for a song. He plays a six-string bass, which is *not* something you see in your average local band. Since adding keyboards to his live rig, the range of songs Elephant In The Room plays has increased.
Even though they don’t play live for a living, they come off as skilled professionals, not a goof-off novelty. Elephant In The Room is a good, fun, five-man band, and if you haven’t experienced an EITR show, you should. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about this kind of band is that the members seem to have a good, whole-is-better-than-the-sum-of-the-parts chemistry.
Tommy Huynh joined Elephant In The Room as the new lead vocalist on June 24, 2018. Already a successful radio producer and engineer, Tommy was previously the lead vocalist of the band Garage Orphans.
With Tommy at the mic, Elephant In The Room’s playlist automatically grows, giving us the ability to perform a whole host of additional music, in a higher gear.
We, Elephant In The Room, will make our East Metro debut on Friday evening, July 27 at the completely-remodeled Stillwater Eagles 94. We will begin at about 8:00 p.m. – and if you get there by 8, you can also try one of their burgers, broasted chicken, and their Ellsworth Cheese Curds. 🙂
Set aside Friday evening, July 27! Getting there is simple, too. Take Minnesota Highway 36, go east of Interstate 694, to the Oasis Avenue North stoplight. Eagles 94 is behind the northeast corner on 60th Avenue North.
Join Elephant In The Room on the evening of Thursday, July 26 at 7:00 p.m. We will be playing a special fundraising party at Willy McCoy’s in Champlin. We will be joined by Rick Aguilar and members of his new band, Space Force. Also joining us on stage will be Drew Lee of Justice and Drew, from Twin Cities News Talk – KTLK-AM 1130, and musician Frank Long.