KFAI raises $4,000 with a vintage lineup at Turf Club

Chris Osgood, right, of the Suicide Commandos joined Ernie Batson and the rest of the Mighty Mofos for some "Complicated Fun" Saturday. (Photos by Tim Campbell, Star Tribune)

It almost could have been a scene from 1978, when community radio station KFAI was launched in a church in south Minneapolis.

Facing a hefty deficit, the station rallied many of its oldest supporters Saturday for an old-school "Benefit With Friends" concert at the Turf Club with a bill of 1970s-vintage heroes: the Mighty Mofos, the Flamin' Ohs, all-star band the X-Boys and guitar innovator Michael Yonkers.

Yonkers looked and sounded vital despite being absent from the stage for nearly three years because of a rare spine/nerve malady. Some had warned that his set might be cut short, but he played 10 songs -- ending with a jaw-dropping psyche-out instrumental -- then hung out in the crowd for most of the rest of the show.

After a roaring set by Robert Wilkinson and the Flamin' Ohs, the X-Boys -- a side project of the Suburbs and Suicide Commandos -- took the stage, with frontman Casey McPherson inciting a "Disco Inferno." Suburbs drummer Hugo Klaers was out sick, but the all-star covers band generated more than enough energy with the fiery work of Commandos Chris Osgood and Dave Ahl, famed studio engineer Steve Fjelstad on bass, and the 'Burbs horn section of Max Ray and Rochelle Becker. McPherson had the crowd pogoing to an epic version of Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep Mountain High," then segued into the Mofos' closing set by bringing up Bill and Ernie Batson for the Minnesota garage-rock classic "Action Woman."

This was a rare headlining appearance by the Minnesota punk vets, who grabbed the night by the throat. Their full-throttle set culminated with yet another Minnesota rock classic: the Commandos' "Complicated Fun," as scene MVP Osgood reappeared on stage for a guitar joust with Ernie Batson.

It was a reminder that, in the days before the Current and Radio K, the only place on the radio dial that played these songs with any regularity was KFAI.

This crowd didn't need reminding, though. By the end of the night, KFAI board president Patti Walsh had collected about $4,000 from tickets, donations and a silent auction. The station promises more events to come, including a weekend-long celebration at the Minneapolis Eagles Club April 17-18 with a roots-oriented lineup the first night, and another garage-punk bill the following evening.

Sax-playing spouses Max Ray and Rochelle Becker.