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The Suburbs guitarist Bruce Allen is dead at 54

Posted at 11:28 PM on December 8, 2009 by Bill DeVille (4 Comments)

Bruce Allen, the well dressed guitarist with one of the best Twin Cites bands of all, the Suburbs is dead. He had been ill for some time. Life support was turned off on Monday night. He died surrounded by family and friends.

Check out Jon Bream's full salute.

I didn't know Bruce well, but I always LOVED the Suburbs! I first heard of the band when I moved to the Twin Cites in the early 80's. The first time I saw the band I was addicted. I remember seeing the Suburbs all over the Twin Cities at place like the Union Bar, St. Croix Boom Company, & the Cabooze where I remember guitarist and co-frontman Beej Chaney hanging from the rafters on the stage during their song, "Drinking With an Angel." Bruce was always smiling away, leaning back, and jamming on the guitar. Their live shows were the stuff of legend! They weren't just a band for hipsters. Everybody who liked to dance & have a good time dug the Suburbs.

Bruce Allen was also a talented artist. He's the guy who created the Suburbs & the Twin Tone Records logo & designed the cover of the Replacements album "Let It Be"

Rest in Peace, Bruce Allen

Comments (4)

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Bruce C. Allen. He will be surely missed by the many Suburbs fans here in Minneapolis.

I was really hoping to see the Suburbs one more time. When Credit in Heaven came out I knew I had to move to Minneapolis because the music scene was so happening. There were great bands like The Replacements, Husker Du, Suicide Commandos, Rifle Sport, and The Wallets. The Jayhawks were just coming out, the Run Westy Run boys were playing house parties, but if the Suburbs were playing we were there!

I remember their release party at the Cabooze for the Credit in Heaven album (there were no CDs at that time). A group of young kids called the Replacements opened up for them and Beej was dressed in a clown outfit as a nod to David Bowie's Scary Monster release, I suppose, but it was great fun. Everyone danced. That's what I remember most about the Suburbs shows. Everyone dressed really cool and there were great dancers.

It was fun to watch the band members play off of each other as well. Watch some of videos on the web. Look at how Bruce attacks the riffs on the beginning of Cows. They had an intricate mix of rythmic riffs. Nobody was coasting through a song. They were going all out, full attack, with great presence and attention to feeding off of the dancers in front of them.

The last time I saw Bruce was at an X-Boys gig at the American Eagles Club in Minneapolis. His band mates had brought him a birthday cake with candles and were inviting everyone there to join them. They opened their set with Bruce and Steve Fjalstad, on stage playing some vaguely familiar psychedelic riff and from outside the hall came a marching drum sound. In marched Hugo Klaers and a good number of musicians (Chris Osgood, Dave Ahl, Michael Halliday, Casey MacPherson plus Max Ray and Rochelle Becker on tenor and baritone sax marching and drumming across the dance floor and up to the stage to do the best live version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit -Go Ask Alice" that I have ever heard. Chan Poling also joined in on a few songs. It was a great show and a great birthday party for Bruce!

Posted by Ted Bob | December 9, 2009 9:41 PM

I saw The Suburbs only once. They performed in 1994 at Dixies for Grand Old Days in Saint Paul. Great show and very loud. Beej was tossing beer on the audience. There was a sea of people on the ground as well as on the sorrounding rooftops. Few guitarists ever achieve such success as Bruce Allen found.

Posted by Jon Berg | December 11, 2009 11:24 PM

I saw The Suburbs only once. They performed in 1994 at Dixies for Grand Old Days in Saint Paul. Great show and very loud. Beej was tossing beer on the audience. There was a sea of people on the ground as well as on the sorrounding rooftops. Few guitarists ever achieve such success as Bruce Allen found.

Posted by Jon Berg | December 11, 2009 11:26 PM

RIP Bruce.

Posted by Chants | December 17, 2009 8:37 AM

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