Amid the chaos, an oasis of artful calm

Kevin Featherly is a Twin Cities freelance writer who focuses on politics

You’ve got to admit it. There is something about the combination of a night sky, an urban landscape, police in gas masks and riot gear, shouting protesters, and tear gas that will give even the most willfully rational being a case of the willies.

Of course, my reason for being in downtown St. Paul Tuesday night had nothing to do with those things. My intent was to take in "Provention: A Concert for People, Peace and the Planet"at the Fitzgerald Theater, a show organized by a group of Minnesota music veterans including the Honeydogs’ Adam Levy and Semisonic’s John Munson.Which was a beautiful thing.However, just after a propulsive set by a Latino hip-hop band led by St. Paul’s Maria Isa, Levy came onstage to issue a polite warning to concertgoers.