Neptune Cocktail: A History
Click on a band member's name to learn more about them.

Kenny Cocktail Drums

Eric Showmethewayquist Lead Guitar

Steve Neptune Vocals/Rhythm Guitar

Corey Bass Guitar/Vocals

During the mid 80’s, when hair-metal ruled, Steve, Eric and Kenny attended Lakeville High School and all dreamed of one day becoming famous rock and roll stars, following in the footsteps of bands like Van Halen, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, to name a few. They jammed together or with others over the course of many years in basements and garages, but never caught their “big break”.  After many years and many changes in their lives, a coincidental meeting at LaVonne’s Music in Savage by Steve and Eric got the ball rolling of them deciding to form a band. Along with Steve Olson on bass, in the late summer of 2003, they started practicing and learning songs spanning from the late 70's up through what's played today.

In March of 2004, they made their debut at a party in Lakeville for a group of friends that numbered around 30.  They went by multiple names that night (Jiggle The Handle, Rhymes With Purple, Alien Style Show, to name a few) but hadn't come up with anything permanent.  They performed about 35-40 songs that night and everyone there seemed to enjoy what they were playing. The night was viewed as a success. But, about a week after the party, Steve announced he had to quit the band!  After the initial shock and disappointment, “Where do we go from here?” was the question on everyone’s mind. They took about a month off and Bill Calhoun was found on the internet (no lie!) on a musicians wanted web site. After a few conversations with him and finding out their music interests were similar, they decided to see how things would work between the 4 of them as a band.  After 2 rehearsals, it was a no brainer to add Bill on bass and come up with a permanent name.  Neptune Cocktail was "officially" formed in May of 2004.

Neptune Cocktail's first show in front of more than 30 people was on Beer, Brats & Bingo Night at Babe's Sports Bar & Grille in Lakeville during Pan-O-Prog (the town's summer week long festival) in July of 2004.  ALL of their friends and family showed up that Thursday night and the normally "quiet until 11:30 or so" bar rocked from 7 until well past 1 am!  That was just the beginning of many long nights playing at Babe's.

Feeling that the first night at Babe’s was a success, they decided to expand the number of establishments to play at. Renegades in Burnsville and Neissen Brother’s in Savage were 2 other bars that were added to the list of places to play during the summer and fall of 2004. They continued to practice on Thursday nights in Steve’s basement and tried to play once or twice a month. You see, they all had regular jobs during the day and their dreams of becoming big rock musicians had since been put on the back burner. Also staying on the “party circuit”, at a little known party called Band Camp; they were the first band on a double billing with the Lost Dogs (this is important info for later in the story). That night’s festivities are legendary and they partied like rock stars to the break of dawn!

Things were moving along smoothly through 2004 and 2005. Picking up a few more shows here and there, and even doing a wedding, Neptune Cocktail started to expand on it’s following. They expanded south to the town of Faribault and played both Spike’s Bar and Boxers. They played Burnsville Fire Muster in Burnsville, MN in 2005 and continued to make the rounds locally, playing Babe’s and Renegade’s for nights like Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day and New Year’s Eve. A day at the races was a load of fun playing at Elko Speedway for the end of the season party that is annually thrown at the track in the fall of 2005.

Things were looking pretty good for Neptune Cocktail until February of 2006 when they received some news from Bill that he and his wife were moving to Washington, D.C. Spinal Tap comes to mind when comparing how they felt hearing this news (the Tap lost drummers and NC was losing bass players!). Once again, they had to search for a new bass player. A coincidental meeting at a funeral with Steve brought Corey Hvidsten to the band. Corey had been playing with a band named the Lost Dogs (remember, from the party?) that had broken up and left him without a band. Again, after a few rehearsals it was a no brainer to have Corey join the band and in the summer of 2006 he made his inaugural performance at Fire Rescue Day in New Market, MN. Even though the weather tried to put a damper on the night, they still played and had a great time (so did everyone who ventured out after the tornados and pouring rain!).

So that brings you up to date, thus far, and they’re still going strong! Some of the places you can catch NC include Renegade's in Burnsville, MN; Neissen Brother's in Savage, MN; Babe's in Lakeville, MN; Champion’s in Elko, MN; Brewster’s in Veseli, MN.  Check out the SCHEDULE page on this site for upcoming shows where you can rock with the boys in the band!