W♥M

The Church at Fine Line, Minneapolis (23 Mar 2023)

The Church Setlist Ascendence Destination Metropolis Columbus No Other You Kings Is This Where You Live The Hypnogogue Hotel Womb Antarctica Old Coast Road (acoustic) Albert Ross Fly One Day Comedown C'est la vie Under the Milky Way Grind Tantalized Second Bridge -- Encore -- Reptile You Took Read More The Church Australia’s The Church is back in the city. The last time we saw them at the Cedar in 2015 we noted, “The show was performed as one long set, versus the two separate sets done …

Australia’s rock band The Church stopped by the Fine Line, in Minneapolis, last night, to play tracks from their new album The Hypnogogue (Communicating Vessels).

Transmission’s DJ Jake Rudh played a variety of British 60s music videos before the band came on stage. Fans at the show were, of course, on the older scale… who had fun trying to guess the band on the screen (Rolling Stones, Monkees, David Bowie, etc.) The odd-band out seemed to be Chromatics.

When The Church came on stage to an introduction background music, they were greeted with a huge applause. The band proceeded to playing a two plus hour set. This band didn’t need a warm-up band, because they had 18 albums worth of music to choose from.

I first heard of the band on Dave Kendall’s 120 Minutes on MTV. He was a Church fan and played “Ripple”, which had become my favorite Church song. By that time, in 1992, the band was already an “old” band.

So, yes, the band’s been around, with many rotating band members… but the one constant is lead singer and bassist Steve Kilbey. Currently the band features Kilbey, Brisbane’s Ian Haug on lead guitars, Melbourne’s Ashley Naylore on guitars, Birmingham (USA) Jeffrey Cain on keys, and Camden (New South Wales) Nicholas Meredith on drums (who is subbing for regular Church drummer Tim Powles - who had VISA issues).

Kilbey seemed pretty pleased with the new drummer and even joked that when they return back to Australia, that the Church will be a double drums band!

Kilbey also seemed more jaded (but jokingly) since the last time we saw him 2018. It’s fun, the audience loved it.

Since the tour is to promote The Hypnogogue, most of the new songs had introduction from Kilbey, who described it as somewhat of a Sci-Fi story from the future… about a place called The Hypnogogue. Some songs had characters from Hypnogogue, like about a Korean scientists called Sun Kim Jong, who invented a song extraction machine. From what we heard live, the Hypnogogue seems like a weird place that only Kilbey could bring to life.

Of course, as you know most fans were there for the “hits”, meaning “Metropolis” and “Under the Milky Way” were really well received. For Milky Way, Kilbey introduced it, “Ladies and gentlemen, this next song needs no introduction. Should have no f***ing introduction. Should just be played, and that’s that. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, here is that song, that you want to hear.”

Yes, of course, that is the song everyone wanted to hear. “Under the Milky Way” is the band’s signature song. The song was #24 on the USA Billboard charts and was massive in 1989. It’s a great song, and we were reminded how good it is, when you hear it on the cult film Donnie Darko.

Remaining Tour Dates

Mar 25 St Louis, MO Delmar Hall
Mar 26 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
Mar 28 Kent, OH Kent Stage
Mar 29 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
Mar 30 New York, NY Gramercy Theater
Mar 31 Boston, MA The Sinclair
Apr 1 Hartford, CT Infinity Hall
Apr 3 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes
Apr 4 Alexandria, VA Birchmere Music Hall
Apr 5 Norfolk VA The Norva
Apr 6 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Apr 8 Pelham, TN The Caverns

The Church

DJ Jake Rudh

The Church

The Church

The Church at Fine Line, Minneapolis (23 Mar 2023)

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Hamilton (musical) at The Music Hall, Kansas City MO thru April 2, 2023 (review)

HAMILTON playbill HAMILTON - US Tour Dates Mar 28 - Apr 7 Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall Apr 4 – May 7 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre Apr 11 – Apr 23 Richmond, VA Altria Theater Apr 25 – May 7 Indianapolis, IN Murat Centre May 9 – May 28 Albuquerque, NM Popejoy Hall May 9 – May 21 Appleton, WI Fox Cities PA Center May 24 – Jun 4 Oklahoma, OK Civic Center Music Hall Jun 6 – Jun 18 Wichita, KS Century II Concert Hall Jul 5 – Jul 16 El Paso, TX The Plaza Theatre Jul 19 – Jul 30 Lubbock, TX The Buddy Holly Hall Aug 2 – Aug 13 Lincoln, NE Lied Center Aug 17 – Sep 10 Anchorage, AK Alaska Center Sep 13 – Dec 3 Chicago, IL Nederlander Theatre Jan 30 – Feb 25 (2024) Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre Mar 13 – Mar 24 (2024) Miami, FL Arsht Center Read More Broadway in Kansas City Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album....   AMERICAN THEATRE GUILD WEBSITE

The cultural phenomenon has finally returned to a live stage in our area--

HAMILTON, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s game-changing musical and history lesson that tells the story of America then, via America now, has returned to downtown Kansas City, for a two-week engagement at the Music Hall, through Sunday, April 2.

The revelatory score blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, chronicling the rise and fall of founding father Alexander Hamilton and has blossomed into being a lasting creative piece that has transcended the theater genre, to have a rippled effect on politics, education, television, and the arts itself.

Based on Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography, its book, music, and lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who dazzled us initially when he was barely known and we saw the first tour of his previous musical, In the Heights) with direction by Thomas Kail.

With choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, the show would go on to win 11 Tony® Awards, as well as Grammy®, and Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and a special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors, with so many in the cast becoming seemingly overnight superstars in the process.

Growing exponentially from its 2013 workshop roots, the show itself has now become so huge, it features an ongoing NYC run, international and Canadian versions, and three concurrently touring US companies – for Kansas City, we were witness to the “Angelica” cast; which proved to be most appropriate as her character and the actress portraying her (Stephanie Umoh), was one of the show’s many highlights.

To be a successful Hamilton cast member, one not only has to be able to act, move, and sing, as most Broadway and touring productions would require; but an additional unique and key element of having lyrical flow is an essential skill necessary to successfully pull off the complicated and often hyper-paced, hip-hop styled lyrics.

Additionally, the nature of hip-hop songs are so much about being “in the moment”- relevant and urgent, both musically and lyrically themed at their time, but often seem to lose their impact ten, five, or even one year later. Hamilton’s lyrics seem to be the exception, perhaps because they double as a civics and history lesson, but are also mostly solid songs, that even the biggest non-hip-hop fan, will still be humming a chorus to, as they leave the theater.

During his relatively short life, the orphaned, Nevis-born Alexander Hamilton served as George Washington's chief aide, and was the first Treasury Secretary, instilling a financial foundation for the nation that still remains mostly intact today.

He had streaks of impetus judgment though and was despised by many of his fellow Founding Fathers, eventually gaining a longtime nemesis in Aaron Burr. Hamilton’s character imperfections, like the show itself, are flaws that add, not take away from the overall charm and appeal. During the show, duels are embellished with expressive dance movements and congressional debates morph into modern-day rap battles to advance the narrative.

For our Wednesday (3/22) performance, a few of the diverse cast was replaced by standbys, notably Kansas City native Bryson Bruce in the lead. From the playbill listing, he’s able to perform in almost any role, and smoothed into the primary, after finding some footing during the opening number, with the hometown crowd quickly accepting him in the role.

All three performers as the Schulyer sisters were strong, particularly stage veteran Umoh whose voice soared during her solo songs along with Josh Tower, who plays a solid Aaron Burr. The nimble and restless Deejay Young as Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson was ever-animated and brought a light playfulness to both roles (in a kind of Katt Williams/vintage Little Richard way), and Peter Matthew Smith’s pomp King George was the ideal blend of snarky vengefulness and spite, to keep the audience enthralled during his three brief on-stage appearances.

The stage design mirrors the Broadway production (complete with rotating center and a rolling staircase), lighting was ahem, spot-on, particularly in the contrasts between the high-energy numbers and the more sullen and sparse scenes of loss, and the precise choreography never missed a beat.

A decade later, Hamilton remains young, scrappy, and hungry and in Kansas City, the only place to be (provided you can find a very still-in-demand ticket) is at the Music Hall, the room where it happens.

===

(Hamilton is playing at the Music Hall through Sunday Aoril 2)

(all photos courtesy of the official touring company website, click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

HAMILTON

John C ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Betty Who at First Avenue, Minneapolis (22 Mar 2023)

Betty Who Setlist Intro Weekend Mama Say She Can Dance Big Oldies Medley Glory Days / Old Me / Pretend You're Missing Me / Look Back / Lovin' Start / You Can Cry Tomorrow I Can Be Your Man Just Thought You Should Know One of Us Amelia's Voicemail Grown Ups Grow Apart Wanna Be The Hard Way Human Touch Taste All of You Someone Else High Society Somebody Loves You Hey It's Betty Blow Out My Candle I Love You Always Forever (Donna Lewis cover) Read More Betty Who Just in time for Valentine, Betty Who's single "Heartbreak Dream" is coming out February 18th. Who cited Katy Perry and Robyn as massive influences on her music ....

Pop sensation Betty Who just headlined First Avenue in Minneapolis last night. The LGBTQ community showed up early, in support of Who, and her new album Big! (BMG), which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.

Opening the show was internationally-renowned drag superstar and recording artist Shea Couleé. Couleé started their drag career in 2012 and found stardom on Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Then they were the winner of Season 5.

The 30-min set features songs from their debut album 8, including “New Phone Who Dis?”, “Collide”, etc.

For the song “Material”, Couleé mentioned that they came up with the title before writing the song. Once the song was written … they released the word “Material” never appeared in the song!

For the set finale, “Your Name” was described as the first song written for 8. It’s a very upbeat song, accompanied with spiraling lights and flanked by the two dancers… a good song to end on a high note.

Photo of Setlist

As for pop star Betty Who… her set was really fun and colorful: Who in a red suit, with a dancer in yellow and a dancer in blue. These types of dance shows are really fun visually. Each song had well-choreographed dance routines, and every had smiles across their face… they were just having a good time.

In the middle of the set, Who did an acoustic set with “Grown Ups Grow Apart” and “Wanna Be”, giving the two dancers a much-need break.

Her two musicians, a drummer and a guitarist were mostly in the background on the far left and far right of the stage. They’re there to provide the music, because the spotlight would always be on Betty Who, who commanded the attention with her moves and vocals.

Betty Who’s new album Big! is out now on BMG.

Remaining tour dates:

03/24/23: Denver, CO at Ogden Theatre*
03/25/23: Salt Lake City, UT at The Depot*
03/28/23: Seattle, WA at Showbox SoDo*
03/29/23: Portland, OR at Wonder Ballroom*
03/31/23: San Francisco, CA at The Warfield*
04/01/23: Los Angeles, CA at The Novo*

* With Shea Coulee

Shea Couleé

Shea Couleé

Shea Couleé

Shea Couleé

Betty Who

Betty Who

Betty Who

Betty Who at First Avenue, Minneapolis (22 Mar 2023)

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Minneapolis: April 15

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

04/15 Stars at Fine Line Read More Stars As many of you are aware, we’ve been massive Stars fans since the Nightsongs LP in 2001. Over the many years of seeing the Canadian band, we’ve come to understand that the band doesn’t really …

04/15/2023 Saturday

Stars
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

We love the Canadian band Stars. You guys know that. The band released Capelton Hill in 2022, and now that it’s safe to tour and travel… the band will touring towards Austin City Limits. They’ll stop by the Fine Line in Minneapolis on April 15th.

Stars (02 Dec 2018)

We caught Stars in Dec 2018 and wrote, “As for Stars, you guys already know that I love the band since Nightsongs in 2001. I got into Le Grand Magistery Records and bought almost everything that they released, including Baxendale, Momus, Stereo Total, etc. I was listening to Stars since their humble beginning, but unfortunately, the band really didn’t do heavy promotion until Set Yourself on Fire in 2004 to 2005.”

Tour dates:

Apr 7, 2023 Fri Avening Community Hall Creemore, ON
Apr 8, 2023 Sat Avening Community Hall Creemore, ON
Apr 9, 2023 Sun Paris Presbyterian Church Brant, ON
Apr 10, 2023 Mon Bridgeworks Hamilton, ON
Apr 12, 2023 Wed Magic Bag Ferndale, MI
Apr 13, 2023 Thu Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL
Apr 14, 2023 Fri Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI
Apr 15, 2023 Sat Fine Line Minneapolis, MN
Apr 18, 2023 Tue House of Blues Dallas Dallas, TX
Apr 19, 2023 Wed 3TEN Austin City Limits Live Austin, TX

04/15 Dawes at Palace Theatre Read More Dawes The three-hour evening was opened by Los Angeles-based Dawes, who considers Minneapolis one of their strongest markets, in a solid hour-long set of their own. …

04/15/2023 Saturday

Dawes
at Palace Theatre
first-avenue.com

Acclaimed Los Angeles-based rockers Dawes is on tour in support of their new album Misadventures of Doomscroller (Rounder Records). The band will stop by the Palace Theatre in St Paul on April 15th.

Dawes (07 Sep 2018)

We caught the band in Sep 2018, which we described, “Dawes’ first set clocked in at just over an hour, starting strong with the single and opening track from the new album, ‘Living in the Future’, complete with the strange retro piece of machinery from the album’s cover, on stage along with the five members (Taylor Goldsmith, guitar / vocals; his brother Griffin on drums; Wylie Gelber, bass; and Lee Pardini on keys, along with touring guitarist Trevor Menear).”

Tour dates:

03/02 - Birmingham, AL - Iron City
03/03 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern
03/04 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
03/05 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
03/07 - Bloomington, IN - Bluebird
03/08 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
03/10 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall – Sold Out
03/11 - Harrisburg, PA - XL Live
03/12 - Washington, DC - Warner Theatre
03/14 - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
03/16 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore Philadelphia
03/17 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner
03/18 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre
04/06 - Dallas, TX - The Factory in Deep Ellum
04/07 - Houston, TX - The Heights
04/08 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater
04/11 - Fayetteville, AR - JJ’s Live
04/12 - St Louis, MO - The Pageant
04/14 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre-WI
04/15 - St. Paul, MN - Palace Theatre
04/16 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
04/18 - Wichita, KS - Wave
04/19 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
04/20 - South Salt Lake, UT - The Commonwealth Room
04/22 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
04/23 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
04/26 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
04/27 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
04/28 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
05/05 - Los Angeles, CA - The Theatre at Ace Hotel

04/15 Adi Oasis with Phillip-Michael Scales at Turf Club

04/15/2023 Saturday

Adi Oasis
with Phillip-Michael Scales
at Turf Club
first-avenue.com

French-Caribbean, Brooklyn based soul-funk-r&b artist-producer Adi Oasis is on tour in support of Lotus Glow (Unity Group). The tour will stop by the Turf Club in St Paul on April 15th.

Adi Oasis notes, “Lotus Glow represents my evolution, and as my first release as Adi Oasis, it feels like my first album ever. I've grown a lot, both musically and personally, over the past many years, and I feel like I am finally the artist I've always wanted to be, creating the music I've always dreamed to make.”

Phillip-Michael Scales to open.

Adi Oasis Tour Dates

3/15: Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
3/16: Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont
3/17: Toronto, QC @ Allied Music Hall
3/24: San Diego, CA @ Casbah
3/25: Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
3/29: Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club
3/31: Portland, OR @ The Jack London Revue
4/1: Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
4/2: Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club
4/12: Detroit, MI @ El Club
4/13: Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
4/14: Milwaukee, WI @ The Back Room
4/15: St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
4/20: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
4/21: Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
4/22: Washington, DC @ DC9
5/28: London, UK @ Cross the Tracks Festival
6/3: Margate, UK @ Soundcrash Funk
6/9: Berlin, DE @ Quasimodo
6/10: Hamburg, DE @ ElbJazz Festival
7/2: East Sussex, UK @ Love Supreme Festival

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to vu@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

We♥KC! March 22-31, 2023 Upcoming concerts/shows (Kansas City / Lawrence, KS)

Read More Queensrÿche Queensrÿche is touring in support of their album The Verdict (Century Media Records). The record is available in a variety of limited and exclusive editions, including clear, red transparent, petrol green, red smoke vinyl, etc. …

Read more Kansas City Music Guide.

Late March is bringing showers… of sold-out shows-- good job KC, for packing live venues again! Plenty else is happening, including several at Knuckleheads and don’t throw away your shot, if you can manage to wrangle those still-elusive Hamilton tickets.

Sad face for the canceled RATM show which would have taken place this week- if they happen to get inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame this fall, maybe some make up dates are in the cards as a victory lap tour leg.

Let’s take look at the Kansas City/Lawrence KS metro musical happenings from March 22nd-31st.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 22

Hamilton (musical), continues through Apr 2, Music Hall,$69+

PNC Broadway in Kansas City continues with its most popular and longest-running show of the season! We all know Hamilton by now- the story of America then, told by America now. Featuring a unique score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton is told like never before, and has created a lasting cultural moment in the process.

With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton has won Tony®, Grammy®, and Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors. The Disney+ special is great, but you haven’t seen Hamilton until you’ve seen it live on-stage!

THURSDAY MARCH 23

Eric Bellinger, recordBar, $30-$55

The Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter is out on his headlining Obsession Tour. It follows his 2022 Vibes On Vibes Tour, which R&B singer Sammie co-headlined. VIP packages are available, including a meet and greet, early and priority entry, autographed merchandise and more. Trevor Jackson, Nick Lavelle, and Dom Chronicles are on as support.

Maddie and Tae, Prairie Band Casino-Mayetta, SOLD OUT

Award-winning Country pop duo Maddie & Tae are coming to a sold-out Prairie Band. Their hits include: “Die From A Broken Heart”, “Girl In A Country Song”, current single “Every Night Every Morning”, and many more!

Iris Dement w Ana Egge, Knuckleheads, SOLD OUT

Longtime folk singer-songwriter and former KC resident Dement still obviously has loyal fans in the area. Her debut record Infamous Angel, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary, was recently named one of the “greatest country albums of all time” by Rolling Stone, and the two albums that followed, My Life and The Way I Should, each garnered Contemporary Folk GRAMMY nominations.

Thirty years after her debut, she’s still creating some of the most poignant music of her career, bridging seemingly disparate worlds with every note.

FRIDAY MARCH 24

Smithereens w Marshall Crenshaw (re-scheduled date) Knuckleheads,$35-$55

The popular New Jersey band formed way back in 1980, bringing a contemporary beat to a classic rock sound. Jim Babjak (guitar,) Dennis Diken (drums,) and Mike Mesaros (bass) grew up together and original lead singer, the late Pat DiNizio, hailed from nearby Scotch Plains, NJ. They toured worldwide over the course of 17 albums and 2500+ live shows before the 2017 passing of DiNizio put the band on hold, momentarily.

Longtime friend Marshall Crenshaw takes over lead vocals for this tour, recreating the many Smithereens favorites, as well as likely, a few of his own hits. Special Guest is: The Popskull Rebels.

Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams w Shawn Mullins, Knuckleheads. $35-$55

Multi-instrumentalist-singer-songwriter Larry Campbell and singer-guitarist Teresa Williams’ acclaimed self-titled 2015 debut, released after seven years of playing in Levon Helm’s band – and frequent high-profile guest appearances – helped put them on the map as a formidable musical duo.

And for this tour, they’re joined by singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins, whose critical breakthrough came when 1998 Soul’s Core album shot him to fame on the strength of its Grammy-nominated No. 1 hit, “Lullaby”. In early 2002, he formed super group The Thorns with Matthew Sweet and Pete Droge.

Michigan Rattlers, recordBar, $18

A Michigan folk-rock band composed of Graham Young (guitar), Adam Reed (bass), Christian Wilder (piano), and Tony Audia (drums). Veering beyond their initial Country-leaning sound, the band’s second full-length, That Kind of Life was released in 2021 to positive reviews. Morris & Depew open.

SATURDAY MARCH 25

Jerry Cantrell w Thunderpussy, Uptown,$35-$79

The Alice in Chains singer-guitarist is heading back out for another tour leg in support of his 2021 solo acclaimed album, Brighten. Expect to hear a plethora of solo material along with a number of AIC classics. The 2022 trek included vocalist Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan), drummer Gil Sharone (Team Sleep), guitarist Tyler Bates (film soundtrack composer), who should all return as part of Cantrell’s solid band.

Luzcid, Encore at Uptown Theater, $25

The Houston-born electronic artist is out on his Illusions Tour, an Audio/Visual experience with visuals from Data Byte.

JID and Smino, Midland. $32.50-$59.50

Out on their co-headlining Luv is 4ever Tour (which we’re scheduled to cover later this week in Minneapolis). Atlanta rapper J.I.D’s latest is The Forever Story, which topped many “Best of 2022” lists, including Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, while St. Louis rapper Smino’s third album Luv 4 Rent was his debut with Motown Records, in partnership with Zero Fatigue.

Queensryche w Marty Friedman, Trauma, The Truman,$32.50-$65

The ‘Ryche returns to the road with headlining tour dates in support of their latest album, 2022’s Digital Noise Alliance. Joining the classic progressive metal act on the road as special supporting acts will be ex-Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) and rising metal band Trauma, making for an entertaining evening all around.

Queensryche said in a press release, "This touring package is amped up and very much looking forward to seeing all of you! Come on out and let's have a great time together, as live music is as vibrant as ever once again!"

Little River Band, Ameristar Casino, $50-$68

The classic rock band from Melbourne is best known for their top hits “Reminiscing,” “The Night Owls” and “Lonesome Loser,” since forming in 1975. Other radio-familiar hits include “Take it Easy on Me,” “Help Is on Its Way,” “Happy Anniversary” and “The Other Guy.”

SUNDAY MARCH 26

Cowboy Mouth, Knuckleheads, $25

Jenny still Says to come to this show for a participatory fun time. Much like gumbo, the New Orleans-born band uses a potent blend of musical ingredients- rock, blues, punk, funk, country, pop, soul and whatever else feels good, for a true rock n roll revival show. Frontman, drummer, and co-founder Fred LeBlanc has asserted “if The Neville Brothers and The Clash had a baby, it would be Cowboy Mouth."

MONDAY MARCH 27

Shame, Bottleneck. $20

The rising London post-punk band has returned with their third full-length, Food for Worms, which just came out at the end of last month. Three buzzing singles were released beforehand, doing exceptionally well on the other side of the pond, “Fingers of Steel", "Six-Pack" and "Adderall".

After they missed Rock the Garden in 2018, we finally caught the band live, last summer headlining in Minneapolis. They've been busy touring the UK and Europe, so are ready to hit our shores with a bang.

Tampa’s They Hate Change will open- the hip-hop/electronic duo released their Jagjaguwar debut Finally, New last May, which is their eighth overall project.

TUESDAY MARCH 28

Rage Against The Machine, March 28, T-Mobile Center CANCELED

WEDNESDAY MARCH 29

Toto Uptown,$39-$99

The longtime rock band has spent most of the last couple years, touring on and off with a similar classic band that’s had its ups and downs, Journey, but returns to the area to make up for a previously postponed headlining appearance.

After announcing a breakup (filled with health issues, a lawsuit, etc) in 2019, they announced a reunion a year later with a revamped lineup including old/new singer Joseph Williams (son of composer John Williams), Steve Lukather, bassist John Pierce, drummer Robert “Sput” Searight, keys/vocalist Steve Maggiora, keyboardist Dominique “Xavier” Taplin and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Warren Ham.

Jessie Murph, The Truman, $17

Alabama alt/pop TikTokker 18-year-old singer Murph is out on her first ever North American tour in support of her debut mixtape, Drowning released last month which includes songs “Always Been You,” “If I Died Last Night,” and “Pray”, as well as three new tracks.

She’s catching more notice as many of her originally booked venues, have been re-booked into bigger halls, to accommodate additional demand. We caught Murph live just over a week ago, in Minneapolis, with her older brother opening the show. 44Phantom is listed as support for KC.

THURSDAY MARCH 30

Koe Wetzel, w/ The Cadillac Three, Dylan Wheeler, Cable Dahmer Arena. $35-$60

The genre-bending outlaw country artist brings his Road to Hell Paso Tour to the eastern KC suburbs iin support of Koe’s latest album Hell Paso, out last September which debuted at #12 on Billboard. In speaking about the album, Koe says: “We pulled in every genre we were feeling at the time. We spent the last ten years trying to make this sound, Hell Paso has it.” Wetzel sold over 350,000 tickets last year and is on track for much more in 2023. Opening acts are worth arriving early for.

Key Glock w Big Scarr, Uptown Theater,$39.50

The Memphis rapper is on his Glockoma Tour, a 31-date run of shows running until April 28 for a home-state show in Nashville, in support of new full-length, Glockoma 2, a sequel to his 2018 release.

Zepparella with Bad Bad Men, recordBar. $20

Expect to feel a whole lotta love for this Led Zeppelin tribute made up of vocalist Anna Kristina, guitarist Gretchen Menn, bassist Holly West, and drummer Clementine. Bad Bad Men (from Omaha) open the show.

FRIDAY MARCH 31

A Moving Sound, Polsky Theatre. $17-$35

Fusing traditional Taiwanese influences with a global sensibility, the award-winning ensemble (Sheng Don 聲動) built a worldwide following through their mix of original music and dance, featuring the timbres of the erhu (fiddle) and zhong ruan (lute), and vocals of Mia Hsieh,

Hsieh draws inspiration from her roots in Asian culture, as well as an assimilation of experimental and improvisational art forms. Her vocal influences range from ethnic to experimental. For many of the compositions, she performs using her own created language; chanting, speaking and singing with emotion.

Take 6, Lied Center. $19-$50

The most awarded acapella group (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley) in history hits the live stage in Lawrence. With 10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award, induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and more, Take 6 are six voices united in crystal clear harmony. We saw them live performing a Christmas mini-set, outdoors in mid-December numbing temperatures, singing from a rail car (no joke!) supporting Sheryl Crow.

Dave Attell (comedian) thru Apr 1, KC Improv, SOLD OUT

The NYC stand-up comedian remains as popular as ever, selling out all shows on this multi-night KC residency. Known for the hit series, "Insomniac with Dave Attell" on Comedy Central, Attell has also been on every late night talk show and his own half-hour stand-up special, among numerous other appearances.

Tech N9ne with King Iso, March 31, Granada. $30

KC’s favorite rapper got a Super Bowl bump, when his unofficial anthem, “Red Kingdom” was played everywhere as our own Kansas City Chiefs repeated as NFL Champions. He brings his Strange Music show to the home of the Jayhawks (who need some cheering up after being bumped from March Madness).

Crystal Bowersox, Mar 31, Knuckleheads (POSTPONED to October 6)

john c (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

SXSW 2023

Read More SXSW SXSW 2015 is taking place March 17–22, 2015. We love this time of the year, as many bands heading down to Austin will likely stop in Minneapolis before or after the event. ....

What a year, once again! This was my 12th SXSW in the last 16 years, and I'll be honest I thought it was going to be a down year post-Covid…. But far from a dull year, Austin was alive and well with loads of great new artists from all over the world in very tiny intimate settings.

To future SXSW attendees it’s still always good to have a nice daily list of shows you want to see and the locations to map out a schedule. All the venues are centrally located near downtown and the transportation options with walking, scooters, bikes, and Lyfts make life easy getting around the music festival.

Anyone that is buying a $1,000 music badge is out of their mind (that isn’t getting it free through label/company etc.). The collection of free day parties all over the city is endless, all you had to do was RSVP to a few, but most of them were free without it. And as far as the nightly showcases paying for $10-20 covers is the way to go.

The first night I saw 15 bands at three venues and paid $30 in covers. The second stage locations were extremely convenient when making decisions on who to catch.

Now for the music enrichment of new music with the top 10 lists.

Top 10 performances at SXSW

1. Orions Belte @ International day stage (Khruangbin/Delicate Steve fans)
2. The Garrys @ Swan Dive and Lazarus Brewery (caught them twice) (Unreal surf rock)
3. Lemonade Shoelace @ Cedar Street Courtyard and Laz (killer psychedelic band from Belfast / Tame Impala-esque)
4. Heavy Heavy @ Parish (killer Ed Sharpe/Nathaniel Rateliff sound) (every song gets better love the male/female vocals)
5. Red Rum Club at Lazarus Brewery
6. Been Stellar @ Swan Dive (Creek and the Cave)… Ben Stellar showed up at this party (Tokyo Police Club sound)
7. The Goa Express @ Swan Dive (killer Britrock)
8. Silverbacks @ Lazarus Brewery (great Irish band reminds me of The Rakes/Art Brut)
9. Kiwi Jr. @ Lazarus Brewery (Strokes vibes)
10. Lounge Society @ Chess Club
    
    --
    Honorable Mention: Sports Team @ Mohawk

Top 10 Artists missed @ SXSW Thee Sacred Souls Fennac (killer DJ) Vanille Balthvs Fonteyn Iguana Death Cult

Good Looks Wild Child Jockstrap Girl Scout -- Honorable mention: Circa Waves, Philline Sonny, Zella Day, Julianna Rolino, Salarymen, Vox Rea

Best Venues at SXSW Lazarus Brewery Mohwak Swan Dive

Can't wait for next year!!!! Rock On!

P.S. Favorite moment at SXSW was hanging out with Ben Romans Hopcraft (former lead singer of Childhood), who I interviewed for W♥M eight years ago at Great Escape Festival in Brighton, England. Crazy small world, we ran into each other at the Lounge Society show at Chess Club. Some of the members of The Nude Party were there as well, who have a sold out show at Turf Club coming up.

Ben has a new band he plays drums and sings for called Miss Tiny. Check them out on Spotify.

Silverbacks at Lazarus Brewery

Lemonade Shoelace Thao at High Noon (15 Mar 2023) Heavy Heavy at the Parish (16 Mar 2023) Red Rum Club Lounge Society at Chess Club (16 Mar 2023)

Lemonade Shoelace at Cedar Street Courtyard, Austin (16 Mar 2023)

brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

The Beths at First Ave (03/20/2023)

Setlists The Beths Setlist Future Me Hates Me Knees Deep Out of Sight You Wouldn’t Like Me Your Side Best Left I Want to Listen Head in the Clouds Don’t Go Away Jump Rope Gazers Less Than Thou I Told You That I Was When You Know You Know I’m Not Getting Excited Silence Is Golden Expert in a Dying Field -- Encore -- You Are a Beam of Light Little Death Sidney Gish Setlist Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second (STRFKR cover) Rat of the City Where the Sidewalk Ends I Eat Salads Now Sin Triangle Persephone Filming School Presumably Dead Arm Not but for You, Bunny Read More The Beths Tribune called The Beths, one of the “best up-and-coming bands”, so we were really eager to catch this young New Zealand trio (Elizabeth Stokes, Jonathan Pearce and ....

The return of The Beths to the Twin Cities officially ushered in the first day of spring. Who cares if there was snow with most still wearing their ski caps. For a brief time at First Ave one could believe winter’s grip was finally losing its hold.

Sidney Gish opened the evening of the sold out show. The signer-songwriter from Boston played the electric guitar while working a row of foot pedals to augment her sound with bass, percussions and the occasional synth chords.

Gish played songs from her two albums Ed Buys Houses and No Dogs Allowed. “I Eat Salads Now” had a soulful, bouncy vibe in which Gish referenced in her lyrics that she was 26 years old. By chance, her actual birthday was a couple days ago and she was in fact turning 26. She said that it was the perfect moment for The Beths to come on stage with cake and balloons when she sang the line.

“Persephone” got a big applause when announced. Gish then accidentally added a layer of synth to the song, but she said: “This is fun!” Aka let’s roll with the new sound.

The highlight of the set was “Presumably Dead Arm” a stream of conscience whisper that Gish sung along with the crowd as the words and music grew into a crescendo “… with a vengeance, it seems.”

Setlist

The Beths opened up their set with “Future Me Hates Me” and then a crowd favorite: “You Wouldn’t like Me.” The band from Auckland, New Zealand was nice enough to return to the Twin Cities after their show was originally cancelled on February 22^nd due to you guessed it: a massive snow storm.

So they rescheduled one last show on their American tour, which lead singer, Elizabeth Stokes, said was symbiotic, since they ended their last American tour at the Fine Line in March of 2022. The giant fish that was so prominent on their tour didn’t make it to First Ave, though, for The Beths and Sidney Gish had to hop on a plane from San Francisco just to make it to the show.

Even though the lead guitarist, Jonathon Pearce, had the word RAGE embossed on his sweatshirt do not be fooled. This is a nice group of musicians with Benjamin Sinclair on bass and Tristan Deck on drums. Sidney Gish described her touring companions as the band you would see in a cartoon. There is a definite brightness in their sound and lushness in their four-person harmony even if the lyrics delve into the angst and worry of everyday life.

This robust sound was best exemplified in “Jump Rope Gazers”. But it was the high-spirited songs like “Don’t Go Away” and “I’m Not Getting Excited” that demonstrated their skills as a tight-knit group as they careened, even shifting speeds and chords midstream.

There won’t be much time for relaxation for this most sought after band. Soon, they tour Europe, then summer music festivals in the United States. And if you missed their show at First Ave, they will be back, opening for The National at The Armory on August 9^th.

Don’t worry! There is little chance the show will be cancelled due to snow.

The Beths

Sidney Gish Sidney Gish The Beths The Beths The Beths

The Beths at First Avenue, Minneapolis (20 Mar 2023)

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Diablo IV Beta

Read More Diablo Blizzard’s “Do you guys not have phones?” game, Diablo Immortal launched on iOS and Android on June 1st. The PC version followed soon after. I have tested the game on iPhone 13, iPad (2020), ..…

You guys know me, I love Diablo. Ever since I played the demo disc from PC Gamer, I’ve been addicted to Diablo since 1996. I’ve bought every Blizzard games from Warcraft to Starcraft… but Diablo was my first love.

I started to dislike the company when, in an effort to fight piracy and make money, requires their games to always be online, starting with Diablo III. At the time, in 2012, my internet wasn’t reliable. I hated the fact that Blizzard was treating me like a criminal, asking me to check with their server whenever I play my game that I purchased.

So, in protest, I didn’t buy Diablo III when it came out on the PC. When the game was ported to PS3, it didn’t require an online connection - so I finally got to play the game, finally, in 2014. It’s a good game, even though I didn’t experience it until much later.

By now, my attitude towards “always online” games (even for single player games), have changed since I have reliable internet. I just recognize that it’s not going away, and it is just the way it is. Sure, I still don’t like it, but what can you do?

So I’ve been itching to play Diablo IV, seeing as it’s been over a decade since Diablo III came out. Sure we had the “fake” Diablo: Immortal and the re-mastered Diablo II: Resurrected, but Diablo IV is the true successor to the third game.

In order to get early access to Diablo IV on March 17-19, you had to pre-order the game, get a Diablo tattoo, or buy a KFC’s Double Down sandwich. Then the public open beta will be available March 24-26.

My Long Wait Time

Absolutely no surprise to anyone, there were very, very long waiting queue just to play the game. I was a 148-min wait time at one point. Do you see the problem here? Even if you own the game, you’re not allowed to play it until Blizzard can log you in.

Once you can actually get in to play, you’ll randomly get disconnected from the server. It’s super annoying. I just hope that this kind of thing doesn’t happen when the game actually officially releases on June 6.

As for the game, it’s very good from what I’ve seen. In the beta, you’re limited to a small map of the game and you’re capped at level 25. In the hours that I played, I reached Level 13, so it doesn’t take long to level up (especially if you just follow the main quest). I also like that it’s more role-playing now, and you have a lot of skill options. For example, you can build up your rogue to be focused on bows/crossbows or dual-wielding dagger assassin. Even though it’s the same class, they play very differently.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that each weapon feels different too. For example, a bow is very different from a crossbow. Although both shoot arrows, I find the bow just more satisfying, based on animation, sound, and movement.

So far, from what I’ve played of Diablo IV, I love it. This is only based on playing the Rogue. The other classes available right now is the Barbarian and the Sorcerer. I don’t like playing magic, so I think I’ll try out the Barbarian in my next character creation.

Anyway, Diablo IV is going to be a hit when it comes out on June 6th.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

Diablo IV

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Minneapolis: April 13 to April 14

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

04/13 Ryan Traster and NEWSKI with Long Range Hustle at Turf Club Read More Ryan Traster Minneapolis-based musician Ryan Traster is having a Choses Obscures CD album release party this July 6th at the Turf Club. Looking at the poster, he is putting the name Ryan Traster Band on the bill. … Brett Newski Milwaukee-based alternative songwriter / illustrator / podcaster Brett Newski is releasing his first book It’s Hard To Be A Person: defeating anxiety, surviving the world, and having more fun and its ... Chipotle We learned that again over the previous weekend as the Chipotle Cultivate Festival came to town for a day long adventure of food, ideas, and music. ...

04/13/2023 Thursday

Ryan Traster and NEWSKI
with Long Range Hustle
at Turf Club
first-avenue.com

The co-headlining tour of Ryan Traster and Newski will be stopping by the Turf Club in St Paul on April 13th.

The press release of the year, for me, was for Newski’s disastrous unlicensed pop-up concert at Chipotle.

“We played an unlicensed show at Chipotle and everyone hated us,” says NEWSKI.

Everything that could go wrong did, for Wisconsin’s jangle pop rock outfit NEWSKI on their spontaneous and unlicensed performance at Chipotle; the guitar fell out of tune, no free burritos were rewarded, and nearly everyone in the place was pissed off.

I thought it was funny enough that I shared it with the W♥M team. Even if the story was made up or overly exaggerated, it made us notice and we like a band with a sense of humor.

I did some digging, and apparently this trio features Steve “Mr Bicep” Vorass on drums, Sean “Tubs” Anderson on 4-string, and led by Brett Newski on guitars and vocals.

Brett Newski (06 July 2016)

Funny enough, we have seen Brett before, at the Violent Femmes show in July 2016, which we described, “Brett Newski opened up the show with his improv-ish songs. Very fun guy, really witty. Highlight of his set was getting an audience member to help play harmonica during ‘In Between Exits’. He ended his brief 30-min set with ‘D.I.Y.’... and newfound fans in the front started to sing along to his catchy lyrics, “I’m D.I.Y., I’m punk as f***. Don’t need your money, I don’t want your love.” Newski also tend to swap out lyrics to make his song more personal and timely. For example, he name dropped The Replacements in the mixtape lyrics on ‘D.I.Y.’”

Long Range Hustle to open.

Tour dates:

03.29 - YPSILANTI, MI @ Ziggys
03.30 - HAMILTON, ON @ Mill’s Hardware
01.31 - TORONTO, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
04.01 - ELORA, ON @ Elora Brewing Co
04.02 - BARRIE, ON @ Queens Hotel
04.06 - STEVEN'S POINT, WI @ UWSP Dreyfus Center
04.07 - MILWAUKEE, WI @ Anodyne Walkers Point
04.08 - MANITOWOC, WI @ Sabbatical Brewing
04.12 - CHICAGO, IL @ Golden Dagger
04.13 - ST PAUL, MN @ Turf Club
04.14 - APPLETON, WI @ Appleton Beer Factory
04.21 - COLUMBUS, OH @ Rambling House Series
04.22 - YOUNGSTOWN, OH @ Westside Bowl
04.23 - PHILADELPHIA, PA @ Krobath series
04.26 - NEW YORK, NY @ Bowery Electric
04.27 - DEWEY BEACH, DL @ Fort Ishu House Show
04.28 - WASHINGTON DC @ Pearl St Warehouse
04.30 - RICHMOND, VA @ Hardywood Brewing
05.03 - ORLANDO, FL @ Will’s Pub
05.04 - ST AUGUSTINE @ Sarbez
05.05 - WEST DESTIN, FL @ Rock by the Sea Fest
05.06 - WEST DESTIN, FL @ Rock by the Sea Fest
05.20 - HAVANA, IL @ Havana Songwriters Fest
05.23 - SEATTLE, WA @ Fun House
05.24 - BEND, OR @ Old St Francis School
05.25 - PORTLAND, OR @ The White Eagle
05.26-27 - PORT ANGELES, WA @ JFFA Festival
06.02- MARSHFIELD, WI @ Hub City Days
06.17 - SHEBOYGAN, WI @ Three Sheeps
06.23 - CEDAR RAPIDS, IA @ Newbo City Market
06.30 - BARABOO, WI @ Tumbled Rock Brewing
07.01 - MADISON, WI @ Terrace at Memorial Union
07.12 - GOSHEN, IN @ Goshen Brewing
07.14 - LANSING, MI @ Bridge Fest
07.15 - GRAND RAPIDS, MI @ Founders
07.16 - THREE OAKS, MI @ Acorn Theatre

04/14 Fruit Bats at First Avenue Read More Fruit Bats If you are looking for a laid back collection of summer tracks then I suggest you look no further than The Ruminant Band by the Fruit Bats. …

04/14/2023 Friday

Fruit Bats
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

Nashville’s Fruit Bats (Eric D. Johnson) is currently on tour in support of A River Running to Your Heart. The record will be available April 14 via Merge Records.

“Over the years there's been a lot of geography in my music, a lot of landscapes,” Johnson says. “Sometimes the places are real, sometimes they're emotional. I've always liked the idea of songs and albums that exist in a continuum with one another. I'm not talking about some kind of deep series of concept albums, mind you. More like the idea that my songs are all pretty much tributaries of the same river. Which makes a lot of metaphorical sense because my path has been long and winding and often slow and muddy. But always moving towards the sea…. I guess you could say this album is the one where I took all that emotional geography and kind of mapped it out.”

We saw Fruit Bats in Oct 2015 and said, “Johnson’s honeyed voice was perfect, rivaled only by the dreamy strum of Barker’s guitar and gentle whirr of Klippert’s keyboards. Folk-pop gems like fan-favorite “When You Love Somebody” (from Mouthfuls) saw many people singing the famously quirky lyric, “When you love somebody and bite your tongue all you get is a mouthful of blood.” Blood, bats, love and folk - I couldn’t have asked for a better precursor to Halloween.”

Fruit Bats Spring 2023 Tour:

4/12 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi
4/13 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
4/14 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
4/15 – Maquoketa, IA – Codfish Hollow
4/16 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
4/18 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Phoenix Theatre
4/19 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl
4/20 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
4/21 – Boston, MA – Royale
4/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
4/25 – Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle
4/27 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
4/28 – Scaly Mountain, NC – Bear Shadow +
4/29 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
4/30 – Jacksonville, FL – Intuition Ale Works
5/10 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up Tavern
5/11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre
5/12 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
5/13 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
5/14 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
5/17 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
5/19 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
5/20 – Salt Lake City, UT – Commonwealth Room
5/21 – Bozeman, MT – The Elm
5/24 – Boise, ID – Treefort Music Hall
5/25 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
5/26 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Market
5/27 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Commodore Ballroom

+ w/ Spoon

04/14 Aoife O’Donovan with The Westerlies at Turf Club Read More Aoife O'Donovan Opening the show was Ber. Originally from Minnesota, Ber moved to London in 2020 to work on music. With a massive fanbase on TikTok, she caught the attention of London’s Zane Lowe and Travis Mills ...

04/14/2023 Friday

Aoife O’Donovan
with The Westerlies
at Turf Club
first-avenue.com

GRAMMY Award-winning artist Aoife O’Donovan will be playing her live recording of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska live at the Turf Club, this April 14th, 2023.

O’Donovan loves Nebraska and explains, “It was this concept album in a way that was just so natural, it was so unforced. Springsteen found these characters and sort of placed them. It’s almost like the American Songbook or something. I just love the record; from the opening moments to the final cut, ‘Reason to Believe,’ it has this beautiful arc. It’s almost novelistic in that way.”

Aoife O’Donovan (20 Nov 2015)

We saw Aoife O'Donovan in Nov 2015 and wrote, “Opening up the show, was Crooked Still's Aoife O'Donovan playing some folky/storytelling songs from her latest solo album Fossils, including set opening song "Lay My Burden Down", "Oh, Mama", and "Beekeeper". She played a couple of new songs, like "Hornets", which she said she played recently when she hosted (along with Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz) at the A Prairie Home Companion show in October 2015. ”

The Westerlies to open.

Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska Tour

March 15 - The Birchmere - Alexandria, VA*
March 16 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY*
March 17 - Sanders Theatre - Cambridge, MA*
March 18 - Stone Mountain Arts Center - Brownfield, ME+
April 12 - Stoughton Opera House - Stoughton, WI^
April 13 - SPACE - Evanston, IL^
April 14 - Turf Club - St. Paul, MN^
April 15 - The Sheldon Concert Hall - St. Louis, MO^
April 16 - The Basement East - Nashville, TN^

*performing the album Nebraska solo, with special guests Hawktail
+performing the album Nebraska solo
^performing the album Nebraska solo, with special guests The Westerlies

Additional Aoife O’Donovan Tour Dates
April 28 - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN ~
May 30 - Dresden Music Festival - Dresden, DE
August 18-19 - Green Mountain Bluegrass - Manchester, VT
August 25 - The Long Road - Leicestershire, UK
August 26-27 - Tønder - Tønder, DK
September 9 - Moon River - Chattanooga, TN

~ supporting Nickel Creek

04/14 Trapper Schoepp at 7th St Entry Read More Trapper Schoepp Milwaukeean Trapper Schoepp started things off with a fantastic cover of the classic Jimmie Rodgers’ tune “T for Texas” before moving into …

04/14/2023 Friday

Trapper Schoepp
with Becky Kapell and Laura Hugo
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter Trapper Schoepp is touring in support of his upcoming album Siren Songs, available April 21 via Grand Phony (US) / Rootsy (EU).

Trapper Schoepp (31 May 2017)

We saw Trapper Schoepp in May 2017 and said, “As a former resident of Green Bay, I was charmed to learn that Trapper Schoepp’s newest EP was written all about the city’s Bay Beach, an east-side amusement park nestled on the bay that happens to be celebrating 125 years of existence this year. Schoepp treated the Turf crowd to a performance of Bay Beach Amusement Park in its entirety with help from Shades bandmates Justin Krol on drums, Quinn Scharber on guitar, brother Tanner on bass/vocals and a 3-piece horn section lovingly called “The Horns”.”

Tour dates:

3/23 - Lake Orion, MI - 20 Front Street
3/24 - Akron, OH - Barno's House
3/25 - Ligonier, PA - Sweet Rust
3/26 - Washington, D.C. - Pie Shop DC
3/28 - Boston, MA - City Winery Boston
3/29 - Cambridge, NY - Argyle Brewing Company
3/30 - Syracuse, NY - The 443 Social Club & Lounge
3/31 - Freehold, NJ - Concerts in the Studio
4/1 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe
4/2 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
4/14 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry
4/15 - Madison, WI - Kiki's House of Righteous Music
4/21 - Milwaukee, WI - Colectivo **
4/22 - Berwyn, IL - FitzGerald’s **
4/23 - Nashville, TN - Eastside Bowl **
5/7 - Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall #
5/9 - Davenport, IA - Raccoon Motel #
5/10 - Berwyn, IL - FitzGerald’s #
5/11 - Des Moines, IA - xBk Live #
5/12 - Omaha, NE - Reverb Lounge #

** With Mike Viola
# Supporting Daniel Rodriguez

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to vu@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sony 70-200mm GM F2.8 OSS

Read More Sony What I am eyeing, is the rather expensive Sony 70-200mm G-Master Lens. It retails for $2,500, but I have seen it as low as $2,000 during the Black Friday/Christmas sale. I know the price is way more expensive than the …

As I previously mentioned, I had my eye on the Tamron 50-400mm lens, since I wanted a nice long reach at 400mm… but unfortunately, due to the F6.3 (at 400mm), it’s not suitable for photographing concerts.

Then, the idea popped in my head to look at the Sony 70-200mm GM F2.8 OSS lens. This is the original lens that started Sony’s Gold Master (or G Master) lens line up in 2016. Sony has four types of lens: basic (not labeled), Zeiss (developed in cooperation with Carl Zeiss), G (Gold), and GM (Gold Master). G Master is the highest tier, basically the best of the best.

For most photographers, any lens, at any F-Stop should be fine in daytime. For people shooting night photography, you want a low F-Stop… so for a time, I just thought the G Master lens was just too expensive.

But as I looked into it, the low F2.8 started to look more attractive. Once Sony released a version 2 of the 70-200 in 2021, prices for the original version dropped from $2,500 to $2,000… making it slightly more affordable.

When you read into it, you find out that the lens can produce 30 frames a second, if you have a camera that can take advantage of it (no third party lens can do this per Sony’s restrictions). On top of that, with a 2x teleconverter, you can turn the Sony 200mm lens to a 400mm (but it will make the lens a F5.6). Finally, Sony’s Ring Drive Super Sonic wave motor, with Double linear motor, combined with Optical Stabilization (OSS), is one of the fastest autofocusing system on the market.

Basically, I’m just trying to convince myself that all these future-proof features are worth the $2,000 I paid for the lens. And guess what? After using it for concert photo shoot, it’s absolutely worth it!

I’m serious, every shot I looked at my view screen and I’m like Wow! That’s sharp! After a few more shots, I’m like all these photos are keepers!

The Sony G-Master lens, at low light, is on another level! I’ve been using the Tamron 28-200mm (F5.6 at the 200mm end), and while the lens performs fine in good light… it does produce grainy or soft images when you’re shooting in poor lighting conditions.

Now for the negative: the first generation of the 70-200mm F2.8 GM lens is heavy. It’s really heavy. Officially, Sony lists the lens as weighing 3.3lbs, but it feels like 5lbs (the version 2 solves the weight problem by bringing it down to 2.3lbs). Basically, you’ll need both your hands to shoot. You’re going to tire out after a long shooting session… so most people use a tripod or monopod. In fact, Sony knows this, and included a removable tripod foot for the lens (which doesn’t fit Arca mounts).

Size Matters: Sony 70-200mm vs Tamron 28-200mm

The lens is also very long at 8 inches (12 with the hood… it’s the size of a Subway sandwich). The reason for this is because of the internal zooming mechanics. Adding the lens hood, the GM lens is twice as long as my Tamron 28-200 when collapsed.

The size and weight of the 70-200 GM lens makes it unconventional to just bring to, like a birthday party, or just randomly doing impromptu street photography. This is a business lens, that requires planning and commitment.

Still, despite the monstrous size and weight, I think it’s a fair tradeoff for amazing image quality. You can always look at version 2, if the weight bothers you, but I don’t think it’s worth the extra $800.

Anyway, from my experience of shooting with the 70-200 GM lens, I think it’s a very, very good lens. I’m going to try and take it on a hike, when the weather is a little warmer.

P.S. I was surprised to see that the 70-200 GM lens came with its own padded carrying case (with shoulder strap). All the lens I’ve ever purchased never came with its own custom carrying case, so this is a very nice addition.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com