W♥M

04/21/2025

The Welsh Ballad of John Evans

Gruff Rhys at Swedish American Hall (19 Apr 2025)

Tour Dates

04/21 Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall

04/22 Seattle, WA @ Here – After

05/07 Belfast, UK - Black Box

05/09 Stockport, UK - Savoy Theatre

05/10 Wrexham, UK - Focus Wales

05/15 London, UK - Rich Mix

05/16 Leeds, UK - The Wardrobe

06/07 Swansea, UK, Gwyl Tawe Festival

06/11 Guildford, UK - The Boileroom

06/12 Tunbridge Wells, UK - The Forum

06/14 Ipswich, UK - Brighten the Corners Festival

08/29 Brighton, UK - Psych Fest

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Gruff Rhys

Brush up on your Welsh, yanks! Gruff Rhys, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Super Furry Animals and part of the electro-pop group Neon Neon, is digging up his solo sounds. …

Chris Forsyth

Meg Baird, the co-founder of Philadelphia's luminary psychedelic folk collective Espers, is co-headlining a tour with Chris Forsyth. Forsyth’s new album Evolution Here We Come …

Gruff Rhys
Swedish American Music Hall
San Francisco
April 19, 2025

I spilled my cider in the front row. Normally, this might not be that significant at an indie rock show, but this was not a typical indie rock show. This was a seated Gruff Rhys show, with a heavy dose of a Nerd Nite-style history lesson on the 18th century Welsh explorer John Evans, as told through words, music, and staged photos projected on the screen center-stage. So, the crowd was respectfully hushed as Rhys sat down at his keyboard and computer set-up when I spilled my cider. “Oh, hopefully you didn’t lose too much of that,” he said kindly to me, before proceeding.

Rhys created catchy, kooky rock during Britpop’s heyday as the frontman for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals, with fuzzed-out riffs, carefree melodies, and Rhys’ super furry Welsh accent. As a solo artist, Rhys has mellowed out, but he’s still mining new ground. Rhys’ tour this spring, celebrating the tenth anniversary of American Interior, is a hybrid performance cataloging his travels across the American Midwest and South to retrace Evans’ journey. Evans originally set out to find out the truth behind the myth of a 12th-century Welsh prince who supposedly settled among a Native American tribe.

Though a mellower affair than a Super Furries show, it was still pretty kooky. Through the course of the concert, Rhys recounted Evans’ tragic journey through staged photos featuring a John Evans stand-in: a puppet that looked like Sesame Street’s Count Dracula. There's the Evans puppet getting "arrested" by a modern-day cop cuffing him against his cop car; there's the Evans puppet pensively sailing down the Missouri River; there’s the Evans puppet stopping during his journey to enjoy an iced latte.

Rhys recounted the entire journey from beginning to end, accompanied by, of course, a full set of musical interludes. He mainly performed solo, with keyboards and guitar, but was joined by opener Chris Forsyth near the end of his set. Rhys played lovely, low-key renditions of his solo work, like “Bad Friend” from his 2024 album, Sadness Sets Me Free, and American Interior tracks like “The Last Conquistador,” “Lost Tribes,” and “100 Unread Messages.”

With the unfolding of story and song, Evans’ journey became our collective journey. Rhys related the Welsh prince myth to our present-day bout of “fake news”—something meant to fit a colonialist narrative. Even with the hilarious slide show, the night’s performance ended up being riveting, tuneful, and melancholy in equal parts. I was fascinated and entertained all night.

The Philadelphia-based Forsyth, who has opened for Super Furry Animals in the past, brought his freeform artrock atmospherics as a complementary, stripped-down prelude.

Chris Forsyth

photo courtesy of Heidi Chiao

Chris Forsyth

photo courtesy of Heidi Chiao

Gruff Rhys

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Gruff Rhys, with Chris Forsyth, at Swedish American Music Hall, San Francisco (19 Apr 2025)

photo courtesy of Amy Timko

Robin Lapid ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Posted at 11:07 AM in Britpop, Chris Forsyth, Gruff Rhys, Robin, San Francisco, Super Furry Animals | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/20/2025

Minneapolis: May 18 to May 20, 2025

Jax: May 6, 2025

04/19/2025

We♥KC! April 22-24, 2025 Upcoming concerts / shows (Kansas City, MO / Lawrence KS)

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Half-Alive

Long Beach based trio Half-Alive (stylized as half•alive) will be headlining 7th Street Entry on the last day of the January. The show is sold out. Overwhelming buzz for this alt-rock band pushed this show to a bigger venue.

Read more Kansas City Music Guide.

No Vis, no Gun--

Unfortunately, one of the most anticipated shows of the week, High Vis with Militarie Gun is canceled, due to emergency surgery for Vis singer Graham Sayle: (from 03 Apr.) “We’re sorry to announce that after an incident on Sunday, Graham was admitted to hospital for emergency surgery. He is now stable and recovering, but sadly we have to cancel the upcoming US tour.” Depending on Visas and logistics, we’re hopeful they can reschedule for the Fall.

Let’s take look at the Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings for the upcoming week from April 22^nd to 24^th.

(ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show’s headline)

TUESDAY APRIL 22

North Star Boys, Apr 22, recordBar, $30

North Star Boys (NSB) is a leading Asian American pop band, founded in August 2021 by brothers Oliver Moy, and Sebastian Moy. Amassing over 55 million followers combined on social media platforms, NSB has cultivated a loyal audience, as evidenced on their Fall 2022 tour.

Their 2023 EP “Panic”, featured “Cold War”, co-produced by multi-platinum songwriters and musicians, Tim Pagnotta and Brian Phillips. Their latest single is “Thirsty” and available VIP packages includes a signed Polaroid and kissing booth (ooh!). NSB has accumulated over 20 million monthly views on their syndicated Snapchat shows.

High Vis with Militarie Gun, Apr 22, Bottleneck-Lawrence, CANCELED

WEDNESDAY APRIL 23

Half Alive, Apr 23, Truman, $39-$92

Long Beach, CA band Half•Alive is currently out on their Persona World Tour and the trio includes Josh Taylor [vocals], Brett Kramer [drums], and J Tyler Johnson [bass]. Half•Alive officially came to life on their 2017 “3” EP, with singles, “The Fall” and “Aawake At Night”. Since then, the band has released two full-length albums, were named YouTube’s Artist on the Rise.

With help from incredible collaborators like choreographers and creative partners Jordan Johnson and Aidan Carberry, otherwise known as JA Collective, half•alive have completed three headlining tours across the United States, EU and UK, supported Twenty One Pilots on an arena tour.

The Cher Show, Apr 23, Lied Center- Lawrence, $24-$65

Superstars come and go, Cher is forever. For six decades, only one unstoppable force has dominated popular culture-broke down barriers, pushed boundaries and let nothing and no one stand in her way. The Cher Show is the Tony Award®-winning musical of her story, and it’s packed with so much Cher that it takes three women to play her: the kid starting out, the glam pop star, and the icon.

Featuring 35 hit songs, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy®, an Oscar®, an Emmy® and enough Tony Award-winning Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequin shortage, it’s all in one unabashedly new musical that will have you dancing in the aisles! This is a one-night second chance to see the musical – we believed in life after love when we enjoyed the production last Spring at Starlight.

THURSDAY APRIL 24

Shred Fest, Apr 24, Granada- Lawrence, $26-$30

Brought to town via Terry and his wife and their collectible oddities and toy shop, 1313 Mockingbird Lane Shredfest 2025 features Obscura // Support: Atheist // Origina // Decrepit Birth // Fractal Universe in a face-melting, head-banging, all-ages show!

The month-long tour starts April 20 in San Diego, with Lawrence being a few days in, and closes on May 22 in Los Angeles and is in support of Obscura’s new album, “A Sonication”. The band’s had several lineup changes in the last few years but looks be settled in and fully rocking again.

“We are excited to be part of SHRED FEST 2025, along with excellent bands such as as Atheist, Origin, Decrepit Birth and Fractal Universe, to travel through the US and Canada in April and May. More notes, more shred, more of everything. VIP packages won’t be available – all bands are at the shows to meet you, have a chat, and share the most extreme music on the planet. Pass by early, support all artists, and see you at a venue near you.” – Steffen Kummerer

National Touring act coming to Kansas City, Lawrence, KS, Topeka, KS, or vicinity? Let us know so we can spotlight the appearance-email [email protected]

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com

Posted at 09:30 PM in Broadway, Cher, Half-Alive, John, K-Pop, Kansas City, Kansas City Music Guide, Musical, Preview | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flashback: Matthew Sweet at Cadillac Club (04 Oct 1993)

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Matthew Sweet

Anyway, currently, Matthew Sweet is back with a new album, after a six-year hiatus, called Tomorrow Forever (Honeycomb Hideout, through Sony’s RED Distribution). The new 17-song album will be …

All these years, I’ve been saying that Matthew Sweet was one of my earliest concerts, thinking I saw him in 1992… because, after all, his debut album, Girlfriend came out in 1991 via Zoo Records. What I should have realized is that I actually did not see him until 1993, because I distinctively remember buying his EP Altered Beast and his single “Time Capsole”, which was released in 1993.

Now that I’m cleaning house and organizing and seeing what CDs to take with me (not many), I have found my ticket stub to his concert at the Cadillac Club, in Fresno, California, on October 4, 1993. It was a busy month, as I saw Catherine Wheel shortly after this on October 26.

As we all know: I have a poor memory. You can guess that he played “Girlfriend”, probably as an encore or finale. Since his new single was “Time Capsole”, you can bet he played that (I think he might have played it first).

What’s neat to see on the ticket stub is that it was sponsored by our local Fresno Alternative Station, The Edge. I remember the Cadillac Club was like a bungalow (long) and it was under the freeway. Kind of a bad location, in my opinion.

As for opener, the ticket stub has “Holly Faith.” Somewhat of a misspelling. The band is officially called Hollyfaith, from Atlanta, and they were touring in support of their debut album Purrr, released in 1993 on Creation Records. That’s a big deal, considering that the label also signed and promoted Oasis.

Last October 2024, Matthew Sweet suffered a huge stroke while on tour. He had to cancel the remainder of his US tour dates, and his manager Russell Carter had to setup a GoFundMe to help cover the medical expenses.

In an update from December, Sweet said that he may never play guitar again.

Matthew Sweet at Cadillac Club, Fresno (04 Oct 1993)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Posted at 07:43 PM in Catherine Wheel, Flashback, Fresno, Matthew Sweet, Oasis | Permalink | Comments (0)

Farah Siraj at the Cedar (18 Apr 2025)

Farah Siraj at the Cedar Cultural Center (18 Apr 2025)

Tour Dates

APR 26 Minot Area Council of the Arts Minot, ND

MAY 04 Mueller Center Hot Springs, SD

MAY 09 Red Rock Center for the Arts Fairmont, MN

JUN 19 The Bassment Saskatoon, SK

JUN 20 Vancouver International Jazz Festival 2025

Jun 21 - Jun 22 Victoria International Jazz Festival

Read More

Farah Siraj

Jordan's Musical Ambassadress, Farah Siraj will headline the Cedar Cultural Center on April 18, 2025. Siraj writes: Our @arts_midwest tours always start and end ...

The Cedar Cultural Center was a hub of world music on Friday night with musicians from around the globe.

Opening the evening was Genet Abate, a singer from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, now living in Minneapolis.

Abate took the stage in colorful attire to sing songs of the local tribes in her east African country. She said she was planning to have dancers with her, but the best laid plans had her taking the stage as a solo act.

In between songs, she took questions from the audience and said that it was a year before that she played the same stage. She said she is part of a band that has taken part in the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, then added that any upcoming shows can be found on her Instagram account.

Farah Siraj next took the stage with an intimate group of musicians that included a Flamenco guitarist, Andreas Arnold, and Kane Mathis playing the Turkish Oud. Siraj is from Amman, Jordan, but she is a citizen of the world, moving to Spain at the age of sixteen; studying musical composition at Trinity College of Music in London and graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Along the way she has absorbed musical genres like flamenco, tango, jazz, middle eastern music and a splash of pop.

Siraj said the Cedar was the first stop on her North American Tour. She said we were lucky to have such a place in the Twin Cities for not many music venues highlight global music.

Siraj started off the evening with a new song on her upcoming album “Ya Bahr” which means “sea” in Arabic. She then asked if there were any lovers of flamenco and asked the crowd to make noise. “Don’t be shy. I love it.”

The crowd was not shy and was treated to songs in English, Spanish and Arabic, tinged with flamenco guitar and the Turkish Oud with a lovely voice that sang songs that ranging from missing a loved one to the genocide in the Darfur “To the Sudanese Woman”.

Siraj sang Jordanian folk songs and even scatted a little. But the highlight of the evening was a song she wrote with Indian composer A.R. Rahman. She told a circuitous story about how the song came to be, which had her manager, Danielle, laughing in the front row and Mathis looking at his watch. The story was hard to follow, but some highlights involved facelifts, possibly pulling a fire alarm at Heathrow Airport, getting free coffee, teaching in India, her husband’s looks and her dogged will to meet a musical hero, which finally happened when she met Rahman and they wrote “Zariya”, a song that reached #1 on the Indian music chart.

It was by far the best story about a song I’ve heard yet.

7 / 8

Farah Siraj at the Cedar (18 Apr 2025)

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Posted at 03:00 PM in Cedar Cultural Center, Dave, Farah Siraj, Minneapolis, Twin Cities Jazz Festival, World Beat, World Music | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jax: May 3 to May 5, 2025

mssv at Turf Club (18 Apr 2025)

mssv Setlist

On and On
Hypocrite
Careful What You Wish For
Even So
Another
All Things Come
If Anybody Else Could Help
Boat Song
No Words
See Through You
OK to Change
Another World (Richard Hell & the Voidoids cover)
Human Reaction

Tour Dates

Apr 19 Gabe's Iowa City, Ia

Apr 20 Recordbar Kansas City, Mo

Apr 21 Reverb Lounge Omaha, Ne

Apr 22 Fisch Haus Wichita, Ks

Apr 23 Chelsea's Eureka Springs, Ar

Apr 24 Venue Shrine Tulsa, Ok

Apr 25 Golden Light Cantina Amarillo, Tx

Apr 26 Cocoon Santa Fe, Nm

Apr 27 Orpheum Theater Flagstaff, Az

Apr 28 Griffin Las Vegas, Nv

Apr 29 Bakersfield Sound Co. Bakersfield, Ca

Apr 30 Torch Club Sacramento, Ca

May 1 Miniplex Arcata, Ca

May 2 Bottom Of The Hill San Francisco, Ca

May 3 Zebulon Los Angeles, Ca

Read More

MSSV

MSSV Main Steam Stop Valve (Mike Baggetta, Stephen Hodges, Mike Watt), recordBar, $13 The newest experimental rock incarnation from Minuteman bassist ...

Although it might not have been obvious from the billing, a night at Turf Club had a host of luminaries as mssv came to St. Paul to play.

The Charlie Parr Trio kicked things off for the evening. Parr is, quite simply, a prolific artist. He has nearly 20 full length albums and an unbelievable number of other released material. He is a machine when it comes to shows, including a January residency at Turf Club for the last several years. He plays a blues country/blues rock style both solo and in bands like this concert’s trio. Although no one was making a big deal of it, the bassist for the trio was none other than Greg Norton, of Hüsker Dü fame. (Bob Mould also happens to be in town, playing at The Palace on the 19th.)

Parr and company hit the first song running. It was a long tune giving everyone a chance to get going, with Parr’s vocals and Norton’s bass work a highlight. A bit of banter about how Parr didn’t like to be standing while playing guitar (but was “going to do it anyway”), also revealed they only had “a couple more songs” before mssv. And given the style of music for the evening, perhaps the fewer but longer songs was the way to go. Drummer Billy Dankert helped hold the center on the second song, keeping the instrumental and vocal sections well connected.

We got a Bob Dylan cover, Ballad of Hollis Brown, and crossed the thirty-minute mark early in the third song of the set. The key here were those alternating instrumental sections with the lyrics; it provided an obvious sign to the audience that the musical sections were key, but none were so long that you lost track of what was going on, and the vocal sections were never too far away. It was a great opportunity for some these excellent musicians to jam within given constraints. Norton’s bass work in the latter part of the song was masterful while always being in support of the music. And as they ended their third song at 45 minutes, the Charlie Parr Trio exited the stage.

mssv, short for Main Steam Stop Valve, is a trio with Mike Baggetta (guitar), Mike Watt (bass), and Stephen Hodges (drums). All three members have long and varied musical track records. This current band lies squarely in the experimental rock genre: unorthodox song structures, improvisational performances and a distinct lack of commercial aspirations. mssv showed that off in spades as they got to the stage.

They started with On and On from the most recent album and Baggetta’s guitar work was off the charts. They simply transitioned into the second song, and you got the feeling that talk from the band might be pretty limited. It amused me that Watt was seated in an old-fashioned looking chair and was largely faded away from the audience. The second song, Hypocrite, was very free form and gave us Watt yelling that one word for backup vocals. As they got started on the third song, it was clear that mssv was there simply to rock. No bluster, no comedy or patter, just the music. Watt took over for some of the vocals on the third song, Careful What You Wish For and was a great contrast.

The jazz background and training for Baggetta became obvious as you listened to the band, particularly on a song like Even So. A strange interlude with Hodges also playing a jingle bell had an off-kilter feel, but quickly rolled back into the rock & roll sound. It got a little harder to tell start and end of songs, though a full stop helped reset and give the crowd a chance to cheer their appreciation. A quieter number got going with a repetitive structure that allowed some improvisations and variations on the theme. It ended with some very improvisational riffs with Watt mostly slapping his bass and Baggetta in full jazz mode. Right as it seemed the band might go off the rails of rock noise, they again moved into the next song. It was quite the display at a band performance level, as they deftly rode a line of traditional songs while giving themselves room to play as they wanted.

A wildly quiet They Can’t Take That Away From Me eventually shut the entire crowd up by the time Watt took over again on vocals and Hodges basically gone silent on percussion. Just as it ended, they launched into a funk inspired song that completely reset the mood. mssv has a seasoned approach that kept the evening moving forward in an enjoyable way. The next few songs flowed from one into the next, with Baggetta having more or less on the lyrical side. At one point, a simple shouted word “bass” from Watt had the crowd laughing and cheering and mssv was starting to head to the end of the set. As they got to the end, they finally talked a little and Watt was effusive in his thanks for the openers, the crowd and then parlayed that into Another World, with him at lead vocals. We also got a long expected extended drum solo from Hodges. Human Reaction was an excellent song to end on, and mssv started packing up their gear. It ended a night of some great individual performers coming together and sharing the stage with each other and the audience.

Billy Dankert

Charlie Parr Trio

Greg Norton

Charlie Parr

Stephen Hodges

Mike Baggetta

Mike Watt

mssv at Turf Club (18 Apr 2025)

thaddeus ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Posted at 01:58 PM in Bob Dylan, Bob Mould, Charlie Parr, Greg Norton, Husker Du, mssv | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minneapolis: This Week (04/27/2025)

What’s happening this week.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Joywave at Varsity Theater (23 Apr 2025)

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Joywave

That was completely the vibe for Rochester, NY’s Joywave as they played an hour-long set, in support of fourth album, Cleanse, released in February. Singer Daniel Armbruster ...

23 Apr 2025 Wednesday

Joywave
with little image
at Varsity Theater
livenation.com

Rochester-based band Joywave will be headlining the Varsity Theater, in Minneapolis, on April 23rd, 2025, in support of Permanent Pleasure.

Joywave at the Granada (30 Aug 2022)

We saw Joywave in Aug 2022, and noted that “That was completely the vibe for Rochester, NY’s Joywave as they played an hour-long set, in support of fourth album, Cleanse, released in February. Singer Daniel Armbruster and band even all dressed as wash attendants, complete with name-badge matching jumpsuits and the back-end frame of a Corvette against the back screen, provided additional stage lighting. In addition to their big beats and irresistible indie poptronica blend, the band and Armbruster’s stage presence is often quirky, purposely ironic, self-deprecating, and honest, all of which makes for very relatable and affectionate banter.”

Dallas alt-pop trio little image to open.

Joywave and little image US Tour Dates:

April 16: New Haven, CT @ Toads Place

April 17: Albany, NY @ Empire Live

April 18: Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage

April 19: Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy

April 21: Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection

April 22: Madison, WI @ The Sylvee

April 23: Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater

April 24: Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s

April 26: Kansas City, MO @ The Truman

April 28: Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre

April 30: Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall

May 02: Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades

May 03: Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriets

May 05: Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole

May 06: Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf

May 07: Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall

May 09: Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl

May 10: Birmingham, AL @ Saturn

May 11: Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall

May 13: Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

May 15: St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live

May 16: Jacksonville, FL @ The Underbelly

May 17: Charleston, SC @ Music Farm

May 19: Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle

May 21: Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall

May 22: Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater

Miya Folick at Amsterdam Bar & Hall (23 Apr 2025)

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Miya Folick

Los Angeles’s vocalist, songwriter and producer Miya Folick will be headlining the 7th Street Entry on September 29th. The musician have been around since 2015 with her ...

23 Apr 2025 Wednesday

Miya Folick
with Olivia Kaplan
at Amsterdam Bar & Hall
first-avenue.com

Miya Folick is on her “Erotica Veronica: The Tour”, in support of the third album Erotica Veronica (Nettwerk). The tour will stop by the Amsterdam Bar & Hall, in St Paul, on April 23, 2025.

Miya Folick at 7th Street Entry (29 Sep 2023)

We saw Miya Folick in Sep 2023, and noted that “Miya Folick next took the stage with a pink-enameled guitar as she howled “Give It to Me” from her eponymous EP. Folick has one of the more unusual musical backgrounds. She is half Russian and half Japanese. The first musical instrument she learned was the taiko drum at her Buddhist temple. She went to NYU to study acting, graduated from USC with a degree in theater, then realized that she didn’t much care for the process of obtaining acting roles. So she put a want ad on Tinder to look for a band, as she told the BBC: "I realised that most people in LA were on Tinder and, of those people, many were probably musicians - so I just made a profile that said 'looking for a band' and put my Instagram handle on it.””

Olivia Kaplan to open.

Tour dates:

4/23 - St Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar and Hall

4/24 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean

4/25 - Detroit, MI @ El Club

4/27 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground

4/29 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall

4/30 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made

5/1 - Washington, DC @ The Atlantis

5/9 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

5/11 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater

5/12 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

5/15 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret

5/16 - Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s

5/17 - Portland, OR @ Holocene

5/21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room

5/22 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord

5/23 - Napa, CA @ BottleRock Festival

Twin Tribes & The Chameleons at Varsity Theater (25 Apr 2025)

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Chameleons

2024 has become a year of Strange Times in reality, so it’s fitting that Manchester UK band Chameleons returns to live stages and radio airwaves, both to revisit their classic 80’s post-punk …

25 Apr 2025 Friday

Twin Tribes & The Chameleons
at Varsity Theater
livenation.com

The Darker Skies Tour is coming to the Varsity Theater, in Minneapolis, on April 25, 2025. This is a co-headlining tour with Twin Tribes and The Chameleons.

Chameleons at recordBar (04 Nov 2024)

We saw Chameleons in Nov 2024, and wrote, “2024 has become a year of Strange Times in reality, so it’s fitting that Manchester UK band Chameleons returns to live stages and radio airwaves, both to revisit their classic 80’s post-punk era material, as well give their fans some new music for the first time in over two decades. “….Finally!!!” bassist and lead singer Mark Burgess (editor's note: officially known as Vox now) said, elated and smiling , taking the stage to begin their headlining set. To recall, the band was scheduled to play this same venue back in June (after playing an initial reunion gig the year before with The Mission UK) but the group’s van stalled the morning the show between here and Denver. ”

Tour dates:

Apr 25 Minneapolis MN Varsity Theater

Apr 26 Chicago IL Vampire’s Ball

Apr 28 Toronto ON Opera House

Apr 29 Montreal QC Society for Arts & Technology

Apr 30 Boston MA Big Night Live

May 1 Ardmore PA Ardmore Music Hall

May 2 Norwalk CT District Music Hall

May 3 Brooklyn NY Warsaw

May 4 Silver Spring MD The Fillmore

Yukimi at Fine Line (25 Apr 2025)

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Little Dragon

The last time we saw Sweden’s Little Dragon was in May 2015 and we said, “I'm happy to report that Little Dragon is all grown up. Since we last saw the Swedish band in November 2009 …

25 Apr 2025 Friday

Yukimi (of Little Dragon)
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

Yukimi (of Little Dragon) is on a solo tour, in support of her debut album For You (due March 28 via Ninja Tune)… stopping by the Fine Line, in Minneapolis, on April 25, 2025.

Little Dragon at First Ave (28 May 2015)

We saw Little Dragon in May 2015, and wrote, “Ten minutes before Little Dragon taking the stage, two full songs were played before their arrival. Slowly the band entered the stage, one by one, with singer Yukimi Nagano coming on last - wearing an over-the-top furry dress and ballet outfit. After the initial shock, the fans quickly forgot the fancy dress and just danced away to all the songs. I'm happy to report that Little Dragon is all grown up. Since we last saw the Swedish band in November 2009 (six years ago), the band has grown in terms of sound, stage, and fanbase.”

North American Tour Dates:

4/23 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry*

4/16 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

4/18 - Washington, DC @ Atlantis

4/19 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair

4/22 - Toronto, CA @ The AXIS Club

4/24 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall

4/25 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line

4/27 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre

4/29 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom

4/30 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

5/2 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore

5/3 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues

5/4 - Los Angeles @ The Fonda

Martin Sexton at Dakota Jazz Club (26 Apr 2025)

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Martin Sexton

It featured a full headlining set from KT Tunstall (she's been co-headlining around the country with Martin Sexton, meaning a shortened setlist), and may be the last national …

26 Apr 2025 Saturday

Martin Sexton
at Dakota Jazz Club
dakotacooks.com

Legendary singer songwriter Martin Sexton is on the road again, this time with a twist. He’s performing The Beatles’ Abbey Road album in its entirety, as well as some of his original music. The Boston based artist is well known for both his guitar work and his signature vocal style, having regularly released albums since 1992’s In the Journey.

Tour dates

Apr 11 04 Center Austin, TX

Apr 12 The Kessler Theater Dallas, TX

Apr 13 The Heights Theater Houston, TX

Apr 15 TempleLive Fort Smith, AR

Apr 16 TempleLive Wichita, KS

Apr 17 Knuckleheads Kansas City, MO

Apr 18 Sheldon Concert Hall St. Louis, MO

Apr 19 The Bur Oak Madison, WI

Apr 22 The Kent Stage Kent, OH

Apr 23 Wealthy Theatre Grand Rapids, MI

Apr 24 Vivarium Keller Williams Milwaukee, WI

Apr 25 Redstone Room Davenport, IA

Apr 26 Dakota Minneapolis, MN

Apr 29 The ELM Bozeman, MT

Apr 30 The Wilma Missoula, MT

May 1 Liberty Theatre Hailey, ID

May 3 Blue Note Napa Napa, CA

May 4 Blue Note Napa Napa, CA

May 6 Soho Restaurant Santa Barbara, CA

May 7 The Regent Theater Los Angeles, CA

May 8 Belly Up Solana Beach, CA

May 9 191 Toole Tucson, AZ

May 10 FUSION Albuquerque, NM

May 11 UNIT B, by Chocolate Maven Santa Fe, NM

May 30 Avalon Theatre Easton, MD

May 31 Outpost in the Burbs Montclair, NJ

Jun 1 Greenwich Odeum East Greenwich, RI

Jun 5 Daryl's House Pawling, NY

Jun 6 The Colonial Theatre Keene, NH

Jun 7 Aura Portland, ME

Djo at Palace Theatre (26 Apr 2025)

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Stranger Things

I’ve been enjoying Stranger Things since it debut in 2016, and, personally speaking, I think Season 4 is one of their strongest season yet. The show’s really matured, and that’s …

Post Animal

Chicago’s heavy, prog psychedelic rock band Post Animal released their sophomore album Forward Motion Godyssey on February 14, 2020, via Polyvinyl, and will be doing a national …

26 Apr 2025 Saturday

Djo
with Post Animal
at Palace Theatre
first-avenue.com

Djo, the musical project of actor / producer / songwriter Joe Keery (from Stranger Things and Fargo), will be headlining the Palace Theatre, in St Paul, on April 26, 2025. Djo’s latest The Crux will be out April 4 on AWAL.

Post Animal at Fine Line (17 June 2023)

Post Animal to open. We saw Post Animal in March 2016 and wrote, “Opening the show was Chicago’s heavy, prog psychedelic rock band Post Animal with a 45-min set. The Chicago six-piece features Dalton Allison (bass/vocals), Jake Hirshland (guitar/keyboard/vocals), Javi Reyes (guitar/vocals), Wesley Toledo (drums/vocals), and Matt Williams (guitar/vocals). Everyone in the band took turn to take lead vocals at some point in their set, so it felt like there was really no one band leader. They played songs from their new self-produced Love Gibberish album, co-written by the entire band. This record is special to them, as after releasing two albums on Polyvinyl, they’ve decided to do things on their own. All six members met at Hirshland’s family farm, and produced months of demos and finding themselves where they first named the band.”

Tour dates:

April 03 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall

April 04 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall

April 05 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall

April 07 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom

April 08 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre

April 10 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater

April 11 - Indio, CA - Coachella

April 15 - Pomona, CA - Fox Theater Pomona

April 16 - Del Mar, CA - The Sound at Del Mar

April 18 - Indio, CA - Coachella

April 19 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren

April 21 - Salt Lake City, UT - Rockwell at the Complex

April 23 - Denver, CO - The Mission Ballroom

April 25 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee

April 26 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre

April 28 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Temple Theatre

April 29 - Toronto, ON - History

May 01 - Washington, DC - The Anthem

May 02 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner

May 03 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall

May 05 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel

May 06 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel

May 07 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel

June 01 - Dublin, Ireland - 3Olympia

June 02 - Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy

June 03 - Manchester, UK - O2 Victoria Warehouse

June 05 - London, UK - O2 Forum Kentish Town

June 06 - London, UK - O2 Forum Kentish Town

June 07 - London, UK - O2 Forum Kentish Town

June 10 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Poolen

June 11 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene

June 13 - Stockholm, Sweden - Annexet

June 15 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands - Best Kept Secret Festival

June 16 - Cologne, Germany - E-Werk

June 17 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys

June 18 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja

June 20 - Scheebel, Germany - Hurricane Festival

June 21 - Tuttlingen, Germany - Southside Festival

June 23 - Paris, France - Élysée Montmartre

June 24 - Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso

June 25 - Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso

Chloe Moriondo at Fine Line (26 Apr 2025)

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Chloe Moriondo

Musician Chloe Moriondo is currently on tour in support of Blood Bunny (Public Consumption Recording Co./Fueled By Ramen). The tour will take her to the 7th Street Entry this October 2nd. ....

26 Apr 2025 Saturday

Chloe Moriondo
with Sex Week
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

Indie-pop darling Chloe Moriondo returns to the Minneapolis area, stopping by the Fine Line on April 26, 2025. Her album oyster will be out March 28, 2025, on Public Consumption / Atlantic Music Group.

Sex Week (what a great name) to open.

Tour Dates:

3/25 - New York, NY - 92Y Buttenwieser Hall*

3/28 - New York, NY - Rough Trade*

4/24 - Detroit, MI - El Club

4/25 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge

4/26 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line

4/29 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater

5/1 - Salt Lake City, UT - Soundwell

5/3 - Seattle, WA - Neumos

5/4 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater

5/6 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent

5/8 - San Diego, CA -Soma SideStage

5/9 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex

5/10 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom

5/12 - Austin, TX - Antone’s

5/13 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada

5/15 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade

5/16 - Carrboro, NC - Motorco

5/17 - Washington, DC - The Atlantis

5/18 - Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry

5/20 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

5/21 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club

5/23 - Toronto, ON - Velvet Underground

Penny & Sparrow at First Avenue (27 Apr 2025)

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Penny and Sparrow

Penny and Sparrow (aka Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke) is currently on tour in support of their new album Wendigo. The record just came out September 1st. The duo will ...

27 Apr 2025 Sunday

Penny & Sparrow
with Field Guide
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

Critically acclaimed indie folk duo Penny & Sparrow is back on tour in support of Lefty, available now on all platforms.

The band says, “We made Lefty 20 tracks long and gave ourselves acreage of song space to experiment. We wanted to record a double album for the challenge of it, and also for the chance to be sonically rangy and eccentric. The idea of offering all sorts of sounds, structures, melodies, and lyrical approaches in 20 songs was creatively exciting to us, so we did it.”

Field Guide to open.

Tour Dates:

April 10 – Birmingham, AL - Iron City

April 11– Atlanta, GA – The Eastern

April 12 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz

April 13 – Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre

April 15 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club

April 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer

April 18 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza

April 19 –Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

April 22 – Grand Rapids, MI – Elevation

April 23 –Indianapolis, IN – Vogue Theatre

April 25 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall

April 26 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre