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Tour Dates
05.17 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
05.18 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom 05.19 – Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall 05.21 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern 05.22 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore 05.23 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair 05.24 – Hamden, CT @ The Space 05.25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer 05.28 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 05.29 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom 05.30 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat 05.31 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 06.01 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn 06.02 – Nashville, TN @ Exit In 06.03 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree 06.05 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon 06.06 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds 06.07 – McAllen, TX @ Thirsty Monkey 06.08 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk 06.09 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 06.11 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace 06.12 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom 06.13 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah 06.14 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room 06.15 – Oakland, CA @ The New Parish Read More
Portland-based power-pop trio The Thermals will be blasting the doors off Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry May 14th. It’s a Tuesday, you say? Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. and Ms. Suit and Tie! Looks like you’re gonna have to go to work …
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It was rock and roll warfare Tuesday night at the 7th Street Entry with Portland pop-punk allies, the Thermals. The band, who kicked off their US tour earlier this month in Boise, armed themselves with their faithful instruments and unleashed a ferocious set on a sweaty sold-out crowd.
The evening started with the ethereal Beach House-esque sounds of local trio Strange Relations. Not only was their sound unique and enjoyable, but lead singer Casey Shaw also rocked the drums - giving Phil Collins and the guy from Cowboy Mouth a run for their money.
The Thermals hopped on stage shortly after with the opening riff to “Faces Stay with Me†(off their recent release Desperate Ground) bleeding into the air. Lead singer/guitarist Hutch Harris has a very distinctive voice; it’s urgent and forceful and his pitch often makes him sound sarcastic or manic, like a punk rock Jerry Lewis. This makes hearing the lyrics to new songs like “Born to Kill†(“I was born to kill / I was made to slay / Unafraid to spill blood on the land / When you command I willâ€) as unsettling as it is exciting. The band kept stirring the boiling pot of rowdy fans with “It’s Trivia†that had folks screaming the “4, 3, 2, 1†like they were being catapulted into outer space. It was Harris, however, who was the one being launched as he lept into the crowd for a group-mosh. The Thermals definitely know how to show a crowd some love! Harris wasn’t the only member to drive into the pit; when he wasn’t waving at fans from behind his kit, drummer Westin Glass took a dip two or three times during the set. Bassist Kathy Foster looked on at the mayhem, traded a few grins with the crowd and coolly pummeled everyone with her fuzzy basslines.
There is no shortage of incredible songs from this band: “I Don’t Believe You,†“Returning to the Fold,†“Back to Gray.†The songs are often anthemic and claustrophobic at the same time owing to Harris’ confrontational vocals and dark lyrics being paired with the frantic musical pace. This isn’t a bad thing, though; it seems like the band wrote these songs to elicit something in the listener beyond the sugar-coated “we are young†sentiment.
The band closed the set with “You Will Find Me†from the 2009 album of the same name. A bruising encore of “No Culture Icons†and “Overgrown, Overblown!†capped with a healthy shower of jubilant high fives to the audience brought to an end a bloody satisfying night.
The evening started with the ethereal Beach House-esque sounds of local trio Strange Relations. Not only was their sound unique and enjoyable, but lead singer Casey Shaw also rocked the drums - giving Phil Collins and the guy from Cowboy Mouth a run for their money.
The Thermals hopped on stage shortly after with the opening riff to “Faces Stay with Me†(off their recent release Desperate Ground) bleeding into the air. Lead singer/guitarist Hutch Harris has a very distinctive voice; it’s urgent and forceful and his pitch often makes him sound sarcastic or manic, like a punk rock Jerry Lewis. This makes hearing the lyrics to new songs like “Born to Kill†(“I was born to kill / I was made to slay / Unafraid to spill blood on the land / When you command I willâ€) as unsettling as it is exciting. The band kept stirring the boiling pot of rowdy fans with “It’s Trivia†that had folks screaming the “4, 3, 2, 1†like they were being catapulted into outer space. It was Harris, however, who was the one being launched as he lept into the crowd for a group-mosh. The Thermals definitely know how to show a crowd some love! Harris wasn’t the only member to drive into the pit; when he wasn’t waving at fans from behind his kit, drummer Westin Glass took a dip two or three times during the set. Bassist Kathy Foster looked on at the mayhem, traded a few grins with the crowd and coolly pummeled everyone with her fuzzy basslines.
There is no shortage of incredible songs from this band: “I Don’t Believe You,†“Returning to the Fold,†“Back to Gray.†The songs are often anthemic and claustrophobic at the same time owing to Harris’ confrontational vocals and dark lyrics being paired with the frantic musical pace. This isn’t a bad thing, though; it seems like the band wrote these songs to elicit something in the listener beyond the sugar-coated “we are young†sentiment.
The band closed the set with “You Will Find Me†from the 2009 album of the same name. A bruising encore of “No Culture Icons†and “Overgrown, Overblown!†capped with a healthy shower of jubilant high fives to the audience brought to an end a bloody satisfying night.
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The Thermals at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (05/14/13) |
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