W♥M

Minneapolis: This Week (07/31/2022)

I post the W♥M Minneapolis preview calendar a month in advance. Things may have changed, and/or I just wanted to remind you about the shows that we will be covering this week.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide

07/26 Horsegirl with Dummy at Fine Line Read More Horsegirl Chicago rock band Horsegirl recently released their debut album Versions of Modern Performance, available now on Matador Records. The all-girls trio, featuring singer/guitarist Penelope Lowenstein …

07/26/2022 Tuesday

Horsegirl
with Dummy
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

Chicago rock band Horsegirl recently released their debut album Versions of Modern Performance, available now on Matador Records.

The all-girls trio, featuring singer/guitarist Penelope Lowenstein, guitarist/singer Nora Cheng, and drummer Gigi Reece, is currently touring in support of the debut album.

We caught the band early in post-pandemic concerts on July 8, 2021, and wrote, “So, the funny thing is that this was an 18+ show, meaning that members of Chicago’s Horsegirl could not legally attend the show on their own. However, as performers, it’s perfectly fine. This was Horsegirl’s first tour, but you wouldn’t know, seeing as how seasoned they seem on stage. We’ve seen old, established bands screwing up and goofing around, so it was nice to see such a young band taking their shows seriously.”

Tour dates:

Jul. 15 - Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall *
Jul. 16 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
Jul. 17 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall *
Jul. 19 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Jul. 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon *
Jul. 22 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
Jul. 23 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Jul. 26 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
Jul. 27 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon *
July 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club *
Jul. 30 - Sat. Jul. 31 - Detroit, MI @ Mo Pop Festival
July 31 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza Music Festival
Aug. 2 - Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe *
Aug. 3 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
Aug. 5 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground *
Aug. 6 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus *
Aug. 10 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *

* w/ Dummy

07/28 Machine Gun Kelly with Avril Lavigne, WILLOW at Xcel Energy Center Read More Machine Gun Kelly Opening act Machine Gun Kelly surprised the audience by bringing up hot hip-hop trio Migos mid-set, playing an hour-long set alternating between slicing verse and shredding guitar. …

07/28/2022 Thursday

Machine Gun Kelly
with Avril Lavigne, WILLOW
at Xcel Energy Center
xcelenergycenter.com

Machine Gun Kelly is touring in support of his latest No. 1 album, mainstream sellout (Bad Boy/Interscope Records). The tour will stop by the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul on July 28th.

Avril Lavigne is one of the opener. We last heard from the queen of pop-punk earlier this year, when she released her her highly anticipated new album Love Sux. The record features collaborations with Travis Barker, Blackbear and rapper turned emo enthusiast Machine Gun Kelly (so expect to see him show up to do a duet on her set).

WILLOW will warm up the show. WILLOW’s new single “ it’s my fault” is taken from her forthcoming album. Already she’s released a series of collaboration singles, including Yungblud with “Memories” and Siiickbrain with “Purge.”

Tour dates:

MAINSTREAM SELLOUT NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

Tue Jul 5 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater*^
Wed Jul 6 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena*^
Fri Jul 8 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center*^
Sat Jul 9 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center*#
Mon Jul 11 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center*#
Wed Jul 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum*#
Fri Jul 15 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena*#
Sat Jul 16 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center*#
Tue Jul 19 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena*#
Thu Jul 21 – Portland, OR – Moda Center*#
Fri Jul 22 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena*#
Sat Jul 23 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena*#
Mon Jul 25 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena*#
Wed Jul 27 – Fargo, ND – FargoDome*#
Thu Jul 28 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center*#
Sun Jul 31 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga
Tue Aug 2 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena”#
Thu Aug 4 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center”#
Sat Aug 6 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre”#
Sun Aug 7 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena”#
Tue Aug 9 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena”#
Wed Aug 10 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center”#
Thu Aug 11 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center”#
Sat Aug 13 – Cleveland, OH – FirstEnergy Stadium*”$#’

*With support from Avril Lavigne
***With support from Blackbear
^With support from iann dior
+With support from PVRIS
”With support from Travis Barker
$With support from Trippie Redd
#With support from WILLOW
’With support from 44phantom

07/28 Jeremy Cunningham / Dustin Laurenzi / Paul Bryan with A Mike Lewis Music Band at Icehouse Read More Bon Iver Wisconsin’s own Bon Iver returns with a 23-date US tour continuing in support of their 2019 album, i,i. The shows feature the latest iteration of the live band: Justin Vernon, Sean Carey, Jenn Wasner .…

07/28/2022 Thursday

Jeremy Cunningham / Dustin Laurenzi / Paul Bryan
with A Mike Lewis Music Band
at Icehouse
icehousempls.com

Jazz trio Jeremy Cunningham / Dustin Laurenzi / Paul Bryan will be stopping by the Icehouse on July 28th, in support of their debut record A Better Ghost Out (Northern Spy).

Drummer Jeremy Cunningham is from Resavoir, saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi has played with Bon Iver, and bassist/producer Paul Bryan played with Jeff Parker… the three have been collaborating for years, working in various groups across Chicago’s vibrant jazz community, but they unite with A Better Ghost

The limited four shows-Midwest tour will end in their hometown, Chicago.

A Mike Lewis Music Band is listed to open.

NOTE: Show starts at 9pm.

Tour dates:

July 27th - Milwaukee, WI @ Anodyne
July 28th - Minneapolis, MN @ Ice House
July 29th - Madison, WI @ North Street Cabaret
July 30 - Chicago, IL @ Constellation

07/30 The Psychedelic Furs with X at Palace Theatre Read More The Psychedelic Furs English rock group The Psychedelic Furs headlined First Avenue’s mainroom last Thursday, April 6th. The terrific turnout consisted of mostly an older audience, who may remember the band from John Hughes’ film Pretty in Pink …

07/30/2022 Saturday

The Psychedelic Furs
with X
at Palace Theatre
first-avenue.com

English rock group The Psychedelic Furs is back with their latest album, Made of Rain. The tour will run through St Paul, at the Palace Theatre this July 30th.

We saw the band in Apr 2017 and wrote, “The Furs’ second half of the set picked up with some of their biggest hits, including ‘Love My Way’ and set closer ‘Pretty in Pink’. Half the audience were singing along to the latter song.”

Impossible to Google, X, will open. X appeared on Rock the Garden 2019, and we said, “If you asked me, all the older fans were very eager to have Los Angeles’ X back in town. As we previously mentioned, the band’s name is impossible to search for in the Google-age. Still, the first wave punk band, featuring original members of vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D. J. Bonebrake, proudly played through their decade plus of music.”

Tour dates:

Jun 27 Harrisburg, PA, US Capitol Room
Jun 28 Canceled Hartford, CT, US Webster Theater
Jun 30 New York (NYC), NY, US Apollo Theater
Jul 1 Baltimore, MD, US Baltimore Soundstage
Jul 2 Norfolk, VA, US The Norva
Jul 6 Huber Heights, OH, US The Rose Music Center
Jul 8 Toronto, ON, Canada History
Jul 9 Montreal, QC, Canada MTELUS
Jul 10 Ottawa, ON, Canada Bronson Centre Theatre
Jul 12 Boston, MA, US House of Blues - Boston
Jul 12 San Luis Obispo, CA, US Fremont Theater
Jul 13 Providence, RI, US The Strand Ballroom
Jul 15 Outdoor New York (NYC), NY, US The Rooftop at Pier 17
Jul 16 Bensalem, PA, US Xcite Center
Jul 17 Silver Spring, MD, US The Fillmore Silver Spring
Jul 19 Greensburg, PA, US The Palace Theatre
Jul 20 Cincinnati, OH, US Andrew J. Brady Music Center
Jul 22 Northfield, OH, US Mgm Northfield Park
Jul 23 Chicago, IL, US Aragon Ballroom
Jul 24 Royal Oak, MI, US Royal Oak Music Theatre
Jul 26 St Louis, MO, US The Pageant
Jul 27 Madison, WI, US The Sylvee
Jul 29 Milwaukee, WI, US Riverside Theatre - WI
Jul 30 St. Paul, MN, US Palace Theatre
Aug 2 Denver, CO, US Mission Ballroom
Aug 6 Vancouver, BC, Canada Commodore Ballroom
Aug 7 Seattle, WA, US Woodland Park Zoo
Aug 8 Forest Grove, OR, US McMenamin's Grand Lodge
Aug 11 San Francisco, CA, US The Masonic
Aug 12 St. Helena, CA, US Blue Note Napa
Aug 14 Outdoor Costa Mesa, CA, US Pacific Amphitheatre
Aug 17 Pioneertown, CA, US Pappy + Harriet's
Aug 18 Inglewood, CA, US YouTube Theater
Aug 26 St Louis, MO, US The Pageant
Oct 31 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, US Ponte Vedra Concert Hall

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to [email protected] with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

We♥KC - June 15-21, 2022 Upcoming Shows (Kansas City / Lawrence KS)

Bon Iver with Bonny Light Horseman, June 15, Starlight Theatre Read More Bon Iver Bon Iver is teaming up with contemporary dance company TU Dance, as part of the 2017-2018 Liquid Music season. The shows all sold out, including a fourth late addition for a matinee show on Saturday. …

Read more Kansas City Music Guide.

Things are heating up! Both in terms of concerts and the weather (heat index already in triple-digits) with the weekend’s highlight being the two-day Boulevardia Festival, taking place now at Crown Center.  Thursday in particular, seems over-scheduled with several very worthy shows to pick from. Stay safe! Stay hydrated!

Here’s what’s happening in the Kansas City/Lawrence, KS June 15^th- 21st

(Several artists are still requiring precautions for entry, so check with the venue and/or assume vaccination proof, might still be required)

Wednesday June 15

Bon Iver with Bonny Light Horseman, Starlight Theatre. $30.50-$100.50

Wisconsin’s own Bon Iver returns with a 23-date US tour continuing in support of their 2019 album, i,i. The shows feature the latest iteration of the live band: Justin Vernon, Sean Carey, Jenn Wasner, Mike Lewis, Matt McCaughan and Andy Fitzpatrick, and we’ve seen Vernon often, either hanging out at Minneapolis shows or live in concert, like we did at 2017’s Rock the Garden. 

Openers Bonny Light Horseman include Anais Mitchell, creator of the Tony-award winning Hadestown, and who we saw solo just last month in MN

Thursday June 16

CANNONS at Bottleneck- Lawrence, (update:SOLD OUT)

We tipped you off to this LA-based electro dream-pop trio when we saw them as openers back in November and (no surprise to us), they’re returning as full headliners to the area, in support of their new full-length, Fever Dream (on Sony Music) which came out in late March.  We predict even bigger things ahead. 

Opener Windser is also Cali-based and aka Jordan Topf and has new single, “Memory” out now. 

CHVRCHES, Uptown, $35-$40

We remain big fans of this Scottish synth-pop band, still out in support of 2021’s Screen Violence album, and last caught them live back in 2018 in St. Paul and they’re nominated this year for NME’s Best Band in the World, so their adoration clearly continues. 

Femi Kuti and The Positive Force, Granada. $25

It’s a night of Nigerian Afrobeat in River City as Kuti and band come out in support of their 2021 release, Stop the Hate which was one of two recent collaborations with his son, Made. We caught them live back in 2016 and expect a night of activist-themed dancing and grooving.

Ambar Lucid at recordBar, $17.50

Twenty-one year old NJ singer songwriter out in support of 2020’s Garden of Lucid who names Alice Phoebe Lou, Willow Smith, and Kali Uchis as her artistic influences. 

Kip Moore w Drew Parker, Power and Light District, $20

Known for hit single, “Somethin’ Bout a Truck”, Moore’s latest to country radio is his re-recording of “Crazy One More Time” and his 2020 album Wild World, is still going strong. 

Margaret Cho, June 16-18, Comedy Club of Kansas City, $35-$45

The Asian comedienne is rightfully recognized as a groundbreaking influence, from her network sitcom American Girl to work on 30 Rock to five Grammy and one Emmy nominations and is in the new streaming series Fire Island. 

Friday June 17

Boulevardia Day One- $35-$145

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats (9:40p), Jenny Lewis (8p), Hembree (6:40p), Dante Elephante (5:20p), more

The first big area multi-day festival of the season kicks off with a bang.  Tentative set times are listed above and there are multiple stages in addition to the main stage, to find entertainment.  We just caught Rateliff and the Night Sweats last weekend at another classic outdoor event Rock the Garden, so are assured they’ll put on a great performance. 

Rainmakers w The Pic and Bow, Stagecoach Park - Olathe, Free

Bob Walkenhorst and band play a free show in the area, starting back in the 80s as bar band Steve Bob & Rich with numerous local 80s/90s radio hits and following the tragic news of Steve Phillips passing away in 2020 from Covid complications. The band inexplicably remains huge in Norway as well. 

Leonid & Friends, Ameristar. $35-$45

In just three short years, the Moscow-based band have an uncanny ability to capture the spirit and musicality of classic rock group Chicago. (To double up on that feeling, see the actual Chicago a few days later).

Adventure Club, Uptown. $30-$75

The Montreal DJ/production duo will no doubt have people moving to their visuals, dubstep, and electronic dance mix.  Latest album is February’s Love // Chaos on legendary dance label, Ultra and has also released a serious of mixes called Superheroes Anonymous. 

Thrice and Bayside with Anxious, The Truman. $30-$60

This co-headlining tour comes as an opportunity for Thrice to further support their last record, Horizons/East, which came out in September 2020 while Bayside released an acoustic EP, titled Acoustic Volume 3, in 2020.

Thrice drummer Riley Breckenridge says, “We had a blast on our Horizons/East headline tour last fall and can’t wait to get back on the road with Bayside and Anxious and share more of the record with you all.”

Riverdance, June 17-19, Starlight Theater, $16-$98

Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show is a reinvention of this beloved favorite, celebrated the world over for its Grammy Award-winning score and the passion of its Irish and international dance.

Twenty-five years on, composer Bill Whelan has rerecorded his soundtrack while producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan have completely re-imagined the show with innovative lighting, projection, stage and costume designs.

Big Jay Oakerson, KC Improv Comedy Club Postponed to Oct 28-29

Legendz of The Streetz feat Gucci Mane, Jeezy, Trina, T-Mobile Center CANCELED

Saturday June 18

Boulevardia Day Two-$35-$145

Dashboard Confessional (9:45p), Dayglow (8:05p), Valerie June (6:25p), The Far Side (5:05p), Daisy the Great (3:45p), Salvation Choir (2:25p), Glass Bandit (1:05p), more,

Another packed day of performers with Dashboard Confessional headlining, in support of February’s ninth studio album, All the Truth That I Can Tell.  Chris Carrabba and band still have massively loyal fans that know every lyric to every song, which is amazing to witness live. 

We caught Dayglow (aka Sloan Struble) late last year in Minneapolis and their memorable encore of a Tears for Fears cover, and are fans of Valerie June, catching her back in 2017 as fire alarms blared but had June carrying on very professionally. 

The Far Side was formerly The Pharcyde and make sure to arrive early enough for newcomers Daisy the Great, who were recently in the area with Half-Alive and we wrote, “are actually a Brooklyn-based duo, fronted by Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker who made waves last fall when they teamed with AJR on the song, “Record Player”, a re-worked version of their own 2017 folk-pop song.” Their newest single is “Easy”.

Welcome to Night Vale, Liberty Hall-Lawrence, $25-$50.

Live podcast event starring Cecil Baldwin, Symphony Sanders, Kate Jones and original music by Disparition.

Banda MS de Sergio Lizarraga, T-Mobile Center CANCELED

Sunday June 19

Carin Leon, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. $42-$142

Leon brings the sound of his Mexican homeland on his first headlining US tour, hot on the heels of his appearance on Grupo Firmo's 'El Toxico'. Expect a show full of romantic tunes as Leon brings the sounds of ranchera, corrido, banda and sierreno music.

Monday June 20

Chicago and Brian Wilson, Starlight. $36-$300

Chicago and Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, with Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin are out on a co-headlining 25-city tour, both Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and this looks like one of the outdoor concert season’s most revered events. 

Chicago is the highest charting US band in Billboard's Top 125 Artists of All Time and the first US rock band to chart Top 40 albums in six consecutive decades. Their 38th studio album, Born for this Moment, arrives on July 15 (via BMG) on the heels of the released first single “If This is Goodbye”.

Brian Wilson is a musical innovator who co-founded the Beach Boys, he is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant songwriters of the 20th century. We caught Wilson, Jardine and band outdoors at the MN Zoo a while back, and came away impressed with the depth of their hits and the musical professionalism displayed. 

Tuesday June 21

Fitz and the Tantrums and St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Devon Gilfillian, Grinders KC, $37-$80

We love all acts on this bill, having seen Fitz and the Tantrums many times in Minneapolis, the most recent being back in 2019.  Always fun live, the band continues out in support of 2019’s All the Feels album, though Fitz did put out a recent solo album as well.

Another great live band is Alabama’s St. Paul and the Broken Bones out in support of January’s The Alien Coast. Like Fitz and the Tantrums, the band started as retro/nu-soul but have morphed into a sound beyond. St. Paul killed it in Minneapolis in an early 2014 show we caught live. 

We also came away very impressed when we first saw Nashville’s Devon Gilfillian, opening for Chaka Khan in 2019.  The soul/blues artist covered Marvin Gaye’s complete What’s Goin’ On album in 2020 and it would be interesting to hear any of those songs transformed live.

Jeff Rosenstock, Bottleneck- Lawrence, $20

NY punk/power pop performer and producer comes to the area shortly after his cohorts PUP were here (both played together on a recent late night TV appearance) and we last caught him live back in 2016.

He’s a jack of many trades, playing in numerous bands, producing the new Bruce Lee Band’s ska record among others, runs a donation-based record label, and composed theme songs for Cartoon Network.  Nnamdi and Catbite to open.

Jimmie Vaughan, Knuckleheads. $29.50-$45

The famed Texas musician and Fabulous Thunderbird last year released The Jimmie Vaughan Story, a deluxe edition of 5-CDs, vinyl LP,  two singles, and 240-page book. Live, expect to hear his solo and band originals as well as covers from Howlin Wolf, Slim Harpo, T-Bone Walker, and more.

“Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, June 21-26, Music Hall, $36-$106

The smash Broadway musical follows The Temptations’ journey from Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With their signature dance moves and smooth harmonies, they rose to the top of the charts with 42 Top Ten Hits with 14 hitting number one.

Nominated for 12 Tony® Awards, the show tells their story of brotherhood, family, loyalty, and betrayal, as the group's conflicts threatened to tear them apart during a decade of civil unrest.

Matchbox Twenty, Starlight POSTPONED to June 18, 2023

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

Seeing Red

Read more Red, White, and Blue.

Read More Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers could have been called Tony Flow And The Miraculously Majestic Masters Of Mayhem, or as Ryan would have it as TFATMMMoM. …

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
redhotchilipeppers.com

I got an official announcement that legendary band Red Hot Chili Peppers will be announcing a 2022 Global Stadium Tour, with the help of event producers Live Nation.

If you didn’t know, John Frusciante left the group in 2009 to focus on his solo career, and after 10 years, he rejoined the group again. Frusciante recently visited news station KHOT to speak with newscasters John Hammerswaddle, Todd the Squirrel, and Randy Raindrops, to talk about this upcoming RHCP tour.

If you want to experience a live show, the band released Devotion to Emotion live album in March 2021.

Red Hot Chili Pepper (Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith, John Frusciante) will begin their tour in June 2022.

Tour dates:

06/04 – Seville, Spain – Estadio La Cartuja De Sevilla=
06/07 – Barcelona, Spain – Estadi Olimpic=
06/10 – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Goffertpark=
06/15 – Budapest, Hungary - Puskas Stadium=
06/18 – Firenze, Italy – Firenze Rocks
06/22 – Manchester, UK – Emirates Old Trafford=
06/25 – London, UK – London Stadium~
06/29 – Dublin, Ireland – Marlay Park~
07/01 – Glasgow, UK – Bellahouston Park~
07/03 – Leuven, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07/05 – Cologne, Germany – RheinEnergieStadium=
07/08 – Paris, France – Stade de France~
07/12 – Hamburg, Germany – Volksparkstadion=
07/23 – Denver, CO – Empower Field at Mile High*
07/27 – San Diego, CA – Petco Park*
07/29 – Santa Clara, CA – Levi's Stadium+
07/31 – Los Angeles, CA – SoFi Stadium+
08/03 – Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park^
08/06 – Las Vegas, NV – Allegiant Stadium^^
08/10 – Atlanta, GA – Truist Park^
08/12 – Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium^
08/14 – Detroit, MI – Comerica Park^
08/17 – E. Rutherford, NJ – Metlife Stadium^
08/19 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field^
08/21 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre^
08/30 – Miami, FL – Hard Rock Stadium^
09/01 – Charlotte, NC – Bank of America Stadium^
09/03 – Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park^
09/08 – Washington, DC – Nationals Park^
09/10 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park#
09/15 – Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium^
09/18 – Arlington, TX – Globe Life Field^

=with special guests A$AP Rocky and Thundercat
~with special guests Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and Thundercat
*with special guests HAIM and Thundercat
+with special guests Beck and Thundercat
^with special guests The Strokes and Thundercat
^^with special guests The Strokes and King Princess
#with special guests St. Vincent and Thundercat

Read More Brockhampton The #1 selling R&B/Hip-Hop collective Brockhampton is headlining the Armory in Minneapolis on Tuesday, October 30. …

PARIS TEXAS
linktr.ee/paristexas

Los Angeles’ Paris Texas, probably named after the film (rest in peace Harry Dean Stanton) announced their new EP Red Hand Akimbo.

In addition, the duo (Louie Pastel and Felix) will head out on tour… including three sold out shows in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and London.

Tour dates:

10/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Louge *sold out*
10/11- Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right *sold out*
10/13 - London, UK @ Colours *sold out*
2/26/22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center^
3/01/22 - Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom^
3/04/22 - Irving, TX @ The Pavillion ^
3/05/22 - Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater^
3/08/22 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy^
3/11/22 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live^
3/12/22 - Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore^
3/14/22 - Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore Charlotte^
3/15/22 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz^
3/17/22 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem^
3/18/22 - New York, NY @ Hulu Theater ^
3/22/22 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore^
3/25/22 - Toronto, ON @ Coca-Cola Coliseum^
3/26/22 - Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre^
3/27/22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE^
3/29/22 - Columbus, OH @ Express Live!^
4/01/22 - Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory ^
4/02/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre ^
4/03/22 - Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion^
4/06/22 - Pheonix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre^
4/07/22 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre^
4/08/22 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea ^
4/09/22 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium^
4/11/22 - Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theater^
4/12/22 - Vancouver, BC @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre^
4/13/22 - Portland, OR @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum^

^ = w/ BROCKHAMPTON

BIG RED MACHINE bandcamp.com American indie folk band Big Red Machine is the ever-evolving project from Aaron Dessner (The National) and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). Their new album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? is out now on Jagjaguwar / 37d03d. The album features various musicians and singers, including popular singer Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and many others.

RED DIRT SKINNERS reddirtskinners.com Pop-rock group The Red Dirt Skinners announced their new single “Wolf In The Woods”. The South East England duo (Rob and Sarah Skinner) recently moved to Ontario, after receiving an invitation from Canadian Immigration to become permanent residents under the “Performers of a World Class Level” category.

ELECTRIC PETALS theelectricpetals.com “Cherry Red” is the new single from The Electric Petals. They described the song as “an ode to Iggy Pop. A ‘76-77 period piece set when David Bowie and Iggy Pop were producing The Idiot and Lust for Life albums together in Berlin.”

PARROT DREAM parrotdreamband.com “Red Circle” is the new single from NY-based dream-pop duo Parrot Dream. The single is part of a group of songs that they had planned on recording in the studio in 2020, but ended up recording them in their home throughout the year.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com

Nelson Devereaux and The RT’s at Turf Club, St Paul (2021-08-21)

The RT’s Setlist Freewheelin' River Thumbtack See You Again Let It Go / Everything On Fire Rest My Case Overtime We Didn't Know Need You Right Now 99 in October Spanish Radio Never Let Me Down Read More The RT’s Brooklyn band The Rad Trads officially changed their name to The RT’s with the release of See You Again last year. Regarding the name change, Patrick Sargent (vocals, saxophone, keys) reflected … Nelson Devereaux According to details about the show, the show is co-headlined by Minneapolis’ Nelson Devereaux. …

The co-headlining show of New York’s The RT’s and Minneapolis’ Nelson Devereaux just took place at the Turf Club in St Paul on Saturday, August 21.

Opening the show was local The Symptones, playing their first show since “retirement”. From what was said on stage, it appears the band haven’t played live in one and a half years (540 days?). Some fans in the audience is in similar situation, where they haven’t gone to a live show in over a year, no thanks to the pandemic, of course.

The Symptones is just happy to be back on stage, playing such songs as “Rosetta” and singing about Buster’s dog song. They ended their 50-min set with “Never”.

I feel like this is actually The RT’s headlining show, but for whatever reasons, they didn’t want to close out the show. This is the first tour and album released and billed officially as The RT’s. They were previously known as The Rad Trads… which a quick search will tell you that is a term used by the Catholics for “radical traditionalists”. I originally thought that’s where they stole the term, but apparently the band doesn’t want any association with that term.

Patrick Sargent previously mentioned about the name change, “This name change is an update, and one that may be long overdue or may just be right on time. A shift, a maturing, a removal of preconceived notions. Quite simply, the name and the music no longer make sense together, but the music and the people who make it have never made more.”

The RT’s played a full 55-min set, going over time and pushing Nelson Devereaux’s setup 15 minutes past their original start time. Speaking of overtime, the band asked if the audience prefers the Twins (Minnesota Twins) or the Saints (St. Paul Saints)… right before playing “Overtime”, a song about Baseball.

The RT’s played their biggest hit “Thumbtack” early in their set, before playing something new, such as “See You Again”, which is the lead single, the album, and the tour was named after.

They ended their set with two epic songs, “Spanish Radio”, a song about driving and listening to a Spanish radio station and being scared and lost… and “Never Let Me Down” a seemingly extended version.

Nelson Devereaux closed out the show. Devereaux’s music feels more jazz-like, like the melodies can shift in any direction, based on how he’s feeling. His musical instrument is an alto saxophone, which he’s been playing since the age of 8.

Devereaux seemed really comfortable on stage, starting with some instrumental songs from his album Bad Water.

He’s toured with Bon Iver and Craig Finn … so any bands that needs wind instruments, Devereaux is your guy.

The Symptones

The Symptones

The Symptones

Nelson Devereaux

Nelson Devereaux

Nelson Devereaux

The RT’s Setlist

The RT’s

The RT’s

The RT’s

The RT’s at the Turf Club, St Paul (2021-08-21)

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Minneapolis: April 19 to April 20, 2018

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from April 19 to April 20, 2018.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

L7: I Came Back To Bitch Poster Read More L7 Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, Sleater-Kinney, Bratmobile, L7, Babes in Toyland, and, of course, Pussy Riot. Personally, I would have added Le Tigre to the mix, considering they added Heavens to Betsy and L7! …

L7
+ Death Valley Girls
First Avenue
Thu 04/19/2018 (7pm/$25)
first-avenue.com

90s rock band L7 announced their first album since 1999, due out in February 2019. You can preorder and grab some autograph rarities via their PledgeMusic Page (unfortunately, all the good stuff are gone).

If you’re not familiar with L7, their name actually is slang for “square” (which means an uncool or out of touch person). They’re probably best known for their song, “Pretend We’re Dead”.

Death Valley Girls, who previously appeared at Desert Daze 2017 will open the show.

The 2018 tour starts today, and will stop by Minneapolis’ First Avenue on April 19th.

L7 National Tour Dates

4/10: Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
4/11: Boston, MA @ Paradise
4/12: New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
4/13: Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
4/15: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
4/16: Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Club
4/18: Indianapolis, IN @ Vogue
4/19: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
4/20: Chicago, IL @ Metro
4/21: Detroit, MI @ El Club
5/27: Las Vegas, NV @ Punk Rock Bowling
6/9: Leicestershire, UK @ Download Festival UK
6/29-30: Madrid Spain @ Download Madrid
6/13: Paris, France @ La Cigale
6/15: Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
6/17: Berlin, Germany @ SO36
6/27: Zürich, Switzerland @ Dynamo Zürich
6/28: Segrate, Italy @ Circolo Magnolia
7/23: Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
7/24: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew's Hall
7/25: Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall
7/27: Montreal, Quebec @ 77 Festival
10/6: Glasgow, UK @ Garage
12/6: London, UK @ Electric Ballroom

Bon Iver at Palace Theatre marquee Marshall Crenshaw / The Bottle Rockets Poster Kate Nash at Fine Line Poster Ganja White Night at Skyway Theatre Poster Bill Murray/Jan Vogler Poster Koffin Kats/Goddamn Gallows at Lee’s Liquor Lounge Poster Robbie Fulks Poster Read More Robbie Fulks In support of his Bloodshot Records release Upland Stories, Robbie Fulks is out touring to promote the record. He will be stopping by the Dakota Jazz Club next Sunday, June 26th. …

Other shows in the area:

BON IVER/TU DANCE
Palace Theatre
Thu 04/19/2018 (6:30pm/$25)
Fri 04/20/2018 (7pm/$25)
Sat 04/21/2018 (1pm/7pm/$25)
palacestpaul.com

Bon Iver is teaming up with contemporary dance company TU Dance, as part of the 2017-2018 Liquid Music season. The shows all sold out, including a fourth late addition for a matinee show on Saturday.

Bon Iver’s tour dates:

04/19/2018 Palace Theatre St. Paul, MN
04/20/2018 Palace Theatre St. Paul, MN
04/21/2018 Palace Theatre St. Paul, MN
05/24/2018 Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Portland, OR
05/25/2018 Sasquatch! Music Festival
05/26/2018 Deer Lake Park Burnaby, BC
05/28/2018 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Edmonton, AB
05/29/2018 Stampede Corral Calgary, AB
05/31/2018 KettleHouse Amphitheater Missoula, MT
06/03/2018 Jay Pritzker Pavilion Chicago, IL
06/05/2018 Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn At White River State Park
06/09/2018 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
07/28/2018 Mo Pop Music & Arts Festival
08/05/2018 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA
08/08/2018 Santa Barbara Bowl Santa Barbara, CA
10/25/2018 Forest National Brussels, Belgium
10/26/2018 Max-Schmeling-Halle Berlin, Germany
10/28/2018 Royal Arena Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark
10/30/2018 Oslo Spektrum Arena Oslo, Norway
10/31/2018 Ericsson Globe Stockholm, Sweden

MARSHALL CRENSHAW
+ Bottle Rockets
The Turf Club
Thu 04/19/2018 (7pm/$25)
turfclub.net

Marshall Crenshaw and The Bottle Rockets are co-touring together. The two will be stopping by the Turf Club in St Paul on Thursday, April 19th.

KATE NASH
+ Miya Folick
Fine Line Music Cafe
Thu 04/19/2018 (7pm/$20)
finelinemusic.com

British musician/actress Kate Nash’s fourth studio album Yesterday Was Forever is out now and she’s currently on tour in support of the record. Nash will be stopping by the Fine Line Music Café this Thursday, April 19th.

Tour dates:

04/12/2018 Observatory North Park San Diego, CA
04/13/2018 Santa Ana, CA
04/14/2018 The Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ
04/16/2018 The Depot Salt Lake City, UT
04/17/2018 Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO
04/19/2018 Fine Line Music Cafe Minneapolis, MN
04/20/2018 Park West Chicago, IL
04/21/2018 The Majestic Theatre Detroit, MI
04/23/2018 Mod Club Toronto, ON
04/24/2018 Théâtre Fairmount Montreal, QC
04/25/2018 Royale Nightclub Boston Boston, MA
04/26/2018 Theatre Of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
04/28/2018 Buckhead Theatre Atlanta, GA
04/29/2018 The Underground Charlotte, NC
04/30/2018 9:30 Club Washington, DC
05/02/2018 Irving Plaza New York, NY
08/25/2018 Reading Festival

GANJA WHITE NIGHT & BUDS
Skyway Theatre
Fri 04/20/2018 (8pm/$12)
Sat 04/21/2018 (8pm/$12)
skywaytheatre.com

Celebrating 4/20 properly, with Ganja White Night as they headline the Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis this Friday and Saturday. Other DJs and producers on the bill: North London duo Ivy Lab, featuring Sabre (Gove Kidao) and Stray (J. Fogel), Mt Eden, Mr Bill, & Ternion Sound on night one and Boogie T, Dirt Monkey & Subtronics on night two.

JAN VOGLER/BILL MURRAY
Orpheum Theatre
Fri 04/20/2018 (7pm/$45)
hennepintheatretrust.org

What a strange pairing: comedian/actor Bill Murray and cellist Jan Vogler. The two met on a flight from Berlin to New York, and really hit it off. The result of their collaboration is New Worlds, an exploration between music and literature. Murray will guide us through narration, while Vogler (cello) with Mira Wang (violin) and Vanessa Perez (piano) will provide the music.

THE GODDAMN GALLOWS/KOFFIN KATS
+ Against the Grain
Lee's Liquor Lounge
Fri 04/20/2018 (7pm/$15)
leesliquorlounge

Punk outlaws The Goddamn Gallows is co-headlining Lee’s Liquor Lounge with Koffin Kats this Friday. Against the Grain to open.

The Goddamn Gallows Tour Dates:

Apr 10 - Sacramento, CA - The Blue Lamp
Apr 11 - Chico, CA - Maltese
Apr 12 - Grants Pass, OR - Rogue Theatre
Apr 13 - Portland, OR - Dante’s Inferno
Apr 14 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Apr 15 - Spokane, WA - The Pin!
Apr 16 - Whitefish, MT - Remington Bar and Casino
Apr 17 - Bozeman, MT - Eagles Ballroom
Apr 18 - Billings, MT - The Pub Station
Apr 20 - Minneapolis, MN - Lee’s Liquor Lounge
Apr 21 - Green Bay, WI - Lyric Room Live Music
Apr 22 - Chicago, IL - Reggie’s Rock Club
June 14 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club
June 15 - Des Moines, IA - The Gas Lamp
June 17 - Kansas City, MO - Riot Room
June 23 - New Orleans, LA - One Eye Jacks
June 27 - Birmingham, AL - Zydeco
June 28 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
June 29 - Huntsville, AL - Sidetracks Music Hall
July 3 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
July 4 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
July 6 - Virginia Beach, VA - Shaka’s Live
July 7 - Philadelphia, PA - Voltage Lounge
July 8 - Dunellen, NJ - Roxy and Dukes
July 10 - Brooklyn, NY - The Kingsland
July 11 - Providence, RI - Alchemy
July 12 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East-Downstairs
July 15 - Syracuse, NY - The Lost Horizon
July 17 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
July 18 - Altoona, PA - McGarvey’s
July 19 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
July 20 - Northwood, OH - Boonies
July 21 - Lansing, MI - Mac’s Bar
Sep 1 - Cookeville, TN - Muddy Roots Music Festival 2018

ROBBIE FULKS
The Cedar Cultural Center
Fri 04/20/2018 (7pm/$20)
thecedar.org

Singer/songwriter, instrumentalist, composer Robbie Fulks is headlining the Cedar Cultural Center this Friday, April 20th, in support of his recent release Upland Stories (Bloodshot Records).

Milwaukee-based Buffalo Gospel to open.

Tour dates:

04/20/2018 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
04/21/2018 Kiki's House of Righteous Music Madison, WI
05/04/2018 Beverly Arts Center Chicago, IL
05/09/2018 Private Function Columbia, MO
05/10/2018 Knuckleheads Kansas City, MO
05/11/2018 Off Broadway Nightclub St. Louis, MO
05/12/2018 Centennial Park Nashville, TN
05/13/2018 People's Revel Room Lebanon, IN
05/18/2018 Willie's Locally Known Lexington, KY
05/20/2018 Barley's Taproom Knoxville, TN
06/01/2018 The Law Office Pub Yorkville, IL
06/05/2018 Anderson Japanese Gardens Rockford, IL
06/08/2018 Sutter Creek Theatre Sutter Creek, CA
06/09/2018 Novato Festival of Art, Wine and Music
06/10/2018 Novato Festival of Art, Wine and Music
06/15/2018 The Alumni Club Great Falls, MT
06/16/2018 Peach Street Studios Bozeman, MT
06/19/2018 Private Function Greenough, MT
06/26/2018 The Refectory Columbus, OH
06/27/2018 ROMP: Bluegrass Roots
07/27/2018 RockyGrass
08/11/2018 Riverlink Park Amsterdam, NY
08/25/2018 210 Highwood, IL
09/04/2018 The Triple Door Seattle, WA
09/07/2018 Sisters Folk Festival
10/06/2018 Monroe Arts Center Monroe, WI
10/12/2018 Hoedown On The Harpeth
10/19/2018 FitzGerald's Berwyn, IL
10/20/2018 Champaign-Urbana Folk
11/09/2018 Private Function Fall River, MA
11/16/2018 Severson Dells Nature Center Rockford, IL

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Rock the Garden 2017

Bon Iver Setlist 22 (OVER S∞∞N) 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄ 715 - CR∑∑KS 33 "GOD" 29 #Strafford APTS 666 ʇ 21 M♢♢N WATER 8 (circle) ____45_____ Minnesota, WI Beach Baby Holocene Creature Fear Skinny Love -- Encore -- Beth/Rest The Revolution Setlist Computer Blue America Mountains Take Me With U Erotic City with Justin Vernon Let's Work 1999 Kiss When Doves Cry Let's Go Crazy I Would Die 4 U Baby I'm a Star Purple Rain with Stokley Williams Car Seat Headrest Setlist Vincent Fill In The Blank Maud Gone Destroyed By Hippie Powers Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales Beast Monster Thing (Love Isn't Love Enough) Margaret Glaspy Setlist Pins and Needles Emotions and Math Love Like This Parental Guidance No Matter Who Situation Black is Blue You Don't Want Me New Song (Sing Me a Love Song) New Song (Not Your Father, Not Your Mother) Anthony You and I Memory Street Somebody To Anybody Rock the Garden 2017 Schedule 1:00 pm - Gates open Main Stage 2:30 pm - Margaret Glaspy 3:45 pm - Car Seat Headrest 5:15 pm - Ben Booker 7:00 pm - The Revolution 8:45 pm - Bon Iver Garden Stage 4:40 pm - Dwynell Roland 6:20 pm - Bruise Violet 8:05 pm - Dead Man Winter 10:00 pm - Gates close Bon Iver Tour Dates 08/12/2017 Copenhagen, Refshaleøen Haven Festival 09/09/2017 Santa Fe, NM Opera Noise For Now 09/15/2017 Cork, Sounds From A Safe Harbour 09/19/2017 Utrecht, NL TivoliVredenburg 09/21/2017 Paris, France Salle Pleyel 09/22/2017 Paris, France Salle Pleyel 09/23/2017 Paris, France Salle Pleyel 09/25/2017 Blackpool, UK Opera House 09/27/2017 Edinburgh, UK Edinburgh Playhouse 09/28/2017 Edinburgh, UK Edinburgh Playhouse 10/14/2017 Los Angeles, Festival Of Disruption 10/15/2017 Los Angeles, Festival Of Disruption The Revolution Tour Dates 08/11/2017 Atlantic City, NJ Resorts Atlantic City 08/12/2017 Uncasville, CT Wolf Den 09/04/2017 Nightshift Labor Day Music Festival Benjamin Booker Tour Dates 8/26 - Lexington, KY - Moontower Music Festival 9/8 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom 9/9 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret 9/10 - Seattle, WA - Neumos 9/13 - Salt Lake City, UT - State Room 9/15 - 9/17 - Telluride Blues & Brews 2017 9/29 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern 9/30 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom 10/3 - Dallas, TX - Trees 10/4 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall 10/6 - 10/8 - Austin City Music Festival 2017 10/9 - Nashville, TN - Basement East 10/10 - St. Louis, MO - Old Rock House 10/11 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck 10/13 - 10/15 - Austin City Music Festival 2017 10/16 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall 10/17 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick 10/18 - Toronto - Virgin Mobile Mod Club 10/20 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair 10/22 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall 10/23 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club 10/25 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft 10/26 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn 10/27 - 10/29 - New Orleans, LA - City Park Car Seat Headrest Tour Dates 07/30/2017 Wayhome Music And Arts Festival 08/01/2017 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH 08/03/2017 Higher Ground South Burlington, VT 08/04/2017 Osheaga Festival 08/05/2017 Lollapalooza Aftershows 08/06/2017 Lollapalooza 08/11/2017 Suvilahti, Flow Festival 08/12/2017 Oya Festival 08/15/2017 Mojotic Festival 08/17/2017 Paredes De Coura 08/19/2017 Pukkelpop Festival 08/27/2017 Rock En Seine Festival 08/29/2017 O2 Forum Kentish Town, London 08/30/2017 O2 Ritz, Manchester 08/31/2017 Stylus, Leeds 09/01/2017 Drumlanrig Castle @ Electric Fields 09/02/2017 End Of The Road Festiva 10/07/2017 Austin City Limits 10/08/2017 House Of Blues Houston 10/09/2017 House Of Blues Dallas 10/11/2017 Aztec Theatre, San Antonio, TX 10/14/2017 Austin City Limits Margaret Glaspy Tour Dates 8/11 - Vancouver, BC- Biltmore Cabaret 8/13 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile 8/15 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel 8/16 - Santa Barbara, CA - Soho Restaurant 8/17 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour 8/19 - Eugene, OR - HiFi Music Hall 8/20 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios 9/23 - Ithaca, NY - Cayuga Sound Festival Read More Rock the Garden The second Rock the Garden music festival on Sunday saw a seemingly bigger crowd, particularly near the front of the stage. … Bon Iver Bon Iver is a Grammy award-winning American indie folk band founded in 2007 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. The band also includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, Colin Stetson and Matthew McCaughan amongst others. .… The Revolution Prince was a big deal. When he died unexpectedly, we were shocked and we talked about it for weeks... and we speculated that The Revolution will reunite. And they have! … Benjamin Booker New Orleans' Benjamin Booker opened up the show with a 40-min performance of this nice mix of rock/punk/blues fusion music. We recently caught Booker at Northside Festival, in New York … Car Seat Headrest Car Seat Headrest (lead by Will Toledo), just released his 13th album Teens of Denial on Matador Records. This is his first official record label release (in a proper studio, with a proper producer) … Margaret Glaspy One of the few artists we haven’t written about is Margaret Glaspy, touring in support of her debut album Emotions and Math (ATO Records). Be sure to show up early to check out Glaspy’s set. … Dead Man Winter Dead Man Winter is headlining First Avenue this Friday. The band’s latest release Furnace was produced by Trampled By Turtles’ frontman Dave Simonett.... so expect a hint of progressive bluegrass … Bruise Violet We will be having our release show on the 13th at the 7th Street Entry with our best friends, Rupert Angeleyes, Real Numbers and Bruise Violet. …

The annual Rock the Garden (presented by The Walker Art Center and local public radio station 89.3 The Current) returned to the Walker Art Center last Saturday, July 22, 2017, after a temporary relocation to Boom Island in 2016.

This year’s event was sold out to Walker Art Center and Minnesota Public Radio members, before tickets were made available to the general public.

Between the two stages at Rock the Garden, the majority of guests parked at the main stage. The smaller stage, dubbed the “Garden Stage”, was located near the Cherry & Spoon, and was meant for the local bands.

Garden Stage             

Dwynell Roland

There was already a big crowd gathered around the Garden Stage, thanks to DJ Travis Gorman, playing songs to the crowd. Gorman recently won City Pages’ “Best Hip-Hop Producer” in 2017.

Dwynell Roland, looking really pleased at the crowd, freestyle some raps from his fourth record Popular Nobody. Although the record got some major buzz from The Current, the rapper is ever humble on his Rock the Garden appearance, stating, “You’re probably asking yourself, who is this kid?”

Roland also proudly displayed his custom T-Shirt with a Brian Oake tweet that read “Listening to @DwynellRoland on @TheCurrent. Damn. There's no denying talent.”

The highlight of his show was when he invited local favorite Rhymesayers, Doomtree’s P.O.S on stage to help sing ‘Been Here’ and Devon Reason with Finding Novyon to sing ‘Ride The Wave’.

Bruise Violet

From rap to punk, Bruise Violet dressed up for the occasional, complete with snakes on their microphone stands. This was a special show for the trio (guitarist Emily, drummer Danielle, and bassist Bella), as it was Danielle’s 21st birthday. She happily wore a sash that read “Birthday Bi****: 21 and hot, buy her a shot”.

Starting with ‘Talk S*** Get Hit’, followed by ‘I Cried for 45 Minutes Because of Passive Aggressive Guinea Pigs’, you can just tell that the young band was inspired by riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland (which is actually where they got their band name from).

Danielle mentioned that their ‘A**** Song’ was written when she was 17, before playing something a little more recent, like ‘Teacher’ from their new EP Trophy Wife (2017) and ‘Wasted’ from Survival of the Prettiest (2015).

Dead Man Winter

From hip hop to punk, and now bluegrass, Americana band Dead Man Winter. As mentioned time and time again, bluegrass is massive in Minnesota, and this band drew in the largest crowd... possibly thanks to the fact that the majority of the band members (inger/guitarist Dave Simonett, bassist Tim Saxhaug, and fiddler Ryan Young) are from the super popular Trampled by Turtles band.

We’ve already previously mentioned that the band headlined First Avenue in February 2017 to promote their record Furnace. Listening to the band on stage, the folky band’s songs deals with very personal topics, such as divorce / breakup and how life is a struggle and unexpected acts of god (‘This House Is On Fire’, which was play early in their set).

Main Stage             

Margaret Glaspy

New York, by the way of California, Margaret Glaspy, with new bassist Daniel and drummer Tim Kuhl, started Rock the Garden 2017 off to a proper start.

The majority of her set is taken from her solo debut album Emotions and Math (ATO Records), but you can tell that the former The Fundies singer was hard at work writing new songs. She played two of them near the end of her set, the latter of the two had some of the best lyrics, “I’m not your father, I’m not your mother. I’m not your sister trying to waste your time. I’m not the tax man.”

We liked what we heard and looking forward to hearing more from Glaspy’s forthcoming sophomore album.

Car Seat Headrest

Seattle, Washington’s Car Seat Headrest was a big favorite from the younger audience of Rock the Garden. The quartet (singer/guitarist Will Toledo, guitarist Ethan Ives, drummer Andrew Katz, and bassist Seth Dalby), jokingly said that, “Our drummer quit before the show... so we’re going to try something different.”

We’re not exactly sure what they meant by their drummer quitting, as far as we know, it’s still the same drummer Andrew Katz (who is also in the band Skinny Teeth). Still, it felt like it was a much shorter set, our notes only show six songs on their set.

Despite the lack of songs (even though they have recorded 13 albums), the fans loved them. Every time you look at the crowd, you can see them mouthing and singing along to Will Toledo’s heartfelt, emotional, depressing songs. Their best song ‘Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales’ had everybody in front singing. We now know why the popular band sold out their previous Minneapolis show last year.

Car Seat Headrest’s Teens of Denial is available now on Matador Records.

Note: Will Toledo changed his shirt from soundcheck to taking the stage in a black turtleneck. It was uncomfortably hot at the show, that Bruise Violet’s Emily had to mentioned it on their Garden Stage appearance. Emily said that she asked Toledo, “Aren’t you hot under that sweater?”... to which he blankly stared at her, then looked down and didn’t respond.

Benjamin Booker

Since the last time we saw Benjamin Booker at Festival Palomino 2015, he’s released his sophomore album Witness (ATO Records).

Apparently, Booker reconnected with an old school friend Kelly, at the show. He tried to embarrass her, and later say that in 9th grade, she had a cool Modest Mouse T-Shirt, right before playing ‘Witness’.

Booker’s unique raspy vocals, combined with raw, soul-rock, was fun to hear and dance to, even though there is an underlying reference to police brutality in the new album title track.

The Revolution

The festival collectively caught its second wind by early evening as the most anticipated performance of The Revolution hit the stage for a celebratory hour-long set.  As Prince’s best known band, there were rumblings of its reformation before the Purple One passed, but that event was the catalyst to regroup and get back on the road once again, some thirty years after the band initially dissolved.

“Ohhh yeah…make some noise!” bassist Brownmark said, to get the party started with ‘Computer Blue’ from the classic Purple Rain soundtrack (WB Records, just re-released in expanded format) as the classic lineup of the group, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardists Lisa Coleman and Matt Fink (still in surgical scrubs) and drummer Bobby Z took to the stage.

The band plays remarkably tight as ever, the product of both Prince’s intense rehearsals back in the day, and their consistent touring since their first shows back, at First Avenue last September.  “This song is more appropriate than ever” Melvoin remarked before an abbreviated ‘America’, with she and Brown sharing lead vocals, though Justin Vernon would make a surprise appearance to help out with ‘Erotic City’.

Stokely Williams (of Mint Condition) then came to lead the party for  the rest of the set, beginning with the workout of ‘Let’s Work’, with no one in the crowd able to stay still. “These songs belong to you guys now, we’re just the band” Melvoin said, before the closing ‘Purple Rain’ which had everyone clapping and singing along, as well as many looking and pointing to the sky, in remembrance.

Bon Iver

With the sun tucking beyond the horizon, Bon Iver emerged for their headlining seventy-minute set, beginning with all but the last track of new album, 22, A Million (Jagjaguar Records). Justin Vernon was dressed casually in Orioles baseball cap and charity t-shirt and backed by full band including a cheekily named five-piece horn section, and local native Mike Lewis on bass/sax.

The capacity crowd of 11,000 hushed for the quieter parts and cheered at the louder crescendos, with Vernon noting, “we were here a while ago” referring to their initial appearance at the 2008 installment and being the first to be invited back, “…it seems like a long time ago now”.

‘29 #Strafford APTS’ was “a song about an apartment that never really existed…or did it?!” Vernon mused, the former folk artist now morphed into an experimental, electronic-tinged backwoods Radiohead of sorts.

“That song was called ‘Minnesota, WI’” Vernon said after the 2011 song, “a lot of people in the world don’t know where these places are… I kind of like that”. A roar went up for the magnificent ‘Holocene’ then Vernon went back to 2007’s ‘Creature Fear’ and ‘Skinny Love’ armed with an acoustic guitar seated in low light near the front of the stage, to end the main set.  “We’ve only got two minutes” he said, darting back out quickly to grateful fans, managing to squeeze in the encore of 2011’s ‘Beth/Rest’ as the city’s curfew time approached.

Bruise Violet

Crowd

DJs Mary, Andrea, and Jade

DJs Andrea and Jade

DJs Brian Oake and Jill RIley

DJs Philip Bither and Mark Wheat

Crowd

Margaret Glaspy

Bruise Violet

Dwynell Roland

Dead Man Winter

Dead Man Winter

Margaret Glaspy

Margaret Glaspy

Car Seat Headrest

Car Seat Headrest (Soundcheck)

Car Seat Headrest

Benjamin Booker

Benjamin Booker

Benjamin Booker

The Revolution

Benjamin Booker

The Revolution (Bobby Z)

The Revolution (Susannah)

The Revolution (Brownmark)

The Revolution (Stokley Williams)

The Revolution (Dr Fink)

The Revolution (Wendy)

The Revolution (with Justin Vernon )

The Revolution

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver at Rock the Garden, Walker Art Center (22 July 2017)

vu + john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis: July 21 to July 25, 2017

Read More Blondie One of our favorites, Blondie is playing an intimate show at the Minnesota Zoo this Saturday. I believe this show may be sold out (even at $70 a ticket), as I went to the venue’s website … Garbage Garbage (Shirley Manson, Steve Marker, Duke Erikson, and Butch Vig) is back with their critically acclaimed sixth studio album Strange Little Birds (STUNVOLUME Records). .…

Here are some concerts taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from July 21 to July 25, 2017.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

BLONDIE & GARBAGE
at Mystic Showroom
Friday 07/21/17 (7pm/$65)
mysticlake.com

Whatever you do, you cannot miss these two amazing female-fronted bands, Blondie (Debbie Harry) and Garbage (Shirley Manson), together on one bill at Mystic Lake. It’s the best of the 80s and the best of the 90s on this “The Rage and Rapture Tour”.

Blondie’s 11th studio album Pollinator is available now on BMG. Garbage’s new single ‘No Horses’ is available now, proceeds goes to the International Committee of the Red Cross through the end of 2018. They also have an autobiographical coffee table book, This is the Nose That Keeps Me Awake (Akashic Books)... the title comes from their ‘Push It’ song.

Tour Dates:

07/16 - Fiddler's Green , Englewood, CO
07/18 - Kauffman Center, Kansas City, MO
07/19 - Harrah's Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs, IA
07/21 - Mystic Lake Casino, Prior Lake, MN
07/22 - Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL
07/25 - Artpark, Lewiston, NY
07/26 - Sony Centre , Toronto, ON*
07/28 - Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ
07/29 - Bethel Woods Center, Bethel, NY
07/30 - Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
08/1 - Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
08/2 - Mann Center , Philadelphia, PA
08/5 - Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC
08/8 - Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood, FL
08/9 - Hard Rock Live, Orlando, FL
08/11 - ACL Live, Austin, TX
08/12 - Southside Ballroom, Dallas, TX

Read More Rock the Garden The second Rock the Garden music festival on Sunday saw a seemingly bigger crowd, particularly near the front of the stage. … The Revolution Prince was a big deal. When he died unexpectedly, we were shocked and we talked about it for weeks... and we speculated that The Revolution will reunite. And they have! … Bon Iver Bon Iver is a Grammy award-winning American indie folk band founded in 2007 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. The band also includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, Colin Stetson and Matthew McCaughan amongst others. .…

ROCK THE GARDEN
at Walker Arts Center
Saturday 07/22/17 (1pm/$69/Sold Out)
rockthegardenfestival.com

Rock The Garden is back at the Walker Art Center (after relocating to Boom Island due to construction). This year it’s back to a one-day event... and it’s sold out.

One of this year’s headliners, The Revolution, re-formed after Prince’s death in 2016. They’re back, and if you couldn’t get tickets to RTG, you can try seeing them at First Avenue on Sunday.

The other headliner is Bon Iver (pronounced “bon-nee-ver”, taken from the French words “bon hiver”). We previously saw them in Los Angeles in October 2016 and wrote, “Bon Iver and his band opened with a myriad of hieroglyphics and light fixtures so psychedelic it was like Willy Wonka decided to go into the scary cave to meet a bunch of Egyptians. Seriously though, I’m pretty sure some people who expected a night of mellow acoustics forgot to check out Justin Vernon’s newest album, 22, A Million, his 3rd full-length record. A stark contrast from his chilling falsettos in For Emma, Forever Ago and my favorite Bon Iver, his voice became increasingly overshadowed by the band’s pressing indulgence into the stratosphere of autotuneness. Though the lyrics equally as heartfelt and beautiful, it’s a vastly different feel however I commend him for the drastic change...it shows how much he’s been through in the past 5 years.”

Lineup:

The Revolution
Bon Iver
Bruise Violet
Dead Man Winter
Margaret Glaspy
Car Seat Headrest
Benjamin Booker
Dwynell Roland

Read More Vans Warped Tour Heading out to Van's Warped Tour 2015 at Shakopee, Minnesota, this Sunday ( 07/26th)? Here are just some of the bands listed to appear: …

VANS WARPED TOUR
at Canterbury Park
Sunday 07/23/17 (12pm/$38)
vanswarpedtour.com

The annual traveling music festival Vans Warped Tour is coming back to Canterbury Park this Sunday.

Weirdly enough, they teamed up with Valiant Comics (we love Solar and X-O Manowar), as seen in the tour poster.

Here are just some of those bands playing:

Valient Thorr, TSOL, Silverstein, Sonic Boom Six, Sick Of It All, Save Ferris, New Years Day, Municipal Waste, Hatebreed, Hawthorne Heights, Gwar, Emmure, Creeper, CKY, Candiria, The Ataris, The Acacia Strain, The Adolescents, Our Last Night, Blessthefall, Carnifex, Stick To Your Guns, Futuristic, After The Burial, Dance Gavin Dance, Fire From The Gods, Memphis May Fire, Alestorm, Fit For A King, William Control, Silent Planet, Hundredth, Sammy Adams, Barb Wire Dolls, Counterparts, Stacked Like Pancakes, Bad Cop / Bad Cop, Hands Like Houses, Courage My Love, Watsky, War On Women, Sworn In, Beartooth, American Authors, Being As An Ocean, Sylar, Neck Deep, Trophy Eyes, Too Close To Touch, Jule Vera, I Prevail, Microwave, Knocked Loose, Movements, Separations, Boston Manor, The White Noise , Bad Omens, Andy Black, Feeki, The Gospel Youth, Twilight Creeps, Farewell Winters, Attila.

Read More Andrew Bird We've written about Andrew Bird, a few times. Anyway, critics are raving about Andrew Bird's latest release, Break It Yourself. NPR called it "something beautiful" … The Melvins Second to play Sunday night was The Melvins. These guys have a huge following in Minneapolis. I truly thought they were from here but apparently that's not true ... Waxahatchee Recently White Lung's Mish Way joined Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee in New York's Lower East Side to bring us two memorable acoustic versions ... Colin Stetson Saxophonist Colin Stetson recently teamed up with violinist Sarah Neufeld a collaboration album Never were the way she was (Constellation Records) and a North American tour in June. ... Lowertown Blues Festival Mears Park in St. Paul plays host to the Lowertown Blues Festival this Saturday, a Free Admission seven-hour event features multiple acts in concert, including two-time ...

Other shows in the area:

07/21/2017 Andrew Bird is headlining First Avenue in support of his 12th record Are You Serious (Loma Vista Recordings). Goulden Balls (not to be confused with Golden Balls) to open. 6pm, $36.

07/21/2017 Dashboard Confessional is playing the Myth with All-American Rejects and The Maine. 6:30pm, $35.

07/21/2017 Multi-platinum-selling artist J. Cole will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul as part of his “4 Your Eyez Only Tour” this Friday. 7pm, $29.50.

07/21/2017 Nashville-based Americana singer-songwriter Mary Bragg is playing the tiny Warming House in Minneapolis. Bragg’s Lucky Strike album is out now. Sarah Morris to open. 7:30pm, $10.

07/21/2017 Waxahatchee is headlining the Triple Rock Social Club this Friday. The duo’s latest album Out in the Storm is available on Merge Records. Cayetana and Snail Mail will open. 8pm, $15.

07/21/2017-07/22/2017 The annual Lowertown Blues Festival is taking place at the Mears Park in Minneapolis. This year’s lineup for Friday: Average White Band, Mick Sterling, Chase And Ovation, McNally Smith Indie Rock, and SKA Ensemble. Saturday: Renee Austin, Ken Valdez, The Jimmys, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers, Colin Campbell & The Shackletons, Moses Oakland, Paul Haaland, and Alex Crankshaft Larson. 5pm, FREE.

07/22/2017 Grumpy's Bash at Grumpy’s will feature a lot of fan-favorite bands this year, including Mudhoney, Melvins, Lydia Lunch, Cherubs, The Blind Snake, and Whores. 1pm, $48.

07/23/2017 Saxophonist Colin Stetson will be stopping by the Turf Club in St Paul this Sunday in support of his LP All This I Do For Glory. Justin Walker to open. 7pm, $15.

07/24/2017 Boston’s Bent Knee will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis this Monday, in support of the band’s critically-acclaimed album Land Animal (InsideOutMusic/Sony). AirLands and Oklahoma (from Minneapolis, not Oklahoma) to open. 7pm, $10.

07/24/2017 Wheeler Walker Jr. sold out his show at the Turf Club on Monday. Kasey Tyndall will open. 7pm, $17/Sold Out.

07/25/2017 Electronic producer Mura Masa (aka Alex Crossan) has a self-titled album on Downtown/Interscope Records. He’ll be playing the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Although he was born in Guernsey, I believe he’s currently based in the UK. Special guest Kučka to open. 7pm, $20.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Twin Peaks: The Return

Read More Twin Peaks So a little information about Julee Cruise's involvement with Twin Peaks: she was working for Angelo Badalamenti as a talent scout in the mid 80s. Badalamenti was already working with David Lynch on his film Blue Velvet and they needed a song …

Are you guys watching the new David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks? I grew up on the original series, so I’m really happy it’s back on the air, even though it’s been 26 years later.

Most of the original cast is back, but there are a couple of new additions, including Naomi Watts (reprising the same looks from Mulholland Drive) and the ever awkward and strange Michael Cera (he looks like he’s learning and reading his line live).

So far, an hour long pilot and two episodes have aired. I have to say, it’s really weird. People don’t act like this, yet, in the world of Twin Peaks, is accepted as normal.

I can’t quite figure out what is exactly happening, but I think FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is trapped in the Black Lodge while his doppelganger is in the real world, causing havoc. It made me want to re-visit the original series (I only own Season 1 on DVD).

They’re still using the orchestra soundtrack from Angelo Badalamenti (including the theme song), but they’ve updated their music selection. The pilot ended with Chromatics playing ‘Shadow’, while the second with Minneapolis’ The Cactus Blossoms singing ‘Mississippi’, and finally all-girls trio Au Revoir Simone with ‘Lark’.

Can’t wait to see which other bands make it on the new Twin Peaks show... perhaps Julee Cruise to return to show the kids how it’s done? Maybe it will be the final song, as you know the song ‘Falling’ is the lyrical version of the ‘Twin Peaks Theme Song’.

Overall, great music choices from visionary David Lynch. The next airing is Sunday, June 4, 2017.

Now for some Twin Peaks-related news:

FESTIVAL OF DISRUPTION
festivalofdisruption.com

Perhaps looking at some bands appearing at Festival of Disruption (at Ace Hotel, Los Angeles on October 14-15, 2017), might clue us on any future Twin Peaks appearance. This music festival is curated by non-other than David Lynch. Net proceeds will benefit the David Lynch Foundation.

So far these bands will appear at Festival of Disruption: Bon Iver, The Kills, TV On The Radio, Sharon Van Etten, Laura Marling, and Reggie Watts.

In addition to music, there’s also:

DJs: Moby, Shepard Fairey

Talks: Kristine McKenna: Ed Ruscha, Bill Pullman, Sheryl Lee, Pete Holmes, Twin Peaks Collaborators: Duwayne Dunham, Dean Hurley, Johanna Ray & Gary D'Amico

Films: Lost Highway, Los Angeles Plays Itself, Don't Look At Me, Rare David Lynch shorts

Meditation: Brian Eno's Reflection, Bob Roth

Exhibits: William Eggleston, David Lynch, Polaroid Photobooth

Tickets goes on sale on June 2nd.

ANGELO BADALAMENTI
angelobadalamenti.com

The original Twin Peaks score by Angelo Badalamenti was re-issued last year (ahead of the much-anticipated new Twin Peaks series). The record was back in print for the first time in 25 years and sold out everywhere on a 425gsm gatefold sleeve.

Recently, another Badalamenti is getting the reissue treatment: Blue Velvet Soundtrack, available for the first time in 30 years. The record came out May 19th, 2017, via Varèse Sarabande, but you can still get a copy on varesesarabande.com.

If you didn’t know, Blue Velvet was the first musical collaboration between director Lynch and Badalamenti. The score is described as “juxtaposed with Lynch’s use of early pop tunes, creating an unsettling effect that complemented the movie perfectly.” Also, early collaboration with Julee Cruise can be found on the soundtrack.

TWIN PEAKS
twinpeaksdudes.com

Nothing to do with David Lynch, this Chicago band Twin Peaks is currently on tour. I’ve previously mentioned that I’m not happy with their name choice (it’s confusing!), and even unhappier to learn that they didn’t know about the TV show when they named the band. Despite this, I think Lynch gave his blessing for the band to continue to use the name.

Tour dates:

06/03 - Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
06/06 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
06/07 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony
06/08 - New York, NY @ A2IM Awards Show
06/09 - Providence, RI @ Fete Lounge
06/10 - Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom
06/16 - Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace
06/17 - Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston
06/20 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
06/21 - Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
06/23 - Toronto, ON @ NXNE Port Lands
06/24 - Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall
09/10 - Peoria, IL @ Limelight Eventplex
09/11 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
09/13 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
09/14 - Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
09/15 - Saint Paul, MN @ Palace Theater
09/16 - Saint Paul, MN @ Palace Theater

LUXEMBOURG SIGNAL
theluxembourgsignal.com

Dreampop/indie band Luxembourg Signal just released their new single ‘Laura Palmer’ (you know, wrapped in plastic...), taken from their forthcoming Blue Field album via Shelflife Records (set for this Fall 2017).

The seven piece band (Beth Arzy & Betsy Moyer on vocals, Johnny Joyner on guitars, Brian Espinosa on drums, Ginny Pitchford on keyboards, Kelly Davis on guitars, and Daniel Kumiega on bass)

‘Laura Palmer’ is available June 23rd on limited edition 7" vinyl and digital formats... you can preview the song on soundcloud.com.

JUMPITER
jumpiter.bandcamp.com

Brooklyn’s Jumpiter (aka Sean Schuyler) has covered the famous ‘Twin Peaks Theme’.

You can’t really buy it and the only way to hear it is via youtube.com

Details from the YouTube page:

Written by Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch ©1990
Produced and Performed by Sean Schuyler ©2017
jumpiter.bandcamp.com // facebook.com/jumpiter

Although, technically the David Lynch credit is correct, the actual music is by Badalamenti alone (Lynch only contributed to the lyrics - which can be heard on the song ‘Falling’ by Julee Cruise).

AKIRA THE DON
akirathedon.com

We wrote about Akira the Don (aka Adam Narkiewicz) in Feb 2008 when he remixed The Crimea.

Now we’re mentioning him again with his ‘Twin Peaks Theme Song’ re-work. As he explained it:

Because you expected no less, I humbly present to you my damn fine version of the classic TWIN PEAKS theme.

I've been working on this on and off for about 5 years. Look out for a vocal version featuring H-Town legend Fat Tony and myself rapping our asses off shortly.

LOVE TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!
ATD

Hear the song on soundcloud.com

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Bon Iver / Patti Smith at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles (23 Oct 2016)

Setlist 22 (OVER S∞∞N) 10 d E A T h b R E a s T 715 - CR∑∑KS 33 “GOD” 29 #Strafford APTS 666 ʇ 21 M♢♢N WATER 8 (circle) ____45_____ 00000 Million -- Encore -- Minnesota, WI Towers Michicant Skinny Love Calgary Creature Fear -- Encore II -- Beth/Rest Read More Bon Iver Bon Iver is a Grammy award-winning American indie folk band founded in 2007 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. The band also includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, Colin Stetson and Matthew McCaughan amongst others. .… Patti Smith Patti Smith and Kevin Shields have released The Coral Sea officially on July 7th worldwide. I won't go into details about Smith & Shields, as you guys are probably familiar with their.…

If I told you that I was going to to see the illustrious and the ever-more-present “Godmother of Punk”, Patti Smith, some may bat your eyes and say “Wow. Good for you. Bringing it back to the good ol’ days.” In the same mention, if I would have said that she was opening for the once-indie folk band (now turned indietronica, more on that later), Bon Iver, along with openers Hiss Golden Messenger, you would have replied “Come again?” Annnnnd, if I told you that I was going to see them both at the famed Hollywood Bowl on a dark, rainy night a week before Halloween, you would have ecstatically declared, “Holy S***.”

Patti Smith

Swearing is in order here because I for one found it difficult to handle such euphoria... and a rainy fall night in Los Angeles? It’s all just too good. Patti graced the stage complete with grey pigtail braids and a purple blazer... hopping around looking like Robert Plant or some other rock god who’s not too gender-specific. She starts to scream, “Can you feel it in your blood? Raise your hands! Use your voice! VOTE! You are f***ing free!” She belted out in ‘People Have The Power’ with such a force I had to stand there in awe of her, not only her trail of enlightenment she has left but now, how relevant these lyrics are to our times. She laughs at a long pause and says to the crowd, “I’m just getting ready, honey, I can take my time longer than you can comprehend! Maybe I’ll waste about 13 seconds...”

The crowd goes nuts as she goes right into ‘Land’. What a powerhouse this lady is, and humble as hell, telling us, “You know, I’ve heard of this place, but we never been here before.” And as the rain started coming down on us, Patti calls out for more and more water and it was as if she had been doing her own little rain dance up there all along (the Watusi, perhaps??). Her spirit and performance are unparalleled.

Bon Iver and his band opened with a myriad of hieroglyphics and light fixtures so psychedelic it was like Willy Wonka decided to go into the scary cave to meet a bunch of Egyptians. Seriously though, I’m pretty sure some people who expected a night of mellow acoustics forgot to check out Justin Vernon’s newest album, 22, A Million, his 3rd full-length record. A stark contrast from his chilling falsettos in For Emma, Forever Ago and my favorite Bon Iver, his voice became increasingly overshadowed by the band’s pressing indulgence into the stratosphere of autotuneness. Though the lyrics equally as heartfelt and beautiful, it’s a vastly different feel however I commend him for the drastic change...it shows how much he’s been through in the past 5 years. The first couple songs he played had a funky, jungle-like feel that was both cryptic and wildly experimental while being heavy on the sax. Indigenous and at the same time industrial, it became clear that we were in for an unexpected yet delightful treat. His absorbent melodies and crazy crescendos had us wowing for half of the show.

With neon trees and lightening blasting in the background, the song ’21 Moon Water’ off his new album put us Angelinos in a trance, the light drizzle of rain getting softer and softer as the music got louder and louder. The instrumentals are completely off course on this track in the best way, sending you into a kind of whirlwind that you’re frightened to come down from for fear of falling too far, off the edge of the proverbial cliff you’re flying above. But Justin lets you down softly, with his magical vocals giving you that extra push you need to keep going. His music has the romance of a late-night drive up the canyon along with the meaningfulness of the destined lives we all dream to fulfill. He laughs while admitting:

“You know, we’ve played a lot of shows. I never know what to say up here. It’s important, you know. I’m so humbled to share the stage with who I’ve shared it with tonight...that goes without saying. What Patti was saying, you are free, it keeps coming back to me. You gotta know that you’re free. Spread love, and be there for people. You are free. I’m not gonna forget that.”

Justin then striped down to what we’ve all been waiting for, no band, no fluff, just him and his guitar. ‘Skinny Love’ was a crowd pleaser and his most popular hit, even though I was a bit disappointed he left out ‘Holocene’. He did play the lovely ‘Michicant’, and then ‘Minnesota’, which he dedicated to Wisconsin. He waved and said a genuine “Love ya’ll” to the crowd after his encore, leaving us all to wonder how a guy so versatile and brilliant can also be just a dorky Midwestern guy donning a Cubs hat.

Bon Iver with Patti Smith at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles (23 October 2016)

jess ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Sharon Van Etten at First Avenue, Minneapolis (16 Jul 2014)

Setlist Afraid of Nothing Taking Chances Tarifa Save Yourself Nothing Will Change Break Me Don't Do It I Love You But I'm Lost You Know Me Well Serpents Your Love is Killing Me -- Encore -- Perfect Day (Lou Reed Cover) Love More (with Justine Vernon) Every Time The Sun Comes Up (with Justine Vernon) Tour Dates 07/18 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival 07/20 - Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival 08/07 - 08/09 - Way Out West 08/09 - Olso, NO @ Øyafestivalen 08/10 - Zurich, CH @ Rote Fabrik 08/11 - Munich, DE @ Hauskonzerte 08/12 - Arena Wien Open Air 08/14 - Venlo, NL @ Zomerparkfeest 08/15 - Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop 08/16 - Green Man Festival 10/07 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House 10/08 - Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch 10/09 - Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center 10/13 - Iowa City, IA @ Gabe's Oasis 10/14 - Champaign, IL @ Highdive 10/15 - St. Louis, MO @ Luminary Center 10/17 - Dallas, TX @ The Kessler Theatre 10/18 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk 10/20 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 10/21 - Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle 10/23 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 10/24 - Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater 10/25 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar 11/16 - Hasselt, BE @ Muziekodroom 11/17 - Hamburg, DE @ Prinzenbar 11/18 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega 11/20 - Groningen, NL @ Vera 11/21 - Gent, BE @ Handelsbeurs 11/24 - Manchester, UK @ Cathedral 11/25 - Glasgow, UK @ Art School 11/26 - Birmingham, UK @ Library 11/29 - Lisbon, PT @ Vodafone Mexefest [ Full tour dates on news.weheartmusic.com ] Read More Sharon Van Etten Well this just happened: Bon Iver's frontman Justin Vernon showed up as a special guest on Sharon Van Etten's encore songs "Love More" and "Every Time The Sun Comes Up" at her First Avenue show in Minneapolis …

"Hey Minneapolis. There you are! It's been too long, thanks for coming out tonight," Sharon Van Etten commented at the nice turnout for her show at First Avenue in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 16th.

Jana Hunter

Opening up the show was Jana Hunter, who is normally in a full band called Lower Dens. Armed with just her Apple laptop and guitar, sang personal songs about her relationships and friends... even dedicating a song to "Brad and his friends."

She sounded a little sad that this was the "next to the last show" with Van Etten, commenting how she's going to miss being stuck in a van with Van Etten and company and "sharing body odors."

Songs on her set seems to be works in progress, meant for a new future album she was working on. I hope she put her cover of Hall and Oates' "Maneater," because her version sounded better as a sad, somber version.

Sharon Van Etten

Sharon Van Etten has this uncanny Daredevil radar, where she can zero on any given audience band member and then have a personal conversation with her fans. It's clear to me that Van Etten has an engaging relationships with her biggest fans... and she's very thankful of this.

Most of this current set were songs from her latest release Are We There (Jagjaguwar), and Van Etten was well aware of that, saying "It's that point in the set that you're wondering 'What the f*** are these songs? Give me some old songs!"

Setlist

So with that demand, she started to introduce her old song, "Save Yourself," which she described as the first country song she ever wrote. You can see it in her eyes, but she just thought of a dirty joke. When the audience asked her to tell it, she said, "The type of country songs I write, there would be no 'O' in 'Country.'"

Van Etten, again was thankful for her fans, "It's a Wednesday night and you're listening to mid-tempo ballads and you're still standing up. It's pretty incredible." After "You Know Me Well," she introduced the band. Normally, this is a pretty forgettable moment in any show, but I came away from it knowing all the band names: Heather, Doug, and Darren (who is the drummer for Ben Folds Five).

On the encore, Sharon Van Etten came back by herself. She's drinking Bulleit whiskey, to give her a little courage to cover one of her favorite song, Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". She was actually pretty nervous to cover the song, but it sounded amazing anyway. Personally, I think she could have just ended her show there and I would have been pretty happy with that... except there was one big surprise!

Sharon Van Etten with Justin Vernon (far right)

Special guest, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was invited on stage to jam out to "Love More" and "Every Time The Sun Comes Up." With the former song, Van Etten said that the two met "because of [that] song."

As they walked off stage, Van Etten let out one last statement, "Thank you, you've been ridiculous. I can't believe you're here it really means a lot to us."

Sharon Van Etten is currently on tour in support of her latest album Are We There, available now via Jagjaguwar.

Sharon Van Etten at First Avenue, Minneapolis (16 Jul 2014)

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