W♥M

Minneapolis: April 3 to April 5, 2017

Read More Minus the Bear Seattle's Minus The Bear is on tour in support of their latest album Lost Loves, which came out two weeks ago (Oct 7th) on Dangerbird Records. … Beach Slang Beach Slang is currently on tour in support of their upcoming debut album Find People Who Feel Like Us (out October 30 on Polyvinyl Records). Like most of the Midwest tour … Bayonne Bayonne, the new moniker of Austin-based Roger Sellers, will be making a stop at the 7th Street Entry on Wednesday, January 27th. The artistic style ....

Here are some concerts taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on April 3 to April 5, 2017. Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

MINUS THE BEAR
at Fine Line Music Cafe
Tuesday 04/04/17, 7pm ($22)
finelinemusic.com

It’s been a few years since we last saw Minus the Bear. The band is back to promote their new album Voids, which just came out on March 3rd, 2017, via Suicide Squeeze Records.

Show up early to check out Beach Slang. We saw them at the Triple Rock in October 2016 and noticed singer James Alex had a lot of local Minneapolis fans!

Bayonne also on the bill. We previously saw him in January 2016 and noted, “Bayonne is a musician from Austin, TX. No, scratch that, he is more than just a musician, he's a true entertainer.”

Tour Dates:

03/29/17 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
03/30/17 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom
03/31/17 Toronto, ON Opera House
04/01/17 Millvale, PA Mr. Small's Theatre
04/02/17 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
04/04/17 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe
04/05/17 Omaha, NE Slowdown
04/06/17 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
04/07/17 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall
04/08/17 Maverick Music Festival
04/10/17 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent
04/12/17 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco
04/13/17 San Francisco, CA Great American
04/14/17 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
04/15/17 Seattle, WA The Showbox

Read More Thao & the Get Down Stay Down San Francisco-based band Thao & The Get Down Stay Down got down with us at the Cedar Cultural Center on April 1st and we loved every moment of it. The band is currently … Biffy Clyro Vertigo of Bliss Import Biffy Clyro Bliss Indeed So, you release a debut album as good as "Blackened Sky", which spawns four top quality singles, you have an insane and … Big Wild Opening the show was Big Wild from Los Angeles. Big Wild is Jackson and was definitely a jaw dropper as an opening act for an already amazing line up. What sets Big Wild apart from the other acts of the night … Sohn SOHN is the stagename for Vienna-based (but London-born) Christopher Taylor. Taylor is touring in support of his debut album Tremors, which came out in April via 4AD Records. …

Other shows in the area:

04/03/17 OMNI with Brilliant Beast and Spooky Ghost to play the 7th Street Entry. $10 gets you in the door.

04/04/17 Local favorites The 4onthefloor will be playing the Triple Rock Social Club with Tabah . Do you realized it’s 4 (April) on the 4th?

04/04/17 The Molochs (not the ancient child eater god or the metal band called Moloch) will be playing the 7th Street Entry on this night. The Los Angeles-ish musician (by the way of Buenos Aires) will be promoting his new album America's Velvet Glory. Cosmonauts is the co-headliner. Cult of Lip to open. Additional details at first-avenue.com, $10 entry fee.

04/04/17 Scottish trio Biffy Clyro sold out the Turf Club on Tuesday. We reviewed their record Ellipsis, last August and wrote, “A recurring theme found in the album’s lyrics is the concept of “fighting back” against one’s personal demons. An ideal of living life unfettered, like an animal, also recurs throughout. Frontman Simon Neil has said that Ellipsis was created to be a volatile “fight rock, pint-in-the-face rock,” album.” O'Brother to open.

04/05/17 Big Wild is playing Fine Line Music Café; touring in support of their debut EP Invincible (Foreign Family Collective). The band is co-signed to Seattle’s ODESZA. Phantoms and Imagined Herbal Flows to open.

04/05/17 Vienna-based Sohn (aka Christopher Taylor) returns to Minneapolis at the Triple Rock Social Club.

04/05/17 String Cheese Incident will grace the Palace Theatre.

04/05/17 Thao & The Get Down Stay Down is returning to Cedar Cultural Center. Yowler to open.

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

Biffy Clyro: Ellipsis

Track Listing Wolves of Winter Friends and Enemies Animal Style Re-arrange Herex Medicine Flammable On A Bang Small Wishes Howl People Don’t, Won’t, Can’t (Deluxe only) In The Name Of The Wee Man (Deluxe only) Read More Biffy Clyro Vertigo of Bliss Import Biffy Clyro Bliss Indeed So, you release a debut album as good as "Blackened Sky", which spawns four top quality singles, you have an insane and … July 8, 2016 marked the release of Ellipsis, Scottish trio Biffy Clyro’s seventh studio album. Ellipsis follows 2013's critically acclaimed double-album Opposites, which reached #1 in the U.K. A recurring theme found in the album’s lyrics is the concept of “fighting back” against one’s personal demons. An ideal of living life unfettered, like an animal, also recurs throughout. Frontman Simon Neil has said that Ellipsis was created to be a volatile “fight rock, pint-in-the-face rock,” album. Ellipsis contains quite an eclectic mix of songs. Some could best be described as hard rock, whereas others have more of a pop sound. Some seem to vacillate between these two genres by combining hard rock riffs with poppy lead and/or backing vocals. Several hip-hop acts are cited as influences for this album, and one song even verges into alt-country territory. These differing genres can often be heard as distinct elements within the same song, seeming to pull in opposite directions as if fighting for dominance. But this album was made to deal with fighting as a theme, so in this it is successful. Wolves of Winter­ begins the album with a prog influence, a nice buildup, and Rage Against the Machine-style guitar. What you anticipate is a vocal that kicks in with a growl, a scream, or a howl. Then the vocal starts and totally catches you off guard; it’s more pop than rock, and at first it doesn’t seem to contain enough gravelly anger to match the music or the subject matter. However, as the song progresses the vocal becomes more serious and angst-filled, and this is when Wolves of Winter starts to get really good. On Animal Style the lead vocal remains consistently rock-oriented throughout the song, and this works much better with the churning rock sound of the music. With the possible exception of some poppy “ooh-ooh-ooh” backing vocals, the music and vocals on this song successfully convey a congruous level of rage and rock sensibility. Animal Style has a catchy guitar progression and a solid chorus. Re-arrange is a mellow and lovely tribute, and remains consistent with this classic ballad formula throughout. This song marks a change of gears from the album’s regular themes with its message of hope and healing. Medicine and People are also good examples of successful ballads along these same lines. On a Bang is pure rock, as is evidenced by the pleasingly crunchy music and the satisfying, cathartic scream of the vocals. The level of angst here is just right, and the music and vocals complement one another rather than working against each other. Howl is one of the album’s more successful pop-rock songs. Howl is one of the album’s more successful pop-rock songs. Its flowing and melodic, with a driving beat and soaring vocals. Howl’s lyrics are some of the best on the album, and the song’s overall sound represents a balanced mix of rock and pop. In The Name of the Wee Man is a song that fully makes it all the way to the band’s stated fight-rock vision. There is a deft interplay of guitar, bass and drums. Dynamic, driving bass lines stand out nicely on this track, and the guitar hook immediately pulls you in. A prog rock influence and Simon Neil’s angst-ridden scream really satisfy, and they dominate the song consistently from start to finish. This is a great song; it’s my personal favorite from Ellipsis. It would be wonderful to hear Biffy Clyro explore more of their hard rock sound, both with their music and with their vocals. Ellipsis proves to be more of an experimental album, and experimentation is essential to any band’s evolution. Yet based on its heavy guitar riffs and rock lyrics, Ellipsis seems- for all intents and purposes- to really want to be a hard rock album. I firmly believe that the band’s true strength lies in its ability to rock, and they have the potential to stretch that ability to its outer limits and beyond. I hear it on this album; amidst all the other elements, it seems to fight hardest for attention. dena ([email protected])