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Jungle at First Avenue, Minneapolis (12 March 2019)

Jungle at First Ave Jungle Setlist Smile Heavy, California The Heat Julia Happy Man Beat 54 (All Good Now) Cherry Pray Lucky I Got What I Want Platoon Crumbler Lemonade Lake Casio House in L.A. Drops -- Encore -- Busy Earnin' Time Tour Dates 03/19/2019 Terminal 5 New York, NY 03/20/2019 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA 03/21/2019 9:30 Club Washington, DC 03/22/2019 The Orange Peel Asheville, NC 03/23/2019 Marathon Music Works Nashville, TN 03/29-31/2019 6Music Festival Liverpool, UK 04/18/2019 The Power Station Auckland, NZ 04/19/2019 Bad FridayFraser Park, Marrickville, Australia 04/24/2019 Enmore Theatre, Newtown, Australia 04/26/2019 The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley, Australia 04/27/2019 The Esplanade Hotel , Saint Kilda, Australia 04/28/2019 Forum Melbourne, Australia 04/30/2019 Teatro Vorterix, Buenos Aires, Argentina 05/02/2019 Cine Joia, São Paulo, Brazil 05/04/2019 Festival Fauna Otoño 2019 05/08/2019 C.C Barranco Arena, Lima, Peru 05/10/2019 Teatro Nacional Sucre, Quito, Ecuador 05/16/2019-05/19/2019 Hangout Fest 2019 05/29/2019-06/02/2019 Primavera Sound Festival 2019 06/07/2019-06/08/2019 Field Day 2019 06/08/2019-06/09/2019 Parklife Festival 2019 06/13/2019-06/15/2019 Piknik I Parken 2019 06/26/2019-06/27/2019 Plissken Festival 2019 06/26/2019-06/30/2019 Glastonbury Festival 2019 06/27/2019-06/30/2019 Rock Werchter 2019 06/29/2019-07/06 2019 Roskilde Festival 2019 07/12/2019-07/14/2019 Forecastle Festival 2019 Read More JUNGLE JUNGLE + Houses First Avenue Jungle returns to the USA to promote their latest album For Ever (available now on XL Recordings). … Houses They are bringing Los Angeles-based Houses (aka songwriter/producer Dexter Tortoriello) on tour… good thing, because …

“When you smile, the world feels a little better” - Jungle, ‘Smile’

There were plenty of smiling faces from those who managed to get into a sold-out Mainroom at First Avenue in Minneapolis for a set from UK soul/funk/disco collective Jungle.

The evening opened with a band returning to the scene after a five-year absence – Houses, led by singer Dexter Tortoriello, who after a few years of songwriting and producing for others and re-locating from Chicago to LA, released EP Drugstore Heaven (Downtown Records) last fall.

The band played as four-piece, happy to be back on the road, capping their short set with ‘Fast Talk’, from the recent EP that’s been a slow but steady bubbler in terms of gaining increased local airplay, but is a distinctive song, with colorful lyrics like, “Maybe God is just a cop that we can fast talk. What if death is just another pair of handcuffs, well then we’d better run”

A quick set change revealed a wall of lighted bulbs as backdrop and their large logo above it all, as London neo-soul collective Jungle took to the stage for their eighty-seven minute headlining set. The band is out in support of second full-length For Ever (XL Recordings) and began with the two opening songs from that record, ‘Smile’ and Heavy, California’.

Founded by frontmen Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson, their mid-tempo lush retro funk/soul style is immediately apparent as the band is about establishing a groove, then maintaining and sustaining it throughout. Add to the fact that both usually sing in tandem (in a higher falsetto and often also along with their two backup singers) and you have a musical style that can be immediately identified as theirs.

Big radio hit ‘The Heat’ was played early on, with the lights on stage turning an appropriate mix of reds and oranges, and logo glowing. “Minneapolis on a Tuesday night- come on!” they urged to greater applause. “I’m sorry it’s been such a long time” they (unnecessarily) apologized, having last played the area and the venue in October 2014.

Musically, the band is precise and very well-rehearsed, picking up after ‘Julia’ with another four new songs, to make sure everyone was as acquainted with the new record, as their well-received 2014 debut. On 2014’s ‘Lucky I Got What I Want’, they implore “don’t you forget about me” in repetition as a cacophony of sounds, beats, and sirens mix about, and their first single ‘Platoon’ dating from 2013, reminds us “It’s how good you are” perhaps also referring to their musical exactness.

Newest single ‘Casio’ maintains that mid-tempo and isn’t as electronic as the title might infer, instead is a story of love lost set against a mid-70’s laid back soul groove and featured some smooth vocals from singer Rudi Salmon.

‘Drops’, a dreamy tune that starts soft but builds its musical muscle would end the main set, but the band quickly returned for a two-song encore starting with perhaps their most well-known song, ‘Busy Earnin’ (used in numerous games, commercials, and TV shows) and finished with 2014’s ‘Time’ in which the lyrics urge to “just let it out” which the sold-out crowd did, in the form of clapping along, moving in place, and erupting into end applause.

With For Ever, Jungle digs a bit emotionally deeper- musically, still very style-based, but lyrically more admitting of their personal heartbreaks, the down side of the West Coast, and dream chasing. To see it performed live with such musical tightness was revelatory as well-the band artfully carries on in the UK neo-soul tradition that Sade did in the ‘80’s and Soul II Soul and Craig David did in the ‘90s, making Jungle still one to watch. 

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Jungle Setlist

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Jungle at First Avenue, Minneapolis (12 March 2019)

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Mike Doughty at First Avenue, Minneapolis (09 Mar 2019)

Mike Doughty at First Ave Mike Doughty Setlist Super Bon Bon Circles Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago Sugar Free Jazz Casiotone Nation Blue Eyed Devil Bus to Beelzebub True Dreams of Wichita Screenwriter's Blues Moon Sammy Supra Genius City of Motors Uh, Zoom Zip Down to This Mr. Bitterness -- Encore -- Janine Wheatus Setlist Break It Don't Buy It Lemonade Time Stand Still (Rush cover) My Music at Work (The Tragically Hip cover) New Song (Beautiful Susan/Don't Talk About Susan) Fourteen No Happy Ending Tune Teenage Dirtbag Valentine Read More Mike Doughty Friday night Mike Doughty gave an ecstatic sold-out First Avenue crowd what they’ve been craving for so many years. The singer/songwriter is currently in the midst of a nationwide tour revolving … Soul Coughing The first time I saw Mike Doughty he was playing as the front man for Soul Coughing. It was one of those musical festivals that lasted all day with dozens of bands, and in between Garbage and the Goo Goo Dolls, Doughty … Wheatus Both Ruby Vroom Anniversary shows will feature Wheatus as opener. Tour Dates: 03/03/2019 Port City Music Hall Portland, ME 03/05/2019 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON …

Mike Doughty’s sold out Ruby Vroom 25th Anniversary show at First Avenue, in Minneapolis, took place on Saturday. To please fans of Soul Coughing, Doughty added a second Ruby Vroom show on Sunday. Since setlist is the same for both nights (with the exception of Wheatus, who plays different sets), we only caught Doughty on Saturday night.

New York’s Wheatus opened the show... with their first electric show on this tour. This is a large band, featuring Brendan B. Brown on vocals/guitars, Matthew Milligan on bass, Brandon Ticer on keys, Madden Klass (although their wikipedia entry lists Leo Freire) on drums, and on backing vocals: Joey Slater, Gabrielle Aimée Sterbenz, and Karlie Bruce.

Although Saturday’s evening in Minneapolis was getting about a foot of snow, no thanks to the never-ending winter in the area, the band was pleased to make it and ready to rock the stage.

You can tell that the band is very good. They play a different set every night on tour and Brown proudly announced on stage that they don’t have a setlist and would be happy to play any requests. They had prepared two cover songs, a Rush cover (“Time Stand Still”) and a Tragically Hip cover (“My Music at Work”), but found out they only had enough time to play only one of them. When the audience “voted” for Rush (louder cheers), they proceeded to play the song, but in a last-minute decision, decided to play the ‘Hip song back to back.

Wheatus’ best known song, “Teenage Dirtbag” was played near the end of the set, complete with unconventionally long break before the final chorus. Personally speaking, I felt like they should have ended their set with “Dirtbag”, because of the false ending, but their finale song was actually “Valentine”, the title track from their 2016 album.

Mike Doughty took the main stage at First Avenue after a short break. At first, it’s just Doughty, playing “Super Bon Bon”. The song is actually not part of Ruby Vroom (it’s from 1996’s Irresistible Bliss), but according to Doughty, it’s his warm-up song for the tour.

Doughty is eventually joined on stage by upright bassist Andrew Livingston, and with partial Wheatus band: Madden Klass on drums, Matthew Milligan on sampler/keys/programming, and Brendan B. Brown on guitars (usually hiding in the background).

Apparently singing his heart out at the Sleeping Village in Chicago on March 7th blew out Doughty’s vocals. His voice was clearly cracking and Doughty even admitted that he “destroyed” his vocals. I can only imagine what it was like to hear “Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago” in Chicago, as, even in Minneapolis, that song had a huge response from the audience. It’s always fun to hear the audience drowning out the band.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since Soul Coughing released Ruby Vroom. Based on hearing the audience singing along and knowing the album front to back, the album is beloved and hearing the entire album played live is a sight to behold... especially experiencing it with fan’s feedback. You can always tell which songs there the favorites, even for the more obscure tracks.

If you love Soul Coughing and their debut album, you definitely need to see Mike Doughty’s on this tour. The Ruby Vroom continues tonight and runs until the end of March.

Remaining Tour Dates:

03/10/2019 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
03/12/2019 Bluebird Theater Denver, CO
03/13/2019 The State Room Salt Lake City, UT
03/15/2019 The Crocodile Seattle, WA
03/16/2019 Aladdin Theater Portland, OR
03/20/2019 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
03/24/2019 The Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ
11/01/2019 Rough Trade Brooklyn, NY

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Mike Doughty at First Avenue, Minneapolis (09 Mar 2019)

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John Maus, with lukdlx, at First Avenue, Minneapolis (28 Feb 2019)

John Maus at First Ave John Maus Setlist My Whole World's Coming Apart Castles in the Grave Rights For Gays The Combine Keep Pushing On ...And The Rain Streetlight Teenage Witch Cop Killer Quantum Leap Bennington Touchdown Pure Rockets And Heaven Turned to Her Weeping Sensitive Recollections Pets Believer Read More John Maus In his first show in seven years, John Maus will be headlining the Cedar Cultural Center on Thursday, April 5th. Maus is known for his emotional, passionate live ..…

Taking a long break from music, it was good to see cult favorite John Maus, resuming his tour after brother Joe Maus died last year. After a Maus took a break and resumed his tour (but without a backing band)… ending his 2019 North American tour at First Avenue’s mainroom on February 28th.

With a brief 30-minute, six-song set, lukdlx (pronounced as “Luke Deluxe” and not to be confused with LuxDeluxe) took the stage, slightly later than advertised. The local soul/pop musician had a full band setup of guitarist, bassist, drummer, and keys… plus three backup singers.

It was fun, watching lukdlx run back and forth across the stage, as he mentioned he was covering Billy Ocean’s “Promise Me”, and ended his set with the title track of his EP, “Bad Haircut”.

In stark contrast to the eight-piece band that started the show, John Maus is a one man performer (with a laptop).

Compared to Maus’ previous show at the sold-out Cedar Cultural Club in April 2018, seeing Maus alone on such a large stage wasn’t as compelling (despite his funky, pogo-jumping, intense dance movies and air punches).

With a band, they had some improvising elements… but with a laptop, it just felt like a weird Karaoke show. Also, since each background music is perfectly timed, maybe the show actually ended earlier than you would normally expect from a regular rock/pop show.

Maus, as usual, wore his dress shirt and jeans and did not speak throughout his performance. No one hated it, as all the fans out that night were all Maus fans and loved what he was doing.

Still, it felt like maybe this show would have been better on a smaller stage, like the 7th Street Entry or the Fine Line Music Café. I understand why they booked him at a larger-capacity venue, as both 7th Street and Fine Line would’ve sold out immediately.

With Maus doing the same pogo jumping in place and emotional baritone singing on almost all the songs, it was actually a little fun to watch the audience doing their similar style dancing with Maus.

Maus ended his show with “Believer”, a strong single from his 2011 album We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves.

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John Maus at First Avenue, Minneapolis (28 Feb 2019)

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Aurora, with Talos, at First Avenue, Minneapolis (27 Feb 2019)

Aurora at First Avenue Aurora Setlist Churchyard Warrior Gentle Earthquakes All Is Soft Inside Home In Bottles Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) Runaway The Seed It Happened Quiet Animal Forgotten Love I Went Too Far Running With the Wolves -- Encore -- Infections of a Different Kind Queendom Other Auroras Auróra (Hungarian power-punk group) Aurora (Finnish singer) Aurora (UK hardcore group) Aurora (German gothic band) Aurora (single "Come Around") Aurora (Flamenco artist) Aurora (Mexican latin pop group) Aurora (British trance group) Aurora (Kaoru & Daisuke) Aurora (Leanna Milward) Aurora (classical instr. ensemble) Aurora (Jan and Peter) Aurora (Oldominion members) AURORA (Japanese indies band) Aurora (Pittsburgh rock) Aurora (Christian pop group) Aurora (Latvian punk rock group) Aurora (American jazz group) Aurora (house/chillout artist) Aurora (Polish coldwave band) Aurora (edm singer) Aurora (American Jazz-fusion band) Aurora (Danish black metal band) Aurora (OC ReMix artist) Aurora (Australian technoartist) Aurora (Seattle indie rock band) Read More Aurora Norway’s Aurora (aka Aurora Aksnes) is back in Minneapolis, headlining the Cedar Cultural Center this Saturday, November 12th. She previously sold out the 7th Street Entry in April 2016. … Talos She’s bringing with her, Ireland’s Talos (aka Eoin French), and they are touring for their sophomore album Far Out Dust. .…

Norwegian singer/songwriter Aurora, stylized as AURORA, because it helps her stand out from the other 26 Auroras (see sidebar). Aurora is a fairly new musician (since 2015), but she’s already built herself a very strong fanbase… playing to her biggest stage in the area yet: First Avenue’s mainroom in Minneapolis. Aurora also mentioned it as much, “You're way more people than last time I was here... how grown you've become” (referencing her previously two appearances - at the sold out 7th Street and Cedar Cultural Center).

In their very first time in Minneapolis, Irish artist Talos was excited to play some songs for us. Talos is led by songwriter/guitarist/singer Eoin French, strings/keys David O'Connell, bassist Sonny Sampson, guitarist Alex Sampson, and two percussionist: Josh Sampson and Sam McNicholl.

Talos started their set with his favorite song, “Odyssey”, from Wild Alee, singing in a moody, darkly lit stage. French didn’t say much for the first half of his set, but his songs sounds like deep thoughts and isolation.

Midway in his 40-min set, he started to play some newer tracks like “The Light Upon Us” and “See Me” (near the end of the set), both singles from his sophomore album Far Out Dust (BMG Records).

We’re glad to have seen Talos on their first Minneapolis appearance, and looking forward to seeing him again when he comes back.

Joining Aurora on stage was a full band, Alf Godbolt on keys, Max Skills on drums, Odd Martin Skålnes on bass, and Fridius Totalus on synth.

In her second appearance at the Cedar in Nov 2016 to promote her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (Decca, Glassnote), we noted, “The twenty-year-old is very focused but playful on stage, with closed eyes and her arms moving spastically like Fiona Apple and crack band led by writing partner Odd Martin Skålnes, carefully building song after song into a sweeping brushstroke of icy dream pop. Though relatively new to the scene, her fans have grown exponentially and become feverishly loyal- handing her original artwork and handmade jewelry as gifts during the set and holding signs up in support, something very usual for a new artist and in this venue.”

The gift-giving tradition was still in effect, as fan after fan gave her things between songs and after the show (where she would come out to meet and talk to her fans).

You can tell with the paper Jellyfish, artwork in the background, and multi-layer dress/fashion, that Aurora had a hand in design and direction. She would later jokingly talk about “wearing, like, seven skirts” and how she had to take off her “pants”.

The first part of Aurora’s set were new songs heavy (from her latest album Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)): “Churchyard”, “Gentle Earthquakes”, and “All Is Soft Inside”, but that’s fine, because it saved some of her beloved debut songs for the rest of her set.

“I Went Too Far”, a single from her debut album, got such a good reaction that Aurora had to acknowledge it with, “This is really great...do you know that!?”

For the double-song encore, Aurora bookended her set with the remaining new Infections…, including the title track, “Infections of a Different Kind” and “Queendom”. Aurora described “Infection…” as “the first song I wrote after having a long down period in my life, where I didn't really enjoy what I do, and I thought maybe I should quit being an artist... but then I wrote this song.”

Remaining Tour Dates:

03/05/2019 Royale Nightclub Boston Boston, MA
03/07/2019 Brooklyn Steel Brooklyn, NY
03/09/2019 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA
03/10/2019 Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC

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Aurora Setlist

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Aurora at First Avenue, Minneapolis (27 Feb 2019)

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

The Jayhawks w/ Chastity Brown, Tuomo & Markus at First Avenue, Minneapolis (21 Dec 2018)

Jayhawks at First Ave Jayhawks Setlist I'm Gonna Make You Love Me Ain't No End Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces Waiting for the Sun Everybody Knows (Dixie Chicks cover) Tampa to Tulsa Baltimore Sun Trouble Dying on the Vine I'd Run Away Bottomless Cup Smile Leaving the Monsters Big Star Gonna Be a Darkness A Break in the Clouds Backwards Women All the Right Reasons Long Time Ago Come Cryin' to Me Nothing Left to Borrow Tailspin Blue -- Encore -- Settled Broken Harpoon I'm Down to My Last Cigarette (Billy Walker cover) Haywire Until You Came Along (Golden Smog cover) Bad Time (Grand Funk Railroad cover) Chastity Brown Setlist Lost Lies Colorado Drive Slow Carried Away Wake Up Mad Love Tuomo & Markus Setlist What Are You Looking For? Spinsters Vanity Blinds Over the Rooftops America (Prince and The Revolution cover) Jayhawks Tour Dates 01/17/2019 Swyer Theatre Albany, NY 01/18/2019 Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn, NY 01/19/2019 Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn, NY Read More The Jayhawks The show was advertised as Gary Louris and Friends. For those that don't know Gary, he is one of the founding members of the Jayhawks. They have a new CD coming in September, which involves the reunion with Mark Olson. … Chastity Brown Chastity Brown played almost everything from her Back-Road Highways album, as you can see from the setlist. The band is joined on stage by Aby Wolf (for "Solely" and "Slow Time") and Hummingbirds (for "Say It" ...

The first day of Winter means the longest night of the year to us here in the Northern Hemisphere and there was no better place than to be inside of the Mainroom at First Avenue in Minneapolis, for the first of two shows from the band that has played that stage more times than any other, The Jayhawks.

The three-band evening began with a crisp set from Tuomo & Markus, a new project described as Nordic Americana from Finnish soul/jazz artist Tuomo Prättälä and singer/songwriter Markus Nordenstreng of The Latebirds. Performing as just a duo, the pair returns as a proper six-piece, in just a few weeks, in support of debut album Dead Circles, to headline the Cedar Cultural Center on January 18.

Playing the songs in a more stripped down nature, it was easy to focus more on their lyrics, Simon and Garfunkel-like delicate harmonies, and the laid back nature of songs like ‘Spinsters’ (about male not female), ‘Vanity Blinds’ (borne from an existential crisis brought on by impending fatherhood), and ‘Over the Rooftops’, co-written with their local friend, explaining it by saying, “If you need a chorus, you call Louris”.

We’ve predictably heard a lot of Prince covers in the room over the last two and a half years since he passed, but few more inventively done than the pair’s version of 1985’s ‘America’ - “I was aware of a short little man who has done a lot in this club” Nordenstreng humbly prefaced the song, also mentioning the many other Minnesota bands he grew up listening to, half a world away.

The South-meets-North combination of roots and soul from local (by-way-of Tennessee) singer/songwriter Chastity Brown has served her and the area music community, increasingly well. Still in support of last year’s Silhouette of Sirens (Red House Records), she’s been an honest and genuine artist who showcased her latest songs with her band on their final show of the year, complete with cello and violin, and co-vocalist Aby Wolf (the area’s go-to choice for vocals- if I needed a new answering machine message, she’s my first choice to record it).

Brown and the band determined their evening’s mission statement pre-show, in the venue’s Green Room- “to be patient, to play pretty, and get a little sexy” and proved it on songs like the opening ‘Lost’, radio single ‘Drive Slow’, and new single, written in response to a chance encounter with a biased white supremacist, ‘Mad Love’.

“We treat the stage as a front porch” Brown mentioned mid-set, and the friendly vibe of her and her band playing to some 1,500 Twin Cities neighbors, shone through in her forty-five minute performance.

Since reuniting in 2014 with their 1997-era line up (Gary Louris; Marc Perlman; Karen Grotberg; Tim O'Reagan; John Jackson) The Jayhawks have shown little signs of slowing down, releasing another record of new music this year, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels (Legacy Recordings), a collection of two new songs alongside contributions songwriter Gary Louris wrote for other outside projects.

With thirty-five years of material to draw from, the band’s two-hour fifteen-minute set started on a classic upswing with 2000’s ‘I’m Gonna Make you Love Me’ then dove back to the 1989 Blue Earth album for deep cut, ‘Ain’t No End’, before jumping back ahead twenty-five years to 2016’s ‘Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces’.

Louris, with now fully gray hair, glasses, and goatee (looking more like Gary Oldman) remains in fine form, and the current line-up clearly has a joyful spirit of synchronicity playing together, with drummer O’Reagan and keyboardist Grotberg getting several turns on lead vocals, letting Louris concentrate further on solos.

Louris had mentioned the songs on the new record, though written for others, still “felt in their wheelhouse” and they did seamlessly flow within the set, from The Dixie Chicks’ ‘Everybody Knows’ to “Gonna Be a Darkness’ (“a beautiful song about death” w/Jakob Dylan) to ‘Long Time Ago’ (w/Tonic’s Emerson Hart).

Louris admitted to 1997’s Sound of Lies’ as being one of his favorite records and with that lineup intact, reprised several from the disc including ‘Trouble’, ‘Dying on the Vine’, and ‘Big Star’. Former member and friend of the band Kraig (Run Westy Run) Johnson appeared mid-set, helping out on several tracks then disappeared, to re-emerge toward the show’s end.

An additional three-piece horn section perched in the back stage right corner at the midway point, to liven up songs like ‘Smile’, ’Long Time Ago’, and ‘Come Cryin’ to Me’. “We see them become part of your lives” Louris confessed to the crowd about the band’s many songs, “and it makes me very happy”.

Johnson rejoined for the main set-closing classic ‘Blue’, with the crowd singing along as well, and it wasn’t long before a generous six-song encore began, with Louris playing 1992’s ‘Settled Down Like Rain’ solo. Grotberg then joined him for 2000’s ‘Broken Harpoon’ before taking the lead herself on a Billy Walker cover, but the highlight had to be with Johnson and longtime Soul Asylum guitarist Dan Murphy (looking thinner but very happy) forming “semi-Smog” an almost lineup of alt supergroup Golden Smog (sans Jeff Tweedy) for a version of 1998’s ‘Until You Came Along’.

Pearlman and Johnson next swapped instruments for the closing ‘Bad Time’, a 1975 song from Grand Funk Railroad that The Jayhawks would cover on record twenty years later, and given some extra punch on this night, by the horn section and the additional members on stage.

With over two hours under their belt, a few songs were still missing (notably ‘Save it for a Rainy Day’) but that would just be more motivation to try and make it into the next night’s sold-out show and undoubtedly another solid performance from hometown musical heroes The Jayhawks.

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Tuomo and Markus

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The Jayhawks at First Avenue, Minneapolis (21 Dec 2018)

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Stars, with My Brightest Diamond, at First Avenue, Minneapolis (02 Dec 2018)

Stars at First Avenue Stars Setlist     Intro: Shirley Bassey’s “Reach for the Stars” Fluorescent Light Ageless Beauty Alone Ship to Shore 14 Forever Elevator Love Letter Wanderers Take Me to the Riot Window Bird Are You With Me? Privilege Dead Hearts Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It Backlines Trap Door Your Ex-Lover Is Dead -- Encore -- Midnight Coward The Loose Ends Will Make Knots No One Is Lost My Brightest Diamond Setlist It's Me on the Dance Floor Rising Star Supernova Champagne A Million Pearls Another Chance Be Brave I Have Never Loved Someone White Noise Tour Dates 12.3.2018 | Majestic Theatre | Madison, WI 12.5.2018 | Metro | Chicago, IL 12.6.2018 | Saint Andrew's Hall | Detroit, MI 12.7.2018 | Maxwell’s Concerts | Waterloo 12.8.2018 | New Vision United Church | Hamilton 12.10.2018 | Brooklyn Steel | Brooklyn, NY 12.12.2018 | Danforth Music Hall | Toronto, Canada 12.13.2018 | The Danforth Music Hall | Toronto, Canada 12.15.2018 | National Arts Centre | Ottawa, Canada 12.16.2018 | Corona Theatre | Montreal, Canada Read More Stars As many of you are aware, we’ve been massive Stars fans since the Nightsongs LP in 2001. Over the many years of seeing the Canadian band, we’ve come to understand that the band doesn’t really … My Brightest Diamond Show up early to check out My Brightest Diamond (aka Shara Nova). The singer just dropped her new album A Million And One on November 23rd on Rhyme & Reason Records. She’s currently .…

Canadian band Stars (Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Chris Seligman, Patrick McGee, and Chris McCarron) finally back in Minneapolis, in support of their new single “Are You With Me?”, taken from their latest album There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light (2017). The First Avenue show marked the band’s return to the Twin Cities since their 2014 tour for No One Is Lost .

My Brightest Diamond (keys/guitarist/singer Shara Nova with drummer Jharis Yokley) opened up the show; touring in support of their new record, A Million and One. There’s a few things that made the First Avenue special: (1) this was the first night of Stars’ U.S. tour and (2) A Million and One producer Anthony “The Twilite Zone” Khan (previously produced Gorillaz and Kanye West) was actually in the audience.

It was clear that Shara knew and loved the fact that she’s playing the historic First Avenue stage, in fact, her very first Minneapolis show (in November 15, 2006) was at First Ave, and she mentioned last night, “Some people goes to Jerusalem to pray, someone people come here…” Referring to worshipping the Purple One, Prince.

Since the 2006 tour, she’s been back in Minneapolis a few times, mostly playing the Cedar Cultural Center (with Clare & The Reasons, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Bello Duo).

We tried to catch her with Neil Gaiman at Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul in November 8, 2014, but couldn’t get tickets. Thankfully, she came back to the area few nights later at Cedar Cultural Center with Dosh and Ghostband (November 17).

For the 2014 tour, she had a bassist (Nathan Lithgow) and drummer (Tim Mulvenna) and we described her music as somewhat like St. Vincent, with weird time signatures, surprising burst of percussion, or odd choice of chamber music… whatever the sound, it’s always interesting.

For this recent 2018 show, Shara is dressed in a gold glittery lamé-ish dress with jacket. She would swap out the jacket with a black cape for dramatic effect for “A Million Pearls”.

MBD started the show with “It’s Me on the Dance Floor”, literally dancing and singing on the dance floor of First Avenue. Some fans were confused, looking at the stage, wondering where the vocals were coming from - until a light shown Shara.

The whole show felt more like an art performance, complete with dance sequences. I think my personal favorite is for the penultimate song, “I Have Never Loved Someone”, which was done almost like a carpella. This really showcased Shara’s beautiful vocals. Although that was my favorite, it would seem everyone else loved her set closer, “White Noise”, in which Shara described it as, “A song about my whiteness” and did some funky, funky white dance moves.

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

Sure, the group toured for Heart in 2003, but I believe their first time in Minneapolis was at the now-defunct 400 Bar with Apostle of Hustle in March 2005 (you can see the setlist I stole here).

Since 2005, I’ve seen the band on and off for many years, always hoping they’d play those early Nightsongs, but eventually I’ve just come to accept that they’ve evolved into a different band with a different sound (in fact, Nightsongs didn’t even include Amy Millan or Patrick Mcgee to the roster). As I’ve said previously, I still love their music, old and new.

Coming on the First Avenue stage to Shirley Bassey’s “Reach for the Stars”, the band was clearly excited to start performing their set. Usually first night of the tour, a band may be still working out the kinks of their show, but there were no problems with Stars’ show. This is possibly because the band had already played a few Canadian shows, leading up to First Avenue.

Setlist for this 2018 tour will mostly be the same. For our show, you can see that new song, “Wanderers” was handwritten in, and for the encore, based on fans’ choices, “Midnight Coward” was unique to our show. The other two encore songs, “The Loose Ends Will Make Knots” and “No One Is Lost” will likely be standard encore songs for the remainder of the tour.

If you’ve ever seen Stars in concert, you know that singer Torquil Campbell can be very animated, dancing and emoting and singing out his heart. The first time I saw him do this, in 2005, I was so very surprised, because listening to their songs from the recording studios, you do not get the impression that these songs were to be violently danced to.

Before “14 Forever”, a song that the band rarely played live, Torquil reminded us why he loves playing Minneapolis, with an outburst of “My mom and dad f**** here, you know. And I love the Replacements!” Later on in the set, Torquil mentioned how much he loved First Avenue, and told us about the time they met Prince back stage: “That f***king badass said that this was Prince’s stage. And when you go on stage, you have to give it as much as I have given it.” Not only did they have Prince’s blessing, but anyone can play, but only give it their best.

There were some obvious crowd favorites, you can always tell when the audience takes over and sings or finish the songs. Those were near the end, with “Dead Hearts” and set closer “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead”.

“Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” was interesting, because Torquil said that although this was an old song (from 2004), the band had to re-record it for some project and changing some parts of the song. Essentially, it came down to that Stars were doing a cover of a Stars song. Still, people recognized the song and helped finish it.

It’s been a few years, but always glad to have Stars back in the city. If you decide to go see Stars on this tour, know that for every dollar from their ticket sale, it goes to Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (for Canada) and Honor the Earth (for US). Stars’ There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light is out now. Recently Heart was re-issued for the first time on vinyl. You can pick up all their albums on vinyl at the show.

My Brightest Diamond

My Brightest Diamond

My Brightest Diamond

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My Brightest Diamond Setlist

Stars Setlist

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Stars at First Avenue, Minneapolis (02 Dec 2018)

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

Minneapolis: December 1 to December 5, 2018

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from December 1 to December 5, 2018.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

Stars 2018 Tour Read More Stars Canadians Stars and Hey Rosetta! are currently on tour together, supporting new albums, stopping by First Avenue in Minneapolis, last night, November 19th. For fans who couldn't make it, you can watch the show streaming online My Brightest Diamond Singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden, aka My Brightest Diamond is returning to the Twin Cities at Minneapolis' Cedar Cultural Center. And it's not too late, but you can still get a ticket .…

STARS
+ My Brightest Diamond
First Avenue
Sun 12/02/2018 (7pm/$21)
first-avenue.com

As many of you are aware, we’ve been massive Stars fans since the Nightsongs LP in 2001. Over the many years of seeing the Canadian band, we’ve come to understand that the band doesn’t really play music from their first album (understandable since so many bands have grown up and evolved beyond their initial sound). However... with this upcoming Winter tour, the band have asked fans to pick their encore songs. Which means if enough fans want it, they can demand those heartfelt early songs! It should be interesting to see what songs they play on this upcoming show at First Avenue.

Show up early to check out My Brightest Diamond (aka Shara Nova). The singer just dropped her new album A Million And One on November 23rd on Rhyme & Reason Records. She’s currently touring Europe with Ian Chang and will debut with Stars at First Avenue on December 2nd.

We previously caught the musician in November 2014 and wrote, “ Somewhat heavy stuff, but it was the basis of My Brightest Diamond’s set and was referred to a few times during the evening, which gave additional enlightenment for Worden’s song selections. The singer/multi-instrumentalist was dressed in all-white suit and moved deftly from keyboard to guitar and back, as the evening progressed, with more than able support from rhythmic sidemen, Nathan Lithgow (bass) and Tim Mulvenna (drums).”

My Brightest Diamond Tour Dates:

11.21.2018 | L'Astrolabe | Orléans, France^
11.22.2018 | La Vapeur | Dijon, France^
11.23.2018 | Trabendo | Paris, France^
11.24.2018 | Le Périscope | Lyon, France^
11.26.2018 | Tivolivredenburg Pandora Hall | Utrecht ^
11.27.2018 | Oslo | London, United Kingdom^
12.2.2018 | First Avenue | Minneapolis, MN*
12.3.2018 | Majestic Theatre | Madison, WI*
12.5.2018 | Metro | Chicago, IL*
12.6.2018 | Saint Andrew's Hall | Detroit, MI*
12.7.2018 | Maxwell’s Concerts and Events | Waterloo, Canada*
12.8.2018 | New Vision United Church | Hamilton, Canada*
12.10.2018 | Brooklyn Steel | Brooklyn, NY*
12.12.2018 | Danforth Music Hall | Toronto, Canada*
12.13.2018 | The Danforth Music Hall | Toronto, Canada*
12.15.2018 | National Arts Centre | Ottawa, Canada*
12.16.2018 | Corona Theatre | Montreal, Canada*
02.21.2019 | Mississippi Studios | Portland, OR
02.22.2019 | Fox Cabaret | Vancouver BC
02.23.2019 | Tractor Tavern | Seattle, WA
02.26.2019 | Noise Pop Festival, Rickshaw Stop
02.28.2019 | Zebulon


^―w/Ian Chang
*―w/Stars

Other shows in the area:

Phosphorescent at First Avenue Allen Stone 2018 Fall Tour Danity Kane 2018 Tour 3OH!3/ Emo Nite 2018 Tour Adam Conover: The Mind Parasites Live Tour Read More Allen Stone The four-hour evening began with an unfortunately too short acoustic set from hippie-soul artist Allen Stone, in support of 2016’s Radius (ATO Records) and whose song ‘Perfect World’ was recently used to promote the new Dear White People .…

PHOSPHORESCENT
+ Liz Cooper
First Avenue
Sat 12/01/2018 (7pm/$22)
first-avenue.com

Phosphorescent is touring for his new album C’est La Vie (Dead Oceans). Nashville’s Liz Cooper (billed as Liz Cooper & The Stampede) will open the show. Their new album Window Flowers is out now.

Liz Cooper’s tour dates:

11/26—Lawrence, KS—Granada Theater
11/27—St. Louis, MO—The Ready Room
11/28—Oshkosh, WI—The Howard
11/29—Madison, WI—Majestic Theatre
11/30—Chicago, IL—Vic Theatre
12/01—Minneapolis, MN—First Avenue
12/02—Milwaukee, WI—Turner Hall Ballroom
12/04—Detroit, MI—Saint Andrew’s Hall
12/05—Columbus, OH—Newport Music Hall
12/06—Toronto, ON—Mod Club
12/07—Northampton, MA—Pearl Street
12/08—Boston, MA—Royale
12/11—Washington, DC—9:30 Club
12/13—Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Steel

ALLEN STONE
+ Nick Waterhouse
Varsity Theater
Sun 12/02/2018 (7pm/$47)
varsitytheater.com

Washington state R&B/soul singer-songwriter Allen Stone is currently on tour. The singer has been releasing singles (the third, “Taste of You” is available now on ATO Records), but expect the musician to release a full length album in 2019. He’s going to preview some of those upcoming songs on this upcoming show at the Varsity Theater on December 2nd.

Tour Dates:

11/25 – Munhall, PA @ Carnegie
11/27 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/28 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Café
11/30 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
12/01 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
12/02 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
12/04 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar
12/05 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads
12/07 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
12/08 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
12/09 – Boise, ID @ Egyptian Theatre
12/11 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
12/12 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom

DANITY KANE [Canceled]
Varsity Theater
Mon 12/03/2018 (Canceled)
varsitytheater.com

Remember Danity Kane? The original all-girls five-piece was massive when they first appeared in Making the Band 3 television show in 2004. Currently, the girl group is down to three (Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Richard, and Shannon Bex) and fans know them as simply DK. Originally the 2018 did not include Minneapolis, but all of that has changed with this upcoming show at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on December 3rd.

If you show up early, one of the girls, Dawn Richard, will open as Dawn (or formerly stylized as D∆WN). Her opening set will focus on her forthcoming, yet-to-be-announced new solo record.

UPDATE 11/28/2018: Danity Kane has canceled their appearance at the Varsity Theater.


3OH!3 / EMO NITE
+ Lil Aaron
Varsity Theater
Tue 12/04/2018 (8pm/$27)
varsitytheater.com

The 3OH!3 & Emo Nite’s “The Want House Party Tour” will be stopping by the Varsity Theater on December 4th. Lil Aaron to open.

Tour dates:

11/25/2018 Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA
11/27/2018 Irving Plaza New York, NY
11/28/2018 Fillmore Silver Spring, MD
11/30/2018 Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
12/01/2018 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave II
12/02/2018 Metro Chicago, IL
12/04/2018 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
12/05/2018 Wooly's Des Moines, IA
12/06/2018 Waiting Room Omaha, NE
12/07/2018 Summit Denver, CO

ADAM CONOVER [Canceled]
Pantages Theatre
Wed 12/05/2018 (Canceled)
hennepintheatretrust.org

Creator, writer and host of Adam Ruins Everything on truTV, Adam Conover will be on tour called The Mind Parasites Live Tour this month. Conover will stop by the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis on December 5th. This should be a fun time for fans of comedy or Conover’s show.

UPDATE 11/28/2018: Due to unexpected scheduling conflicts that have arisen with Adam Conover’s production schedule, we regretfully have to cancel the Adam Conover: Mind Parasites Live! show at the Pantages Theatre. Refunds will be issued at the point of purchase.

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

Low Cut Connie w/ Ruby Boots at First Avenue, Minneapolis (01 Nov 2018)

Low Cut Connie at First Ave Low Cut Connie Setlist All These Kids Are Way Too High Back In School Boozophilia Death and Destruction Dirty Water Who the Hell is Tina? / Shake It Little Tina Beverly Revolution Rock n Roll Big Thighs, NJ Oh Suzanne Hey! Little Child (Alex Chilton cover) Ain't No Grave (Brother Claude Ely cover) Rio -- Encore -- Wild Ride Free Girl Now (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover) Controversy (Prince cover) Ruby Boots Setlist I'll Make It Through It’s So Cruel Infatuation Don’t Talk About It I Am A Woman Somebody Else Believe in Heaven Tour Dates 11/09/2018 Globe Hall Denver, CO 11/12/2018 Dada Dallas Dallas, TX 11/13/2018 The Mohawk Austin, TX 11/14/2018 The Mohawk Austin, TX 11/17/2018 Gasa Gasa New Orleans, LA 11/18/2018 The Basement East Nashville, TN Read More Low Cut Connie Low Cut Connie (Adam Weiner, James Everhart, Will Donnelly, Larry Scotton, and Lucas Rinz) will be in town in support of their latest Dirty Pictures (Part 1) via Contender Records. … Ruby Boots Show up early to check out Ruby Boots; she was last seen in town on June 2018. Ruby is an Australian, but based in Nashville, Tennessee. Fans of Nikki Lane should take note, as Lane co-wrote/sang on some of her songs. …

Like the pink wave of the midterm elections a few days following, at a crowded First Avenue Mainroom in downtown Minneapolis, the night was completely owned by three “females”- “Ruby”, “Connie”, and “Shondra”.

The “Ruby” was mesmerizingly filled by Ruby Boots, a Perth, Australia by-way-of Nashville country/Americana/outlaw rock band led by the sassy and effervescent Rebecca “Bex” Chilcott, in support of their latest Bloodshot Records full-length, Don’t Talk About It … but talking about it was all most people in my vicinity were doing, after their powerful forty-minute opening set.

“This is a song about stalkers...three of them”, she said, launching into ‘Infatuation’ whose carefree strumming and uptempo countered any potentially dark lyrics. The new album’s title track was played next, making good use of slide and Chilcott’s appropriate verse, sung with a slight twang and reminding us that “our world's been divided, all that’s left are these hooks”.

‘I Am a Woman’ was done sparsely but empowered by a solo Chilcott, and the closing ‘Believe in Heaven’ turned all the amp volume up, with Chilcott and band optimistically taking us to “the edge of the world, wishing on a star”, leaving her admittedly in “the best mood ever”, and encouraging one and all to come say hello following the set.

“When a guy in Minnesota goes to one of our shows and tells his friends we were the best live band he saw in five years, we need to be back there again in six months. That’s all we got”, Low Cut Connie singer Adam Weiner told the Philadelphia Inquirer last fall, and that’s been the case since local record impresario GoJohnnyGo Kass first helped bring in the Philly band to town in early 2016.

Follow up gigs at increasingly larger rooms have only exponentially increased the local fan base and buzz, culminating in a memorable opening set in the heat and humidity of this past July’s Rock the Garden, a record store appearance just a few weeks later that transformed the retail outlet into the feel of a hot house juke joint, and this stomping eighty-minute good time, inside a crowded Mainroom.

Weiner wasted no time showcasing his piano acrobatics, dressed in bright red patterned jacket, white tank top, chain necklaces, and suspendered black pants, jumping on the top of his battered but still-warm sounding upright piano named “Shondra”(named after an elderly Atlanta stripper), stretching wide along the piano bench and pounding the keys like The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis in his 50’s heyday.

“Come on, we gotta drink it up!” Weiner yelled, going into the band’s biggest hit to date, early on, ‘Boozophilia’ and most in the crowd took the hint, ordering another drink or two. The rest of the band (James Everhart; Will Donnelley; Larry Scotton; Lucas Rinz; and recent addition backup singer Saundra Williams) remained tight but loose, all clearly enjoying themselves and the night’s very responsive crowd.

The new albums come up in two parts on the band’s own label- Dirty Pictures (Parts 1 & 2) on the groups’ own Contender Records, but the live setting is really where the songs evolve and flourish.

Like Weiner’s picture on the show poster, the songs came rapidly and unrelenting, like a prize fighter landing uppercut after body blow after jab, with the crowd loving every minute and swinging and swaying along to their East Coast blend of rock, soul, blues, and bar/garage rock.

The late 70’s Alex Chilton cover of ‘Hey! Little Child’ especially went down especially well, with the call-and-response chorus yelled back to the band, Weiner climbing on the piano, and all the numerous Chilton and Big Star fans in the crowd, happily chanting along.

Williams then took everyone to church, taking lead with a rousing Brother Claude Ely cover as Weiner went on his knees while still playing the piano with head increasingly backwards as Williams’ voice soared into the rafters, letting loose a stray piece of confetti or two, to float down from a show probably weeks ago.

The encore began with a brand new song, ‘Wild Ride’ before the band paid musical tribute to two legends recently lost, Tom Petty with a driving ‘Free Girl Now’, and Prince, with their hyper cover of his ‘Controversy’ that almost demands you wear a seat belt before experiencing it live.

(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)

Ruby Boots

Low Cut Connie 2018 Tour Poster

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Low Cut Connie

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Low Cut Connie

Low Cut Connie at First Avenue, Minneapolis (01 Nov 2018)

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Maggie Rogers at First Avenue, Minneapolis (29 Oct 2018)

Maggie Rogers at First Ave Maggie Rogers Setlist             Intro: ABBA's "Dancing Queen" Give a Little Split Stones Burning Better Overnight Say It The Knife Retrograde On + Off Light On Dog Years Back in My Body Fallingwater -- Encore --            Color Song Angel From Montgomery (John Prine cover) Alaska Mallrat Setlist Make Time Inside Voices Sunglasses Tokyo Drift Better Texas UFO For Real Bunny Island (Oh Boy cover) Groceries Uninvited Read More Maggie Rogers Maggie Rogers will be playing First Avenue on Monday, October 29th. The show is sold out. Look for Rogers’ Capitol Records debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, on January 18, 2019. …

Acclaimed producer/songwriter/performer Maggie Rogers sold out her First Avenue’s appearance on Monday, October 29; touring in support of her forthcoming debut album Heard It In A Past Life (Capitol Records).

19-year-old Australian Mallrat (aka Grace Shaw) opened the show. She’s joined on stage with DJ Denim, who provided all the music to Mallrat’s songs.

Mallrat is easily likeable. After starting her set with “Make Time”, she quickly got our hopes up when she said, “that was our slowest song, so from here onward, it’s all bouncy dance songs.”

Sure enough, she’s out dancing and being the self-described “Hannah Montana of the rap game”. Midway in her set, she explained that she wrote all these songs, including the EP In the Sky (Nettwerk Records), when she was 16 years old. “So if you like them, awesome. If you don’t like them... I was 16!”

Since this is their first U.S. tour, for the introduction to her song “Texas”, the young singer was so excited to announce that they just played Texas last week. It’s really charming.

Possibly their biggest hit of the night was “For Real” and set closer “Uninvited”, which were bit hits with celebrities (Perez Hilton, Chloe Grace Moretz, Brooklyn Beckham, Lorde).

Coming on stage to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” (which incidentally the Vaccines also used recently), Maggie Rogers danced wildly to her set starter “Give a Little”.

Rogers explained that, “We don’t have a ton of songs out in the world, so we’re just going to play the new record.”

She’s referring to her debut album Heard It In A Past Life, which isn’t going to be out until January 18, 2019 via Capitol Records. She basically played the entire album, and throwing in some songs from her EP and a John Prine cover of “Angel From Montgomery” on the encore.

Talking in the middle of her set, Maggie Rogers said that after years of touring (she just stopped by Minneapolis in April 2017), she decided to take a break and reflect on her life. The break was good for her, as she seemed more energetic and eager to meet and sing to her fans - and it shows from one look at her constant smiling face on stage.

Remaining Maggie Rogers tour dates:

11/1 Toronto, ON Phoenix
11/2 Montreal, QC MTELUS
11/3 Portland, ME State Theatre
11/5 Boston, MA Royale
11/6 Boston, MA Royale
12/7 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
12/9 Boston, MA TD Garden
12/10 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
12/14 Washington, DC Capital One Arena
12/17 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena

Mallrat

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Maggie Rogers

Maggie Rogers

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Maggie Rogers at First Avenue, Minneapolis (29 Oct 2018)

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

The Head Banga Tour, feat. Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia at First Avenue, Minneapolis (28 Oct 2018)

The Head Banga Tour at First Ave Tank and the Bangas Setlist Intro Quick Rollercoasters Smoke.Netflix.Chill. The Brady's Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana cover) Big Bad Wolf Rhythm of Life Spaceships I'll Be Seeing You B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) (OutKast cover) with Big Freedia Big Freedia Setlist Intro: Medley by DJ Juane Jordan Karaoke N.O. Bounce Explode Gin in My System Hello (Adele cover) Azz Everywhere Rent I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston cover) Outro: K Michelle’s Get the F*** Off Of My Porch Read More Tank and the Bangas Over at the Leinie Lodge Bandshell, we saw New Orleans-based funk-soul musical group Tank and the Bangas. The group is fronted by Tarriona Ball (aka Tank), and was the winner of NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest this year for their song ‘Quick’.… Big Freedia Boyfriend is opening for Big Freedia. Big Freedia is a rapper that knows how to get a crowd going. Frederick Ross (AKA Big Freedia) is not a newcomer to the hip-hop scene by any means…

The incredibly entertaining “Head Bangas Tour”, featuring Big Freedia and Tank and the Bangas stopped by First Avenue in Minneapolis on Sunday night.

New Orleans’ Naughty Professor opened the show. The funk/jam band features guitarist “Wild” Bill Daniel, bassist Noah Young, drummer Sam Shahin, alto sax Nick Ellman, tenor sax Ian Bowman, and trumpeter John Culbreth.

Since it’s too hard to transcribe instrumental-only band, I couldn’t tell you any tracks they played, other than “Brain Storm”, which they announced as third song in their set.

Typical of these type of shows, before Big Freedia’s grand entrance, DJ Juane Jordan played a medley of hit songs, some of which included Snoop Doggy Dogg. This served as an introduction to Big Freedia’s band (Naughty Professor) and her three dancers (Skip, Flash, and Tootie).

They started their set with “Karaoke”, which actually originally feature Minnesota’s Lizzo, but unfortunately she may not be in town to guest cameo.

The crowd absolutely loves Big Freedia, many of them have been to a few of her shows before, so they knew what they were in for. For example, during “Azz Everywhere”, there were already fans lining up to demonstrate their twerking ability. As soon as Big Freedia announced, “I need five volunteers from each side,” there were fans ready to go.

She did a couple of covers, Adele’s “Hello” and Dolly Parton, by the way of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”…. Which ended her fun-filled set.

Even though Big Freedia left the stage, her dancers remained on stage… slowly getting played off the stage to K Michelle’s “Get the F*** Off Of My Porch”.

Big Freedia’s latest Third Ward Bounce EP is out now. The EP is special in many ways, as it’s Big Freedia’s first major record deal with Asylum Records.

Tank and the Bangas closed out the night. It’s weird, but in many ways, seeing the band at Minnesota State Fair 2017, it almost like seeing two completely different bands!

Now Tarriona “Tank” Ball, armed with a large live band, including a Norman Spence on bass, THREE keyboard players (Joe Johnson, Merell Burkett, and unknown band member), guitarist Danny Abel, Joshua Johnson on drums, a two-piece horns section (Albert Allenback on alto saxophone and Etienne Stoufflet on tenor saxophone) and two backup singers (Anjelika "Jelly" Joseph and Kayla Buggage), Tank and the Bangas’ new 2018 show is just wild, upbeat, and dance/party focus, with a little slam poetry thrown in.

Their set consists of mostly newer singles, which this large band is excited to play… No one in the audience was complaining, as they helped sing and dance to their songs.

It’s been five years since their debut album Thinktank, but recently the band released a few new singles, including “Smoke.Netflix.Chill” and “Spaceships” … and it feels like they are due to release a second album soon.

Tour dates:

10/30: Maquoketa, IA at Codfish Hollow
10/31: Kansas City, MO at The Truman
11/2: Denver, CO at The Ogden
11/3: Salt Lake City, UT at The Depot
11/5: Vancouver, BC at The Commodore
11/6: Seattle, WA at The Neptune
11/7: Portland, OR at Roseland
11/9: Berkeley, CA at UC Theatre

Naughty Professor

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Big Freedia’s dancer twerking on the stairs

Big Freedia: Azz Everywhere

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Tank Lighting Setlist

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Tank and the Bangas at First Avenue, Minneapolis (28 Oct 2018)

 

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