W♥M

Minneapolis: July 29 to July 31

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide

07/29 Maria and the Coins, Faith Boblett and Dark Bunny at 7th St Entry Read More Faith Boblett Join 89.3 The Current, Go 96.3 and Radio K as they present “First Avenue's Best New Band” with such bands as: Scrunchies Gully Boys The Carnegies Static Panic Annie Mack Yam Haus Faith Boblett …

07/29/2022 Friday

Maria and the Coins, Faith Boblett and Dark Bunny
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

There is a local show, coming up at the end of the month at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

Triple bands on the bill:

Maria and the Coins recently released their third album, Forward.

The group, Maria Coyne (vocals), Nick Baker (guitar), Zaq Baker (keys) and Sheldon Way (drums) met while students at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and formed in 2014 after one of Coyne’s original songs was chosen to be recorded for a compilation CD of St. Olaf artists. The band opened for Betty Who, Jeremy Messersmith, and others. Adam Maurer was added as bassist in 2018.

Faith Boblett named “Best New Band of 2018” by First Avenue in Jan 2019. The singer/songwriter’s third LP, take care, was released in October 2020.

Dark Bunny is the dream-pop/shoegaze-inspired project, which started in early 2020 by Emily Youel. Currently they are a four-piece band comprised of Youel (vocals/guitar/synth), Christian Wheeler (lead guitar), Emma Withers (drums), and Karl Schutzle (bass). Their self-titled debut album came out in Feb 2022.

Hilde: Party in the Park 2022 Read More Gary Clark Jr. Gary Clark Jr. and band then unassumingly took to the stage for their two-hour headlining set, in support of his second live full-length Live North America 2016 (Warner Bros Records), released this March … Kelsea Ballerini Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, aka Dan + Shay will be at Mill City Nights. Kelsea Ballerini to open (7:30pm/$29.50). … The Band Perry I was at Target today and saw The Band Perry's sophomore album Pioneer on the shelves. The thing that stuck out was there were limited autographed editions! I am assuming the band sat down ..…

07/29/2022 Friday
07/30/2022 Saturday

Live at the Hilde
suemclean.com/hilde

Sue McLean & Associates (SMA) just announced the 2022 Hilde: Party in the Park full lineup.

Live at the Hilde: Party in the Park is a 2-day music festival on Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30 at the Hilde Performance Center in Plymouth, MN (3500 Plymouth Blvd, Plymouth, MN 55447). This show will feature headliner Grammy Award Winner Gary Clark Jr. on Friday night and Country Music Award Winner Kelsea Ballerini on Saturday.

Sibling trivia: The Band Perry features siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid (bass), and Neil (mandolin, bouzouki). We caught the family in Oct 2016 and wrote, “The siblings (Kimberly Perry; Neil Perry; and Reid Perry) are no strangers to the stage (revealing they just celebrated their eighteenth year of playing live the week before) and has melded a polished hybrid of country-pop into several hit singles, presenting them in a well-paced and varied eighty-minute headlining performance.”

Friday, July 29, 2022	Saturday, July 30, 2022
Gary Clark Jr.	Kelsea Ballerini
Cold War Kids	The Band Perry
Suzanne Santo	Brittney Spencer
Kiss the Tiger	Local Opener TBA

Ticket Prices: $60.00 - $150.00

VIP and general admission tickets for the festival go on sale this Friday, March 25 at 10AM suemclean.com/hilde or etix.com. 2-day tickets and single-day tickets (Night 1; Night 2) will be available.

Disclaimers: Please note that as CDC and the State of MN COVID guidelines continue to shift and evolve, SMA and City of Plymouth will update Live at the Hilde's COVID protocols closer to the event.

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

07/31 RiGBY with Floodwater Angel and Haze Gazer at 7th St Entry Read More RiGBY St Paul’s RiGBY opened the show. The relatively new (formed during the pandemic in 2019) four piece band features Fay Dunkel on guitars, Kean Wilwerding on drums, Maude Lorr on bass/vocals, and Hana Mahli on additional ....

07/31/2022 Sunday

RiGBY
with Floodwater Angel and Haze Gazer
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

We saw RiGBY in May 2022 and said, “If you’re a fan of Bikini Kill or any 90s riot grrl bands (like we are), you’ll find a lot to like in RiGBY.”

The girls are celebrating their national tour with a homecoming gig at the 7th Street Entry on the last day of July.

Yoshitaka Amano (20 Nov 1999)

The artwork they used for their poster is Terra from Final Fantasy. Not many people know that Japanese artist and designer Yoshitaka Amano was one of the co-designer behind all the early Final Fantasy character costumes and designs… he has a very unique art style. I attended a book signing for Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: The Dream Hunters in 1999 at Dreamhaven Books. He was supposed to just sign, but instead, he drew on all the books we purchased. The more I thought about it, especially since Amano is in his 70s, the more I am thankful to own this original artwork.

Floodwater Angel and Haze Gazer to open.

RiGBY tour dates:

7/14 Jade Fountain - Duluth, MN
7/15 Aquarium - Fargo, ND
7/16 Half Brothers Brewing - Grand Forks, ND
7/19 Cryptatroa Bar - Olympia, WA
7/20 Red Gate Art Society - Vancouver, BC
7/22 Lucky Dime - Seattle, WA
7/23 Speeds Auto Body - Portland, OR
7/31 7th Street - Minneapolis, MN

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to vu@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time. Thank you.

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

Flashback: KaiserCartel at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (09 May 2009)

Read More KaiserCartel KaiserCartel, the couple-duo that that we love here at W♥M just celebrated their CD-releasing party at the Cedar in Minneapolis, on June 17th. …

Lara went out to see Minnesota-loving KaiserCartel (Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel) on May 9, 2009, at the Cedar Cultural Center.

I’m almost certain KaiserCartel (or sometime spelled as Kaiser Cartel) is no more. However, Benjamin Cartel, continues performing as himself in 2014. The last time I heard from him was via his second solo album Flickering Light in 2018.

>>>
NOTE: This event was organized by Minnesota music blog, Culture Bully. They have photos of the show here.

KaiserCartel - Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel’s history reads like a perfect twee memoir: both are elementary school teachers, both play a handful of instruments (guitar, drums, xylophone, accordion-thing-that-I-am-unable-to-identify, whistling), both dress like gothic country ball guests, both are obviously in love (with each other). It’s almost too darling to digest. If this were an episode of Sesame Street, I would say “Tonight’s concert is brought to you by the letter ‘A’ for ADORABLE.”

I’m getting nauseous with whimsy glee just writing this out.

Saturday’s show at the Cedar was a generation-fest of sorts. The ambience was chill and the crowd was soft, pleasant, malleable…like a delicious loaf of Wonder Bread (ifyouknowwhatI’msaying*). Hip, art school wannabes mingled with real-life senior citizens, sweatshirted couples were seated next to teenagers and their parents; the average age was probably mid-20s to early 30s, but the maturity level was at least a decade wiser. Maybe it was the style of music—a less frenetic brand of folk-pop, tame for children and the elderly—or it could’ve been the venue (the Cedar’s layout is seating room only), or even that the musicians appeared unassuming and also currently clean. Whatever the reason, KaiserCartel’s gentle-cum-hand clap cheer suited the Cedar’s intimate space.

Being only minimally in the know, I wasn’t familiar with KaiserCartel’s interesting use of multiple instruments. The duo may be primarily guitar and percussion, but if their musical bag of tricks is any indication, I’m 99% certain that the goal is amusement as much as it is creative conception (on one song Kaiser pulled out a comically small xylophone and proceeded to play it with an electric drink frother). Besides being adorable, Kaiser’s vocal chops call to mind the iconic female folk singers of past (a less warbled Joan Baez or Judy Collins), by way of “adult contemporary” mellow rockers Cowboy Junkies—the same rich confidence steeped in pop melodies. To be honest, it’s a tad strange hearing a Brooklyn band that doesn’t harness the brash fury of cynical youth and is, instead, somewhat old-timey in their adorations. Live, standout tracks included “Okay” (a semi-sweet duet that touches on imperfect love), “Season Song” (whistling! In key!), and “Shira,” the latter performed acoustic, stripped down, and amongst the audience (complete with the kind of uncomfortable eye contact that unearths years of repressed campfire memories).

As Vu mentioned in his review of March Forth, KaiserCartel loooove Minnesota. They opened for local indie looker/Trekkie/Jeremy Messersmith, who has a beard, a guitar, an Andy, and a fondness for Minneapolis—“Franklin Ave.,” “Light Rail” (yes, we have a light rail; it only has three destinations). More about Messersmith later. Promise.

KaiserCartel is on tour. Check their Myspace or website for information. Their debut LP, March Forth, released in June of last year, is available for purchase through their website or iTunes/Amazon/various e-consumerist hubs.

* Although the Cedar boasts an eclectic mixing of genres, like Irish folk and world beats, the clientele generally veers due White.

KaiserCartel at Cedar Cultural, Minneapolis (09 May 2009) photo by Jon Behm

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

Palace Theatre open house, St. Paul MN (16 Dec 2016)

Read More Regina Spektor If you've been wondering what Regina Spektor has been up since her last album, Far. Well! She has a new album coming out May 29th, on Sire/Warner Brothers Records, called What We Saw from the Cheap Seats … Jeremy Messersmith They opened for local indie looker/Trekkie/Tweeter Jeremy Messersmith, who has a beard, a guitar, an Andy, and a fondness for Minneapolis ..… …

Downtown St. Paul will add another jewel to its cultural crown soon and what's old is new again as the Palace Theatre is soon to re-open, for the first time since 1984, on 7th Place, a pedestrian-only block in the heart of the city center.

To give the public an idea of their progress and to show off the 2,800-capacity concert venue the city purchased (for $325,000 with another $15mil+ put into renovations), a brief open house was scheduled. In addition to remarks by Mayor (and now gubernatorial candidate) Chris Coleman, and Q+A from some of the builders, a brief surprise set from singer-songwriter Jeremy Messersmith serenaded visitors sipping on free hot chocolate during their self-guided tours.

The building’s history dates back to 1916 as the New Palace Theatre, built on the site of the old St. Paul Public Library which burned down a couple years earlier. After transforming into a vaudeville house and several movie theater incarnations, it closed in 1977, opening only briefly again in 1984.

Booked and operated by a collaboration of First Avenue and Jam Productions, the venue expects to host around fifty events annually, and will be used during the day by nearby McNally Smith College of Music as a learning tool for students to know box office, staging, and venue operations.

With a capacity almost double that of First Avenue’s Mainroom (800 seated in balcony/2000 on GA floor), many of the amenities in the venue were modernized, including new bathrooms, HVAC system, roof, and terraced bar area with good sightlines from the floor.

Many of the historic aesthetics of the building have been preserved as an architectural decision, so random holes in the walls, unfinished ceilings, and partially gone cornices, will apparently be part of the finished design.  This already has opinions on both sides, both positive from the preservationists, and negative from those who don’t care for the exposed areas, but we’ll reserve final judgement until the venue is considered finished, and open for business.

The first concert announced is pianist Regina Spektor on March 26^th, with others to be announced soon and local station The Current has already sponsored short mini-sets by local artists (available on YouTube), and audio quality in the theater seems reasonable, with additional sound dampeners yet to be installed.

Another concert venue in the metro is always welcome (especially on the St. Paul side, which has been lacking) and it seems like a unique mix of old and new venue in which to experience a concert, so we’ll be looking forward to seeing a show soon at the old but new, Palace Theatre.

Palace Theatre, St. Paul (16 Dec 2016)

john (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Rock the Garden - Day One at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (21 June 2014) concert review

De La Soul Setlist Verbal Clap Eye Know Much More/Stakes is High/Bizness Pass the Peas Jennifa I Am I Be Oodles/All Good/Breakadawn Saturdaze/Me, Myself & I Feel Good Inc. Ring Ring Ring Matt & Kim Setlist 45 King Overexposed Cameras Silver Tiles Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare Now Good for Great Let’s Go Don’t Slow Down Ignition (R. Kelly) Block After Block I’m a Goner Final Countdown (Europe) 10 Dollars I Found Push It (Salt-n-Pepa) Lessons Learned Just a Friend Daylight Next Episode (Dr. Dre/Snoop) It’s Alright Best Coast Setlist This Lonely Morning Last Year The Only Place Crazy Goodbye Summer Mood I Wanna Know Sun Don’t Shine Who Have I Become? Fade Away Fear of My Identity Our Deal I Want To Do You Love Me When I’m With You Each and Everyday Jeremy Messersmith Setlist Tourniquet It’s Only Dancing Heidi Lazy Bones Dillinger’s Eyes Organ Donor I Want to Be Your One-Night Stand A Girl, A Boy, and a Graveyard Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus cover) You’ll Only Break His Heart Bubblin’ Hitman Ghost Violet Lizzo Setlist Lizzie Borden W.E.R.K. Pt. II Pants/Luv It/Southside (medley) Wat U Mean T-Baby Wegula (with GRRRL PRTY) Paris Batches & Cookies Faded Read More Rock the Garden The annual Summer music festival Rock the Garden, organized by the Walker Art Center and 89.3 The Current, just started last night and continues …

The rain gods had decided to be benevolent… and we were all the better for it.

The crowd

Just mid-way through June, Minnesota was already experiencing a record month of rainfall and just lived through a single-day high mark for the most rain for any day in June history, so this year’s Rock the Garden festival held at the Walker Art Center, seemed slightly in doubt.

Instead, the weekend festival, which expanded to two days for the first time this year, was not affected by any weather; grounds were dry, skies were sunny, and the event was a buoyant celebration of the soundscape of alternative, hip-hop, rock and pop music, as heard on sponsoring MPR radio station, The Current.   Here’s a full rundown of the acts:

Lizzo-

Lizzo

The Grrrl Prty hip-hopper considered Rock the Garden a “some day” gig and was honored to open the event.  We last saw her showing her impressive soul chops, in an encore duet with St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and she impressively followed her Rock the Garden set with a jet-setting trip across the pond, to play the fabled Glastonbury Festival.

Supporting last fall’s Lizzobangers (Totally Gross National Product), she mentioned her Houston roots before ‘Lizzie Borden’ then gave appropriate props before ‘WERK Pt. II’ to the local music scene for giving her music, its first real start.  Lizzo brought out the rest of Grrrl Prty for ‘Wegula’ and radio single, ‘Batches & Cookies’ really worked up the already warm crowd.  Her wide vocal range was on display for ‘Faded’ and proved a fine opening to the hours of music that lay ahead.

Jeremy Messersmith-

Jeremy Messersmith

Remember Messersmith shyly playing solo on acoustic guitar, not that long ago?  That guy has completely changed—now, more confident and heartily backed by a large ten-piece band (which included the Laurel String Quartet we just saw with Dan Wilson), Messersmith charmed the crowd with selections from his much-bigger sounding, Heart Murmurs (Glassnote Records). Lead single, ‘Tourniquet’ got the crowd in his corner right away, followed by more recent single, ‘It’s Only Dancing’.

Older songs like ‘A Girl, A Boy, and a Graveyard’ went down well, but the heated festival crowd was clearly in the mood for more up-tempo numbers.  So, calling it a “No Apologies” track (in a nod to Current DJ Mary Lucia) Messersmith and band covered Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ in a slower but assured way with the musical impact that can only be gained by being backed by such a large ensemble.  Moving with three more back-to-back songs from his latest, ‘Bubblin’, ‘Hitman’ and ‘Ghost’, he ended with fan favorite from 2010, ‘Violet’.

Best Coast-

Best Coast

“You know how to do the first day of summer!” Best Coast vocalist Bethany Cosentino remarked, and their upbeat California sun-drenched songs, were the perfect soundtrack for a bright June afternoon.  Their latest, a 7-track EP called Fade Away (Jewel City Records) was well represented, with the duo (rounded out by guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno) and band playing all but the record’s last two tracks, and Cosentino did make mention of a new album coming this fall.

Though the LA-based Cosentino remarked about the heat several times (comparing it to Red Lobster), songs like ‘The Only Place’ and ‘Summer Mood’ seemed incredibly appropriate for the Arts Center’s sloped grass hill filled with sunglasses, hats, and nodding heads. Bruno kept mostly busy to himself, to Cosentino’s left and older songs like early single, ‘When I’m with You’, seemed to get the strongest response.  “Hope we Rocked your Garden”, Cosentino said, ending with ‘Each and Everyday’, from 2010 breakout album, Crazy for You.

Matt and Kim-

Kim and beer

“Let’s get weird!”-Brooklyn indie dance-pop duo Matt and Kim dared the crowd, early into their late afternoon set. The on and off-stage couple, Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums), more than lived up to that, in their over-caffeinated, high energy set, that was more than perfect for the burgeoning festival crowd.

Hundreds of balloons were released, confetti was thrown, both climbed all over their instruments, Schifino dared people to crowd surf from the pit to the soundboard, and she eventually walked on crowd members’ hands, all of which played true to their “Let’s Get Weird” mantra.  In the process, they became the most energetic and audience-interacting act of the weekend, that left everyone smiling after.

Matt and Kim

Leaning on their latest, 2012’s Lightning (on Fader Label) the pair also mixed in a fair amount of covers including Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’, Salt-n-Pepa’s ‘Push It’, and one “by a great American poet, Robert Kelly… you may know him as R. Kelly”, Johnson mused, before the band broke into ‘Ignition’.  They also seem to have a current obsession with DJ Snake and Lil’ Jon’s ‘Turn Down for What’, whose samples were peppered in throughout their set.

First big single, ‘Cameras’ was played surprisingly early, but the momentum kept building into a frenzied pace, that the audience didn’t seem to mind. Their energy was infectious, from the very first song to the set-ending cover of Dr. Dre/Snoop’s ‘Next Episode’ and Lightning’s ‘It’s Alright’.

De La Soul-

De La Soul

Long Island hip-hop trio at least knew that a lot of younger people in the Walker audience had maybe never even heard of them.  But, playing with a harder edge than on record, the group (MCs Posdnuos and Dave, and MC/DJ Maseo) made sure the audience remembered them after their night-closing performance.   Even mentioning they’d released their entire catalog online for free (a pirated-sourced version, no less), the three were backed by the ever-seasoned Los Angeles nine-piece, The Rhythm Roots All-Stars, who has backed up almost every late 80’s/early ‘90s rap act, at some point.

A mild surprise was their version of James Brown horn section group The J.B.’s, ‘Pass the Peas’ and they had the audience guessing their favorite day of the week, which on this night could only have been ‘Saturdaze’.

A slightly different version of best-known hit, ‘Me, Myself & I’ followed, somewhat lazily, but tempo ramped back up with Gorillaz hit, ‘Feel Good, inc.’, which was a crowd favorite, though could have benefitted from a recorded Damon Albarn vocal, to fill out the song better.  A verse of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ would follow, leading into ‘Ring Ring Ring’ and the trio asking the swaying crowd, “Hey, how ya doin’?”

De La Soul at Rock the Garden, Minneapolis (21 June 2014)

behzad + john () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Rock the Garden - Day One at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (21 June 2014): Quick Bits

Schedule Saturday, June 21 3:00 pm - Gates open 3:45 - 4:15 pm - Lizzo 4:30 - 5:25 pm - Jeremy Messersmith 5:55 - 6:50 pm - Best Coast 7:20 - 8:20 pm - Matt and Kim 8:50 - 10 pm - De La Soul 10 pm - Music ends 10:30 pm - Gates close Sunday, June 22 3:00 pm - Gates open 3:45 - 4:15 pm - Valerie June 4:30 - 5:20 pm - Kurt Vile and the Violators 5:50 - 6:45 pm - Dessa 7:15 - 8:15 pm - Guided by Voices 8:45 - 10 pm - Spoon 10 pm - Music ends 10:30 pm - Gates close Read More Rock the Garden The first day of Rock the Garden show is this Saturday! Join us as we cover the annual event. …

The annual Summer music festival Rock the Garden, organized by the Walker Art Center and 89.3 The Current, just started last night and continues to Sunday, June 22nd. A full review will be written at a later date, this post is to just quickly get some photos and some notes of what just happened!

Lizzo

Lizzo-

Considered Rock the Garden a “some day” gig and was honored to open the event, brought out GRRRL PARTY for ‘Wegula.’

Jeremy Messersmith

Jeremy Messersmith-

Now backed by a large 10-piece band, covered Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ in a big way, which he called a “No Apologies” track (a nod to Current DJ Mary Lucia).

Best Coast

Best Coast-

Bethany said “You know how to do the first day of summer!”, mentioned a new album in the fall, “Hope we rocked your Garden” they said ending.

Matt and Kim

Matt and Kim -

Huge energy, hundreds of balloons, confetti, dares people to crowd surf, covers played including one “by a great American poet, Robert Kelly…you may know him as R. Kelly”; Kim walked on audience members’ hands in the crowd briefly.

De La Soul-

Played with a harder edge than on record; had the audience guess which day of the week was their favorite; backed by 9-member Rhythm Roots All-Stars; slightly different version of hit, ‘Me Myself and I’; ‘Feel Good, Inc.’ (Gorillaz), even did a verse of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’

De La Soul at Rock the Garden, Minneapolis (21 June 2014)

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com

89.3 The Current Public Music Meeting in St Paul, MN (9/12/13) event recap

Read More 89.3 The Current The Psychedelic Furs, famously lead by the Butler brothers, Richard & Tim, broke up in the early 90s to form Love Spit Love. By 2001, the old gang got back together as The Psychedelic Furs. …

Local alternative public radio station 89.3 The Current held its 2nd Public Music Meeting at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul last night.

This open session gave their listening public a chance to show their opinions and exercise their voice on 15 different new songs being considered by Program Director Jim McGuinn and staff, to be added into regular play rotation. Most of the Current on-air and music programming team was in attendance (save Mark Wheat who was on-air) as well as reviewers from City Pages and Star Tribune to help facilitate and add to the discussions.

Participants were given numbers from 1-10 (plus a ‘rock hands’ symbol to hold up if you really liked what you heard) to rate the songs which were played ‘blind’. After numbers were held in the air with scores tallied and a sample of voiced crowd and writer reactions heard, the artist/title of each song was then revealed. For most attendees, this was their first opportunity to hear new tracks by the likes of Fratellis, Mazzy Star, Janelle Monae w/ Prince, Rudimental, and Bastille.

While no songs reached collectively into the ‘high positive’ (not even the new Arcade Fire), several received enough of an overall good reaction for consideration.

The session was rounded out by the premiere of a new Jeremy Messersmith song, not due to release until 2014, and a sharp departure from his previous work— the quiet, acoustic coffee-shop style sound being replaced by a larger, more dynamic (and yes, radio-friendly) bigger sound. 2014 already is sounding interesting.

89.3 The Current at Amsterdam Bar, St Paul (09/12/13)

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ thecurrent.org

Jeremy Messersmith at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (08/06/13)

Setlist Violet It's Only Dancing Tourniquet Franklin Ave Organ Donor Hitman for My Heart Scientist A Girl, a Boy and a Graveyard Merch Girl Light Rail Knots Lazy Bones Dillinger Eyes Encore: I Don't Trust That Boy I Want to be Your One Night Stand Someday, Someone Read More Jeremy Messersmith They opened for local indie looker/Trekkie/Tweeter Jeremy Messersmith, who has a beard, a guitar, an Andy, and a fondness for Minneapolis ..…

This Tuesday, John Mark Nelson, The Starfolk and Jeremy Messersmith played The 7th St Entry to a sold out crowd.

I showed up before the doors opened and stood in line at the entry of The Depot. I was lucky to have the cover of The Depot's garage door opening. The real fans showed earlier than I did and stood out in the pouring rain.

John Mark Nelson got up on the stage, flooded with blue light. It was a perfect lighting choice to compliment the moody, spellbinding performance. Nelson's tenor accompanied by guitar was simple, but fantastically effective. On what he called his "revival tour" John Mark played "Home" and crowd favorite "Boy." He is expecting a new album out during the first quarter of 2014. To fund the project, he ran a Kickstarter campaign. He performed "Shore Bird" and "The Moon and the Stars" on guitar. He dawned the mandolin for "Rain Come Down." Jeremy Messersmith and Andy Thompson joined John on stage for a wonderful rendition of "Reminisce." I've read other reviews comparing Nelson's sound to Neil Young - but this performance reminded me more of Tracy Chapman. I don't think that's a bad thing - it was just different.

Next up was The Starfolk. Brian Tighe and Allison LaBonne trade off as the center of the band. When Brian is the front man, the band sounds like a late 60's/early 70's pop group. However, when Allison takes lead, they have a rock'n'roll sound. They sang "Devil in the Details" and "Wake Up Machine" off their soon to be released debut album. The self-titled album The Starfolk is out on September 10, 2013 on Korda Records. Brian later plays guitar with Jeremy Messersmith who called himself a The Starfolk fanboy.

Sometime during The Starfolk, 7th St Entry became so packed with people I dare not leave my spot, for fear of making it back alive.

Jeremy Messersmith is a local guy and fronts a local group. Some of his song lyrics mention Minneapolis landmarks and streets. His second album The Silver City features a drawing of Minneapolis's downtown skyline re-imagined to be the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. He's currently touring around the country and getting back in a rock'n'roll state of mind. Mid-set he commented, "I've forgotten how to rock. Let's play the 7th St because that's about as rock'n'roll as it gets."

The set opened with "Violet" and "It's Only Dancing." "It's Only Dancing" is a great example of Messersmith using storytelling within his songs to add a twist to the end. That combined with his pop-y, mass market sound equals a thoroughly enjoyable show and some serious fans. In line to get in (in the rain, sopping wet) one concert goer told me she's seen him six or seven times.

During the set, Jeremy featured some new songs to be released at a yet to be set date. Among those were "Hit Man for My Heart" which describes in pretty good detail exactly how this fictitious hit man should assassinate his heart. The crowd favorite, indicated by flocks of people singing along, was definitely "A Girl, a Boy and a Graveyard." "Merch Girl" was kind of a love song or an ode - a realistic ode that I enjoyed very much.

clever lyrics and catchy tunes

The highlight of the show was the performance of "Dillinger Eyes." The band really got into it playing guitar riffs. At one point Brian (of The Starfolk) just bust out an awesome guitar solo and Jeremy was just staring at him smiling and strumming along.

During the encore, Messersmith came out solo with an acoustic guitar to perform new songs, some recently drafted. The crowd reaction to "I Don't Trust That Boy" was a mixture of shock and awe. With clever lyrics and catchy tunes, Messersmith's new album will be an excellent addition to any music library.

holley ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ jeremymessersmith.com

Daughter / Fine Line Music Cafe / 5.10.13

Setlist Jonathan Wirkus/Jonathan Wirkus Photography Last night’s at the Fine Line Music Cafe featured Daughter, and Jeremy Messersmith opened the show. The London-based trio of Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli, and Remi Aguilella started out in 2010 with their self-released EP, Demos, and word of the band’s unique sound and their powerful, vulnerable lyrics soon spread. This past March they released their debut album If You Leave (4AD) to great reviews. The timid lead vocalist Elena talked quietly with fans in the front as she finalized the setup on stage. The sold out show consisted of 13 songs; some off their previous EP’s, but mostly focused on their debut album If You Leave. Throughout the show, fans were singing along to the lyrics as the majority of the crowd seemed to know the words. One of the songs that seemed to have the best response with the crowd was "Landfill" off the 2011 His Young Heart EP. If you have the opportunity to see one of the upcoming tour dates: 05.13 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge 05.14 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge 05.15 - Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom Records * 05.16 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s 05.17 - Vancouver, Canada - Commodore 05.18 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge 05.20 - San Francisco, CA -Amoeba Music * 05.22 - Hollywood, CA - Amoeba Music * 05.22 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour 05.24 - Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival 05.25 - London, UK - Field Day Festival 05.31 - Mannheim, Germany - Maifeld Derby Festival 06.02 - Dublin, Ireland - Forbidden Fruit Festival 06.29 - Somerset, UK - Glastonbury Festival 06.30 - Cornwall, UK - Eden Sessions ** 07.03 - Cluses, France - Musiques en Stock Festival 07.13 - Kinross, Scotland - T in the Park Festival 07.18 - Tonsberg, Norway - Slottsfjell 07.19 - Ferropolis, Germany - Melt Festival 07.23 - Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel 07.24 - Sydney, Australia - Oxford Arts Factory 07.26 - Byron Bay, Australia - Splendor in the Grass 07.28 - Naeba, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival 08.04 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theater *** 08.05 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater *** 08.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theater *** 08.11 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Forever *** 08.16 - Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival 08.23 - Paris, France - Rock en Seine 08.30 - Cheshire, UK - Jodrell Bank Live ** 08.31 - North Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival 10.16 - Bexhill on Sea, UK - De La Warr Pavilion 10.17 - Wolverhampton, UK - Wulfrun Hall 10.19 - Newcastle, UK - Tyne Theatre 10.20 - Glasgow, UK - Old Fruit Market 10.21 - Manchester, UK - Ritz 10.22 - Leeds, UK - Town Hall 10.25 - Cardiff, UK - Great Hall 10.26 - Cambridge, UK - Junction 10.27 - Norwish, UK - UEA 10.29 - London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire ** Supporting Sigor Ros *** Supporting The National jonathan ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com/ohdaughter‎ ♥ jeremymessersmith.com‎

W♥M Podcasts: The May Fire and Solid Gold

W♥M045: The May Fire [download (9 mins)] W♥M046: Solid Gold [download (13 mins)]

Please visit our website for more information, podcast.weheartmusic.com, subscribe to our show at gcast.com (RSS).

I know these are long overdue. These were recordings from SXSW.

First of all, I'm not very happy with the audio quality, I was recording it using a built-in mic on the recorder. On retrospect, I should have bought along a professional mic and plug it into the input. So apology for the poor audio once again.

THE MAY FIRE
themayfire.com ♥ myspace.com/themayfire

The May Fire - Under The Wave

I talked to: Catty, El Pipe, Johnny (missing is Rob, who wandered off).

This audio is pretty poor, you can hear another band doing soundcheck in the background as we quickly got the band to talk about how the name came about and how Johnny Beane joined them, when their original guitarist left.

At of the time, they were looking to write a full length album, since they have released three EPs.

SOLID GOLD
myspace.com/solidgoldband

Solid Gold - Get Over It

I talked to: Zach, Matt, and Adam (not sure what happened to their drummer).

This was conducted in an open restaurant (thank god for spellcheck, I can never spell that stupid word), and at one point in the interview, the waiter came and took our orders (we ordered coffee & tea). Also the first question came via text and it was "What's up with those mustaches?".

As I have previously mentioned, these guys are cool and don't really take themselves too seriously.

They will be playing the ever-popular "Rock the Garden" show this year with The Decemberists. Everyone I know is going to this show!

06/20/09 Rock the Garden w/ the decemberists, calexico, and yeasayer minneapolis
07/31/09 The Zoo w/ the pines and jeremy messersmith minnesota zoo

If you notice, the interviews were quick & dirty. There were some questions/answers that I threw out, mostly because they were uninteresting or poor audio.

Next week: two more shows!

06/19/2009 16:45:58 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com