W♥M

Music to Draw to with Kid Koala at Clutch Brewery, St Paul (30 July 2023)

07/30 Music to Draw To with Kid Koala and Lealani at Clutch Brewery Tour Dates 07/31 Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks Read More Kid Koala This current Kid Koala tour is to promote his new album Creatures of the Late Afternoon, an album that was created during the pandemic. The album also doubles as a board game, which his family helped created. …

Kid Koala’s Music to Draw To show was a casual experience on the lawn of the Clutch Brewing Company in St Paul.

Fans would bring their sketchbook and draw, while Kid Koala would provide the live soundtrack, handpicked from his collection of records. It’s actually a great idea to get creative, as, personally speaking, I have not had the time to doodle random Vuart. Being with a crowd, with all the same purpose, will help motivate you to draw. What a great idea, right?

Anyway, lots of laid-back, chill songs were played. I think my favorite was a cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “Only Shallow”, except it was mellower with clear vocals (the original song is distorted with lots of guitar noise).

Lealani was also there, drawing on a table in a pink hoodie. She would come on stage to perform one of her songs, “The Mountain” or freestyling.

Kid Koala did the “fake Gorillaz song” … the song is not officially titled, nor is it officially released yet. He’s still working out the way it spins. This song was absent from the Chase Bliss show, so I’m glad to hear it again. The song features Damon Albarn on vocals, based on Dan the Automator’s production / composition.

As with all these recent shows, Kid Koala closed out his set with “Moon River”. Even though it’s the same song, every song was played differently. For example, the Chase Bliss performance had more shooting star sounds… while this Clutch show had more warping effects. It never sounds boring.

Kid Koala and Lealani (30 Jul 2023)

Lealani would join Koala on stage, for the song finale. They thanked us for coming out and wished Chase Bliss a happy birthday (Chase Bliss sponsored all three Kid Koala’s Minneapolis / St Paul events as part of their celebration). Being here for three days, I asked them if they visited The Mall of America, in which they had no idea what that is. I guess they didn’t do the tourist thing.

With fans lining up for autographs and conversations, they were more than gracious to sign everything presented to them. They were in no hurry to leave, even though it will be a very, very long drive back to Hamilton, Ontario for their final show in this 2023 tour.

P.S. If I can remember, I will try and set about two hours every Sunday at noon to listen to a record and produce new art. If it happens, I will post new art every Sunday… but we will see if I forget or just can’t make the time for it.

Music to Draw to with Kid Koala at Clutch Brewery, St Paul (30 July 2023) art by Vu

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

Chase Bliss 10th Anniversary, feat. Kid Koala x Lealani, at Bauhaus Brew Labs, Minneapolis (29 July 2023)

07/29 Chase Bliss Anniversary feat. Kid Koala, Lealani Emily Hopkins, and Courtney Swain at Bauhaus Brewery Tour Dates 07/30 St Paul, MN @ Clutch Brewing Company 07/31 Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks Read More Kid Koala This current Kid Koala tour is to promote his new album Creatures of the Late Afternoon, an album that was created during the pandemic. The album also doubles as a board game, which his family helped created. …

Effects pedals makers Chase Bliss celebrated their 10th anniversary with an all-day event at the Bauhaus Brew Labs, in Minneapolis, on Saturday. The event was free and open to the public, so plenty of family, dogs, and music fans attended.

You can get food from Animales Barbeque Co., which may actually be permanently located at Bauhaus, so it’s convenient to grab some ribs with your Bauhaus beer.

There were two parts of the event, from 11am to 4pm, it mostly served as a pop-stores selling guitar gears and equipment. There’s also a Harp Petting Zoo, which you can touch a harp in the wild.

The music part of the show didn’t start until 4pm, which had Chase Bliss’ owner Joel Korte, taking the stage to make an announcement. He first explained that he had a stuttering speech impediment, and he thanked us for celebrating their 10-year anniversary. He dedicated the celebration to his wife and his brother, Chase, who died when he by a drunk driver in 2007. The company was named after Chase and his favorite quote from Joseph Campbell’s “follow your bliss”.

New York’s Emily Hopkins shortly took the stage with her partner Russ. The two played gentle harp music, and between songs, Hopkins admitted that she never knows what to say. Should she start telling harp jokes? Are there any? Maybe for Christmastime, she can play a version called “Harp, the Herald Angel Sing.”

Near the end of their set, they had Courtney Swain sit with them. According to Hopkins, they’ve teamed up for the song “Landline”, which you can see Swain singing into a telephone.

Swain is from the American rock band Bent Knee, formed in Boston in 2009. She seemed really excited to be on stage, stating, “It’s a BFD, Big F(children are here) Deal to be here.”

It wasn’t long before Canada’s Kid Koala took over the stage, with his three turntables and drum machine. He reminded us that he’s a DJ, but he doesn’t use a laptop or pre-recorded playlist… all the music he was mixing was done on live, using vinyl records.

Unfortunately, the two front speakers did not work. Kid Koala took all the blame, “It’s my fault, I’m a jerk! I skipped soundcheck.”

The speaker problems were fixed after the third song. Some songs, especially the popular ones, you can recognize. For example, he used Beastie Boys (“So What'cha Want”) or Franz Ferdinand (“I’m Your Villain”), but you may not always hear it, especially if it’s played by different RPM or using scratches or loops.

Kid Koala did an older track, “Drunk Trumpet”, which sampled some Louis Armstrong, from his Carpal Tunnel Syndrome album. Koala previously mentioned that he loves Armstrong, especially “the way he bent notes on the trumpet.”

Lealani would jump in between songs, playing “Minuscule” or freestyle/jamming with Kid Koala.

Lealani said that she used to play under a different angsty-garage-girl band (I don’t think it’s RL Beemo), but the songs she played are from Pezcatarian (Demos), which included “You’re So Dumb” and “Sophisticate Girl”.

Kid Koala closed out the set with “Moon River”, his mother’s favorite song. He dedicated the song to his mother, and all the women of the 70’s. Audrey Hepburn is smiling, I’m sure.

Joel Korte Joel Korte (and son)

Emily Hopkins with Russ and Courtney Swain

Emily Hopkins Courtney Swain Emily Hopkins Courtney Swain

Kid Koala and Lealani

Lealani Lealani Kid Koala

Kid Koala and Lealani at Bauhaus Brew Labs, Minneapolis (29 July 2023)

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

Kid Koala at Down in the Valley, Minneapolis (28 July 2023)

07/28 Kid Koala at Down in the Valley (Signing) Tour Dates 07/29 Minneapolis, MN @ Chase Bliss 07/30 St Paul, MN @ Clutch Brewing Company 07/31 Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

Canadian scratch DJ/music producer Kid Koala held a free mini-show and signing at Down in the Valley record store in Golden Valley on Friday evening.

Kid Koala did about six songs, some were Los Angeles’ Lealani songs (“Minuscule” and “The Night”) and one freestyle jamming.

This was Lealani’s first time on tour, first time in Minneapolis, and it must be so overwhelming with all the travel and checking into different cities across the country. She seemed really shy, and spoke softly that it was hard to hear without a microphone.

Lealani’s music weapon of choice is a “Beat, beat machine”, which she would press various colorful buttons to produce specific sound.

Kid Koala started with a ska song from his Carpal Tunnel Syndrome album, followed by “Moon River” (which you can listened to Kid Koala’s version here).

When asked if he had a “ska phase,” Kid Koala answered, “All my life has been a ska phase.” Meaning that he’s was always fascinated about dub and ska.

Near the end of this brief 25-min set, he played an untitled song that he was working on, which used a Dan the Automator song with Damon Albarn (Blur) vocals, that some fans have bootlegged and put on YouTube under an erroneous credit of an unreleased Gorillaz song.

When asked when the new Deltron 3030 album is coming out, Kid Koala answered, “That’s the question of the century.” What it comes down to is that both Dan the Automator and Del the Funky Homosapien are on the West Coast, and they don’t often get together. However, Deltron will reunite for a few one-off shows, including opening for Wu-Tang Clan and Run The Jewels, in Colorado.

This current Kid Koala tour is to promote his new album Creatures of the Late Afternoon, an album that was created during the pandemic. The album also doubles as a board game, which his family helped created. Of course, the irony is that none of the songs he was creating (using three turntables) at the record store were from the new album. That is because of noise ordinance, and apparently songs on the new album are loud. He’ll save these songs for the Chase Bliss Anniversary show.

Speaking of which, you can catch both Kid Koala and Lealani at the free Chase Bliss Anniversary all-day event at Bauhaus Brewery, in Minneapolis, happening today (Saturday). You can read all about it here.

If that’s still not enough, you can see more Kid Koala at Music to Draw To at Clutch Brewing Company, on Sunday, from noon to 2pm.

These Minneapolis/St Paul events are free, courtesy of Chase Bliss.

Kid Koala and Lealani at Down in the Valley, Minneapolis (28 July 2023)

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

When Animals Attack 2023

Read more When Animals Attack and Minneapolis Music Guide.

07/28 Down in the Valley Signing Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

Kid Koala
kidkoala.com

Canadian scratch DJ/music producer Kid Koala is doing a free mini-show/fan meet & greet at Down in the Valley record store in Golden Valley on Friday, July 28th. So bring your Deltron 3030 record, your “Nufonia Must Fall” book to get it signed.

7/30 Music to Draw To

On Saturday, he’ll be headlining the Chase Bliss Anniversary at Bauhaus Brewery, in Minneapolis. You can read all about it here.

Finally, on Sunday, you can catch Kid Koala on Music to Draw To at Clutch Brewing Company from noon to 2pm.

All these Minneapolis events are free.

We’re big fans, so hopefully, if all goes well, we’ll be at all the events around the city.

Deltron 3030

I have a funny story about Kid Kaola, when I saw Deltron 3030 for the second time in Oct 2013, I bought their record at the show. After the show, I was walking to my car when I saw a group of fans talking to Del the Funky Homosapien. Kid Kaola and Del were skateboarding and just hanging out with their fans. They were signing autographs and I sneaked my 12” record and before I knew it, I had Del and Kid’s autographs. How fun is that? Incidentally, Del signed it as “Deltron 3030”.

Tour dates:

July 24 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
July 25 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge *
July 26 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom *
July 27 Detroit, MI @ Loving Touch *
July 29 Minneapolis, MN @ Chase Bliss *
July 30 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean *
July 31 Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks *

* Kid Koala X Lealani
+ Opening for Brother Ali

12/09 Los Lobos at First Avenue Read More Los Lobos Electronic artist Marc Rebillet played eight cities in June, Los Lobos played in Southern California on July 4, Andrew McMahon just reprised his Jack Mannequin days with a pair of successful shows in Anaheim . …

Los Lobos
LosLobos.org

Can you believe that Los Lobos (The Wolves) is celebrating their 50th Anniversary as a band? To celebrate, the group will do a special 50th Anniversary tour… stopping by Minneapolis’ First Avenue on December 9th.

Los Lobos (09 Aug 2011) - photo by Cliff Morse

We saw Los Lobos in August 2011 and wrote, “Whereas Los Lobos took their time to demonstrate a musical proficiency honed over thirty years, Los Lonely Boys got right down to business on their first song, “I’m a Man.” With only three players (Henry on electric guitar, Jo Jo on bass and Ringo on drums), they showed a nimble raw-powered tightness that only a band that has been playing together for many years can demonstrate. There was no place for a weaker musician to hide. No one could hang in the background as lead vocals bounced from Henry and Jo Jo and back to Ringo, solos came from any instrument while all three voices melded into three part harmony.”

Tour Dates

August 12 – Santa Fe, NM – The Bridge @ Santa Fe Brewing
September 21 - Paso Robles, CA - Vina Robles Amphitheatre
September 27 – Little Rock, AR – Center for Humanities and Arts
September 30 – Carmel, CA – Sunset Center Theater
November 17 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
November 18 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
November 21 – Los Angeles, CA – The Paramount
November 22 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go
November 25 – East Los Angeles, CA – James A. Garfield High School
December 9 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
December 22 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern
December 23 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern

A Giant Dog: Bite (2023) Read More A Giant Dog Since then, we’ve been following his music career and his latest project is Heart Bones, a collaboration with Sabrina Ellis from A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit. …

A Giant Dog
www.agiantdog.com

Austin glam-punk quintet A Giant Dog will be releasing a new concept album Bite, via Merge Records. We’re big fan of the group, mostly due to singer Sabrina Ellis’ mesmerizing stage presence. When she’s not in A Giant Dog, she can also be found in her side projects, Sweet Spirit and Heart Bones (with Har Mar Superstar).

Heart Bones (29 June 2019)

We saw Heart Bones at Rock the Garden in June 2019 and said, “Personally speaking, Minneapolis / Austin’s Heart Bones was really our favorite of all the RTG 2019 bands. This band is fun and silly, and it’s what we love about this new project from Har Mar Superstar and Sabrina Ellis. A little history about the group, the two met on tour in 2016 and would often invade each other’s shows. For example, at Sweet Spirit’s show in April 2017, Har Mar showed up to sing a cover of Pulp’s “Common People”. Watching them on stage, you can tell the two shared this wonderful chemistry.”

A Giant Dog will stop by the Icehouse in Minneapolis on September 25th.

USA Tour dates:

10/10 - Siberia - New Orleans, LA
10/11 - The EARL - Atlanta, GA
10/12 - Cat’s Cradle - Carrboro, NC
10/13 - Get Tight Lounge - Richmond, VA
10/14 - Metro - Baltimore, MD
10/15 - Johnny Brenda’s - Philadelphia, PA
10/17 - The Middle East - Boston, MA
10/19 - The Sultan Room - Brooklyn, NY
10/22 - Spirit - Pittsburgh, PA
10/23 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
10/24 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
10/25 - Icehouse - Minneapolis, MN
10/26 - Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
10/27 - Smoke and Barrel - Fayetteville, AR
10/28 - Mercury Lounge - Tulsa, OK
10/29 - Three Links Deep Ellum - Dallas, TX
11/06 - Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
11/07 - HQ - Denver, CO
11/08 - Beehive - Salt Lake City, UT
11/09 - The Olympic - Boise, ID
11/10 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
11/11 - Dante’s Hifi - Portland, OR
11/13 - Bottom Of The Hill - San Francisco, CA
11/14 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA
11/15 - Zebulon - Los Angeles, CA
11/16 - 191 Toole - Tucson, AZ

The Manatees 2023 Tour Read More Wolf Alice London-based four-piece Wolf Alice will release their debut album My Love Is Cool on June 23rd via Dirty Hit / RCA Records. They actually did not include the cover artwork, but they did ...

The Manatees
themanateesband.com

England’s The Manatees is heading out on tour in support of their Dream in Colour EP. The record is available via Fierce Panda Records.

The trio (Jay, Tyler & Miller) is said to combine hip-hop, funk, and modern rock. The band took their inspiration from Jungle and another animal band Wolf Alice.

The band is also excited to have their first ever vinyl pressing, for their 7” single of ‘Better Way To Think Of It’, with B-Side ‘The Sound’.

Tour dates:

Jul 28 Outdoor Matlock, UK Y Not Festival
Sep 23 Bristol, UK The Crofters Rights
Sep 26 Leeds, UK Hyde Park Book Club
Sep 27 Edinburgh, UK Sneaky Pete's
Sep 28 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Bobiks
Sep 29 Liverpool, UK Kazimier Stockroom
Sep 30 Manchester, UK The Castle Hotel Manchester
Oct 4 Birmingham, UK The Victoria
Oct 5 Nottingham, UK Chameleon Arts Cafe
Oct 12 London, UK The Lexington
Oct 13 Brighton, UK Prince Albert
Oct 14 Southampton, UK The Loft

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

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

Minneapolis: This Week (07/30/2023)

Here are some shows, this week, in the Minneapolis/St Paul area.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide

07/25 Gogol Bordello with Puzzled Panther at First Avenue Read More Gogol Bordello Just to give you a little background on Gogol Bordello, like most of you, we first “discover” the band from the 2005 film Everything Is Illuminated, starring Elijah Wood and Gogol’s singer Eugene Hütz. .…

07/25/2023 Tuesday

Gogol Bordello
with Puzzled Panther
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

“Start wearing purple!”

If you’ve never seen Gogol Bordello live, do yourself a favor and see them. They are honestly, one of the best live acts we’ve ever seen.

Gogol Bordello (30 Oct 2017)

We caught them in Oct 2017 and wrote, “After 18 years as a touring band, it’s obvious that they’ve outgrown First Avenue’s mainroom, as every time they play at the venue, it sells out. If you really want to see the band, buy your ticket early, you’ll thank yourself later. The band is so great live, and, especially with the popular songs like ‘Start Wearing Purple’ and ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’, will have the audience often going crazy for songs (so watching the audience is also half the fun).”

Update: New York duo, Puzzled Panther to open.

Tour dates:

7/11 Kansas City, MO - The Truman
7/12 Oklahoma City, OK - The Jones Assembly
7/14 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
7/15 Salt Lake City, UT - Union Event Center
7/16 Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
7/17 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
7/19 Calgary, AB - The Palace Theatre
7/20 Edmonton, AB - Midway Music Hall
7/21 Saskatoon, SK - Coors Event Center
7/22 Winnipeg, MB Burton - Cummings Theatre
7/24 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave II
7/25 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
7/27 Chicago, IL - Concord Music Hall
7/28 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
7/29 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
7/31 Toronto, ON - History
8/1 Montreal, QC - MTELUS
8/2 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
8/4 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
8/5 Washington, DC - The Atlantis

07/28 Shakey Graves and Lucius at Bauhaus Brew Labs Read More Shakey Graves Austin, TX’s Shakey Graves (aka Alejandro Rose-Garcia) immediately followed on the Stars stage, starting and ending his set as a solo artist, but accompanied by a full band, in-between. … Lucius Lucius w/ Shamir, The Truman, Still perfectly harmonizing and dressing similar, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe are celebrating ten years since their debut album, Wildewoman. .…

07/28/2023 Friday

Shakey Graves and Lucius
at Bauhaus Brew Labs
suemclean.com

The second Sparkyard Sound Series, presented by 89.3 The Current and Sue McLean, will be taking place Friday, July 28th. The first of the series featured Grace Potter in June 13, which we described as, “… the Sparkyard Sound Series at Bauhaus Brew Labs presented by 89.3 The Current. Sue McClean & Associates always put on a great show and last night was no exception as Grace Potter rolled into town under clear skies, low humidity and a setting summer sun.”

This time, we are getting a double-header billing, Shakey Graves (aka Alejandro Rose-Garcia) and Lucius (aka Holly and Jess).

Shakey Graves (07 Oct 2022)

We saw Shakey Graves in Oct 2022 and noted, “What a great stage name for Alejandro Rose-Garcia as if acknowledging those from beyond still might have a few more dance moves. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, he got his start as a solo act, hustling as a busker with a kick-drum made from a Samsonite suitcase.”

Lucius (10 May 2019)

We last saw Lucius in May 2019 and wrote, “The mutual love affair between the Twin Cities and Lucius continues – the LA by-way-of Brooklyn foursome (led by Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, with Dan Molad and Peter Lalish) has played the area very regularly in the last several years-- from venues as small as radio studio and record store appearances, to as large as arenas, as part of Roger Waters’ band on his last world tour.”

This should be a great show.

The last Sparkyard Sound show will take place on August 17, with high energy soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones .

07/29 Chase Bliss Anniversary feat. Kid Koala, Lealani Emily Hopkins, and Courtney Swain at Bauhaus Brewery Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

07/29/2023 Saturday

Chase Bliss Anniversary
feat. Kid Koala, Lealani
Emily Hopkins, and Courtney Swain
at Bauhaus Brewery
chasebliss.com

Effects pedals makers Chase Bliss is celebrating their big 10-year anniversary on July 29th at the Bauhaus Brewery. The event is free and open to the public.

What is cool is that turntable artist Kid Koala will be there with his touring support Lealani (who previously toured with Incubus). Also on the mega bill are Emily Hopkins, a harpist from New York, and Courtney Swain, a multi-instrumentalist from Japan, but currently living outside Providence, Rhode Island.

Since the event is free, we will be going in a large group to hang out on Saturday.

Chase Bliss writes:

July 29th! We're having a birthday party.

It will be right here in Minneapolis, hosted by our friends at @bauhausbrewlabs.

It's going to be a big day.

We're talking:
- Pedal pop-up
- Musical performances
- Custom beer
- Harp petting zoo
- MORE

It's a free event, just pop in.

Our whole team will be flying in from all over and some of our closest pedal buds too. I'm really excited and hope I can meet some of you who have supported the company over the years.

Performances by:
@realkidkoala
@veggieburgerr
@emilyharpist
@chourtkneey

Pop-up featuring:
@oldbloodnoise
@empress_effects
@kinotone
@nativeaudio
@wrenandcuff
@baranikguitars
@alexanderpedals

Hope you can make it!

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

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

Minneapolis: July 29 to July 31

07/29 Brynn Andre at Bryant Lake Bowl

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

07/29/2023 Saturday

Brynn Andre
at Bryant Lake Bowl
bryantlakebowl.com

Brynn Andre is having her album release show for Honeymoon at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater on Saturday, July 29th, 2023.

If you’ve never been to the venue, this is a tiny inside the Bryant Lake Bowl. The most unfortunate thing is that whenever someone opens the door to the theater, you can hear bowling balls crashing into pins. It’s quite noisy at the Bryant Lake Bowl.

Tickets are $10 in advance / $15 at the door. Doors open at 6PM.

Full menu available from your seat! Come eat and drink in the theater before and during the show!

07/29 Chase Bliss Anniversary feat. Kid Koala, Lealani Emily Hopkins, and Courtney Swain at Bauhaus Brewery Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

07/29/2023 Saturday

Chase Bliss Anniversary
feat. Kid Koala, Lealani
Emily Hopkins, and Courtney Swain
at Bauhaus Brewery
chasebliss.com

Effects pedals makers Chase Bliss is celebrating their big 10-year anniversary on July 29th at the Bauhaus Brewery. The event is free and open to the public.

What is cool is that turntable artist Kid Koala will be there with his touring support Lealani (who previously toured with Incubus). Also on the mega bill are Emily Hopkins, a harpist from New York, and Courtney Swain, a multi-instrumentalist from Japan, but currently living outside Providence, Rhode Island.

Since the event is free, we will be going in a large group to hang out on Saturday.

Chase Bliss writes:

July 29th! We're having a birthday party.

It will be right here in Minneapolis, hosted by our friends at @bauhausbrewlabs.

It's going to be a big day.

We're talking:
- Pedal pop-up
- Musical performances
- Custom beer
- Harp petting zoo
- MORE

It's a free event, just pop in.

Our whole team will be flying in from all over and some of our closest pedal buds too. I'm really excited and hope I can meet some of you who have supported the company over the years.

Performances by:
@realkidkoala
@veggieburgerr
@emilyharpist
@chourtkneey

Pop-up featuring:
@oldbloodnoise
@empress_effects
@kinotone
@nativeaudio
@wrenandcuff
@baranikguitars
@alexanderpedals

Hope you can make it!

07/31 Goth Babe with Husbands at First Avenue Read More Goth Babe Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morissette musical) Aug 1-5, Starlight, Goth Babe, Aug 1, the Truman, Ed Sheeran, w/ Khalid, Cat Burns, August 5, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, …

07/31/2023 Monday

Goth Babe
with Husbands
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

If you’re going to this show to see goth babes… then might I suggest seeing the Bare Naked Ladies? Former Tennessean, Griff Washburn, is Goth Babe, and his is touring in support newly signing to Mom+Pop Music. His new single, “Alone in the Mountains” is out now.

Husbands to open.

Tour dates:

7/14 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren%
7/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre%
7/16 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater%
7/18 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst%
7/19 - Bend, OR - Midtown Ballroom%
7/22 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Edgefield%
7/24 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre%
7/25 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre%
7/27 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Hall%
7/28 - Missoula, MT - The Wilma%
7/29 - Bozeman, MT - The ELM%
7/31 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue%
8/1 - Kansas City, MO - The Truman%
8/3 - Detroit, MI - The Majestic Theatre%
8/4 - Toronto, ON - The Danforth Music Hall%
8/8 - Portland, ME - State Theatre%
8/10 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall%
8/11 - Richmond, VA - The National%
8/12 - Raleigh, NC - The Ritz%
9/22 - Las Vegas, NV - Life Is Beautiful
9/23 - San Diego, CA - The Sound
9/24 - San Diego, CA - The Sound
9/29 - New York, NY - Forest Hills Stadium

*w/ Yoke Lore
^ w/ Flipturn, Yoke Lore
% w/ Husbands

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

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

Vinyl Vaudeville: The Floor Kids Edition, feat. Kid Koala, Adira Amram, and DJ Jester, at Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (30 April 2018)

Kid Koala Vinyl Vaudeville at Cedar Poster Kid Koala Setlist Halo Skanky Panky Floor Kids Battle Tracks (medley) Drunk Trumpet Medley: Gun (Emiliana Torrini) / So What Cha Want (Beastie Boys) 4 Bit Blues Yo Gabba Gabba Metal Medley Was He Slow? (Baby Driver) 7 Bit Blues Laptop Laptop Laptop Conjoined Octopus DJs Rave Piano Moon River 8 Bit Blues Tour Dates 5/5: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios 5/7: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent 5/8: Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater 5/10: Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf 5/12: Austin, TX @ 3TEN ACL 5/13: Dallas, TX @ AT&T Performing Arts Center 5/15: Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 5/16: Washington, DC @ Union Stage 5/17: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's 5/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Hall 5/19: Boston, MA @ The Sinclair About Floor Kids Floor Kids is a new breakdance battle game featuring unique freestyle gameplay, rhythm challenges, and multiplayer sessions. Discover stylized hand-drawn graphics by award-winning animator JonJon set to an original soundtrack by world-renowned scratch DJ/producer Kid Koala. Innovative controls allow you the freedom to play the way you like with a dynamic scoring system that rewards your moves based on musicality, originality, and style. Build up your crew of bboys and bgirls, unlocking new characters and locations as you cross the city, busting hundreds of different moves and countless combinations on your journey from the corner to the club. Bring Your Skills. Build Your Crew. Find Your Style. Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

The Kid Koala-curated “Vinyl Vaudeville Show” just occurred at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis last Monday, April 30th. This isn’t the typical rock concert, but rather a variety show, celebrating DJs, entertaining theatrical dancers, singers, and a bit of burlesque. It’s not as racy as that sound, but there are elements of it.

For this 2018 tour, Kid Koala dubbed these 18 shows as “The Floor Kids Edition”, as it is also in part a promotion for the breakdancing video game called Floor Kids (available for the Nintendo Switch and coming soon to Steam), which he provided the music soundtrack for the game. It’s quite an interesting cross-promotion, as you rarely see arcade video game machine available for fans to test out at the show. The three Floor Kids machines were constantly used before the show started, so it was a big hit.

The show was also billed as kids-friendly, so there were plenty of parents and their children at the show. Unfortunately, many of the parents and children left early. It’s understandable, as it’s a school night, after all.... but you can’t help but think that this kind of kids show would better be held in the day (and preferably on a weekend).

Warming up the show was DJ Jester the Filipino Fist (aka G. Michael Pendon), who played plenty of medley of the 80s and 90s pop hits. You can tell what era he grew up in, playing David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” to Vanity 6’s “Nasty Girl” to Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” to The Pointer Sisters’ “Automatic”, etc.

Although mostly pop/rock songs of yesteryears, there’s also plenty of odd wonders in there too, including King Missile’s “Detachable Penis”, Dead Milkmen’s “Right Wing Pigeons”, and DJ Jester’s theme song, Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” (which we declared as a hit on our playlist in August 2009).

The other cool thing about DJ Jester is that all these songs were from vinyl records, played on two turn tables. It’s probably much easier and effortless to just bring a laptop and a harddrive, but where’s the fun in that? In the time Jester spent on stage, he must’ve gone through a crate of records (probably over a hundred 12” records).

Next on the “Vinyl Vaudeville” bill was Adira Amram & The Experience. Kid Koala “experienced” one of her shows in New York City and immediately fell in love with her act, which is part singing, dancing, and comedian. He begged her to be part of this show, and as a result, this was Amram’s first time in Minnesota. Thankfully, most of the snow have melted by this time.

Amram is joined by two dancers: Jessi “Jamz” Erian and Maresa “Body and Soul” D'Amore-Morrison. She loves her dancers so much, she actually wrote (and performed) a song for them (“Jessi and Maresa”, played after “Boom Boom”). Her set was rather short, but full of high energy dance routines. During the end of her set finale for “Pizza Party”, she body surfed to the DJ soundboard (where Kid Koala would sometime help out on his wireless sampler).

The Canadian turntable artist Kid Koala closed out the night. As previously mentioned, we’re actually big fans of his work since 2001’s Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Ninja Tunes). We love Deltron 3030 and amazed at his Nufonia Must Fall shows. Perhaps some of those, puppeteers from Nufonia joined Koala on this tour, but we can’t be sure.

Kid Koala’s “Vinyl Vaudeville” show was some of the most fun, most inventive show we’ve seen in a while. There’s just something really magical about watching puppeteers animate these homemade fabric puppets. There’s no computerize tricks, just old fashion hand manipulated puppets.

Koala’s set (please refer to setlist), used a lot of material from his 2012 album 12 Bit Blues... which is not his latest release. His current album Music to Draw To: Satellite was more of a collaborative album with Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini... and probably would require live vocal singing from Torrini. Instead, he sample her song “Gun” with “So What Cha Want” by The Beastie Boys.

Koala explained the secret origin story of his (now) infamous Koala suit he wears at shows. He jumped at the chance to appear on the children show Yo Gabba Gabba to show off what a cool dad he was to his daughter. The night before he was to fly to the Yo Gabba Gabba set, his wife asked what he was wearing on the show. He quickly realized that everyone who appeared on the program wore crazy outfits and costumes. With her trusty sewing machine, she whipped out a Koala suit for Kid Koala to wear.

He wore the suit for a year, after he lost a bet with his record label Ninja Tune, and now, despite his protest, is synonymous with the outfit.

For his “Was He Slow?” song, Kid Koala told us that he almost appeared on Baby Driver as a hand model because Ansel Elgort was busy filming a stunt that day. Thankfully, Elgort (who is also a DJ), stepped in at the last minute and saved the day.

Late in his set, Kid Koala asked the audience for participation. They were developing and filming footage for their upcoming Conjoined Octopus DJs story. A story about conjoined Octopus DJ brothers. The two scenes they shot at our show was a rave scene and a sweeping, quiet piano scene.

Koala closed out the show with one of his famous mix for “Moon River” (dedicated to his mother and “all the women over 60”) and set finale “8 Bit Blues”. The latter song is about being on the road, traveling from “Chicago to LA to NY” and catchy chorus “312 to 213 to 312 to 213″ samples. The finale song was a lot of fun, as Adira Amram and the Experience, dressed in flight attendants, threw out a ton of paper airplanes.

If you’re looking for a fun, kids-friendly show, go to the Vinyl Vaudeville: Floor Kids Edition show. If you want to find out more about Floor Kids, head over to Engadget.com and read about it. If you want to help support the game, you can buy it or add it to “your wish list” on Steam and it will help boost the games’ ranking.

P.S., Sadly, when a fan requested “Tricks N Treats” (which sampled “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” as Charles Schulz lived in St Paul), Koala had to politely apologized because he didn’t bring the record. Still, the Kid Koala’s “Vinyl Vaudeville” show was so much fun and entertaining, no one seemed disappointed when that song wasn’t played.

Adira Amram & The Experience

DJ Jester

Floor Kids Arcade Machines

Nufonia makes an appearance

Fan: King Mitch

312 to 213

Kid Koala at Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (30 April 2018)

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

Minneapolis: April 29 to April 30, 2018

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from April 29 to April 30, 2018.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

Kid Koala 2018 Poster Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. …

KID KOALA
+ Adira Amram, DJ Jester
Cedar Cultural Center
Mon 04/30/2018 (7pm/$22)
thecedar.org

Record scratcher Kid Koala is bringing his “Vinyl Vaudeville: Floor Kids Edition” show to The Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis on Monday, April 30th. We’ve been following Koala since his early Carpal Tunnel Syndrome work (still remember buying the CD!) to his collaboration with the great Deltron 3030.

In April 2016, we saw one of the best shows we’ve ever seen: Kid Koala’s “Nufonia Must Fall”. It’s live music, set to a puppet show. It was based on his 2003 book/album (which I also own).

We’re not sure what “Vinyl Vaudeville” will bring, but with his helpers comedian, singer Adira Amram and DJ Jester, it’ll be an interesting, fun show.

Tour kicks off on Thursday:

4/26: Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
4/27: Toronto, ON @ Mod Club Theatre
4/28: Detroit, MI @ El Club
4/29: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
4/30: Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
5/3: Seattle, WA @ Neumos
5/4: Vancouver, BC @ Venue
5/5: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
5/7: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
5/8: Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
5/10: Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
5/12: Austin, TX @ 3TEN ACL
5/13: Dallas, TX @ AT&T Performing Arts Center
5/15: Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
5/16: Washington, DC @ Union Stage
5/17: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
5/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Hall
5/19: Boston, MA @ The Sinclair

Preoccupations 2018 Poster Panda Bear at First Ave Poster Jessie Ware 2018 Poster Wild Ones 2018 Poster George Ezra at First Ave Poster Rolling Blackouts CF 2018 Poster Read More Preoccupations Preoccupations (Frontman Matt Flegel, guitarist Danny Christiansen, multi-instrumentalist Scott Munro and drummer Mike Wallace) got international recognized by their former unintentionally … Panda Bear You might know Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, as one of the founding member of Animal Collective. Animal Collective was the Pitchfork-type band of 2007, somehow they've just really exploded. … George Ezra Opening act George Ezra is quickly positioning himself as one of the success stories of 2015. The Hertford, England 21-year old .... Sleeping Jesus Winona’s Sleeping Jesus started the show. Thankfully, it wasn’t religious music, as the “Alaskan Farmer” band’s name might imply. The band is led by singer/songwriter Nick Elstad …

Other shows in the area:

PREOCCUPATIONS
+ Freak Heat Waves
7th Street Entry
Sun 04/29/2018 (7pm/$15)
first-avenue.com

Preoccupations is back in town with their latest New Material (Jagjaguwar Records). The band may be more famous for their former, unintentionally racist name Viet Cong. The band have confessed that they were ignorant to how hurtful their name was to Vietnamese and Vets, and they are hoping you can forgive them and give their music a chance.

Montreal based band Freak Heat Waves to open.

Tour dates:

4/24/18 Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel *
4/26/18 Columbus, OH @ The A&R Music Bar *
4/27/18 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
4/28/18 Chicago, IL @ Co-Prosperity
4/29/18 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
5/1/18 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret *
5/3/18 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite *
5/4/18 Calgary, AB @ Palomino *
5/5/18 Calgary, AB @ Palomino
5/9/18 Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
5/11/18 Seattle, WA @ Barboza #
5/12/18 Portland, OR @ Star Theater #
5/14/18 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop #
5/17/18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo #
5/18/18 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo #
5/19/18 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar #
5/22/18 Austin, TX @ Barracuda

* w/ Freak Heat Waves
# w/ Moaning

PANDA BEAR
+ Geologist, DJ Matthew St-Germain
7th Street Entry
Sun 04/29/2018 (7pm/$15)
first-avenue.com

Panda Bear, of Animal Collective fame, recently added the First Avenue show this Sunday, April 29th. Earlier this year, he released the vinyl-only EP A Day With The Homies to critical acclaim.

Geologist and DJ Matthew St-Germain to open.

Tour dates:

4/26 Dallas, Tx - Canton Hall *
4/27 Austin, Tx - Levitation @ Mohawk *
4/29 Minneapolis - First Ave, MN*
4/30 Chicago, Il - Thalia Hall *
5/01 Detroit, Mi - Majestic Theatre *
5/02 Toronto, On - Phoenix Concert Theatre *
5/04 Boston, Ma - Paradise Rock Club *
5/05 Brooklyn, Ny - Brooklyn Steel *
5/06 Philadelphia, Pa - Union Transfer *
5/07 Washington Dc - 9:30 Club *
5/09 Chapel Hill, Nc - Cat's Cradle *
5/10 Atlanta, Ga - Variety Playhouse *

* w/ Geologist as special guest

JESSIE WARE
+ Albin Lee Meldau
Varsity Theater
Sun 04/29/2018 (7pm/$25)
cabooze.com

London-born singer/songwriter Jessie Ware will be at the Varsity Theater on Sunday, April 29th, in support of her latest album Glasshouse (PMR Records / Friends Keep Secrets / Interscope Records). We saw Ware at the Varsity in Nov 2013 and said, “Focusing primarily on songs from her first full-length, Devotion (on PMR Island/Cherrytree), Ware’s sound in the most simplest of terms can be described as this equation: [Sade - Adele, + The Invisible, cos x Moyet & Jessie J]. That is, take the smooth r&b of a Sade, with the beats of future-garage producer SBTRKT with the heartache songs and near-range of an Adele, with cosine bits of singers like Alison Moyet and Jessie J thrown in for good measure. In other words, a winning combination.”

Albin Lee Meldau to open.

Jessie Ware North American Tour Dates:

April 24 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
April 25 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
April 27 Kansas City, MO Madrid Theatre
April 29 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
April 30 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
May 2 Detroit, MI Majestic
May 3 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
May 5 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
May 7 New York, NY Brooklyn Steel
May 10 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
May 11 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre

WILD ONES
+ Margaret
Turf Club
Sun 04/29/2018 (7pm/$15)
turfclub.net

The Portland, OR based band Wild Ones will be headlining the Turf Club in St Paul on Sunday, April 29th.

Local Margaret (aka Maggie Morrison of Lookbook) to open.

GEORGE EZRA
+ Noah Kahan
First Avenue
Mon 04/30/2018 (9pm/$25)
first-avenue.com

Young guitarist and singer George Ezra is back in Minneapolis to promote his sophomore album Staying At Tamara’s. We caught Ezra opening for Sam Smith in January 2015 and said, “ The lanky Ezra has a big, bluesy voice and lyrics that belie his young age, and sounds almost American, as his stated folk influences have been Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Howlin’ Wolf among others. Lead single, ‘Budapest’ received the predictably strongest response, but initial UK single and set opener ‘Cassie O’ and the closing ‘Did You Hear the Rain’ (folky with electronic loops) also had toes tapping and heads nodding.”

Noah Kahan to open.

Tour dates:

4/24/18 – Terminal 5, New York
4/25/18 – The Fillmore, Philadelphia
4/26/18 – Lincoln Theatre, Washington D.C.
4/28/18 – Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak
4/29/18 – Riviera Theater, Chicago
4/30/18 – First Avenue, Minneapolis
5/2/18 – Ogden Theatre, Denver
5/3/18 – The Depot, Salt Lake City
5/5/18 – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
5/6/18 – Roseland Theater, Portland
5/7/18 – Showbox SoDo, Seattle
5/9/18 – Fox Theater, Oakland
5/10/18 – Observatory North Park, San Diego
5/12/18 – The Marquee, Tempe
5/13/18 – The Wiltern, LA

ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER
+ Sleeping Jesus
7th Street Entry
Mon 04/30/2018 (7pm/$14)
first-avenue.com

Melbourne’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever is headlining the 7th Street Entry on Monday, April 30th. Their upcoming debut album Hope Downs will be out June 15 via Sub Pop.

Tour dates:

Apr. 24 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Apr. 25 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Apr. 27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Apr. 28 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
Apr. 30 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
May 2 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
May 3 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement
May 4 - Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
May 5 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
May 6 - Washington, DC @ DC9
May 8 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
May 10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
May 11 - Allston, MA @ Great Scot
May 12 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
May 17th, Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape Festival
May 18 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Room
May 20 - Glasgow, UK @ CCA: Centre for Contemporary
May 21 - Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
May 22 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
May 24 - Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
May 26 - Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling
May 27th, Groningen, NL @ Vera
May 28 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
May 29 - Berlin, DE @ Lido
May. 31 - Brussels, BE @ AB Club

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

Looking Back: April 2016

Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. … Prince Vu and Langen talked about legendary music icon Prince’s final days and post-death celebrations. Prince’s Final Time Line … Låpsley Liverpool born, London-based Låpsley is on a USA tour (after Coachella, of course) in support of her debut album Long Way Home, via XL Recordings. ..… Hælos Haelos (stylized as Hælos) will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry on Saturday, April 9th, in support of their debut album Full Circle (Matador Records). The London-based trio …

Here is the wrap-up for last month: April 2016.

March and April are really good months for shows in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. This month, we’re up 36 shows, compared to 24 in March.

So, looking back at our 36 shows we covered:

Rising Artist Award goes to London’s Låpsley at 7th Street Entry (04/30). Lapsley may grow as big as Adele.

Buzz Award goes to Haelos at 7th Street Entry (04/09). Like Lapsley, incredible buzz for this London-based band.

Most Entertaining Award goes to Behemoth at Mill City Nights (04/30)... for dressing up in Satantist dress and makeup.

Local Artist Award goes to Har Mar Superstar at First Ave (04/08).

Best Dressed Award goes to Prince Rama at 7th Street Entry (04/07). These two sisters are dressed like they are from the 80s.

Once in a Life Time Award goes to Prince Block Party at First Avenue Block (04/21). When news of Prince’s death reached the internet at midday... fans all gathered at First Avenue for an unexpected block party, some six hours later. We’ll never forget what happened, it was pretty awesome to see some 8,000 people in one place.

Rarely Seen Award goes to Peter Murphy at Mill City Nights (04/12). The Gothfather rarely tours... this was a very rare opportunity to see Murphy in person.

Self-Destructive Award goes to Fat White Family at 7th Street Entry (04/26). Best show ever, despite the smoking, the drinking, and their lateness.

Show of the Month Award goes to Kid Koala at Walker Art Center (04/02) as part of the unique Liquid Music series. Kid Koala and company managed to create a film live via live puppetry, live soundtrack, and special effects. Simply amazing.

APRIL 2016 (36 Shows)

• 04/02 Kid Koala at Walker Art Center • 04/02 Between Buried & Me at Skyway • 04/03 MuteMath at First Ave • 04/03 Rocket Summer at Triple Rock • 04/04 Scale the Summit at Skyway • 04/05 Contortionist at Cabooze • 04/05 Sunflower Bean at 7th St • 04/05 Joy Formidable at First Ave • 04/06 Underoath at Skyway • 04/06 Alex G at 7th St • 04/07 San Fermin at Cedar • 04/07 Ra Ra Riot at Triple Rock • 04/07 Prince Rama at 7th St • 04/08 Geographer at Triple Rock • 04/08 Har Mar Superstar at First Ave • 04/09 Pig Destroyer at Triple Rock • 04/09 Haelos at 7th Street • 04/10 Autolux at Triple Rock

• 04/10 Smith Street Band at Nether • 04/10 Atlas Genius at Fine Line • 04/12 Wild Feathers at Varsity • 04/12 Peter Murphy at Mill City • 04/13 Sonny Knight at Lowertown • 04/16 Santigold at Mill City • 04/19 Matthew Logan Vasquez at 7th Street • 04/19 The Thermals at Turf Club • 04/21 Communion at 7th Street • 04/21 Prince Block Party • 04/23 The Subways at Triple Rock • 04/24 Napalm Death at First Ave • 04/25 Beach Slang at Triple Rock • 04/26 Fat White Family at 7th St • 04/26 Magic Man/Griswolds at Varsity • 04/27 Frightened Rabbit at Varsity • 04/30 Behemoth at Mill City Nights • 04/30 Låpsley at 7th Street

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

Kid Koala: Nufonia Must Fall at the McGuire Theater, Minneapolis (02 April 2016)

Credits Music: Kid Koala Director: K.K. Barrett Producer: Ryhna Thompson Set Designer: Benjamin Gerlis Puppet Designers: Clea Minaker, Patrick Martel, Felix Boisvert, Karina Bleau Director of Photography/Camera Operator: AJ Korkidakis String Arrangements/Music Director/Sound Engineer: Vid Cousins Puppeteers: Patrick Martel, Tyson Houseman, Veronica Barron Music Performers: Kid Koala, The Cecilia String Quartet Video Editor: Ben Knight Technical Director/Stage Manager: Olivier Gaudet-Savard Tour Manager: Patrick Hamou Additional Set Designer: Corinne Merrell Assistant Set Designers: Jeremy Gordoneer, Marie-Pier Fortier Modelmakers: Maude-Emelie Bourque, Dan Buller, Clara Gonzalez, Kyle Purves Puppet Technical Designer: Patrick Marrtel Assistant Puppet Builders: Isabelle Chretien, Jesse Orr, Christine Plouffe, Veronica Poirier Additional Production: Patricia Boushel, Colin Mackenzie, Alexandre Gagnon, Pamela Fillion Read More Kid Koala This is a book, completely written and drawn (with accompanying soundtrack) by Kid Koala, called "Nufonia Must Fall". It's a love story between a lonely office girl and an out-of-work robot. … Liquid Music The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series, now in its third season, offers performances by artists who bend the distinctions between classical music and other genres, and take their music in new and unique .....

When I first bought the graphic novel/soundtrack of Kid Koala’s Nufonia Must Fall in 2003, I never imagined it as a live puppet show. Having just experienced the wonderful show at the sold-out McGuire Theater (at the Walker Art Center) on Saturday night, this was always what Eric San (Kid Koala) had always envisioned his story to be seen and heard. The graphic novel was, perhaps, just the storyboard to the actual live film we just saw at the Walker Art Center.

The Nufonia Must Fall show is part of the Walker Art Center and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music series (now in the middle of its fourth season), with the idea of providing these incredible shows in very unique presentation formats.

Before Nufonia Must Fall started, Koala warmed up the crowd by doing what he does best: scratching two records to what he called “Canadian Bingo”. Unfortunately, the Bingo game was cut short when, after five images were displayed, we had at least three winners! So ended the world’s fastest Bingo game (under a minute).

As for Nufonia Must Fall, this is simply one of the most magical and adorable show you’ll ever see. Everything you see on the giant screen, directed by K.K. Barrett (with only a few pre-recorded footage) was created live for our show. This included the puppetry, special effects, lighting, and, of course, the live orchestra soundtrack. You can’t help but sometime glancing down at the puppeteers and spoiling yourself as you see how it’s done or by the nature of the layout and characters, what is coming up next.

Malorie and T4 robot

What made our shows special is that the art directors and designers made some special additions to their sets like adding very specific Minneapolis things: the Target flag, the Surly Brewing Co. sign, the Purple Rain movie, the Pizza Lucé reference, etc. Every time the audience saw one of these Easter eggs, they laughed and cheered. Clearly, each Nufonia Must Fall show must be unique to the cities they perform in.

The whole story never felt long or dragged on, and before you knew it, the camera panned over the “The End” sign over the airport landing strip. A thunderous standing ovation broke out and continued well over the credits and after the performers took their bows.

After the show, the audience was invited to come take a closer look at the puppets and sets. They slowly lined up and generally really curious about the magical production.

Of course, with the much-needed room on stage for the 10 (or more) mini-sets and filming rigs, these Nufonia Must Fall shows strictly limited to certain type of venues. If they are playing in your area, make the effort to check out the show, it’ll be worth it.

04/08 OCCC Visual - Oklahoma City, OK
04/22 Hult Center, Eugene, OR
04/28 Further Future Music Festival Las Vegas, NV

Kid Koala: Nufonia Must Fall at the William and Nadine McGuire Theater, Minneapolis (02 April 2016)

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