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Savage Imperial Death March Tour, ft. Napalm Death / The Melvins / Melt-Banana at First Avenue, Minneapolis (24 April 2016)

Tour Dates April 29 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge May 1 Seattle, WA The Showbox May 2 Vancouver, BC Venue May 3 Portland, OR Roseland Theater May 5 San Francisco, CA Slim’s May 6 San Francisco, CA Slim’s May 7 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour May 8 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour May 9 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour June 3 -5 Bristol, UK Temples Festival June 17 Clisson, France Hellfest Read More Napalm Death Extreme British metal band Napalm Death is currently in the USA, on their so-called “Savage Imperial Death March Tour”. ... The Melvins The Melvins return to the road with the continuation of their Hold It In tour kicking off June 6 in Tucson at Club Congress. The tour announcement comes as Ipecac Recordings’ confirms ... Melt-Banana Japanese noise band Melt-Banana is coming to Minneapolis on Wednesday, October 23rd, at the Triple Rock Social Club. The duo (Yasuko Onuki and Ichirou Agata) is currently in the U.S. to do a "2 do what 2 fetch" tour …

The “Savage Imperial Death March Tour”, featuring British metal band Napalm Death, American punk/metal band The Melvins and Japanese noise artists Melt-Banana, recently came to First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Melt-Banana

The show started off with Melt-Banana. Currently the band is a duo, featuring singer Yasuko Onuki and guitarist Agata. Just a little backstory on why Agata wears his signature surgical mask, it is because he’s prone to have noise bleeds during his intense live performances.

Like their previous appearances, Onuki had her digital software controller (to trigger drums and other strange sounds) and Agata had his complicated guitar setup, which included an impressive arsenal of pedal effects and their patented amp-feeding-into-amp (they often bring their own amps on tour). The result is Melt-Banana may be one of the loudest band around, and they’re proud of that fact.

Their music was fast and loud. There was one point where Yasuko said they were going to play six short songs rapid fire. She wasn't kidding about the short part. These songs seemed more like excerpts from songs being that they were only about fifteen seconds long each. Even when the songs were longer than fifteen seconds, they were fast and powerful.

Second to play Sunday night was The Melvins. These guys have a huge following in Minneapolis. I truly thought they were from here but apparently that's not true at all, people up here just really, really like them and you could tell by watching the crowd.

King Buzzo

Singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne, aka King Buzzo (dressed in an illuminati robe), and was joined on stage by bassist Steven Shane McDonald and Dale Crover (the latter two wearing t-shirts with their first name). Fun fact, McDonald is normally the bassist to the legendary Redd Kross.... and was probably the reason why the Melvins covered “Frosted Flake” on their set.

The Melvins is hard to classify musically. They are a little punk, a little metal, a lot of sludgy stoner rock, some experimental... Regardless of how you want to classify them, they had the crowd completely captivated. As soon as the music started, the crowd was headbanging in perfect time. It almost looked like waves or something.

I couldn't help but watch the crowd during the whole set. The crowd was so excited to see this legendary band play and almost instantly, the mosh pit broke. It wasn't as extreme as some of the pits I have seen but it kept growing and growing with every song and eventually, majority of the floor was a giant stoner pit of people just casually bumping into each other and shoving each other.

Melvins, with Shane Embury

People were screaming and shouting at them in between songs but as soon as the music started, the crowd would go silent as to respect the art and give The Melvins the attention that they more than deserved.

Highlight of their hour-plus set was when Napalm Death’s Shane Embury joined them on stage to help add an extra double bass to “Night Goat”... this was medley with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” as Crover stepped out from the drum kit to sing the song with the audience.

Headlining the show was Napalm Death. I've dreamt about the day I will finally get to see these guys live and last Sunday night was everything I wanted it to be.

Napalm Death has been around forever. They started in 1981 and have been around ever since. These guys were probably the most classifiable band of the night. They were metal, with a little bit of punk, a little bit of grind... well crap, now you understand why the phrase "soiree of weirdness" is a perfect way to explain the music of last night.

Their lyrics, if you can actually understand them, make you think. Some are political and some just really make you question other people's views on the world and even your own views. It was great to see this emotion displayed live and even more amazing to hear Mark explain what some of the songs were actually about. When he explained the meaning behind some of them, you could just hear the passion in his voice and it made you feel passionate about the music they were putting out there.

These guys have put out 16 full length albums thus far (with no end in sight) so obviously they couldn't play everything. They did a great job of mixing old and new music along with a couple covers including a Dead Kennedys (“Nazi Punks F**k Off”) and a Cryptic Slaughter cover (“Lowlife”) ... which the crowd went absolutely bats**t over).

The Savage Imperial Death March Tour was originally to end this May 7th at the Troubadour in Los Angeles... but based on strong interest/sold out status, the band added two additional shows (May 8th and May 9th). All Los Angeles dates are now sold out.

Napalm Death at First Avenue, Minneapolis (24 April 2016)

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The Adicts and Reverend Horton Heat at First Avenue, Minneapolis (24 September 2015)

The Adicts Setlist     intro: Blur's "Girls & Boys" (Pet Shop Boys 12" Mix) Let's Go Just Like Me Tango F*** It Up Easy Way Out Numbers Troubadour Life Goes On Rockin' Wrecker I Am Yours You're All Fools Go Genie Go Chinese Takeaway Bad Boy Joker in the Pack Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly cover) Crazy Steamroller Horrorshow Who Spilt My Beer? Viva La Revolution You'll Never Walk Alone (Christine Johnson cover) outro: Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" Reverend Horton Heat Setlist Victory Lap Smells of Gasoline Psychobilly Freakout The Devil's Chasing Me Big Little Baby It's Martini Time King Zombie Dumb Jimbo Song Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry cover) Let Me Teach You How to Eat In Your Wildest Dreams Pour it Out (?) Big Red Rocket of Love Baddest Of The Bad Galaxy 500 Drum solo/Bass solo Galaxy 500 (Reprise)/Remember Me Adicts Tour Dates 10/23/15 Los Angeles, CA The Fonda 10/24/15 Beach Goth Party 10/25/15 Tijuana, Mexico Black Box 10/26/15 Tempe, AZ The Marquee 10/30/15 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues 11/25/15 Leipzig, Germany Conne Island 11/27/15 Rotterdam, Netherlands Baroeg 11/28/15 Hamburg, Germany Fabrik Hamburg 12/01/15 Munich, Germany Feierwerk 12/02/15 Bochum, Germany Bahnhof Langendreer 12/04/15 Berlin, Germany So36 Reverend Horton Heat Tour Dates 09/27/15 Springfield, IL Donnie's Homespun 10/22/15 Bentonville, AR Meteor 10/23/15 Birmingham, AL Saturn 10/24/15 New Orleans, LA Mid City Lanes 11/27/15 Austin, TX The Mohawk 11/28/15 Houston, TX Scout Bar 11/29/15 San Antonio, TX The Paper Tiger 12/01/15 Flagstaff, AZ Museum Club 12/02/15 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre 12/03/15 Tempe, AZ The Marquee 12/04/15 Las Vegas, NV Vinyl 12/05/15 Oakland, CA Leo's 12/06/15 Oakland, CA Leo's 12/08/15 Oakland, CA Leo's 12/09/15 Sacramento, CA Ace Of Spades 12/10/15 Ventura, CA Majestic Ventura Theater 12/11/15 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory 12/12/15 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory 12/13/15 San Diego, CA Observatory North Park 12/15/15 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre 12/16/15 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen 12/17/15 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre 12/18/15 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre 12/19/15 Fort Collins, CO Aggie Theatre 12/20/15 Colorado Springs, CO Black Sheep 12/31/15 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey Live! 02/04/16 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's Read More The Adicts The version Cristina loves is the Adicts' version. Song of the week is Adicts' "Falling in Love". ... Reverend Horton Heat The so-called "godfather of modern rockabilly and psychobilly" Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath's latest album Rev (their 11th album!) came out last year on Victory Records. …

The Adicts and Reverend Horton Heat co-headlining tour recently stopped by First Avenue in Minneapolis on Thursday, September 24th.

The Creepshow

Opening the show, on their last appearance with the Heat & Adicts, was Canada's The Creepshow with a brief 30 minute set. The psychobilly band was obviously influenced by Reverend Horton Heat and seemed genuinely saddened to leave the tour behind, but their two weeks on the road, they had truly an "amazing time."

Singer Kenda Legaspi was fun to watch, as she ran back and forth during her performances of "Grave Diggers", "The Devil's Son", "Born To Lose", and "They All Fall Down." The majority of their music seemed inspired by horror films or had evil/demon elements, which would explain their name (probably named after the George Romero film Creepshow).

They ended their set with "Rue Morgue Radio", taken from their 2008 album Run for Your Life.

Reverend Horton Heat

Next up was legendary godfather of rockabilly Reverend Horton Heat with a full 75 minute set. This obviously wasn't their first rodeo, playing plenty of tracks from across their 11 albums, including a few from their latest Rev album (available on Victory Records).

For those not familiar with the Heat, the trio is built around Jim "Horton" Heath. His music is reflected in his love for good old fashion Country & Western and Honky Tonk music. He crafted a sound that pioneered what we know as modern-day rockabilly and psychobilly.

It was pretty amazing to watch the way Health played his guitar. It was effortless, he can be looking at the upright bassist Jimbo Wallace, pose for a photo, winked at a girl, and all the time playing complicated notes with his fingers were running up and down the neck of the guitar like it was nothing.

Once the music got going, it never stopped. There was no guitar changing, no re-tuning, it was just songs after songs. There was a rare instrument exchange, for their cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny Be Goode", which had Health playing (more like slapping) the upright bass and Jimbo playing the guitar.

Jim Health

I think the highlight of the show was probably for "In Your Wildest Dreams", which is a bit of a rare live song. Health explained, "You may noticed that when we play live, we don't play slow songs.... that is until right now!" The song is taken from the 1994 Sub Pop/Interscope album Liquor in the Front (subtitled "Poker in the Rear").

They ended their set with an extended "Galaxy 500", featuring a rather long drum solo by Scott Churilla, followed by a brief Jimbo bass solo. As you watch them perform, you realized, in stark contrast to the Adicts, that these guys didn't need props or theatrics to entertain us. It was just good old fashion rockabilly music.

Keith Warren

Closing out the show was UK's The Adicts (aka ADX). This was an odd pairing, as there were little crossover fans of rockabilly and punk music. Still, it was pretty exciting to see the band's first appearance in Minneapolis. I don't really see The Adicts as hardcore punk, they're more like pop-punk, similar to The Undertones or The Buzzcocks.

Before The Adicts took the stage, we had to sit through a full remix of "Girls & Boys" by Blur. I believe it was the Pet Shop Boys' 12" Mix, which clocks in at nearly 7 minutes. As a Britpop fan, I loved it, but I'm not entirely sure the mostly punk audience appreciated hearing the pop song with its commentary about American Spring Break party/sex culture.

If anything, The Adicts is one of the most entertaining bands touring right now. I've never seen so many stage prop used on stage, from pounds of confetti (used in streamers, umbrellas, hats, etc.) to Chinese take-out cartons (used for "Chinese Takeaway"), playing cards (used for "Joker in the Pack") to light-up plastic glass (used during "Who Spilt My Beer?") to various costume changes (hats, gloves, shirts) to beach balls, to stuffed monkeys (thrown into the audience). Although this may seem gimmicky, you can't ignore that this was a first-rate production and worth the price of admission.

In typical Adicts style, the band is dressed like the droogs from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (white clothing, black boots and bowler hats, jock straps), with the exception of singer Keith "Monkey" Warren appearing in an outlandish jacket, with an umbrella, and joker makeup.

If you own their greatest hits or singles collection (for example The Complete Adicts Singles Collection from 1994), they basically played all the favorites. Mostly original songs, with a couple of covers thrown in near the end of their set. Personally, I felt they could have just ended their set with "Viva La Revolution" (which featured The Creepshow's Kenda Legaspi invading the stage). When they followed up with "You'll Never Walk Alone", it felt almost anticlimactic.

As an excerpt of Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" played over the speakers, we knew the show was completely over. If you aren't sure that song, trust me, you've heard it before. We've previously written about the instrumental song, you can read about it here.

Overall, a great lineup, despite the opposite in music genre... but it doesn't matter who you came to see - you'll be completely entertained.

The Adicts at First Avenue, Minneapolis (24 September 2015)

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

The Coathangers with Catbath and Color TV at the Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (12 September 2015)

The Coathangers Setlist Trailer Park Boneyard Watch Your Back Springfield Cannonball Hurricane I Don't Think So Arthritis Sux Adderall Call To Nothing Sicker Sex Beat (The Gun Club cover) Tonya Harding Shut Up Don't Touch My Shit Tour Dates 9/14: Look Out Lounge - Omaha, NB 9/15: Jackpot - Lawrence, KS 9/16: Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO 9/17: Diabolical Records - SLC, UT 9/18: Holland Project - Reno, NV 9/19: TBD Festival - Sacramento, CA 9/21: Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA 9/24: Los Globos - Los Angeles, CA 9/25: Casbah - San Diego, CA 10/24-10/25: Santa Ana, CA - Beach Goth Fest Read More The Coathangers The Coathangers, the all-girls punk band, will be stopping by St Paul's Turf Club, the same venue where we previously saw them open up for Guitar Wolf. Audacity (not to be … Catbath Before the headliner, local trio Catbath opened with a 40 min. set of revved up songs, culled mostly from their debut EP, Bathtime. Travis Franklin, Crystal Stockert, and Kristin Kosieracki have a mid-90’s sounding …

The Coathangers make music that has teeth and once you’ve been bitten you’re done for. Last night, with the help of local acts Catbath and Color TV, the Atlanta trio brought their primal sound to a packed Triple Rock crowd eager to be branded.

Catbath photo: Amy

First up was Catbath, a three-piece whose live show was lively and fun and whose music is impossible to categorize. If I had to describe the music, I would say it’s like Kurt Cobain fronting X covering the B-52s. It’s like a beach party from the muddy banks of the Wishkah. The band is made up of drummer Crystal Stockert, guitarist Travis Franklin and bassist Kristin Kosieracki - they all shared vocals and created some pretty sublime harmonies. Honestly, I’m in love with this band; not only do they really push the cat theme in their songs and merch, but they’ve found a way to combine all these great genres without sounding weird or gimmicky. I read on their Facebook page that last night (they played the Kitty Cat Klub after the Triple Rock gig) was, sadly, going to be their last local show for a few months. Don’t leave us for too long, Catbath!

Color TV photo: Amy

Local quartet, Color TV, was up next and leveled the place with a lightning-fast set of no-frills punk rock. To my delight, they closed their set with a fantastic cover of the Saints’ “Perfect Day.” That song is probably one of the most satisfying two minutes and thirty seconds ever committed to tape and Color TV executed it flawlessly.

The Coathangers only played for about 45 minutes, but it never seemed rushed. It was an absorbing set, in fact, with vocalist/guitarist Crook Kid Coathanger (Julia Kugel), vocalist/drummer Rusty Coathanger (Stephanie Luke) and bassist Minnie Coathanger (Meredith Franco) spitting out track after track from their incredible most recent record Suck My Shirt. Select older cuts like “Arthritis Sux” (2009’s Scramble), “Tonya Harding” (2007’s self-titled) and “Hurricane” (2011’s Larceny & Old Lace) added to the electric atmosphere.

The band kicked off with “Johnny,” from Suck, a song that began with an almost frantic beat before exploding into a cacophonous cloud. Crook Kid switched from Kat Bjelland-like coos to full-throated shrieks and she stabbed and scratched out a lattice of guitar noise. Behind CK but definitely not out of sight, Rusty kept a hypnotic charging rhythm that would lurch to a stop and change the tempo with a break-neck wallop. On the other side of the stage, Minnie created the most irresistible groove with a bassline so menacing, you’d wish you had brought adult diapers. It’s as unsettling as it is exhilarating.

The band seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd. All members had come to the stage equipped with beverages including a bottle of wine. CK joked that they were allowing themselves a drink every two songs, but after a few tunes the “rule” didn’t stick and she started taking healthy swigs out of the wine bottle whenever she wanted. For the final song, “Don’t Touch My Shit,” CK shed her guitar and got confrontational, stalking the stage with the mic and yelping into the faces of delighted fans. She grabbed a second mic, pressed them both to her mouth and slowly planted her head into my friend’s chest. An inadvertent nod to their song “Nestle in my Boobies”?

The Coathangers filter rock and roll to its starkest and most primitive elements; it’s raw, edgy, always exciting and I love it. Get their album Suck My Shirt out on Suicide Squeeze and, for crying out loud, go see them live!

The Coathangers at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (12 September 2015) photo: Amy

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

These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H at Heaven, London (11 Sep 2015)

poster These Animal Men Setlist Sharp Kid Who's the Daddy Now? Empire Building Ambulance You're Always Right Riverboat Captain Light Emitting Electrical Wave Soul Around the World (This is the) Sound of the Youth Life Support Machine (You're Not My) Babylon Speeed King April 7th Too Sussed Read More S*M*A*S*H Just a quick note on that S*M*A*S*H / NxtGen Split Single Launch, taking place 29 March 2014 at The Portland Arms in Cambridge. As I suspected, the lyrics …

S*M*A*S*H photo: Jeff Pitcher

Two of the most popular New Wave of New Wave punk bands These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H recently played at Heaven in London on September 11th. This is TAM's first show in twenty years!

Wish we could have flown to London to see the show.

For more information, check out my interview with Ed from January 2015 and follow the band on FB and for archival purposes, see smash.weheartmusic.com.

Photographs courtesy of Jeff Pitcher.

Here is how they described the Flawed Is Beautiful documentary:

Flawed Is Beautiful is a film about two bands - These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H - who formed a scene swiftly dubbed by the press as the New Wave Of New Wave - the magnesium flash that, for better or worse, lit the way for Britpop.

Flawed Is Beautiful is also a story of media complicity and career hari kiri. It is about bold ideas, insatiable appetites and international travel. Cheap drugs and pre-destined failure. It is also about the British music industry spinning towards its final years of economic excess and Thatcher’s children biting back. It is about tight T-shirts, eyeliner and what happens when your fifteen minutes of fame runs out. It is a cautionary tale from which no-one learned any lessons.

Like all the best music documentaries, Flawed Is Beautiful is about heroic failure. These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H didn't have the right accents or connections. But they had the belief and they looked fantastic. They took their moment and made the most of it. And they changed people's lives in small towns out in the provinces, where the big bands didn't ever come to town and where their songs of aspiration and indulgence (TAM) and smalltown rage (S*M*A*S*H) inspired a whole generation of kids.

People always say about the Velvet Underground that everyone who saw them went on to start a band. In the case of These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H that might actually be true.....

If you live in Manchester, head over to the FabCafe at 2:30pm to see the film on September 19th.

These Animal Men at Heaven, London (11 September 2015) photo: Jeff Pitcher

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Four Year Strong at Triple Rock, Minneapolis (04 Sep 2015)

poster Tour Dates 09/09/15 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court 09/11/15 Seattle, WA The Crocodile 09/12/15 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre 09/14/15 Orangevale, CA The Boardwalk 09/15/15 San Diego, CA SOMA San Diego 09/16/15 Anaheim, CA Chain Reaction 09/17/15 Anaheim, CA Chain Reaction 09/18/15 Mesa, AZ Club Red Theaters 09/19/15 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad 09/21/15 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey Bar 09/22/15 Austin, TX Sidewinder 09/23/15 Houston, TX Warehouse Live 09/25/15 Orlando, FL The Social 09/26/15 Margate, FL O'Malleys Sports Bar 09/27/15 Saint Petersburg, FL Local 662 09/28/15 Atlanta, GA Hell At The Masquerade 09/29/15 Nashville, TN Exit / In 09/30/15 Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall 10/01/15 Pittsburgh, PA The Altar Bar 10/02/15 Washington, DC Rock And Roll Hotel 10/03/15 Virginia Beach, VA Shaka's 10/04/15 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer 10/06/15 New York, NY The Gramercy Theatre 10/07/15 Poughkeepsie, NY Chance Entertainment 10/08/15 Montreal, QC La Tulipe 10/09/15 Toronto, ON Opera House Concert 10/10/15 Buffalo, NY Waiting Room 10/11/15 Cambridge, MA Middle East Nightclub Read More Four Year Strong Absolutely amazing return from these guys after In Some Way Shape or Form! Everything you loved about these guys from the first two albums makes a return. I seriously haven't been able to stop listening to this cd since it came out. …

The best shows are the ones where there is no difference between the stage and the floor. This doesn't mean that there is no stage and the band is just playing on the ground. This means that the band invites people to come up on stage and do what they want. Sounds like a trainwreck, I know. Usually it is a trainwreck but it is the best trainwreck you could ever watch, the best trainwreck you could ever be a part of.

Last Friday night was the Four Year Strong show at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis. I have seen these guys a couple of times before and they bring the energy every time. Most recently, I saw them at The Varsity Theater back in May. That show was great. Last Friday was better.

The stage at the Triple Rock is only about three feet off the ground. It is a fairly small venue but that never seems to affect the crowd. Last Friday was the rowdiest crowd I have ever seen there.

Speak Low If You Speak Love started the show with their calm indie, acoustic-y, pop-punk sound. They sounded great but the crowd wasn't moving. I think it was a bit expected by the band and it was nice that they didn't let it affect them. They even called themselves out for being the odd ones out on this tour with two hardcore bands and Four Year Strong. Regardless, they legitimately seemed appreciative that they were on this tour. They got up, played their songs, the crowd clapped and that was it. It was the calm before the storm.

The second Expire took the stage, the crowd went off. Before the first note was even played, the guys in the crowd had started stomping back and forth from side to side of the venue. That's a sign that you either need to get out of the way, or get your arms up because, pardon my French, sh** is about to go down. And down it went. The pit erupted. There were arms flailing, legs kicking, people flying. I quickly assumed the position on the outside of the pit with my arm up in front of me so I wouldn't get smacked by the flying limbs.

By the time Defeater took the stage, I needed a break from fearing for my life so I stood in back and just watched. A pit like this is something you cannot put into words. I've said it before and I will say it again, a pit at a show like this is intense, it's terrifying, and it's the best place to be. Watching from the outside of a pit doesn't do it justice. It honestly just looks like a giant brawl. But when you're in it, it's you enjoying music with your family. Nobody is trying to hurt anyone (intentionally) and everybody is looking out for everyone else.

After my breather during Defeater, it was time for Four Year Strong and time for me to assume the position in the middle of the crowd, my home away from home.

There was an endless stream of people being carried (there were not enough people to legitimately crowd surf) to the stage where they would proceed to jump into the crowd. Even though there were not many people there to catch the people jumping, people were sure to catch them or at least do their best to make sure they didn't land on their heads or get seriously injured. I found myself in the thick of it. I became a jumping off point for some people. They would jump on my shoulders and crawl onto the stage from on top of me. I tried my best to catch legs and arms that were flying at me. I was taking care of my family just like everyone else in there.

Four Year Strong encouraged people to come up on stage and jump. It didn't matter that the power cord has been unplugged already by a jumper. They didn't care. They just wanted everyone to have a good time and get involved.

The last song they played, they invited everyone to grab the microphone and sing. There was no sight of the band on stage at that point. You could hear them playing but you couldn't see them. The stage became our stage, the show became our show, and the band members became our family.

I woke up this morning feeling like I got hit by a bus. It is the most fulfilling feeling in the world.

Four Year Strong at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (04 Sep 2015)

langen (langen@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

X, w/ Dead Rock West at Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (29 Aug 2015)

poster Setlist     Intro: Ennio Morricone's "A Fistful Of Dollars" Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not Sugarlight Beyond and Back Adult Books How I (Learned My Lesson) In This House That I Call Home I'm Coming Over The Hungry Wolf Year 1 Los Angeles The Unheard Music Blue Spark Some Other Time The World's a Mess, It's in My Kiss It's Who You Know Breathless (Jerry Lee Lewis cover) White Girl Nausea Johny Hit and Run Paulene Motel Room in My Bed Soul Kitchen (The Doors cover) -- Encore -- The New World Because I Do Devil Doll Tour Dates 08/30/15 Des Moines, IA Wooly's 09/01/15 St. Charles, MO Bottleneck Blues Bar 09/02/15 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's Duck Room 09/04/15 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues 09/05/15 Birmingham, AL Saturn 09/06/15 Nashville, TN City Winery Nashville 09/08/15 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre 09/09/15 Atlanta, GA Terminal West 09/11/15 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage 09/12/15 Hopscotch Music Festival 09/19/15 Del Mar, CA Kaaboo Read More X The original Los Angeles punk band (and impossible to Google) X will be in town on August 29th. I'm not entirely sure if their guitarist and X co-founder Billy Zoom will be joining them …

Legendary Los Angeles punk band X (not to be confused with Australian band X or Japanese band X or London band The xx) recently made a semi-rare Minneapolis appearance last night at Mill City Nights.

The band (featuring singer Exene Cervenka, bassist/singer John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer D.J. Bonebrake) was previously in town at the Cabooze on 06 October 2011 and prior to that at the now-defunct 400 Bar on 20 December 2008 at the same venue on 22 March 2008 ("13:31 Anniversary Show"). It would seem that the band is out on tour in part as a fundraiser for their guitarist Billy Zoom, who is currently undergoing cancer treatments. The tight-knit fans were more than happy to showcase their donations and support by wearing the Billy Zoom - Nice Guy T-Shirts.

Dead Rock West

Opening up the show was Dead Rock West. The Californian duo (Cindy Wasserman and Frank Lee Drennen) has a close relationship with X, having previously opened up for the LA band and X spinoff band The Knitters and X's John Doe. Their 45-min set included a few tracks from their latest album It's Everly Time!, a 13 song tribute to the great Everly Brothers... however, according to Drennen on "Gone Gone Gone", they didn't always pick the hits to cover.

As a cover lover, I didn't mind the Everly Brothers songs (including a great cover of "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)"), however I felt Dead Rock West was at their best when they played more aggressive songs like "Rocket from The Crypt" from their 2007 album Honey And Salt.

Highlight of their set was their finale, "This May Be The Last Time" (taken from their previous 2011 album Bright Morning Stars) with their close friend X joining them on stage.

Stepping on the stage to Ennio Morricone's excellent "A Fistful Of Dollars" song, X felt like they were at home on stage... completely comfortable and ready to go as they launched into "Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not". Honky tonk/rockabilly musician Jesse Dayton stepped in for X for this entire 2015 tour. Dayton did a great job on guitars, and you can tell he was honored to take Billy Zoom's part in his temporary absent.

Setlist

With nearly 40 years of music under their belt, X had plenty of songs to choose from... so much that their nearly two hours set needed two pages. Despite fitting in 24 songs, singer Exene Cervenka had to apologize for not taking any requests from the fans in front. Instead, Cervenka offered, "We've prepared a special menu for you."

In typical long sets, the band rarely spoke between songs... instead trying to keep on schedule by playing songs one after another, sometime without pausing for even cheers or handclaps.

My personal highlight of their set was "The Hungry Wolf", the intro track from their 1982 (reissued in 2001) album Under the Big Black Sun. When they play this live, drummer D. J. Bonebrake goes nuts with an extended drum solo.

If you want to help nice guy guitarist Billy Zoom, you definitely need to show up to X's 2015 tour. The band will be at Wooly's in Des Moines tonight.

X at Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (29 Aug 2015)

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Rise Against at Cabooze Plaza, Minneapolis (01 August 2015)

Tour Dates 08/07/15 Seattle, WA ShowBox SoDo 08/09/15 Portland, OR Roseland Theater 08/11/15 San Francisco, CA Masonic 08/13/15 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium 08/16/15 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium 11/01/15 Hampton Beach, NH - H.Beach Casino 11/03/15 Lancaster, PA - Freedom Hall 11/04/15 Stroudsburg, PA - Sherman Theater 11/06/15 Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room 11/07/15 Madison, WI - Orpheum Theater 11/08/15 Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit 11/10/15 Richmond, VA - The National 11/12/15 Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore Charlotte 11/13/15 Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle 11/14/15 Orlando, FL - Central FL Fairgrounds 11/16/15 Houston, TX - House of Blues 11/17/15 Austin, TX - Stubb's Waller Creek 11/18/15 Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre 11/20/15 Tempe, AZ - Marquee 11/21/15 Las Vegas, NV - Downtown LV Event 11/22/15 San Diego, CA - SOMA Read More Rise Against Rise Against's "Any Way You Want It" cover appeared on their Revolutions Per Minute (2003) album as a hidden track. If you've never heard of Rise Against, they are a … Letlive Letlive. are at the top of their game. I got this album last year, plenty of time after it had been released but also well before the new album was about to come out. It was my jam for the summer. Then the new beauty …

Most people look at a concert as a full bill. They look at all of the bands that are playing and decide if the show is worth the ticket price.

Not me.

There were three bands on the bill last night. There was one band that I could tolerate and wouldn't mind experiencing live. There was one band that I absolutely could not tolerate. There was one band I have been dying to see live. The ticket price was right around $45 after all the fees. Most people would say no, $45 is not worth it to see one band that has an opening set and will probably only play 30 minutes. Those people are idiots.

Can you really put a price on that one band you've been dying to see? I say nay.

Letlive

I only wanted to see one band last night. Letlive. They've been on my bucket list for a little over a year now. I've heard about their live shows and how crazy they get. Jason, their singer, is notorious for climbing anything and everything he can find. Last May, they played a show in Georgia where Jason had climbed up the balcony of the venue and sang a whole song while clutching to the side of said balcony. That set was cut short due to safety concerns. Ever since then, I knew this was a band I had to see live. Letlive. didn't let me down last night. The music was great. The energy was unreal and Jason was back to climbing anything and everything he could.

This show was held outside at The Cabooze outdoor plaza which is just a fancy name for the parking lot between The Cabooze and Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis. The stage was sandwiched between the wall of The Whiskey Junction and the fence that surrounds the patio of The Cabooze. Jason went for it. He started walking to the side of the stage closest to the fence. At first, I thought he was going to start climbing the frame of the stage. Instead, he climbed the fence and ended up with half of his body over the fence singing to the people in the patio of The Cabooze. All the crowd could see were his legs dangling on the other side of the fence. He never missed a word, never missed a beat.

As if that wasn't enough, Jason ended up in the pit at one point. He warned the crowd that if the mosh pit wasn't sufficient, he would get down there and show them how it's done. That's exactly what he did. He jumped down from the stage, climbed over the first couple rows of people, and pushed and shoved the people who seemed to be trying to conserve their energy for the headlining acts. I definitely understand wanting to conserve you energy for other acts but come on, this was the best band of the night.

Killswitch Engage

If you know me, you know that I am extremely opinionated when it comes to music. If I love a band, I LOVE them. If I hate a band, I absolutely HATE them. I HATE Killswitch Engage. They never did anything bad to me, but I hate them. I hate their music, I hate the way they look, I hate their fans, and now I can say I hate their live show. I'm a firm believer in the idea that a band can be completely different live than they are on CD. That's the only reason I stayed at the show, well that and my roommate wanted to stay and see the other bands (Good god she has the worst taste in music!). I was hoping that Killswitch Engage would do something that would make it click for me. Make me understand why people love them so much. They didn't. They got up on stage, played their songs, and then got off. Remember that post about radio rock? Wash, rinse, repeat. I hate it.

Rise Against was the headliner. I had been wanting to see them live. I don't mind their music but it's not my favorite. I was waiting for that "a-ha" moment of seeing them live to sway me either one way or the other. They were fine. They sounded like the CD. Yeah, they have some catchy songs, their singer has a good voice. Meh, I don't hate them, I wouldn't pay $45 to see them though. They got up, played their songs, got the crowd going, and left. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I spent $45 to see one band play a thirty minute set and suffered through the last two bands. Letlive. killed it last night and made all of the suffering worth it.

I regret nothing.

Rise Against at Cabooze Plaza, Minneapolis (01 August 2015)

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Minneapolis: August 7, 2015

Read More Go 96.3 I attended the Go 96.3's first concert (dubbed Go Show #1) at the Aria in Minneapolis on Friday the 13th. For the young radio station's very first show . … Cold War Kids It's the big 10 year anniversary of local radio station The Current, and they've been selling out all their shows. I believe most, if not all, of their shows will be broadcasting live .... MS MR NYC duo MS MR came to Minneapolis “for the first time as a band and as people” ...and ‘rocked it like a ‘Hurricane’. ‘Hurricane’, of course, refers to their infectious single of the same name… Matt & Kim This is one of the best band to see live is Matt and Kim. The duo is returning to Minneapolis at the Mill City Nights next, next Friday …

Here are some concerts taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on Friday, August 7, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

GO FEST '15
at Target Field
Friday, 08/07/2015, 4:30pm ($9.63)
go963mn.com

We were really impressed with Go 96.3 FM's first Go Show #1 (featuring New Politics and Banks at Aria on Mar 2015). We were wondering how they can top that debut show... and they've completely done it by booking Target Field with this incredible band lineup.

We've previously seen covered most of these bands, but to see them all on one bill is simply unbelievable. The kicker? Nosebleed tickets are under $10 each, so you can bring all your friends (well, restricted to a 20-ticket maximum) and hang out in the green.

Lineup:

Cold War Kids

MS MR

Meg Myers

Matt and Kim

Big Data

Yelawolf

Allan Kingdom (from thestand4rd)

Plus: DJ Sets by RAC

Read More Irish Fair First of all, I think we're definitely going to be doing the Irish Fair this year. I know St Patrick's Day was in March, but who cares when it's free in August! The two main attraction seems to be California's Young Dubliners .…

IRISH FAIR
at Harriet Island (St Paul)
08/07/2015-08/08/2015, 7pm (FREE)
irishfair.com

The free annual Irish Fair will start next Friday, August 7th and ending on Sunday, August 9th, at Harriet Island. Headliner for the first two nights will be Los Angeles' Young Dubliners.... currently touring in support of their latest album Nine. We previously caught Young Dubliners when they headlined the Irish Fair in 2010, so I'll be good to have them back in the Twin Cities.

NOTE: The Irish Fair fans should know that there is a $20 Kickoff Party event on Thursday, August 6th, featuring local Irish band Wild Colonial Bhoys.

Young Dubliner's tour dates:

08/07/15 Irish Fair Minnesota
08/08/15 Irish Fair Minnesota
08/09/15 Crestone Music Festival
08/14/15 Santa Rosa, CA Annie O's Music Hall
08/15/15 Paso Robles, CA Private Function
08/16/15 Los Osos, CA Sea Pines Golf Resort
08/21/15 Hopefest
08/22/15 Lodi, CA Private Function
08/27/15 Colorado Springs, CO Thirsty Parrot
08/28/15 Denver, CO The Oriental Theater
09/11/15 Sisters Folk Festival
09/12/15 Sisters Folk Festival
09/13/15 Sisters Folk Festival
09/16/15 Somerville, MA Johnny D's
09/17/15 Newton, NJ The Newton Theatre
09/18/15 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
09/19/15 Irish 2000 Festival
09/20/15 Get Shamrocked Festival
09/26/15 Treasure Valley Celtic
10/02/15 Chicago, IL Beverly Arts Center
10/03/15 Huntsville, UT Snowbasin
10/04/15 Blues, Brews & BBQ
10/08/15 Wilmington, DE World Cafe Live
10/09/15 Leesburg, VA Smokehouse Live
10/10/15 Alexandria, VA John Strongbow's Tavern
10/11/15 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
10/14/15 Jim Thorpe, PA Mauch Chunk Opera House
10/15/15 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
10/16/15 Macungie, PA Private Function
10/17/15 Chesapeake Roots Festival
10/18/15 Harrisburg, PA The Abbey Bar
11/05/15 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom
11/06/15 Tucson Celtic Festival
11/07/15 Tucson Celtic Festival
11/13/15 Grants Pass, OR Rogue Theatre
11/14/15 Portland, OR Melody Ballroom
11/19/15 Sturtevant, WI Route 20 Outhouse
11/20/15 South Bend, IN Club Fever
11/21/15 Joliet, IL The Tree

Read More Social Distortion Do you know what's funny? Social D was one of the first bands I saw when I was living in Fresno, California. They were huge back then just coming off their big hit single "Bad Luck"..…

SOCIAL DISTORTION
at First Avenue
Friday, 08/07/2015, 7pm ($35/Sold Out)
first-avenue.com

Our new writer Langen will be seeing Social Distortion at First Avenue. Not to brag, but I saw Social D in 1992(?) in Fresno, California. They played a tiny club and changed the line in "Ball & Chain" from "county jail" to "Fresno County Jail" and got a huge roar from the audience.

Mike Ness and company are on tour at the moment because their debut self-titled album turned 25 in 2015 (originally released in 1990). Expect the punk band to play the entire album, plus throwing in some old favorites from Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell, etc.

Drag the River and Nikki Lane to open the show.

Tour dates:

07/31/15 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Live
08/01/15 Houston, TX House Of Blues
08/02/15 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
08/05/15 Sturgis Rally
08/07/15 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
08/08/15 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom
08/09/15 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
08/11/15 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
08/14/15 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room
08/15/15 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
08/16/15 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
08/18/15 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom
08/19/15 Philadelphia, PA Festival Pier
08/21/15 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
08/22/15 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony Summerstage
08/23/15 Boston, MA House Of Blues Boston
08/25/15 Silver Spring, MD Fillmore Silver Spring
08/27/15 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
08/28/15 Charlotte, NC Fillmore Charlotte
08/29/15 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
09/02/15 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
09/03/15 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
09/05/15 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
09/06/15 Bumbershoot Festival
09/07/15 Bend, OR The Century Center
09/09/15 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
09/11/15 Paso Robles, CA Vina Robles Amphitheatre
09/12/15 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
09/13/15 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory

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White Lung, w/ Obliterations at 7th Street, Minneapolis (11 Jun 15)

White Lung Setlist Sycophant Face Down Drown With the Monster The Bad Way Bag Wrong Star Snake Jaw I Believe You Just for You Down It Goes Thick Lip Two Of You Blow It South Take the Mirror Obliterations Setlist Scapegoat The One That Got Away Sick Feeling The Narcissist Poison Everything Mind Ain't Right The Middle Of The End Black Out Head Wound Shame Normalized Decline Ad Nauseam Pay To Live The Hole Read More White Lung We previously mentioned Canada's White Lung earlier this year. The punk rock band just wrapped up their world tour in support of their latest Deep Fantasy (Domino Records) … Obliterations Opening up the show will be Obliterations, the raging So-Cal punk/hardcore band previously toured with White Lung on a US Winter 2015 tour in February. …

Girl-fronted punk band White Lung is currently touring in support of their latest Deep Fantasy, stopping by 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis last Thursday, June 11th.

Obliterations

Hardcore/metal band Obliterations opened up the show... they were one of the loudest band I've seen (right up there with Japanese noise band Melt Banana).

The raging So-Cal band spent their entire 30-min set in near darkness, with singer Sam James Velde often leaning into the audience and sometime spending it on the floor.

As you can see from their setlist, they played almost every song from their latest Poison Everything, including the title track and "The Narcissist". Rounding out the rest of their were three songs from their The Hole EP ("Sick Feeling", "Pay To Live", and set closer "The Hole").

According to White Lung singer Mish Way, they drove a long way to be at the show last Thursday and was really excited to finally be able to play for us. Fans were also really excited... often moshing and slam dancing throughout their 30-min set, which did not include an encore.

Setlist

As seen on their setlist, over 3/4 of their set were devoted to their latest release Deep Fantasy (Domino), including "Down It Goes" and set intro "Sycophant".

Rounding out the rest of their set were a couple of tracks their sophomore 2012 Sorry ("Bag", "Thick Lip", and "Take the Mirror"), and a couple of singles ("Two of You" and "Blow It South"). No songs from their self-titled debut 2010 band.

After over a year as a touring band (with Iceage and Parquet Courts, etc), the band felt they needed to slim down to just a trio ... but for this tour, they've added Deap Vally's Lindsey Troy on bass. Troy definitely added a much-needed bass sound to their hard rock/punk sound.

White Lung's Deep Fantasy is out now on Domino.

Remaining tour dates:

06/14/15 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
06/15/15 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place
06/16/15 Allston, MA Great Scott
06/17/15 Suoni Per IL Popolo
06/20/15 NXNE Festival
08/14/15 Berserktown Fest
08/16/15 Berserktown Fest

If everything goes as plan, the two bands will end their tour at this year's North By Northeast (NXNE) in Toronto. We covered NXNE in 2011, and it is still one of the best experience we ever had.

White Lung at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (11 June 2015)

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Official Wizard World After Party, feat. Peelander-Z at Pourhouse, Minneapolis (02 May 2015)

Peelander-Z Setlist Intro So Many Mike Mad Tiger Read More Peelander-Z Superhero Japanese punk band Peelander-Z is currently on tour in support of their latest album, Metalander-Z, stopping by the Turf Club in St Paul last night, September 19th. …

What the heck happened to the Peelander-Z's Official Wizard World Minneapolis After Party show at the Pourhouse last night??!!!???

After just 25 minutes, the venue cut off the band's instruments!! Everyone in the audience and the band looked incredibly puzzled by the shutdown. The fans were screaming "One more song! One more song!" and Pink replied, "If only we could, but they won't let us play!"

I couldn't get an answer why the show was canceled at 11:15pm. The only thing I can think of is that they had another event scheduled at 11:30pm and needed to push everyone out.

For new fans in attendance, what they got was just a small, small taste of the mad world of pots & pans, exercising and limbo/jump rope and just two songs: "So Many Mike" and "Mad Tiger". I'm really bummed out that they didn't get to experience a real Peelander-Z show. This was my eighth time seeing the band live and it was the most disappointed show because of the unexpected truncated show. I felt really bad for anyone that paid a cover charge to see them last night and only got about 20 minutes worth of a show.

Peelander-Z are (always) on tour:

03 May 2015 Lyric Room Green Bay, WI
05 May 2015 Southgate House Newport, KY
06 May 2015 The Concourse Knoxville, TN
07 May 2015 The Earl East Atlanta, GA
08 May 2015 Orpheum Tampa, FL
10 May 2015 High Dive Gainesville, FL
12 May 2015 Snug Harbor Charlotte, NC
13 May 2015 Strange Matter Richmond, VA
16 May 2015 Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY, US

Be sure to check back at W♥M to read our continuing coverage of Wizard World Minneapolis at weheartmusic.com. In the meantime, whatever photos we've processed, we have uploaded in the Wizard World Minneapolis 2015 Photo Gallery.

Peelander-Z at the Pourhouse, Minneapolis (02 May 2015)

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