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Red Bull Flugtag 2019 at Harriet Island, St. Paul

About Red Bull Flugtag Named after the German word for 'flying day', Red Bull Flugtag challenges the brave and brainy to design, build, and pilot human-powered flying machines off an 8.5m flight deck in the hope of soaring... or more often, plunging into the waters below. Read More Red Bull September 14th, as part of the special Red Bull Sound Select (curated by Totally Gross National Product) show. These shows are only $3 if you RSVP, $10 otherwise. …

(Here’s a story we covered last fall [in those joyous times before social distancing and global pandemics] that we didn’t manage to post at the time-- enjoy a memory from better days and stay safe!)

Red Bull Flugtag, the one-of-a-kind, human-powered flying craft competition returned to St. Paul for its second time in its event history, last September at Harriet Island Regional Park.

Flugtag translates roughly from German to “flying day” or “air show” and 38 teams launched their homemade crafts as far as they could, from a thirty foot high ramp platform on a docked barge (a last minute decision to fill the barge for added stability brought the height down to 23ft) on the Mississippi River, as large crowds watched along both banks, from apartment balconies, and in boats dotting all around the event.

Each flight team of five was scored by a panel of local celebrity judges according to three criteria: distance, creativity, and overall showmanship and the family-friendly event was free and held on a clear, somewhat chilly weekend afternoon.

Flugtag returned to the area for the first time since July 2010, and became Red Bull’s only flying event since 2017. The roots of the competition date back to Selsey, England and 1971 when it was called ‘The Birdman’s Rally’, with the first Flugtag taking place in Vienna in 1991 and now with over 150 competitions since, in over thirty-five different international locations.

In the United States, each flying machine must have a maximum wingspan of 30 feet (9.1 m) and a maximum weight (incl. pilot) of 450 pounds (200 kg) with the craft powered only by muscle, gravity, and imagination. Additionally, because the aircraft will ultimately end up in the water, it must be unsinkable and constructed entirely of environmentally friendly materials, cannot have any loose parts, and any advertising space is limited to one square foot.

The fun format attracts engineers, curious builders, and fun-seeking enthusiasts to build machines in the shape of flying tacos, prehistoric pterodactyls, giant hamburgers, and more. Distance is actually measured at the point the pilot hits the water, not the craft, resulting in many last-second leaps, to gain those precious extra few feet (and added fun effect).

Large video screens were positioned in the park so spectators could all grab a good look, without having to arrive early to stake a spot along the river banks, food and beverage tents were plentiful (loads of Red Bull drink on hand, of course), and the judges were perched back in a tented elevated booth for a good view of the action.

Most teams relied on a centralized theme, translating it into the design and finish of their aircraft, the costumes of each member, and a brief (often musical and somewhat choreographed) dance routine, which precluded the vehicle push off the high ramp.

While everyone clearly had fun, only a small handful of the entered aircraft actually somewhat flew, with most crashing down almost immediately into the river, and the crew members usually gleefully jumping in after. 

2010’s champion, from Inver Grove Heights, flew an impressive 207 ft for the victory, but the crowd had to wait this time, for the very last craft to sail, ‘Spooner’s Revenge’ (their design inspired by the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis) to fly the event-winning distance of 54 feet, helmed by a St. Paul team that placed second in 2010.

After an awards ceremony, the crowd dispersed to a street party on nearby West 7^th St. to finish the afternoon celebrating. Red Bull’s slogan is that the caffeine and taurine-powered energy drink “gives you wings” (nevermind that it’s been recently legally challenged) and with a fun and clever marketing event like the Flugtag, everyone is happy to agree, at least for the afternoon.

Flugtag St. Paul 2019 Results:

First Place: Spooners' Revenge
Second Place: Ferris Buehler's Takeoff
Third Place: Flying POS
24 Hour Greatness Award: Spooners' Revenge

Event Records:

Longest flight- 258 feet, set September 21, 2013, in Long Beach, CA by "The Chicken Whisperers" team
Largest Attendance- Cape Town, South Africa with 220,000+ in 2012.

Red Bull Flugtag 2019 at Harriet Island, St. Paul

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

Minneapolis: September 14, 2016

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on September 14, 2016.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Ages and Ages They did manage to fit all seven band members of AgesandAges on stage at the tiny 7th Street Entry. I was kind of impressed, no one got hurt. … Chris Pureka Portland’s Chris Pureka is on tour for her latest album, Back in the Ring. This is Pureka’s first studio full length since 2010’s critically acclaimed How I Learned to See in the Dark. ..…

AGES AND AGES
at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater
Wednesday, 09/14/16, 7:30pm ($10)
bryantlakebowl.com

We first caught Ages And Ages in 2011 and was surprised to see that they all fit on the tiny 7th Street Entry stage... now the Portland band has reduced to just six players: inger/guitarist Tim Perry, percussionist Sarah Riddle, bassist Rob Oberdorfer, guitarist Annie Bethancourt, keys Colin Jenkins, and drummer Evan Railton.

Ages And Ages’ latest Something To Ruin is available now on Partisan Records.

Chris Pureka to open.

Tour Dates:

09/08/16 Seattle, WA Barboza
09/09/16 Spokane, WA The Bartlett
09/10/16 Bozeman, MT Filling Station
09/13/16 Sioux Falls, SD Total Drag Records
09/14/16 Minneapolis, MN Bryant Lake Bowl
09/15/16 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
09/16/16 Goshen, IN Ignition Music Garage
09/17/16 Cincinnati, OH Motr Pub
09/18/16 Columbus, OH Rumba Cafe
09/20/16 Philadelphia, PA MilkBoy
09/21/16 Brooklyn, NY Rough Trade
09/24/16 New Haven, CT Cafe Nine
09/25/16 Allston, MA Great Scott
09/27/16 Washington, DC DC9
09/28/16 Charlottesville, VA The Southern
09/29/16 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
09/30/16 Atlanta, GA Vinyl
10/01/16 Nashville, TN The Basement
10/02/16 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's

Read More Junior Boys Junior Boys formed in Hamilton, Ontario over a decade ago and were instrumental in shaping the sound of modern electronic pop music prevalent today, with their …

JUNIOR BOYS
at Turf Club
Wednesday, 09/14/16, 7:30pm ($3 RSVP / $10)
turfclub.net

Canadian electropop group Junior Boys (aka Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark) will be headlining the Turf Club in St Paul next Wednesday, September 14th, as part of the special Red Bull Sound Select (curated by Totally Gross National Product) show. These shows are only $3 if you RSVP, $10 otherwise.

Junior Boys’ latest Big Black Coat is out now on City Slang.

Toronto’s River Tiber and local Fog to open.

Tour Dates:

9/9 Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz PDB
9/13 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
9/14 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
9/15 Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre
9/16 Regina, SK – The Exchange
9/17 Edmonton, AB – Starlite Room
9/18 Calgary, AB – Commonwealth Bar
9/20 Missoula, MT – Top Hat
9/21 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
9/23 Denver, CO – The Bluebird Theater
9/24 Omaha, NE – Slowdown
9/26 Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
9/27 St. Louis, MO – Old Rock House
9/28 Bloomington, IN – The Bishop
9/29 Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
9/30 Lexington, KY – Cosmic Charlie’s
10/1 Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light
10/3 Asheville, NC – The Mothlight
10/4 Athens, GA – The Georgia Theatre
10/6 Tampa, FL – Crowbar
10/7 Orlando, FL – The Social
10/8 Miami, FL – III Points
10/13 Mexico City, MX – Lunario del Auditorio
10/14 Nuevo Leon, MX – Cafe Iguana
10/15 Guadalajara, MX – C3 Stage
11/04 PT Lisbon - Lux
11/05 IT Turin - Club to Club Festival
11/07 UK London - Corsica Studios
11/08 PL Gdansk - Stary Manez
11/10 BE Brussels - Bozar Electronic Arts
11/11 CH Bern - Dachstock @ Reitschule
11/12 DE Leipzig - Audio Invasion

Read More Caveman New York’s Caveman, fresh off their SXSW appearance, is excited to announce that they’ve signed on to do a 24-date North American tour with Frightened Rabbit. … Cheerleader Support from duo Cheerleader (Joe Haller and Chris Duran). Cheerleader’s debut album The Sunshine of Your Youth came out last year on Bright Antenna Records. …

CAVEMAN
at 7th Street Entry
Wednesday, 09/14/16, 7:30pm ($12)
first-avenue.com

New York’s Caveman (not to be confused with San Francisco’s Caveman Sound or rapper Caveman or New Zealand’s The Cavemen) is back on tour this Fall in support of their new album Otero War, available now on Cinematic Music Group.

You may recall that we previously caught the band with Frightened Rabbit in April 2016 when they previewed some of their new songs.

We’ve been following Caveman since 2013.

Philly-based haze-pop quintet Cheerleader will open. The band was just in town in June 2016 with Eliot Sumner , and we wrote, “ The story of this band is that they originally started in Hartford, Connecticut between Joe Haller and Chris Duran, creating music in Duran’s basement. When they relocated to Philadelphia, the two decided to take their love of creating music seriously, so they form Cheerleader.”

They’ve just released their debut album The Sunshine of Your Youth last year, and have previously toured with The Wombats (yes, we caught Cheerleader in 2015), The Hold Steady, Colony House, and Knox Hamilton.

Caveman/Cheerleader Tour Dates:

Sep 08 The Basement Columbus, OH
Sep 09 Zanzabar Louisville, KY
Sep 11 Schuba's Chicago, IL
Sep 12 The Frequency Madison, WI
Sep 13 Cactus Club Union Grove, WI
Sep 14 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
Sep 16 Slowdown Omaha, NE
Sep 17 Larimer Lounge Denver, CO
Sep 18 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT
Sep 20 The Crocodile Seattle, WA
Sep 21 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
Sep 23 The Chapel San Francisco, CA
Sep 24 The Crepe Place Santa Cruz, CA
Sep 25 Bootleg Theatre Los Angeles, CA
Sep 26 The Casbah San Diego, CA
Sep 28 Valley Bar Phoenix, AZ
Sep 30 House Of Blues Dallas, TX
Oct 04 The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
Oct 05 Syndicate Lounge Birmingham, AL
Oct 06 Hi-Ho Lounge New Orleans, LA
Oct 10 Proud Larry's Oxford, MS
Oct 11 12th & Porter Nashville, TN
Oct 12 Woodward Theater Cincinnati, OH
Oct 13 The Hi-Fi Indianapolis, IN
Oct 14 Mahall's Lakewood, OH
Oct 15 Marble Bar Detroit, MI
Oct 16 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Canada
Oct 18 Great Scott Allston, MA
Oct 19 Ballroom at Outer Space Hamden, CT
Oct 20 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
Oct 21 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA
Oct 22 DC 9 Washington, DC

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

Empress Of at Amsterdam Bar and Hall, St. Paul (19 May 2016)

Empress Of Setlist Water Water    (Beyonce “Formation” transition) Threat Kitty Kat Standard Icon    (Aaliyah “One in a Million” transition) Need Myself Realize You    (Prince "Controversy" transition) Woman is a Word    (Bowie/Queen "Under Pressure" transition) Makeup    (Florence + the Machine "You Got the Love" trans.) How Do You Do It Tour Dates June 1 Barcelona, ES Barts June 2 Barcelona, ES Primavera Festival June 4 Copenhagen, DK Distortion Festival June 5 Berlin, DE Berghain Kantine June 6 Hamburg, DE Turmzimmer June 7 Brussels, BE Botanique June 8 Paris, FR Pop up Du Label June 10 Porto, PT Primavera Festival June 12 London, UK Field Day Festival June 13 Manchester, UK Guilvers June 14 London, UK Moth Club June 16 Amsterdam. NL De School June 17 Hilvarenbeek, NL Best Kept Secret Festival July 15-17 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Festival Read More Empress Of We randomly caught Empress Of (aka Lorely Rodriguez) when she opened up for Kimbra in Rocktober 2014. Well Rodriguez is back, this time in support of her latest Me album. … RONiiA Closing out the event will be local Roniia (stylized as RONiiA). This is the group lead by Nona Marie Invie, who you may know was from the popular Dark Dark Dark group. … Dizzy Fae The second show will be at the small 7th Street Entry, with openers Dizzy Fae and Izell Pyramid. …

Another month, another show with wiiings…!

Energy beverage drink Red Bull currently sponsors a monthly music series in several cities called Red Bull Sound Select that brings acts, both up-and-coming as well as established, into smaller clubs, for a reduced admission with pre-event RSVP.

For May in Minneapolis/St. Paul, the headliner was Los Angeles-based electronic pop artist, Empress Of who put on a 40 min. performance that showed how much music a single person can create in a live setting.

This installment of the series was curated by local label Totally Gross National Product, who boasts an impressive array of area artists ranging from Poliça to Fog to Solid Gold and others.

RONiiA

One of those label artists was opener RONiiA, who has recently put out an EP called Sisters. The three-piece includes singer Nona Marie Invie (of Dark, Dark, Dark), Mark McGee (of Marijuana Deathsquads) and Fletcher Barnhill (of Joint Custody) and mostly plays sparse and somewhat downbeat electronic music with vivid lyrics.

Dizzy Fae

The middle act was 17yr old newcomer Dizzy Fae, who just has a small handful of songs to her name at this point, but is quickly gaining local buzz. Backed by DJ So Na, Fae brought a dreamy electronica tinged with R&B to such songs as ‘Color Me Bad’ and ‘Complexion’.

Fae impressed many in the crowd (handfuls were there specifically to see her, it was obvious), even Lizzo, who was also present and “feeling good as hell” (though she didn’t perform). Fae closed with the unreleased ‘Aftermath’ and any fans of FKA Twigs or Morcheeba, are advised to check her out.

Empress Of

The stage was then cleared and set for the headliner, Empress Of (aka Lorely Rodriguez), armed with not much more than a simple Akai MPK225 25-key Midi Controller, a laptop, and basic electronic percussion.  The 25yr old (who looks half her age) jumped about in a black mid-length skirt and fully buttoned black blouse, which resembled a private school outfit.

Playing much of her debut album, Me (XL Recordings/Terrible), Rodriguez skillfully segued each song into the other, often using clipped versions of parts of more familiar songs by the likes of Beyonce, Prince, Queen, and others, to help transition into the next.

Setlist

‘Need Myself’, in particular, was a fervent dose of self-dependent lyrics set to a throbbing beat that definitely caught the audience’s ear.  There was a pop feel to most of the songs, which were also sonically adventurous and somewhat experimental, with diary-like, confessional lyrics, and all coming from the work of a single person on stage, though sounding like a full band.

‘Woman is a Word’ brought a message of empowerment, ‘Make Up’ was about making (and breaking) your own rules of life, and set closer, ‘How Do You Do It’ brought a potential obsession to life in the form of playful synth cutting through a driving rhythm.

From the crowd’s response, they seemed to gain wings of their own from the performance with most in the front dancing the entire set, and Empress Of is just learning to fly – where things take her is worth following.

The Red Bull Sound Select series continues on June 18 with a more urban vibe, featuring sets from Atlanta’s Lil Yachty as well as Jace (Two-9) and Drelli, with additional DJ sets, curated this time, by Greenroom Magazine.

Empress Of at Amsterdam Bar and Hall, St. Paul (19 May 2016)

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

Minneapolis: March 9, 2016

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on March 9, 2016.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Ty Segall Manipulator is the latest album from Ty Segall. Segall will be back in the Twin City at the Turf Club in St Paul this Wednesday, September 24th. … Feels Get a load of our first local release from our new home in east LA: native Angeleno 4-piece Feels and their debut self titled LP. Slanted scuzzy guitar interplay, a little grrlish swagger, flashes of raw emotion … Royal Brat Local queer punk core Royal Brat opened up the show. This was the trio's first show ever. Note: the band features Clara Salyer, from Prissy Clerks and currently in Whatever Forever (with Red Pens' Howard Hamilton). … Mikal Cronin I've grown to know about Mikal Cronin as bass/vocals for Ty Segall (one of my favorite garage band acts). He has released a few solo albums that are amazing. There is this awesome .… Wand Again, Los Angeles' Wand is not to be confused with Canadian band Wand (who was forced to change their name) or Denmark's The Wands or Japan's Wands. They also suffer from same-name/similar-sounding ....

TY SEGALL & THE MUGGERS
with Feels / Royal Brat
at First Avenue
Wednesday, 03/09/16, 7:30pm ($20)
first-avenue.com

Man, the last time I saw Ty Segall, we were on a boat and Redd Kross’ Steve Mcdonald was on bass! There was maybe about 100 people on the small boat, and it was pretty rad. You can read all about it here: NXNE 2011 (Saturday).

Segall’s eight studio album Emotional Mugger came out this year via Drag City Records, and, of course, is on tour to promote the new album. Apparently his new live band will be called The Muggers, featuring: bassist Mikal Cronin, guitarist Kyle Thomas, guitarist Emmett Kelly, and keys Cory Hanson (Wand) and drummer Evan Burrows. Segall will play the part of “Sloppo”, a grown man wearing a baby mask.

Los Angeles’ Feels (not to be confused with Portland’s Feels, synth-trio The Feels, or New York’s The Feels, or Poland’s Feel, or London’s The Feeling) is also on the bill ... which, incidentally, they were in the news recently for an awful reason. A Feels fan got stabbed to death during a Feels-headlined show at the Underground DTSA (on Thursday, March 3rd).

The band, of course is devastated by the news and wrote:

We watched as the fight broke out, crashing onto the stage knocking mics over while the second band played, saw fists flying and more and more people dog piling on to try to break it up but still had no idea... then there was blood on the floor, cops and paramedics, the whole show was shut down of course, but still when we left we were under the impression that he was stabbed in the shoulder and was going to be fine.

Waking up this morning and finding out that he died in the hospital... There are no words. We are sending all of our love to the spirit of Nathan, his friends and family. We seriously hope that the murderer is captured and prosecuted to the fullest.

Local queer punk core Royal Brat to open the show (the band features Clara Salyer, from Babes in Toyland, Prissy Clerks and Whatever Forever). The new-ish band promised to showcase some new songs for this show.

Tour dates:

03/07/16 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
03/08/16 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
03/09/16 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
03/10/16 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
03/11/16 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
03/12/16 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
05/01/16 Levitation
06/11/16 NOS Primavera Sound

Read More Dosh & Ghostband Local electronic beatmakers Dosh and Ghostband opened with a pulsing, throbbing 45 min. DJ set that set the mood for some, and perplexed others. …

TORTOISE
with Mind Over Mirrors / Dosh
at Cedar Cultural Center
Wednesday, 03/09/16, 7pm ($18/$20)
thecedar.org

Chicago’s Tortoise has been making music since 1990, and some critics have said that the band is behind the development of the post-rock movement (others have argued that Tortoise is only influenced by progressive rock that preceded them). Still, it’s hard to ignore that in their 26 years, that the band definitely has made an impact on experimental, post-rock, and progressive music. Since many of their shows are part improvisation, familiar songs may sound completely different than whatever they previously recorded.

Tortoise’s seven studio album The Catastrophist is out now on Thrill Jockey.

Opening up for Tortoise will be Chicago’s Mind Over Mirrors (aka Jaime Fennelly) and local Dosh.

USA Tour:

03/09 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar #
03/11 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig #
03/12 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace #
03/13 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount #
03/14 - Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse #
03/15 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair #
03/16 - New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge #
03/17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Littlefield #
03/18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts #
03/19 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat #
03/20 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern #
03/21 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel #
03/22 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall #
03/23 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revival #
03/24 - Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio #
04/26 - Boise, ID @ Radio Boise Tuesday
04/27 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
04/28 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
04/29 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
04/30 - Sonoma, CA @ Sonoma Winery
05/01 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
05/02 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
05/03 - Solana Beach @ Belly Up
05/04 – Phoenix AZ @ Desert Daze Phoenix a
05/06 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
05/08 - Dallas, TX @ Dada
05/09 - St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
05/10 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
05/11 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
05/12 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird
05/13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
05/14 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad

# w/ Mind Over Mirrors

Read More Oneohtrix Point Never The last time Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin) was in Minneapolis, he was part of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series show. John described his show as both a visual and audio …

RED BULL SOUND SELECT PRESENTS:
ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER
at Triple Rock Social Club
Wednesday, 03/09/16, 9pm ($3/$12)
triplerocksocialclub.com

Oneohtrix Point Never (a.k.a Daniel Lopatin) will be continuing his tour, following the release of Garden of Delete on November 2015 via Warp Records.... and the tour starts this Wednesday at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis. We saw him in 2013, and wrote that he was “ambient minimalist.”

The Triple Rock Social Club show is one of the great Red Bull Sound Select shows, which we have previously attended in the past. They are basically awarding you for RSVP (with will cost $3). For lazy people it will cost you $12 at the door. So it’s highly recommended that you RSVP now. Bonus: You get a Red Bull with purchase, so that $3 is basically you buying a Red Bull. Highly recommended if you were on the fence about going.

Leisure Birds and Psymun to open.

Tour dates:

03/09 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
03/10 Chicago, IL - Levitation Chicago
03/11 Toronto, ON - The Hoxton
03/12 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
03/14 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
03/15 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
03/17 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
04/29 Austin, TX - Levitation
04/30 Las Vegas, NV - Further Future
05/21 Durham, NC - Moogfest
06/04 Nagano, Japan - TAICOCLUB
06/18 Barcelona, Spain - Sonar
06/19 Best Kept Secret Festival
07/15-17 Pitchfork Music Festival
08/20 Katowice, Poland - Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival

Read More Carly Rae Jepsen Based on this song, Carly Rae Jepsen doesn't seem to be very different from other pop stars. She has a decent voice, she looks perfectly prim on the artwork for this song and the lyrics of this song could have been written …

CARLY RAE JEPSEN
The Gimmie Love Tour
at Varsity Theater
Wed., 03/09/16, 6:30pm ($25/$30/Sold Out)
varsitytheater.org

The “Call Me Maybe” singer Carly Rae Jepsen sold out her appearance at the Varsity Theater this Wednesday. Although some people may have dismissed her as a one-hit-wonder, it would appear that her new single “I Really Like You” is top 5 in the UK and top 10 in Japan.

Cardiknox and Fairground Saints to open.

Tour dates:

03/07/16 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom
03/08/16 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
03/09/16 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
03/11/16 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
03/12/16 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar
03/13/16 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
03/14/16 Nashville, TN Cannery Ballroom
03/17/16 Covington, KY Madison Theater
03/18/16 Millvale, PA Mr. Small's Theatre
03/19/16 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
03/20/16 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage
03/22/16 Clifton Park, NY Upstate Concert Hall
03/23/16 Providence, RI Fete Music Hall
03/25/16 New York, NY Terminal 5
03/26/16 Huntington, NY The Paramount
04/02/16 Popspring
04/03/16 Kobe, Japan Kobe World Memorial Hall
04/07/16 St. John's, NL Mile One Centre
04/08/16 St. John's, NL Mile One Centre
04/11/16 Moncton, NB Moncton Coliseum Complex
04/12/16 Halifax, NS Scotiabank Centre
04/14/16 Kingston, ON Rogers K-Rock Centre
04/15/16 Peterborough, ON Peterborough Memorial
04/16/16 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre
04/18/16 Barrie, ON Barrie Molson Centre
04/19/16 Oshawa, ON General Motors Centre
04/20/16 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
04/22/16 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
04/23/16 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
04/24/16 Sudbury, ON Sudbury Arena
04/26/16 Windsor, ON WFCU Centre
04/27/16 Kitchener, ON Kitchener Memorial
04/29/16 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
05/05/16 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
05/06/16 Regina, SK Brandt Centre
05/07/16 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
05/09/16 Medicine Hat, AB Canalta Centre
05/10/16 Lethbridge, AB ENMAX Centre
05/12/16 Dawson Creek, BC Encana Events Centre
05/13/16 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
05/14/16 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
05/16/16 Prince George, BC CN Centre
05/17/16 Kelowna, BC Prospera Place
05/19/16 Victoria, BC Save On Foods Memorial
05/20/16 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
07/15/16 Pitchfork Music Festival

Read More Joseph Portland's Joseph are three sisters, Natalie, Allison, and Meegan. They harmonize as only very close family members can achieve. Songs on their set included tracks from Native Dreamer Kin, which came out early in March 2014. …

JOSEPH
with Tyler Sjöström
at Turf Club
Wednesday, 03/09/16, 7pm ($12/$15)
turfclub.net

The problem with the name “Joseph” is that it is too common. For example, there is a British DJ billing himself simply as Joseph, etc. The American (Portland, Oregon) Joseph band is actually three sisters: Natalie, Allison, and Meegan. They’re named after their grandfather.

We previously caught the sisters in 2014, and wrote, “They harmonize as only very close family members can achieve.... I got the impression that the sisters were very fun to be around.”

Chicago’s Tyler Sjöström to open.

Tour dates:

03/06/16 Spokane, WA The Bartlett
03/09/16 Saint Paul, MN Turf Club
03/10/16 Milwaukee, WI Club Garibaldi's
03/11/16 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
03/12/16 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's Duck Room
03/13/16 Bentonville, AR 21c Museum Hotel
03/17/16 SXSW
04/19/16 Los Angeles, CA The Theatre
04/20/16 Los Angeles, CA Lyric Theatre
04/22/16 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
04/23/16 San Francisco, CA Swedish American
04/27/16 New York, NY The Mercury Lounge
04/27/16 Vancouver, BC Orpheum
04/28/16 Seattle, WA The Showbox
/29/16 New York, NY The Mercury Lounge
04/29/16 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
05/01/16 Vienna, VA Jammin' Java
05/03/16 Philadelphia, PA Tin Angel
05/04/16 New York, NY The Mercury Lounge
05/05/16 Cambridge, MA Middle East Upstairs
05/06/16 Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall

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

Rocktober: October 9, 2015

Read More FFS FFS - the unique collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks - have announced their first ever North American live dates. This once-in-a-lifetime tour .… Franz Ferdinand As I have suspected, Franz Ferdinand will be on a bigger tour in support of their new album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, which comes out next week (August 27th) on Domino Records.… Sparks Sparks are a new wave/glam band from Los Angeles, lead by two brothers: Ron and Russell Mael. The Los Angeles duo influenced everyone from Nirvana to New Order to They Might Be Giants. .…

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on October 9, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

FFS
at First Avenue
Friday, 10/09/2015, 8pm ($35)
first-avenue.com

What happens when you take the pop/dance rock of Franz Ferdinand and combine them with the quirkiness of Sparks? You get FFS.

We never thought we'd see these two unique bands together, but they've added Minneapolis as one of their 11 North American tour dates! Think about this: they've already played/headlined massive music festival (Glastonbury Festival), so seeing them at First Avenue will be a lot more personal and up close!

Los Angeles' The Intelligence and DJ Jake Rudh to open.

FFS' self-titled debut album is available now via Domino. The album was recorded at London's RAK Studios in London and produced by Grammy-award winner John Congleton (St Vincent, David Byrne, Anna Calvi).

FFS Tour Dates

Oct 3 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
Oct 5 Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theater
Oct 6 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
Oct 8 Chicago, IL @ Rivera
Oct 9 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Oct 11 Denver, CO @ The Ogden
Oct 13 Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium
Oct 14 Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
Oct 15 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre

Read More The Joy Formidable It's been a while since I mentioned Wales' The Joy Formidable. Their sophomore album, Wolf's Law was released today (Jan 22nd) via Canvasback Music / Atlantic Records. .…

JOY FORMIDABLE
at Turf Club
Friday, 10/09/2015, 8pm ($3)
turfclub.net

This is the best deal in town: if you RSVP, you get in the door for $3, plus you get a free Red Bull (basically you're paying for the drink and getting the show for free). This is a wonderful deal, the last time they were in town as headliner at First Avenue, the tickets were about $20.

The reason for the reduced pricing is because this show is sponsored by Red Bull Sound Select, who is picking up most of the tab in exchange for promoting the Red Bull brand and awareness.

We've been talking about the Welsh band/London-based The Joy Formidable since 2008, and was thrilled about their EP A Balloon Called Moaning.

Murder Shoes and Verskotzi to open.

Tour dates:

09 Oct 2015 Turf Club, St Paul, MN
15 Oct 2015 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY
16 Oct 2015 Cargo, Reno, NV
30 Oct 2015 City Park, New Orleans, LA
31 Oct 2015 City Park, New Orleans, LA
01 Nov 2015 City Park, New Orleans, LA
12 Nov 2015 Masonic Lodge, Los Angeles
14 Nov 2015 San Diego Music Thing
21 Nov 2015 Gundlach Bundschu Winery

Read More Lewis Black I have been aware of Lewis Black since the early 2000's. Lewis Black is an interesting stand-up comedian. He's not the type of comedian that has set ups and punchlines. He is the type more .…

VARIOUS ARTISTS
at Various Venues
Friday, 10/09/2015

As usual, there are too many shows in the area for Rocktober.

Here are some shows we are not covering, but I felt they were important enough to mention:

Get Your Gear in Rear: Classic Rock Night at Varsity Theater. Classic rock covers by The G Men, Mars Attrax, and Black Sabbath the Resurrection, to benefit the Colon Cancer Coalition. (7pm/$10)

Merge Records' Titus Andronicus sold out show at Triple Rock Social Club. Spider Bags and Baked to open. (8pm/$15/Sold Out)

Latin urban artist J Balvin will be at Myth Live, Becky G to open (8pm/$29.50)

Alternative tattooed/piercing sexy SuicideGirls to return to Minneapolis at Mill City Nights (8pm/$25)

Country/Americana singer Hayes Carll will be in town with Aubrie Sellers at Cedar Cultural Center (7pm/$20)

Vancouver's Bob Moses is headlining the 7th Street Entry, with Desert Colony Sound to open (8pm/$12)

Gwar will be at Cabooze (6pm/$25)

Ranty Lewis Black will make an appearance at The State Theatre (7pm/$39.50). Look, the man's just angry all the time.

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

Red Bull Sound Select presents Astronautalis at the Turf Club, St Paul (19 September 2015)

Tour Dates 10/14/15 The Showbox Seattle, WA 10/15/15 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR 10/16/15 Oakland Metro Oakland, CA 10/17/15 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA 10/18/15 Sayers Club Las Vegas, NV 10/31/15 Bime Bilbao, Spain 11/06/15 Kulturbetrieb Royal Baden, Switzerland 11/07/15 Le Port France Sion, Switzerland 11/08/15 Halle 2 Heidelberg, Germany 11/10/15 Studio 672 Koln, Germany 11/12/15 Soul Inn Brussels, Belgium 11/13/15 6 PAR 4 Laval, France 11/17/15 Louisiana Bristol, UK 11/18/15 Scala London, UK 11/19/15 The Hairy Dog Derby, UK 11/20/15 Broadcast Glasgow, UK 11/21/15 Soup Kitchen Manchester, UK 11/24/15 Hafenklang Hamburg, Germany 11/25/15 Lido Berlin, Germany 11/26/15 Kassablanca Jena, Germany 11/29/15 Lucerna Music Bar Prague, Czech Read More Red Bull I've previously mentioned that I liked how Red Bull invests back into the music community. There are couple of new items that I thought I'd mention. The first is that Red Bull .… Marijuana Deathsquads Given the fact that both drummers performed four sets over two nights (both were a part of openers Marijuana Deathsquads as well), any minor missed beat could have been easily forgiven. .…

When the options you have for a night are to dance, get pregnant, or get out... you know it's going to be a good night. Those were the options that Astronautalis gave the crowd last night at the Red Bull Sound Select concert (curated by record label Totally Gross National Product) at The Turf Club in Saint Paul.

I am fairly new to this whole "Red Bull Sound Select" concert series. Basically, Red Bull puts on these "pop up" shows at local bars and clubs that feature a couple local acts with a touring act. The nice thing about these shows are they are cheap. As long as you RSVP'd online for last night's show, you only had to pay $3 at the door and you got a free Red Bull drink with entry. I went to one of these shows a couple years ago to see Yeasayer but hadn't really been interested in any of the other ones they put on here in the Twin Cities. They do these across the country and they seem to be happening much more frequently. That being said, these are awesome, cheap shows if you're ever looking for something to do. Make sure you check it out and see what's coming to your city!

Astronautalis opened the show last night, His set was full of new songs off of his upcoming release. He explained that he was trying to lay low until his new album drops but when he heard about this show, he begged his way onto the lineup. I am so happy that he got on the show because he was definitely the highlight of the night for me and majority of the full house.

Astronautalis is a local rapper and, like almost all Twin Cities rappers, he is amazing. He told the crowd that they only options they had for the night were to get pregnant, dance, or leave. Nobody in the crowd left, I'm really hoping nobody got pregnant, everybody danced. The way he commanded the crowd from the first word he said was amazing. The way he can freestyle is amazing and he proved that last night.

At one point of Astronautalis' set he walked all the way through the venue while singing one of his new songs. This was awesome and got people moving. When he got back to the stage, he was not alone. An extremely intoxicated girl had attached herself onto him and started screaming at him from the front row. Not only was it pissing everyone off in the crowd, it had Astronautalis on edge. Because of this, his freestyle that was supposed to be about Nicholas Cage, chinchillas, mountains, poutine, and some other topics the crowd had shouted out, became all about how this drunk girl was annoying the crap out of everyone and ruining the show for everyone. I thought it was awesome that he took this tense situation and made it part of his show. Yeah, she got her ten minutes off fame during the rap, but he had absolutely nothing nice to say about the girl. I didn't see her after being called out in front of the near, if not, sold out crowd.

Marijuana Deathsquads also played last night and killed it. This is a band that you just have to see live. They have three drummers on full kits, and then a table of guys hunched over computers with a couple of people doing vocals. Last night was their birthday party so obviously, they threw out wrapped gifts to the crowd that were full of merch and CD's.

Last night our options were to dance, get pregnant, or get out... There was no way in hell I was leaving. I danced my butt off last night and was, yet again, blown away by the local music scene here in the Twin Cities.

Astronautalis at Turf Club, St Paul (19 September 2015)

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

Minneapolis: June 22 - June 23, 2015

Here are some concerts taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from June 22 to June 23, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More San Cisco Sure, San Cisco's been coming to Minneapolis for the one hundred times, but that doesn't mean we're tired of them! In fact, it should be fun to see them again as they stop by the Triple Rock Social Club with Smallpools tomorrow! . …

SAN CISCO
at Triple Rock Social Club
Monday, 06/22/15, 7:30pm ($15)
Details: triplerocksocialclub.com

Our favorite modern Australian band San Cisco will be making their way back to Minneapolis' Triple Rock Social Club next Monday, June 22nd. The band is touring in support of their sophomore album Gracetown, which came out March 2015 via Fat Possum Records/Island City Records.

We're pretty proud to have supported San Cisco's music career since 2011 (before "Awkward" went viral).

Opening will be Brooklyn four-piece M O T H X R

Tour dates:

06/15/15 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
06/16/15 Vancouver, BC Venue
06/17/15 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
06/19/15 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
06/20/15 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
06/22/15 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
06/23/15 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
06/24/15 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
06/26/15 Toronto, ON Virgin Mobile Mod Club
06/27/15 Saratoga Springs, NY Vapor
06/28/15 Allston, MA Great Scott
06/30/15 Washington, DC Black Cat
07/01/15 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
07/02/15 New York, NY The Bowery Ballroom
07/24/15 Splendour In The Grass
09/12/15 Lollapalooza Berlin
10/03/15 Caloundra Music Festival

Read More Stereo Confession Starting off the evening was local band Stereo Confession, straight out of Southwest High School. I wrote about them in September 2014, so I was pretty excited to see what they were all about. …

GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH
at Turf Club
Monday, 06/22/15, 8pm ($8)
Details: turfclub.net

Guantanamo Baywatch has the best/worst band name. The Portland band is currently on tour in support of their latest album, Darling... It's Too Late, now on Suicide Squeeze. Look for the record on all popular formats, including CD, digital formats, and 1,000 copies of peaches-and-cream vinyl.

Cleveland's Obnox (aka Nox) and local Stereo Confession will open the show.

Tour dates:

06.14.15 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Wick
06.16.15 – Montreal, QB @ L’esco
06.17.15 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Explosion
06.18.15 – Toronto, ON @ Johnny Jackson
06.19.15 – Detroit, MI @ Painted Lady
06.21.15 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
06.22.15 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
06.25.15 – Calgary, AB @ Sled Island
06.26.15 – Calgary, AB @ Sled Island
06.27.15 – Calgary, AB @ Sled Island
06.30.15 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
07.02.15 – Seattle, WA @ Therapy
07.04.15 – Oakland, CA @ Burger Boogaloo
07.05.15 – Oakland, CA @ Burger Boogaloo

Read More Ingrid Michaelson Fresh from a radio in-studio session and ahead of her sold out weekend show at Minneapolis’ First Avenue, indie-pop singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and band found themselves amongst … Jukebox the Ghost We last heard from Washington's Jukebox the Ghost when they went on tour with Matt Pond (aka Matt Pond PA), but the trio will be back in town as part of their headlining tour in support of their latest ....

INGRID MICHAELSON
at Northrop Auditorium
Tuesday, 06/23/15, 7:30pm ($29.50)
Details: northrop.umn.edu

Multi-platinum selling pop musician Ingrid Michaelson will be headlining the Northrop Auditorium next Tuesday, June 23rd. The singer's fifth studio album Lights Out is out now on Cabin 24 Records/Mom+Pop Music.

Opening up will be Brooklyn's Jukebox The Ghost, on tour in support of their most recent self-titled full-length studio album via Cherrytree Records.

Also on the bill is NYC's Secret Someones (a new project from Bess Rogers, Lelia Broussard, Hannah Winkler, and Zach Jones). Ingrid Michaelson compared the band to Weezer... "but with boobies." Secret Someones previously toured with Jukebox the Ghost on their January 2015 tour.

Tour dates:

06/15/15 Knitting Factory in Boise, ID*
06/16/15 Edgefield Amphitheatre in Portland, OR*
06/17/15 Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA*
06/19/15 The Complex in Salt Lake City, UT*
06/23/15 Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis, MN*
06/24/15 Chicago Theatre in Chicago, IL*
06/25/15 Ann Arbor Summer Festival, MI*
06/27/15 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston, MA*
06/28/15 Thompson’s Point in Portland, ME*
06/29/15 SummerStage in New York, NY*
06/30/15 Skyline Stage in Philadelphia, PA*

*w/ Jukebox The Ghost

Read More Jessica Hernandez If you have an iPod or iPad, you can grab the single to "Tired Oak" by Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas for free on iTunes. …

JESSICA HERNANDEZ & THE DELTAS
at Turf Club
Tuesday, 06/23/15, 7pm ($3 w/ RSVP)
Details: turfclub.net

As part of a special Red Bull Sound Select show, you can RSVP to the event for a mere $3. Without RSVP will cost you $10, which won't break the bank... but that's one less Pabst Blue Ribbon for you.

Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas is headliner. This is a great semi-free show you should check out. Find out why NPR is calling Hernandez "a powerful, undeniable voice."

Locals Southside Desire and semi-local Daniel to open the show.

Note: There are no presale tickets available for this show. Tickets will only be sold at the door.

Tour dates:

Jun 18 Sonic Lunch Ann Arbor, MI
Jun 23 Turf Club St Paul, MN
Jun 25 Marquis Theatre Denver, CO
Jun 26 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT
Jun 27 Neurolux Boise, ID
Jun 28 The Belfry Bend, OR
Jul 01 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
Jul 02 The Bartlett Spokane, WA
Jul 04 Waterfront Blues Festival Portland, OR
Jul 07 Live At Lagunitas Petaluma, CA
Jul 08 Slim's San Francisco, CA
Jul 09 The Echo Los Angeles, CA
Jul 10 Soda Bar San Diego, CA
Jul 11 Rebel Lounge Phoenix, AZ
Jul 13 Launchpad Albuquerque, NM
Jul 15 Stubb's BBQ Austin, TX
Jul 16 Fitzgerald's Houston, TX
Jul 17 Gasa Gasa New Orleans, LA
Jul 18 Sloss Music and Arts Festival
Jul 25 Mo Pop Festival Detroit, MI
Jul 31 Lollapalooza Aftershow @ Park West
Aug 01 Lollapalooza Chicago, IL
Aug 02 Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts
Sep 10 Rumba Cafe Columbus, OH
Sep 12 LouFest St Louis, MO
Oct 02 ACL Festival - Weekend One Austin, TX

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

Red Red Red

But he's been pretty much yellow
And I've been kinda blue
But all I can see is
Red, red, red, red, red now
What am I gonna do

- Fiona Apple

Blood Red Shoes Jazzlife/[PIAS] America Read More Blood Red Shoes Blood Red Shoes' EP, Water, is out now via V2 / Cooperative Music. The highlight from the EP is a track called "Red River", which you can watch on YouTube. …

BLOOD RED SHOES
bloodredshoes.co.uk

UK rock duo Blood Red Shoes will be returning to North America this May in support of their self-titled album, which is out this week (March 11, 2014) via Jazzlife/[PIAS] America.

Blood Red Shoes' North America tour dates:

05/07/2014 - Washington, DC @ DC9*
05/08/2014 - Raleigh, NC @ Kings*
05/09/2014 - Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Fest*
05/10/2014 - Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter*
05/11/2014 - Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle*
05/13/2014 - Boston, MA @ Great Scott*
05/14/2014 - Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands*
05/15/2014 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge*
05/16/2014 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison*
05/17/2014 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas*
05/18/2014 – Madison, WI @ The Frequency*
05/19/2014 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry*
05/21/2014 - Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room*
05/22/2014 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
05/23/2014 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
05/26/2014 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah*
05/27/2014 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo*
05/28/2014 - San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar*
05/30/2014 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza*
05/31/2014 – Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar*

* with Radkey

The Red Bull Music Academy Festival New York Red Bull Guest House - March 28th Read More Red Bull I've previously mentioned that I liked how Red Bull invests back into the music community. There are couple of new items that I thought I'd mention. The first is that Red Bull …

RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY
redbullmusicacademy.com

The Red Bull Music Academy Festival New York is a month-long series of concerts, night clubs, lectures, art, and more. The events will take place at various venues throughout New York in the entire month of May.

You can read more details at news.weheartmusic.com or at redbullmusicacademy.com/nyc.

Here's the date and titles:

May 1 – Bounce Ballroom
May 2 & 3 – Atomic Bomb! William Onyeabor
May 9 – The Four Corners of the Clash
May 10 – Brooklyn Flea Record Fair
May 10 – Robert Henke’s Lumière & Haxan Cloak
May 11 – Larry Levan Street Party
May 14 – A Night Of Improvised Round Robin Duets
May 16 – Hardcore Activity In Progress
May 17 – Running Back: Gerd Janson All Night Long
May 18 – Panda Bear
May 21 – A Conversation With D'Angelo
May 24 – The Mister Saturday Night House Party
May 28 – Hudson Mohawke & Friends Live
May 30 - Lit City Trax
May 31 – A Class of Its Own

Speaking of Red Bull, the Red Bull Guest House recently announced its first round of lineups for its specially curated showcases in Miami from March 27-30th at the Gale South Beach.

Friday, March 28th – 2:30-7 AM: M-nus Records
Richie Hawtin
Paco Osuna
Gaiser
Matador
Julian Jeweil
Nsound
Joop Junior
Justin James
Marc Faenger

Saturday, March 29th – 3-7 AM: PMR vs. LuckyMe
LuckyMe:
Cashmere Cat
Jacques Greene
Obey City
Joseph Marinetti

PMR:
Cyril Hahn
T. Williams
Julio Bashmore
with Special Guest

Sunday, March 30th – 3-7 AM: Solomun +1 - FLYER
Solomun
Guy Gerber

Agent Cooper Sony Music Entertainment

RUSSIAN RED
russianred.es

Spanish singer/songwriter Russian Red (aka Lourdes Hernández) is in America this week to play some SXSW shows in Austin.

Her latest album is called Agent Cooper (possibly named after Twin Peaks's dashing, yet quirky, FBI agent).

Her tour dates:

03/13 - Palm Door - Austin, TX (SXSW)
03/14 - Winflo Listening Room - Austin, TX (SXSW)
03/14 - Flamingo Cantina - Austin, TX (SXSW)
03/11 - The Satellite - Los Angeles, CA
03/17 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
03/18 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL

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

Ghosts IV

Read More Sky Ferreira Sure, the single, "Red Lips," was released a few months ago (June), but I don't care. I think Sky Ferreira is awesome and we've been following her career since 2010. .…

Read more Ghosts, Ghosts II, and Ghosts III.

SKY FERREIRA
skyferreira.com

Sky Ferreira and How To Dress Well are doing co-headline tour next month. I'm not surprise to see that the tour is centered around the SXSW dates (which most bands are doing - so expect a ton of your favorite indie bands, especially from overseas, to play in your city this month until April).

I've seen How to Dress Well last year, and can tell you that singer Tom Krell sings in falsetto with minimalistic music arrangement. I should also mention that he certainly has his fans - so expect the show to have a really good turn out.

Personally, I'm a Ferreira fan and will love to see her live. We've been covering her music since 2010 and I love how she plays on the sexuality thing, especially the double meaning on such songs as "Sex Rules" and Sky in her undies on the video for "Red Lips".

Check out Sky performing "Everything Is Embarrassing" (from her Ghost EP) live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

Tour dates:

03/07 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene 03/09 - Monterrey, MX - Festival NRMAL 03/19 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall * 03/20 - NYC - Bowery Ballroom * 03/21 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg * 03/23 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's * 03/24 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall * 03/25 - Montreal, QC - Salla Rossa * 03/27 - Toronto, ON - Wrong Bar * 03/29 - Columbus, OH - Basement *

03/30 - Chicago, IL - Schubas * 03/31 - Madison, WI - The Frequency * 04/01 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock * 04/03 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge * 04/05 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret * 04/06 - Seattle, WA - Barboza * 04/07 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios * 04/10 - Silverlake, CA - Los Globos * *Sky Ferreira and How To Dress Well co-headline

DEAD GHOSTS
facebook.com/deadghosts

Canada's Dead Ghosts is releasing a "none bummer album" called Can't Get No on April 30th via Burger Records. The band is kicking off their European tour tomorrow:

02/19 - Münster, Germany @ Gleis 22
02/20 - Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Area 51
02/21 - Bruxelles, Belgium @ Madame Moustache
02/22 - Paris, France @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire
02/23 - La Rochelle, France @ La Barbarella Club
02/24 - Rennes, France @ Sympatic Bar
02/25 - Bordeaux, France @ Café Pompier
02/26 - San Sebastian, Spain @ Bukowsky
02/27 - Madrid, Spain @ Costello Club
02/28 - Barcelona, Spain @ Sidecare
03/01 - Sant Feliú de Guixols, Spain @ TZVR
03/02 - Marseille, France @ La Machine à Coudre
03/03 - Luzern, Switzerland @ Club Sedel
03/04 - Kreuzlingen, Switzerland @ Horst
03/05 - Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
03/06 - Hamburg, Germany @ Komet
03/07 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Drone
03/08 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Southside
03/09 - Göteborg, Sweden @ Showdown Henriksberg

KACEY JOHANSING
kaceyjohansing.com

San Francisco's Kacey Johansing is coming out with Grand Ghosts on February 26th. The album is said to weaves together elements of folk, jazz, pop and classical music.

If you live in the San Francisco area, head over to Noise Pop Festival to see her live, alongside other great acts like Thao Nguyen and Sallie Ford.

NOISE POP FESTIVAL - MARCH 2ND 2013
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside
Kacey Johansing

@ The Great American Music Hall
All Ages, Doors @ 7pm, Show @ 8pm
Advance tix here

Look for Kacey to do a US Spring tour in support of the album soon.

SPECTRES
facebook.com/wearespectres

Spectres just won the "Artrocker Unsigned Band of the Year" award. They will be releasing their Hunger EP on March 11th, 2013, via Bristol's Howling Owl Records. The limited 12" vinyl will come with a CDR and download codes. Limited to 100 copies with handmade sleeve and artwork.*

Be sure to check them out live:

02/23/13 - Bristol Motorcade FlashParade
02/27/13 - Cardiff Buffalo
02/28/13 - Winchester Railway Arms
03/06/13 - Basingstoke Bang Bar
03/07/13 - London Old Blue Last
03/08/13 - Birmingham Flapper
03/09/13 - Portsmouth Southsea Social Club
03/14/13 - Bath Moles

* Apparently all 100 copies are sold out. There is a second pressing, but I don't think it comes with the handmade artwork.

H∆SHTAG$ redbullmusicacademy.com Episode 3 of Red Bull Music Academy's mini-documentary series H∆SHTAG$ is available to watch online. The latest episode, "Don’t Call It #CloudRap" features interviews Main Attrakionz, Flatbush Zombies, SpaceGhostPurrp, Robb Banks and London's Piff Gang and more.

PHANTOM phantomthefilm.com Todd Robinson's movie, "Phantom", will be hitting theaters March 1st. Not to be confused with the horror movie, "Phantoms", this upcoming movie is about a Cold War Soviet missile submarine and stars Ed Harris and David Duchovny. Look for the soundtrack from film composer and recording artist Jeff Rona to be released a week earlier (February 26th) on Milan Records.

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

Red, White, and Blue

RED BULL
redbullmusicacademy.com

I've previously mentioned that I liked how Red Bull invests back into the music community. There are couple of new items that I thought I'd mention.

The first is that Red Bull is sponsoring their stage at Lollapaloozer (the next one is coming up on Sunday 8/7/2011), featuring Midnight Express, Kyle Lucas & Captain Midnight, Daedelus, The Cool Kids, 12th Planet, Jackmaster, Busy P, Modeselektor, and KiD CuDi. Wish I was there, but unfortunately tickets to this music festival is out of my concert budget. If you're stuck in the same boat like me, you can stream certain shows at redbullmusicacademy.com.

The second is that Red Bull Records joins Music Xray, looking to sign indie bands. The service is free, you go to musicxray.com and upload your music. The biography reads: "Red Bull Records is a U.S. independent record label located in Culver City, California. It was started by the energy drink company Red Bull to break into the branded record label business and fill a void in the market."

WHITE WIVES
www.wearewhitewives.com

This new band, White Wives, features the two Chris from Anti-Flag (Chris #2 and Chris Head). I did sample a bit of their album, Happeners (released June 28th via Adeline Records). Right away, I can tell you that they've gone more indie-rock. If you were hoping for a more or less political punk sound because of their Anti-Flag involvement, then you may be in for a disappointment.

Personally, I really enjoyed what I heard on Happeners. I can see the band doing well with sing-along choruses from "Hungry Ghosts" and their hardest song, "Hallelujah, I'm Mourning".

"Indian Summer, Indian Summer" is the lead track, and you can hear it on soundcloud. I'm glad to see that the single version does not feature this (rather long) 34 seconds intro which was taken from The Atomic Bomb Movie (Ivy Mike talking about the first H Bomb test).

White Wives are going on tour:

08/16 Beat Kitchen - Chicago, IL
08/17 Magic Stick Lounge - Detroit, MI
08/18 Monster House - Columbus, OH
08/19 Mohawk Place - Buffalo, NY
08/20 Redwood Art Space - Wilkes Barre, PA
08/21 TBA - Philadelphia, PA
10/01 Metro - Chicago, IL w/ AWOLnation

BLUE OCTOBER
blueoctober.com

Blue October's sixth studio album, Any Man in America, is coming out August 16th via Up/Down Records via MRI. You can preview a bit of the album through their new single, "The Chills", at youtube.

Shot in HD, the video takes place at three different locations in Texas (Triple Crown in San Marcos, singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld's house, and the beach in Galveston). The concept of the video is about relationships and life in general, but it just looks like fun live concert footage to me.

They look pretty amazing live from the video, and, yes, they are on tour:

8/17 Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues 8/18 Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues 8/19 Austin, TX @ Stubb's 8/21 Houston, TX @ House of Blues 9/8 Phoenix, AZ The Foundry 9/9 Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues 9/10 West Hollywood, CA @ House Of Blues 9/11 Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues		9/13 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues 9/15 Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory 9/16 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom 9/17 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater 9/18 Seattle, WA @ Showbox 9/21 Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory 9/22 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory 9/23 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue 9/25 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

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