W♥M

R.I.P. Francoise Hardy and Gaps Hendrickson (The Selecter)

Françoise Hardy Read More France Gall If you like old sixties girl music, you're likely going to love France Gall. Or anything out of the ye-ye music movement. … The Selecter If you love 2 tone ska, you would've loved The Selecter in the 70s, along with such bands like Madness, The Beat (The English Beat) and The Specials. .… …

Two of the biggest and most influential musicians have recently passed away: French singer/songwriter Françoise Hardy and Gaps Hendrickson from the 2-tone Ska The Selecter, have died on June 11.

As you know we are big fans of yé-yé pop music. If you didn’t know, it’s basically the French girl-yeah-yeah singers of the sixties such as Jane Birkin (who died in July 2023) and France Gall (who died in Jan 2018).

Hardy is one of the few French singers of that era to write her own songs, but she is probably famous for covering Perry Como’s “Catch a Falling Star”. I know it is Como’s song, but I’ll always associate that song with Hardy.

As for The Selecter singer, Gaps Hendrickson, he passed away at the age of 73 to cancer. We’re big UK 2-tone fans, such as The Specials, or Madness, so we’ve seen the Selecter at the Cedar Cultural Center in Sep 2013 and wrote, “British ska legend The Selecter made a rare U.S. appearance at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis last night, September 13th; kicking off the start of their 8-date tour in North America. If it's a sign for what's to come, then you'll be happy to know that the band is in tight form, playing all the songs (plus extra b-sides) from Too Much Pressure and, of course, looking good and well-dressed while doing it.”

I’ll always remember that show, because the band played “Too Much Pressure” twice! I guess they wanted us to remember that song.

Read more Musicians Who Died.

The Selecter at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (13 Sep 2013)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

It Must Be Love or Madness

Madness Setlist One Step Beyond (Prince Buster cover) Embarrassment The Prince NW5 My Girl Taller Than You Are (Lord Tanamo cover) The Sun and the Rain C'est la vie Shut Up Girl Why Don't You? (Prince Buster cover) If I Go Mad Bed and Breakfast Man Run for Your Life Chase the Devil (Max Romeo cover) Wings of a Dove Mr. Apples Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover) House of Fun Baggy Trousers Our House It Must Be Love (Labi Siffre cover) -- Encore -- Madness (Prince Buster cover) Night Boat to Cairo Tour Dates May 27 – Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival May 29 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway May 30 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom Read More Madness This song, "In the City" by Madness came to my attention recently, popping up randomly on music shuffle. If you're not familar with Madness, they are a ska band from Camden Town, London and had a massive hit with "Our House" in the US .…

Madness
The Fox Theater
Oakland
May 23, 2024

If you ever thought your middle-aged years weren’t meant for raising hell, just say to hell with the ageists and get suited and booted for a Madness show. The North London band might have been feeling their age, too—they joked about having come to America on the Mayflower for their first tour in 1979. But the vibes at the Fox Theater were youthful and immaculate, bringing everyone to their feet for the rocksteady beats, from the middle-aged fans to those barely out of their teens.

It’s an impressive feat that the British ska revivalists that formed Madness in the late ‘70s have retained six of its original seven members, but the fanbase has remained just as devoted, not just in sound but in style. The two-tone genre (a heady blend of Jamaican ska and reggae with the punk and new wave sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s, perfect for all-nighters on the dancefloor) brought out the nattily dressed—slim-cut suits and pencil skirts, and the ‘60s mod fashions made popular by the rude boys and rude girls of the scene that still persist in the Bay Area and beyond. Coming out to the instrumental theme song to Star Wars, the band (impeccably tailored, natch) launched straightaway into their early UK chart-topper “One Step Beyond,” a cover of Jamaican ska singer Prince Buster’s mostly instrumental song. An upbeat ska bop ladled generously with signature sax, it practically commanded everyone to get up and dance.

From there, it was a mix of old and new, a herculean task of shoehorning a bit of everything from their thirteen albums of horn-laden stompers, slow-and-steady, laid-back beats, and a few crossover pop and rock hits. Their biggest hit, 1982’s “Our House” (which was also the name of their early-aughts West End musical) with its whimsically upbeat hooks, has silly lyrics to match its party-time mood: “Our house, it has a crowd/ There's always something happening/ And it's usually quite loud.” They dipped into fan favorites, like the coming-of-age tune “House of Fun,” with its percolating bass and funhouse menace (“Welcome to the lion’s den/ Temptation’s on its way…”) and the whirligig, bouncy beats of “Baggy Trousers,” for mischievous kids who miss the freedom of youth (“Oh what fun we had/ But at the time it seemed so bad…”).

They also threw in tracks from last year’s C’est La Vie, which doesn’t break any new ground musically, but does offer a tuneful, bittersweet overview of present-day perils, with its insta-celebs and political upheavals, as in the title track’s lyrics, which warn of “Justice, a toothless old hag/ It's every man now on his own/ It's all for one, you'd better run.”

Given the crowd’s jubilant response for the band’s return to the U.S. (a tour was repeatedly postponed during the Covid years), there was an air of thoughtful gratitude from the band. As the crowd chanted for more, charismatic frontman Suggs mused aloud, “It’s not just music.” He’s right. It must be love.

The opening band, Save Ferris (a name taken from the ‘80s movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), played the hits that epitomized their third-wave ska sound, a genre which included their Orange County neighbors, No Doubt. A bit more pop-punk and SoCal in sound and style, they were best known for their ‘90s cover of Dexys Midnight Runners’ hit, “Come On Eileen,” and maybe for their cameo in the ‘90s movie, 10 Things I Hate About You. It was an airy, mindless hit of, “Oh, I remember that song,” from distracted fans mired in Madness.

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Madness at Fox Theater (23 May 2024)

Robin Lapid ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Minneapolis: July 7 to July 8

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide

07/07 Less Than Jake, Bowling For Soup and The Aquabats with Don't Panic at First Avenue Read More Less Than Jake Less Than Jake, the ska band from Florida, is back with a new ninth studio album called See the Light, out this week (November 12th) via Fat Wreck Chords. The band will stop at the Varsity Theater .... Bowling for Soup Before the punk band leave for the UK to play with Bowling for Soup, they'll be doing some US dates. All dates with (*) are with Prima Donna..... The Aquabats As for The Aquabats, if you’re a fan of the 60s Batman television series, you’ve probably heard of the band. They often perform with comedy bits and they wear costumes on stage… which perhaps inspired our favorite Peelander-Z to emulate their style......

07/07/2022 Thursday

Less Than Jake, Bowling For Soup and The Aquabats
with Don't Panic
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

Tri-Headlining billing of Less Than Jake, Bowling For Soup and The Aquabats, is heading to First Avenue this July 7th.

Ska band Less Than Jake is celebrating over 30 years of music, and continues to release Silver Linings, their new LP from Pure Noise label.

Meanwhile, Bowling for Soup and the Aquabats are both celebrating their 28th year.

Don't Panic to open.

Tour dates:

Jun 22 Norfolk, VA, US The Norva
Jun 23 Silver Spring, MD, US The Fillmore Silver Spring
Jun 24 Albany, NY, US Empire Live
Jun 25 Sayreville, NJ, US Starland Ballroom
Jun 26 Worcester, MA, US Palladium
Jun 26 Worcester, PA, US The Palladium
Jun 28 Brooklyn, NY, US Brooklyn Steel
Jun 29 Hartford, CT, US Webster Theater
Jun 30 Philadelphia, PA, US Franklin Music Hall
Jul 1 Pittsburgh, PA, US Stage AE
Jul 2 Detroit, MI, US The Fillmore
Jul 3 Columbus, OH, US KEMBA Live!
Jul 5 Bloomington, IL, US Castle Theatre
Jul 6 Milwaukee, WI, US The Rave-Eagles Club
Jul 7 Minneapolis, MN, US First Avenue
Jul 8 Chicago, IL, US House of Blues Chicago
Jul 9 Newport, KY, US PromoWest Pavilion at OVATION
Jul 21 Fort Lauderdale, FL, US Revolution Live
Jul 22 St Petersburg, FL, US Jannus Live
Jul 23 Orlando, FL, US House of Blues Orlando
Jul 24 Atlanta, GA, US Buckhead Theatre
Jul 25 Nashville, TN, US Brooklyn Bowl - TN
Jul 27 Houston, TX, US House of Blues - Houston
Jul 28 Tulsa, OK, US Cain's Ballroom
Jul 30 Buda, TX, US Buck's Backyard
Jul 31 Dallas, TX, US The Factory in Deep Ellum
Aug 2 Oklahoma City, OK, US Tower Theatre
Aug 4 Tucson, AZ, US Rialto Theatre
Aug 5 Tempe, AZ, US Marquee Theatre
Aug 6 Las Vegas, NV, US Brooklyn Bowl-LV
Sep 2 San Diego, CA, US House of Blues San Diego
Sep 3 Anaheim, CA, US House of Blues - Anaheim
Sep 4 Los Angeles (LA), CA, US The Belasco
Sep 6 Santa Cruz, CA, US The Catalyst
Sep 7 Berkeley, CA, US The UC Theatre
Sep 8 Sacramento, CA, US Ace of Spades
Sep 9 Bend, OR, US Silver Moon Brewing
Sep 10 Portland, OR, US Roseland Theater
Sep 11 Seattle, WA, US Showbox SoDo
Sep 13 Boise, ID, US Knitting Factory - Boise
Sep 14 Salt Lake City, UT, US The Depot
Sep 15 Denver, CO, US Summit Music Hall
Sep 16 Omaha, NE, US Slowdown
Sep 16 Outdoor Chicago, IL, US Riot Fest
Sep 17 St Louis, MO, US The Pageant
Oct 12 Paris, France Le Gibus Live
Oct 13 Amsterdam, Netherlands Melkweg OZ
Oct 14 Aarschot, Belgium De Loods
Oct 15 Cologne, Germany Live Music Hall

07/07 Darkest Hour with Zao and Cobra Czar at Turf Club Read More Zao Brett Detar was the opener, a one-man band who played some folksy, country music with his banjo and acoustic guitar. This is a stark contrast to his previous efforts as guitarist for metalcore Zao and emo band The Juliana Theory. …

07/07/2022 Thursday

Darkest Hour
with Zao and Cobra Czar
at Turf Club
first-avenue.com

Darkest Hour will be playing their 2007 milestone album Deliver Us in its entirety for the first time ever for this 2022 tour.

Following the completion of the Deliver Us USA Tour 2022 and their subsequent appearance at Blue Ridge Rock Fest, Darkest Hour will head to the studio to produce and record their tenth studio album. The LP will be self-funded via Darkest Hour’s Patreon, and supporters will “have our eternal gratitude along with being the first ones to hear or receive this album, so subscribe to help and get hooked up!” comments the band.

Joining the band will be Zoa and Cobra Czar.

Darkest Hour, Deliver Us USA Tour dates:

June 30 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill *
July 1 San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick *
July 2 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater *
July 3 Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 *
July 5 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater *
July 7 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club %
July 8 Chicago, IL @ Reggies ^
July 9 Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary ^
July 10 Pittsburgh, PA @ Crafthouse ^
July 12 Worcester, MA @ Palladium ^
July 13 Mechanicsburg, PA @ Lovedraft’s ^
July 14 Brooklyn, NY @ St. Vitus ^
July 16 Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^

* w/ Toxic Holocaust
% w/ Zao & Cobra Czar
^ w/ Zao & Bloodlet

07/08 The Cult with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Zola Jesus at Palace Theatre Read More The Cult As expected, The Cult played their Electric album in its entirety… starting off with the sing-along chorus of "Wild Flower". The great energy between the two original two original band members, singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy is great … Black Rebel Motorcycle Club BRMC is in the middle of their US tour promoting their new album Specter At The Feast. As I will be missing them when they are in LA next month, it was imperative I catch them at the House of Blues in San Diego on Tuesday. … Zola Jesus Russian/American Nika Roza Danilova, or otherwise known as Zola Jesus, stopped by the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, as part of her Taiga tour. …

07/08/2022 Friday

The Cult
with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Zola Jesus
at Palace Theatre
first-avenue.com

The Cult is back, this time they are bringing Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Zola Jesus on tour with them, as part of their “We Own the Night” tour.

We last saw The Cult in Aug 2013 and wrote, “As expected, The Cult played their Electric album in its entirety - starting off with the sing-along chorus of "Wild Flower". The great energy between the two original two original band members, singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy is great to watch - that is until Astbury seem visibly and vocally upset at the chatters in front and then his mic not carrying his vocals. It was all resolved, but for a moment, you thought he was going to smash his mic out of anger.”

We last saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in Feb 2018 and said, “Out of the darkness and fog, there is still light… and noise, as again evidenced by the sonic barrage that is still Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, continuing to bring their unapologetic blend of no-holds rock to audiences everywhere after two decades.”

We last saw Zola Jesus in Feb 2015 and mentioned, “A darker version of Florence and the Machine is the typical quick to judge label on Zola Jesus. There is so much variety and dynamic to her songs no one should be quick to make comparisons because she is so unique. Her voice carries strong to an almost London Grammar-type level but has this obscure electronic trance that hits out of nowhere along with and incredible brass sound from the trombone.”

Zola Jesus’ forthcoming album Arkhon is due for release on June 24th via Sacred Bones Records.

Tour dates:

7/8/2022 - St. Paul, MN - The Palace Theater
7/10/2022 - Chesterfield, MO - The Factory
7/12/2022 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
7/14/2022 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavillion
7/15/2022 - Huber Heights, OH - Rose Music Center at The Heights
7/16/2022 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
7/19/2022 - Washington DC - The Anthem
7/20/2022 - New York, NY - Pier 17
7/22/2022 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia
7/23/2022 - Boston, MA - Leader Bank Pavilion
7/24/2022 - New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall
7/26/2022 - Syracuse, NY - Cooper Crouse-Hinds
7/27/2022 - Rochester Mills, MI - Meadow Brook Amphitheatre

(all dates with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club & Zola Jesus)

07/08 The Airborne Toxic Event with Mondo Cozmo at First Avenue Read More Airborne Toxic Event The Airborne Toxic Event is back in Minneapolis this Sunday... along with Los Angeles synth-pop band In the Valley Below, who will be playing tracks from their album The Belt. Personally ... Mondo Cozmo Arrive early for opener Mondo Cozmo, a Philly singer-songwriter/producer who plays chorus-heavy alt-folk rock and is out in support of 2020’s New Medicine that featured single, “Upside Down”. ...

07/08/2022 Friday

The Airborne Toxic Event
with Mondo Cozmo
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

This The Airborne Toxic Event Minneapolis show was originally scheduled in 16 April 2022… but due to COVID, the band had to reschedule the show to July 8th.

Luckily, we did catch the band in Kansas City, in March 2022 and wrote, “Kansas City had not seen The Airborne Toxic Event live since 2015 (and for us even longer- a 2013 show in Minneapolis), though the pandemic has had a funny way of making things seem not as long ago. So, with everyone in the room looking forward to their 110-minute headlining set, they did not disappoint the many still-loyal fans, singing along to their every lyric.”

Once again, Mondo Cozmo set to open.

Tour dates:

Fri Jul 8 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Sat Jul 9 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
Tue Jul 12 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
Wed Jul 13 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
Thu Jul 14 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
Sat Jul 16 - San Francisco, CA - Davies Symphony Hall
Mon Jul 18 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
Tue Jul 19 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
Wed Jul 20 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
Thu Oct 6 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
Sat Oct 8 - Colorado Springs, CO - The Black Sheep
Sun Oct 9 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
Tue Oct 11 - Des Moines, IA - Wooly's
Wed Oct 12 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
Thu Oct 13 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
Fri Oct 14 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
Sun Oct 16 - Rochester, NY - Anthology
Mon Oct 17 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian Theatre
Tue Oct 18 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
Thu Oct 20 - Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
Fri Oct 21 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
Sat Oct 22 - Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall
Mon Oct 24 - Chattanooga, TN - The Walker Theater
Tue Oct 25 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
Wed Oct 26 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle

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

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

The Specials at First Avenue, Minneapolis (07 June 2019)

The Specials at First Avenue The Specials Setlist Man at C&A Rat Race Do Nothing Vote for Me Friday Night, Saturday Morning Embarrassed by You Blank Expression Doesn't Make It Alright The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum (Fun Boy Three cover) Blam Blam Fever (The Valentines cover) A Message to You, Rudy (Dandy Livingstone cover) Stereotypes 10 Commandments Nite Klub Do the Dog (Rufus Thomas cover) Concrete Jungle Monkey Man (Toots & The Maytals cover) Gangsters Too Much Too Young -- Encore -- Breaking Point Ghost Town You're Wondering Now (The Skatalites cover) L.A. Salami Setlist No Hallelujahs Now Aristotle Ponders the Sound The Crucible (?) The Talisman on the Age of Glass The Specials Lineup Lynval Golding – rhythm guitar, vocals Horace Panter – bass guitar Terry Hall – vocals Tim Smart – trombone Nikolaj Torp Larsen – keyboards Steve Cradock - lead guitar Pablo Mendelssohn - trumpet Kenrick Rowe - drums Tour Dates 6/10 - Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore 6/11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts 6/14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel 6/15- Boston, MA @ House of Blues 6/17 - Montreal, QB @ Corona Theatre 6/18 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall 6/19 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall Read More The Specials UK 2 tone ska legends The Specials will be stopping by First Avenue this June 7th. The Specials, along with The Beat, Selecter, and Madness, have influenced a generation of ska bands. … L.A. Salami London-based L.A. Salami (aka Lookman Adekunle Salami) will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry on Thursday. His new single, “Jean Is Gone” is taken from his forthcoming album The City of Bootmakers …

English 2-tone ska legends The Specials headlined First Avenue’s mainroom on Friday, June 7th, in support of their new album Encore (Island Records).

Opening up the show was London’s L.A. Salami. We last saw him in March 2018 and mentioned, “Coming on stage to an extended band jam intro, L.A. Salami (short for his full name Lookman Adekunle Salami) confessed that he’s been “spying from the bar” to survey the crowd. He’s come to the conclusion that we were an “interesting group.” If you couldn’t tell, it was clear that he was pretty happy about the large audience, possibly thanks to his appearance at the popular local station The Current ahead of the show.”

Since the last appearance, Salami is travelling light (without a full band) and instead only had a bassist (not introduced) helping him on stage. With a stripped-down sound, Salami decided to make a full meal of his 45-min opening slot by stretching out his songs. In fact, he only played four songs, taking it nice and slow. Between songs, he also jabbered quite a bit.

At first, he asked if anyone in the audience was born in Minneapolis? Then if anyone lived here for more than 15 years. Then 20, 25, between the other songs.

If you’re not familiar with L.A. Salami, he’s more of a poet and sounds a little like Bob Dylan (because of the harmonica). Unfortunately, the slow winding and intelligent lyrical songs didn’t mesh well with the upbeat bouncy ska music of The Specials. It’s a bad pairing, it’s obvious.

Of the four songs, one had a lot of lyrics that aren’t on any of Salami’s previous songs, so I’m guessing it’s a work in progress or perhaps an unreleased song. Sample lyrics includes “The crucible is allowed to stand.”

He ended his set with “The Talisman on the Age of Glass”, which he explained was inspired by a person and author.

It’s good to have The Specials back in town. The band was last seen in town on September 17, 2016, but unfortunately, due to conflict with Festival Palomino, we could not cover that show.

As with many ska bands (which requires a full brass section), they have a large roster and often takes much effort to get everyone involved to do a proper tour.

The newest member of the group is PJ Harvey/Jazz Jamaica’s drummer Kenrick Rowe, who is replacing The Libertines’ drummer Gary Powell. The core songwriter, Terry Hall remains consistently in the band throughout the years.

Since the formation of the group in 1977 (originally called The Automatics and then changed to The Specials AKA), the band had always had a political message in their songs. One of the band’s first major concert was at Rock Against Racism in 1978. The band’s goal was trying to integrate black and white people. If you look at the rude boys’ dress code, you’ll notice they only represent two colors: black and white.

The combination of ska and a little punk and plenty of attitude sent the band’s music straight to #1 in the UK charts. Their first major hit, “A Message To You, Rudy”, was actually a cover of Dandy Livingstone’s song “Rudy, A Message To You” (but with a music choice that’s quite different). Like Cyndi Lauper’s cover of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (originally a sad, slow song by Robert Hazard) or Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” (originally a country song by Dolly Parton), The Specials became more synonymous with “A Message To You, Rudy” than Livingstone.

Like many long running bands, the Specials had their ups and down. They broke up and reform and broke up again. They were on hiatus for a while, until 2010 when The Specials were announced to play a number of festivals.

What no one saw coming was that the band was working on a new album called Encore, their first in nearly 20 years. Thanks to the promotion of the new album (which debut at #1 in the UK album chart), the band expanded their tour to the USA in 2019.

The new songs, such as “Vote for Me” and “10 Commandments”, sounded like classic Specials songs and went over well with the audience. The completely packed dance floor had the crowd jamming to hits like “A Message to You, Rudy” and “Too Much Too Young”.

As we previously mentioned, if you love ska music, particularly British Ska bands like The Beat, Selecter, and Madness, you really should see one of the original bands: The Specials.

L.A. Salami

L.A. Salami

The Specials: Lynval Golding

The Specials: Terry Hall

The Specials

The Specials

The Specials at First Avenue, Minneapolis (07 June 2019)

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

Nelson Mandela RIP

Read More Martin Luther King Jr Anyway, to tie today's holiday to music, we're going to talk about "Happy Birthday" by Stevie Wonder. This song was written and released in 1980 and appears on his album Hotter than July under the Motown label. .…

You've all heard the news now, Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95 today, Thursday.

After spending 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid in South Africa, he emerged to become the country's first black president.

Many musicians called for Mandela's release, including the Specials, who recorded a song called "Free Nelson Mandela".

thespecials
@thespecials
10:16 PM - 5 Dec 13

Nelson Mandela RIP

Gloria Estefan
@GloriaEstefan
10:12 PM - 5 Dec 13

RIP Nelson Mandela, who truly changed the world with his sacrifice...it was an honor to have been in his presence.
pic.twitter.com/gqgvABNcuL

The death of Mandela was important to Paul Simon, as you know after Simon & Garfunkel broke up, Simon traveled to South Africa where he embraced the lifestyle and culture of the land and inspired one of his best albums, Graceland.

"Mandela was one of the great leaders and teachers of the twentieth century. He conceived a model for mortal enemies to overcome their hatred and find a way through compassion to rebuild a nation based on truth, justice and the power of forgiveness. His passing should reignite a worldwide effort for peace."

-- Paul Simon on Nelson Mandela's passing, December 5, 2013

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

At the Cedar: The Blow, The Selecter, and Nedelle Torrisi

Read More The Blow But, recently I’ve gotten into the electro-poppy sounds of The Blow. Khaela Maricich (former member of The Microphones, visual artist, woman of the world) ..…

THE BLOW
theblow.org

The Blow is back, this time, sharing their second single called "From The Future" from their new self-titled LP (coming out October 1st on Kanine Records). Listen to the track via Soundcloud.

The duo (Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne) will be heading out on tour in support of the new record. Starts next week:

09/15 Portland, OR - PICA's TBA Festival
09/16 Portland, OR - PICA's TBA Festival
09/21 Lexington, KY - Boomslang Festival
10/11 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
10/13 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
10/14 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
10/15 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
10/17 Denver, CO - Walnut Room
10/18 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
10/19 Nampa, ID - Flying M
10/20 Portland, OR - Doug Fir *
10/21 Seattle, WA - Neumos *
10/22 Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo *
10/23 Vancouver, BC - Electric Owl *
10/25 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
10/27 Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room *
10/28 Los Angeles, CA - Arts Eagle Rock *
10/29 San Diego, CA - Casbah *
10/30 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
11/01 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
11/02 Austin, TX - Red 7
11/04 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
11/05 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
11/06 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
11/08 Washington DC - Black Cat
11/09 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian
11/10 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

* = w/ Kisses

Read More Madness If you're not familar with Madness, they are a ska band from Camden Town, London and had a massive hit with "Our House" in the US.…

THE SELECTER
theselecter.net

The Selecter will start their tour in North American TOMORROW at the Cedar Cultural Center!

If you love 2 tone ska, you would've loved The Selecter in the 70s, along with such bands like Madness, The Beat (The English Beat) and The Specials.

The British band will likely play some classic hits as well as songs from their new 2013 album, String Theory. Tour dates:

Sep 13 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
Sep 14 Riot Fest Chicago, IL
Sep 16 Call The Office London, Canada
Sep 17 Lees Palace Toronto, Canada
Sep 18 Starlight Room Waterloo, Canada
Sep 19 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Sep 20 Gramercy Theatre New York, NY
Sep 21 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Sep 22 State Theatre Washington, DC
Oct 12 02 Academy with PIL Bristol, UK
Oct 13 02 Academy with PIL Bournemouth, UK
Oct 16 02 Academy with PIL Liverpool, UK
Oct 17 02 Academy with PIL Leeds, UK
Oct 18 02 Academy with PIL Glasgow, UK
Oct 20 02 Academy with PIL Birmingham, UK
Oct 21 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK

Read More Julia Holter Julia Holter new album Loud City Song just dropped this week (August 20th) via Domino Records. You can check out the new single from the album, "In the Green Wild", right now on YouTube. ..…

NEDELLE TORRISI
facebook.com

Nedelle Torrisi is currently in Cryptacize (Sufjan Stevens' band), but she's got a solo album, released September 3rd on Kill Rock Stars. The album was made with Kenny Gilmore of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti in LA, and features guest spots from Dev Hynes, Nite Jewel, and Julia Holter (she's touring with her!).

Hear "Pyschic Returns":

Torrisi kicked off her tour with Julia Holter last night:

09/12 San Francisco, CA - Great American *
09/14 Portland, OR – Holocene *
09/15 Seattle, WA - Barboza *
09/16 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret *
09/20 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center *
09/21 Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern *
09/22 Columbus, OH – Kobo *
09/24 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall *
09/26 Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel *

* = w/ Julia Holter

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