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Minneapolis: December 14 to December 16, 2016

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from December 14 to December 16, 2016.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Helmet If country is not your thing, Helmet will be playing Mill City Nights on March 11th. If you grew up in the 90s, you will recall their ever creepy music videos on MTV. For the 21st Anniversary of Betty, the band will be playing the entire album on this tour.... Local H On the heels of releasing Local H’s As Good As Dead as a 180g for the record’s 20th anniversary... the old-school punk band will go on tour to remind us why the record was a breakthrough album for them. ....

HELMET
at Fine Line
Wednesday, 12/14/16, 7pm ($20)
finelinemusic.com

Helmet is back in Minneapolis, touring on their “Dead to the World” tour. The venue of choice this year is at the Fine Line, which doesn’t offer the best viewing experience (unless you pay extra for the balcony).

According to the press release, the new Dead to the World album is Helmet’s first record in six years, and it is available earlier in October via earMusic and Sony Music Entertainment Australia (for Australia).

Front man Page Hamilton’s comment about Dead to the World: “Catch phrases, punchlines, guns, bluster, ammo, incivility, impatience, murder. You, me, us, them, life, liberty and the pursuit of property... We disagree, we disrespect, discourse disappears in the age of access. When in doubt GET LOUD! It's my way or the highway, thank you Lawrence Tierney! Religious tchotchkes nailed to the walls of homes above razor-scarred mirrors. Do you meditate, levitate, pray? Live in LA! I'm a huge fan, got a perfume line, smell nice, plan my next move. Threats loom, the bad news network blooms, fear sells. Just get ‘em out, the spying neighbors, suspects, terrorists our forefathers intent. ‘If you don't like it, leave’ and call it democracy.”

Local H to open. The band recently celebrated their 20th anniversary of As Good As Dead, and was last seen in Minneapolis in June 2016.

US Tour dates:

12/09/16 Billings, MT The Pub Station
12/10/16 Denver, CO Marquis Theater
12/11/16 Omaha, NE Slowdown
12/13/16 Kansas City, MO recordBar
12/14/16 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe
12/15/16 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
12/16/16 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar
12/17/16 St. Louis, MO Delmar Hall

Read More Go 96.3 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 … Bastille Bastille's debut album, Bad Blood, is coming out in the U.S. on September 3rd from Virgin Records. Bastille also be promoting the U.S. release with a tour - making his television debut on "Conan" last week (July 24th). … BANKS Immediately after New Politics left the stage, the legion of late teenagers left the front of the stage... to make way for BANKS fans to slowly inch their way to the front. We've seen Banks before at First Avenue last year …

96.3’S SNOW SHOW
at Myth
Thursday, 12/15/16, 6pm ($37.63)
mythlive.com

We’ve always been impressed with the Go 96.3’s shows, starting with their first in March 2015. Since then, the radio station created their first music festival called Go Fest, and starting last year, a new tradition of their Go 96.3’s Snow Show.

The 2016 Snow Show is back for the second year, this time at the Myth (originally scheduled at the Target Center).

This year’s headliner will be Bastille, who is currently on tour for his new album Wild World (Virgin / Universal).

Other guests on the bill: Banks (she was also on the first Go Show), Judah & The Lion, Coin and Miles The DJ.... PLUS one local band (to be determined by the Battle of the Band contest at the Fine Line tonight, December 9th).

We've been impressed with Judah & the Lion since we caught them in November 2014, writing “Many of their songs got their most dedicated fans to help sing along, especially on "Back's Against the Wall", where Akers stopped a second to hear his fans finish the lyrics... with the biggest grin on his face.”

Bastille’s 2016 tour dates:

12/10 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
12/11 Los Angeles, CA Forum
12/12 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal
12/14 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room
12/15 Maplewood, MN Myth Nightclub
12/16 St. Louis, MO Peabody Opera House

Read More Soul Asylum Yeah we knew the tiny 7th Street Entry could not contain all the fans for Soul Asylum, or as we kid that it's just the Dave Pirner band.... Both dates at 7th Street Entry (12/17 and 12/18) are sold out …

SOUL ASYLUM
at First Avenue
Friday, 12/16/16, 8pm ($20)
first-avenue.com

Popular local fan-favorites Soul Asylum will be headlining First Avenue.

We caught the band when they were promoting their new album Change of Fortune (Entertainment One) and wrote, “The band has found a second life of sorts, with former Prince drummer Michael Bland joining in 2005 and bassist Winston Roye replacing Tommy Stinson and Justin Sharbono stepping in for longtime guitarist Dan Murphy, both in 2012. The band’s sound remains familiar under singer-guitarist Dave Pirner, a mix of 90’s-era alternative rock, power-pop, and indie post-punk.”

McNasty Brass Band will open.

Other shows in the area:

12/14/16 Country rock stars Supersuckers, with Jesse Dayton and Gallows Bound, to play the new Uptown VFW Post.

12/15/16 The Sunny Era, along with Tabah and The Sudden Lovelys, will be over at the 7th Street Entry.

12/16-12/17 Local soul Sonny Knight & The Lakers (whom we just name-dropped with Sharon Jones on our recent podcast) will be playing a double night at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant.

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

The Toadies with the Supersuckers and Battleme at First Avenue 04/11/14

Tour Poster Tour Dates 04/12/14 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar 04/13/14 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom 04/15/14 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom 04/16/14 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue 04/17/14 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's 04/18/14 Detroit, MI Magic Stick 04/19/14 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop 04/21/14 Pittsburgh, PA The Altar Bar 04/23/14 Boston, MA Royale Nightclub Boston 04/24/14 New York, NY Irving Plaza 04/25/14 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony 04/26/14 Philadelphia, PA Theatre/Living Arts 04/27/14 Washington, DC Black Cat 05/07/14 Corpus Christi, TX Brewster Street 05/08/14 Helotes, TX Josabi's 05/09/14 Houston, TX House Of Blues 05/10/14 Homegrown Music & Arts Festival 05/11/14 New Orleans, LA Tipitina's Uptown 05/13/14 Nashville, TN Exit / In 05/14/14 Atlanta, GA Heaven At The Masquerade 05/15/14 Tampa, FL The Ritz Ybor 05/16/14 Fort Lauderdale, FL Culture Room 05/17/14 Lake Buena Vista, FL House Of Blues 06/12/14 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom 06/13/14 Brazos Nights 06/14/14 Austin, TX Stubb's Bar-B-Q Read More Toadies “Are you gonna save me? Can you save me?” so asks an unhinged Vaden Todd Lewis on “Mister Love” one of the many excellent moments from Rubberneck, The Toadies’ hard rock classic which celebrates its 20 year anniversary. …

Downtown Minneapolis was bursting with serious activity Friday night. Amongst the various sports events, all three theaters hosting performances and the usual nightcrawlers roaming the streets, Toadies fans had to endure quite a climb to reach their designated downtown danceteria.

Portland foursome Battleme started things off with a dirty psych-rock stomp. Lead singer and guitarist Matt Drenik, who looks like the lovechild of Joseph Arthur and Frank Zappa, stalked the stage, trying to rev up an attentive, but far-too-polite Minneapolis crowd. Thankfully, Drenik is a confident performer and the band had lots of energy. So while the crowd response might have seemed lackluster, it wasn’t on account of the band. Near the end of the set, the drummer and bassist left the stage and Drenik and his other guitarist dedicated a cover of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” to Chris "Chango" Von Streicher’ (the Supersuckers drummer) whose dog had recently passed away.

Speaking of Supersuckers - plenty of rock bands site ZZ Top as a major influence on their sound, but nobody seemingly carries the torch quite like Tuscan’s veteran country-punk quartet Supersuckers. Their live show playfully blurred the line between tongue-in-cheek and utter earnestness; the songs were fast, the guitars were huge and the antics were over-the-top. (Singer/bassist Eddie Spaghetti and guitarists Dan “Thunder” Bolton and "Metal" Marty Chandler would stand in formation at the front of the stage and swing and thrust their instruments in unison like a rock ‘n roll chorus line) The band’s breathless set included an awesome Motörhead-style cover of Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again.” Eddie mentioned that it was Chris’ birthday and listed all the gifts we, the audience, could offer to him: Booze, money and street drugs. Although I was skeptical at first, Supersuckers eventually won me over and I was nodding my head and pumping my fist with everyone else.

By the time the Toadies took the stage a short time later, fans were revved up and ready for what would be the most epic and slightly disturbing sing-alongs I’ve ever participated in. The current lineup consists of original members drummer Mark Reznicek, guitarist Clark Vogeler, vocalist/guitarist Vaden Todd Lewis and, replacing original bassist Lisa Umbarger, Doni Blair. The band sounded solid as they effortlessly ran down the Rubberneck tracklist starting with the blistering album opener “Mexican Hairless.” Playing an album in its entirety is bound to get boring, even for the most enthusiastic musician, but the Toadies seemed to relish in the performance and even looked stunned at the crowd’s violently happy reaction.

Rubberneck’s music is so driving and infectious, that standing still was simply impossible. And dark anthems like “Tyler” and the righteous “I Come From the Water” had even the most intoxicated folks singing in sync with Lewis and acknowledging all the rhythmic cues. “Possum Kingdom,” that monumental rock radio staple, a song I’ve probably heard more than any other song in my life, still packs a punch, especially when 1500 people are yelling, “Do you wanna die?” Even more bizarre and amusing was hearing fans screaming the searing verses “You hurt me you f***!” and “You hurt me you c***!” from “Velvet” and watching the space in front of the stage erupt into a mosh pit. My favorite tracks on the album, “Backslider” and the simmering “I Burn,” sounded phenomenal. The latter bolstered the percussive breakdown in the middle of the song with a two guys smashing an extra pair of floor toms and snare drums set up behind Lewis.

Lewis is such an unassuming fellow; dressed in a salmon button-down shirt and sporting Buddy Holly frames and closely cropped graying hair, Lewis looks like the science teacher I secretly crushed on in high school whose almost hidden tattoos hinted at a more wilder existence. Fittingly, Lewis’ passionate vocals roar like a friendly darkness summoned and channeled from his soul. Time and again, he’s proven himself to be one of hard rock’s great underrated vocalists.

Rubberneck’s music is so driving and infectious...

The post-Rubberneck set contained songs that are “less than 20 years old,” as Lewis joked. Tracks from the band’s excellent and much-delayed 2001 follow-up, Hell Below/Stars Above, such as “Push the Hand” and the punchy “Little Sin” gave Lewis an opportunity to show fans how to properly stab guitar strings and kept the energy levels high.

The highlight of the evening came as things were winding down. Lewis gently beat out a rhythm on the body of his guitar as Voleger strummed out the melody that would blossom into “Dollskin,” a slow-burning jam off of Hell Below/Stars Above and one of my favorites. No doubt plenty of people came to this gig for nostalgia’s sake. But the Toadies used this opportunity to prove that they are much more than just a great 20 year old record.

Toadies at First Avenue, Minneapolis (04/10/14)

emily () ♥ weheartmusic.com