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Cage the Elephant at Target Center, Minneapolis (12 Aug 2024)

12 August 2024 Cage The Elephant with Young The Giant, Bakar, Vlad Holiday at Target Center Cage The Elephant Setlist Broken Boy Cry Baby Spiderhead Too Late to Say Goodbye Good Time Cold Cold Cold Ready to Let Go Neon Pill Social Cues Halo Mess Around Trouble Ain't No Rest for the Wicked Skin and Bones Rainbow Telescope Tokyo Smoke House of Glass Sabertooth Tiger -- Encore -- Shake Me Down Cigarette Daydreams Come a Little Closer Young the Giant Setlist Jungle Youth The Walk Home Cough Syrup Waves Amerika Dollar $tore It's About Time Call Me Back Superposition Mind Over Matter Tightrope Silvertongue My Body Bakar Setlist All In 1st Time Right Here, for Now 3 Nights (Dominic Fike cover) Stop Selling Her Drugs NW3 Alive! Small Town Girl Hell N Back Vlad Holiday Setlist Like in the Movies The World We Knew Closer Artificial Paradise Downtown Baby Phonograph So Damn Into You I Don’t Wanna Party Read More Cage the Elephant Cage the Elephant – Come a Little Closer Apparently, there’s no rest for the wicked, as the KY band is back on tour. They’ll be stopping by the U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center on June 10th … Young the Giant Irvine’s Young the Giant recently returned to Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform “The Walk Home,” from their new album American Bollywood. …

London, by the way of Kentucky, Cage The Elephant, headlined the Target Center on Monday, August 12, 2024.

Vlad Holiday at Turf Club (03 Nov 2024)

Opening the show was American singer, originally from Romania, Vlad Holiday… playing in a near-darkness lighting situation. Holiday’s solo project started in 2017 through Nylon Magazine.

He mentioned that he’ll be headlining the Turf Club, on November 3, 2024, so if you wanted to see him on a more intimate setting, there’s your chance.

Next up was English singer Bakar is known for his experimental indie rock style. His new album Halo came out last year.

Bakar’s biggest hit song, “Hell n Back” closed out his set. Originally the song was a hit in 2019, but he went back and reworked the song to include American singer Summer Walker on vocals.

Young the Giant at Surly Brewing Festival Field (27 June 2023)

Young the Giant what somewhat treated as co-headliner, with singer Sameer Gadhia mentioning that both Cage and Young started at the same time musically… and have always wanted to work or tour together. While they can certain draw in the crowd, as evident by their headlining tour in June 2023: “Young the Giant kept up with the dance mood, opening the evening with the stirring “American Bollywood” from their latest album with the same name. Formed in 2004 in Irvine, CA, the band is comprised of Sameer Gadhia on lead vocals, Jacob Tilley on guitar, Eric Cannata on guitar, Payam Doostzadeh on bass and Francois Comtois on drums. They are a well-honed group and they put on a dazzling show with their songs, light show and Gadhia’s Technicolor dream coat.”

So earlier this year, both Cage and Young finally got together and agreed to finally tour together with this special tour.

Cage The Elephant came out strong, complete with fireballs and guitarist jumping into the audience.

Unfortunately, I do not feel it was their strongest performance, mostly because singer Matt Shultz broke his leg in Atlanta, Georgia, at a concert on August 2, 2024. Instead of cancelling or rescheduling the tour, the band decided the show must go on… so Shultz is out on stage, in a leg cast, with a leg scooter.

Cage the Elephant at U.S. Bank Theater (10 Jun 2016)

Sure, he was still rocking pretty hard, with his head bopping up and down… but I’m used to seeing the guy jumping high in the air and sweating, as seen in Jun 2016: “As with their last appearance, Shultz never stopped moving or dancing or jumping up and down. His energy was so impossibly high that it’s hard to believe he’s human! This is especially impressive, because Shultz maintained an amazing vocal output.”

Probably not the band’s finest performance, but for many fans, this was still an amazing show.

Cage The Elephant’s latest album Neon Pill is out now on RCA Records.

Remaining tour dates:

08/14 – Chicago, IL - Credit Union 1 Arena at UIC^#

08/16 – Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena^#

08/18 – Saratoga Springs, NY - SPAC^+

08/19 – Bridgeport, CT - Hartford HealthCare Amph^+

08/21 – Gilford, NH - BankNH Pavilion^+

08/22 – Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center^+

08/24 – Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts^+

08/26 – Montreal, QC - Centre Bell^+

08/27 – Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage^+

08/29 – Burgettstown, PA - The Pavilion ^+

08/30 – Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center^+

09/01 – Nashville, TN - Ascend Amphitheater^+

09/05 – New York, NY - Madison Square Garden^+

09/06 – Philadelphia, PA - TD Pavilion ^+

09/07 – Lewiston, NY - Artpark Mainstage Theater^+

09/09 – Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center^+

09/10 – Detroit, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre^+

09/12 – St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amph^+

09/13 – Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena^+

09/14 – Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre^+

09/16 – Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center Omaha^+

09/18 – Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre*+

09/19 – Colorado Springs, CO - Sunset Amph~+

09/27 – Ocean City, MD - Oceans Calling Festival

^with Young The Giant and Bakar
*with Bakar
+with Willow Avalon
=with Girl Tones
#with Vlad Holiday
~Non-Live Nation Date

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Cage the Elephant at Target Center (12 Aug 2024)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Lana Del Rey at the Target Center, Minneapolis (05 January 2018)

Lana Del Rey Setlist 13 Beaches Pretty When You Cry Cherry with Scarborough Fair (Traditional) outro Born to Die Blue Jeans White Mustang 📼 Happy Birthday Mr. President National Anthem When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing Music to Watch Boys To Lust for Life Medley Change Black Beauty Young and Beautiful 📼 Ride Interlude Ride Video Games Love Ultraviolence Summertime Sadness Serial Killer Off to the Races Jhené Aiko Setlist Jukai While We're Young Sativa Oblivion (Creation) Spotless Mind New Balance Comfort Inn Ending W.A.Y.S Tour Dates 01/07/2018 Pepsi Center Denver, CO 01/09/2018 Sprint Center Kansas City, MO 01/11/2018 United Center Chicago, IL 01/13/2018 TD Garden Boston, MA 01/15/2018 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON 01/17/2018 Little Caesars Arena Detroit, MI 01/19/2018 Prudential Center Newark, NJ 01/21/2018 Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA 01/23/2018 Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH 01/25/2018 Capital One Arena Washington, DC 01/26/2018 Bryce Jordan University Park, PA 01/30/2018 Spectrum Center Charlotte, NC 02/01/2018 BB&T Center Sunrise, FL 02/02/2018 Amway Center Orlando, FL 02/05/2018 Philips Arena Atlanta, GA 02/06/2018 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN 02/08/2018 American Airlines Dallas, TX 02/10/2018 Toyota Center Houston, TX 02/11/2018 Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX 02/13/2018 Talking Stick Resort Phoenix, AZ 02/15/2018 Valley View Casino San Diego, CA 02/16/2018 Mandalay Bay Las Vegas, NV 02/28/2018 Waikiki Shell Honolulu, HI 03/17/2018 Lollapalooza Argentina 03/18/2018 Lollapalooza Chile 03/23/2018 Festival Estereo Picnic , Colombia 03/25/2018 Lollapalooza Brazil 03/29/2018 Brisbane Riverstage, Australia 03/31/2018 Sidney Myer Melbourne, Australia 04/02/2018 Qudos Sydney, Australia Read More Lana Del Rey We’ve always like Lana Del Rey. With a #1 Billboard album Lust For Life (sold just over 107k copies in its opening week), expect a lot of happy fans attending this stadium show …

Lana Del Rey just kicked off her “LA to the Moon” Tour at the recently renovated Target Center in Minneapolis last night.

As typical of these arena shows, they start right on time, so we always arrive at least 30 minutes before the show start time. The main reason for this is with the extra security and metal detectors, it can take a long time for you to actually enter and find your seat.

The show started with a 15-min DJ set. There were no introduction or announcements, so we’re not actually sure who the DJ was. He played two songs, before pop/R&B singer Jhené Aiko took the pine trees-decorated stage with her keyboardist and harpist (!)

Her brief 30-minute set started with the tree-themed ‘Jukai’. Before ‘Spotless Mind’, she asked if there were any “wanderers” in the audience, as the song’s main chorus repeat the lines “I'm a wanderer”.

Most of her songs were taken from her sophomore record Trip, which is available now on Def Jam Records.

Aiko seemed excited to be on the first leg of the tour, not to mention the very first show of the tour. They were well rehearsed and managed to squeeze in eight songs in 30 minutes without going one second over is no small feat. Although, I thought Aiko wanted to say one last thing before her time was up and she quickly said, “Sorry, I guess my time’s up!”

There were a couple of things that made this Lana Del Rey show special. First off, this was the American singer’s first time performing in the area. We would later find out that her young brother (Charlie) lives out here, and so there were a lot of friends and family out at this show.

The other thing is that, with a start of a brand-new tour, we were the first to witness her new setlist and stage setting.

Last, is the Target Center just finished their two-year $140 million project. It’s supposed to add more natural light in, but what we’ve noticed is that entering and exiting the building is much easier in this 27-year-old-building.

As for Lana Del Rey’s show, this was the best set design we’ve ever seen! It contains two beach folding chairs, a raised platform covered with rocks, surrounded by plants, trees, and palm trees. The floor is transformed into a body of water when the special effect lights are projected onto the surface. Plus, that’s not all: two hidden swings for the two dancers. It was unbelievable.

As we’ve mentioned before, we’re big fans of Lana Del Rey since her album Born to Die, writing in January 2012: “But on a basic level, Del Rey embodies a sound that should be quite popular on the current indie scene: sexy vocals that travel the sexy spectrum from “sad and sexy” to “whispery sexy” to “nasally sexy,” set against a lush, orchestral backdrop with sparse beats and some violins. The minimal tear-jerker “Video Games” was grudgingly included on a handful of Best of 2011 lists, but I prefer “Born to Die” for its haunting, controlled tone and also for this line: “Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain, you like your girls insane.” She’s no Dylan, but her lyrics feel authentic coming from the given source, regardless of whether or not her look is contrived. Would it be better or worse if she wrote about geeky boys in vests and made cryptic references to high-brow literature whilst strumming a Chinese erhu? What’s more, the production quality is pretty brilliant; Del Rey and co. have managed to hit a sweet spot—the axis of edginess and approachability, vintage pop and contemporary relevance, sexy bombshell and deadpan bad girl. She sounds good, the song craft is sharp, and even Pitchfork is “intrigued”.”

Of course, the sad and sexy thing absolutely won over her millions of fans, who you can hear singing along to Del Rey’s popular songs like ‘Born to Die’ and, of course, ‘Video Games’.

After ‘Blue Jeans’, Del Rey took a few minutes to just autograph, hug, accept gifts, and took selfies with her fans. While this is amazing for all those fans in the front of the stage, the rest of us were just sitting there wondering what happened to the show?

I wonder if this was just a tactic for her band to get the right equipment or for the technicians to load up the video for ‘Happy Birthday Mr. President’?

Despite the gap in music during Del Rey’s fan session, the actual show was pretty entertaining. Judging from the massive audience cheering, the fans here definitely were more than happy to welcome Lana Del Rey to her first Minneapolis show. We’re pretty sure she will be returning here in the future… let’s just hope it’s in the summer and not in the middle of another -12° winter.

Lana Del Rey

Jhené Aiko

Jhené Aiko

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey at the Target Center, Minneapolis (05 January 2018)

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

Minneapolis: January 1 to January 7, 2018

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from January 1 to January 7, 2018.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Lana Del Rey Whether she means to or not, Lana Del Rey is taking full advantage of her “bad press.” From privileged roots to those suspiciously plump lips to a certain Saturday Night Live …

LANA DEL REY
+ Jhene Aiko
Target Center
Fri 01/05/2018 (6:30pm/$41.50)
targetcenter.com

We’ve always like Lana Del Rey. With a #1 Billboard album Lust For Life (sold just over 107k copies in its opening week), expect a lot of happy fans attending this stadium show at the Target Center.

Tour dates:

01/05/2018 Target Center Minneapolis, MN
01/07/2018 Pepsi Center Denver, CO
01/09/2018 Sprint Center Kansas City, MO
01/11/2018 United Center Chicago, IL
01/13/2018 TD Garden Boston, MA
01/15/2018 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON
01/17/2018 Little Caesars Arena Detroit, MI
01/19/2018 Prudential Center Newark, NJ
01/21/2018 Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA
01/23/2018 Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH
01/25/2018 Capital One Arena Washington, DC
01/26/2018 Bryce Jordan University Park, PA
01/30/2018 Spectrum Center Charlotte, NC
02/01/2018 BB&T Center Sunrise, FL
02/02/2018 Amway Center Orlando, FL
02/05/2018 Philips Arena Atlanta, GA
02/06/2018 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN
02/08/2018 American Airlines Center Dallas, TX
02/10/2018 Toyota Center Houston, TX
02/11/2018 Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX
02/13/2018 Talking Stick Resort Arena Phoenix, AZ
02/15/2018 Valley View Casino Center San Diego, CA
02/16/2018 Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, NV
02/28/2018 Waikiki Shell Honolulu, HI
03/17/2018 Lollapalooza Argentina
03/18/2018 Lollapalooza Chile
03/23/2018 Festival Estereo Picnic Bogota, Colombia
03/25/2018 Lollapalooza Brazil
03/29/2018 Brisbane Riverstage Brisbane, Australia
03/31/2018 Sidney Myer Music Bowl Melbourne, Australia
04/02/2018 Qudos Bank Arena Sydney, Australia

Read More Charlie Parr Charlie Parr is touring in support of his new album Dog. He is playing a double night residency at the Cedar on Friday & Saturday. Tour dates: …

Other shows in the area:

NEW YEAR DAY
Mon 01/01/2018

COOL POLLUTION
+ 26 Bats!, Idle Empress
Icehouse
Tue 01/02/2018 (9pm/$7)
icehousempls.com

Join psychedelic pop-rock Cool Pollution + 26 Bats! + Idle Empress to celebrate the beginning of the new year.

GAINESFM
+ Uju, Baby Shel, Velvo, Pilot Jonny, Dj Travis Gorman
7th Street Entry
Wed 01/03/2018 (8pm/$8)
first-avenue.com

American rapper Gaines (billed as GainesFM) will be headlining the 7th Street Entry this Wednesday for his year-end/year-beginning celebration.

Description:

Gaines FM with UJU, Baby Shel, Velvo, Pilot Jonny, DJ Travis Gorman in the 7th St Entry
Hosted by Devon Reason

Tickets ($8) 18+ / ID Required

David Aaron Gaines (born May 23, 1989) Better known by his stage name Gaines is an American rapper. Born in Spokane, Washington, he later relocated to Minnesota and found music at an early age, elementary days to be more specific, it was here where his mother used to read her poetry to him, this would have a significant effect on Gaines personality and subsequently his music.

SCRUNCHIES
+ France Camp, Devata Daun, Sauna Accident
7th Street Entry
Thu 01/04/2018 ($8/$25)
first-avenue.com

This is Scrunchies’ live debut show. The band consists of local riot favorites like Kitten Forever, Bruise Violet, Double Grave, and Tony Peachka… so be there if you like these bands. Also, it’s not everyday you can say that you were there at the start.

Description:

JUST ANNOUNCED! Scrunchies debut show and music video premiere for ‘Wichita’, directed by Gordon Byrd, is on January 4th at the 7th St Entry with France Camp, Sass, and Sauna Accident Tickets available now

Scrunchies:

Laura Larson (Kitten Forever)
Bree Meyer (Double Grave)
Danielle Cusack (Bruise Violet, Tony Peachka)
Stephanie Jo Murck (Sass, Tony Peachka)

DOROTHY
Fine Line Music Cafe
Fri 01/05/2018 (7:30pm/$40)
finelinemusic.com

Los Angeles-based alternative rock band Dorothy will be heading to Minneapolis at the Fine Line Music Café this January 5th.

The band will be playing some new tracks from a forthcoming album, as well as fan-favorites from their debut album Rockisdead.

Tour dates:

Jan 03 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
Jan 05 - Fine Line - Minneapolis, MN
Jan 06 - Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
Jan 07 - The Shelter - Detroit, MI
Jan 09 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
Jan 10 - The Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
Jan 12 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
Jan 13 - Theatre of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
Jan 14 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
Jan 16 - The Pour House Music Hall - Raleigh, NC
Jan 17 - Visulite Theatre - Charlotte, NC
Jan 19 - The Charleston Pour House - Charleston, SC
Jan 20 - The Social - Orlando, FL
Jan 21 - Culture Room - Ft Lauderdale, FL
Jan 23 - Orpheum - Tampa, FL
Jan 25 - Jack Rabbits Live - Jacksonville, FL
Jan 26 - Terminal West - Atlanta, GA
Jan 27 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN
Feb 14 - Constellation Room - Santa Ana, CA
Feb 16 - The Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Feb 17 - Music Box - San Diego, CA
Feb 18 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
Feb 22 - Crocodile Café - Seattle, WA
Feb 23 - The Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, Canada
Feb 24 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR
Feb 26 - Top Hat Lounge - Missoula, MT
Feb 27 - The Olympic - Boise, ID
Feb 28 - Metro Music Hall - Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 02 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
Mar 03 - Fox Theatre - Boulder, CO
Mar 05 - The Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
Mar 06 - Blueberry Hill - University City, MO
Mar 08 - The Parish - Austin, TX
Mar 09 - House of Blues - Cambridge Room - Dallas, TX
Mar 10 - White Oak Music Hall - Houston, TX

WRESTLEPALOOZA XI
First Avenue
Sat 01/06/2018 (7pm/$25)
first-avenue.com

The always entertaining Pro Wrestling from F1rst Wrestling will be at First Avenue’s mainroom this Saturday. The show is sold out.

CHARLIE PARR
Turf Club
Sun 01/07/2018 (7pm/$25)
turfclub.net

Charlie Parr’s residency continues into 2018.

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

The Lumineers w/ Andrew Bird, Margaret Glaspy at Target Center, Minneapolis (19 Jan 2017)

The Lumineers Setlist     intro: The Chain (by Fleetwood Mac) Submarines Flowers in Your Hair Ho Hey Cleopatra Gun Song Dead Sea B-Stage Classy Girls Where the Skies Are Blue Charlie Boy Slow It Down Sleep on the Floor Angela Big Parade Ophelia In the Light My Eyes -- Encore -- Long Way from Home Subterranean Homesick Blues (Bob Dylan cover) Stubborn Love outro: Atlantic City (by Bruce Springsteen) Andrew Bird Setlist Capsized A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left Tenuousness Three White Horses Roma Fade Plasticities Pulaski at Night Valleys of the Young Fake Palindromes Margaret Glaspy Setlist Emotions and Math Ex Factor Parental Guidance No Matter Who Situation You Don't Want Me Memory Street Love Like This You and I Tour Dates 01/24/17 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center 01/26/17 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel 01/27/17 Auburn Hills, MI Palace Of Auburn 01/28/17 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center 01/31/17 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena 02/02/17 New York, NY Madison Square Garden 02/03/17 New York, NY Madison Square Garden 02/28/17 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre 03/02/17 Sugar Land, TX Smart Financial Centre 03/03/17 New Orleans, LA Lakefront Arena 03/08/17 Duluth, GA Infinite Energy Center 03/10/17 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life 03/11/17 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center 03/14/17 Pittsburgh, PA Petersen Events Center 03/16/17 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena 03/18/17 Montreal, QC Bell Centre 03/19/17 Quebec City, QC Vidéotron 03/21/17 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire 03/22/17 London, ON Budweiser Gardens 03/24/17 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena 03/25/17 Milwaukee, WI BMO Harris Bradley 03/28/17 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre 03/30/17 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre 03/31/17 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place Read More The Lumineers The Denver-based band is back in town, to promote their second album Cleopatra (Dualtone). The record received overwhelming positive reviews and hit #1 in the UK Albums Chart and the .… Andrew Bird We've written about Andrew Bird, a few times. Anyway, critics are raving about Andrew Bird's latest release, Break It Yourself. NPR called it "something beautiful" … Margaret Glaspy One of the few artists we haven’t written about is Margaret Glaspy, touring in support of her debut album Emotions and Math (ATO Records). Be sure to show up early to check out Glaspy’s set. …

The Lumineers are burning brighter than ever, as evidenced by their recent show in front of 10,000 at the Target Center in Minneapolis —how much brighter?- consider that they played the 7^th St Entry across the very street, less than five years ago, and now were entertaining an audience over forty times in size.

The evening’s eclectic three-act lineup started with Margaret Glaspy, a California singer-songwriter based in New York, in support of her debut full-length, Emotions and Math (ATO Records) and backed by two sidemen for her brief thirty-minute set. 

After missing her on the small stage at last fall’s Festival Palomino, we were eager to see her live and the jangly ‘Situation’ and verse on song ‘Memory Street’, “Walk down memory street, why remember, all the times I took forever to forget?” made her low-key set worth the wait.  Reserved and somewhat demure, Glaspy avoided any talk between songs until the end, thanking the crowd and local station The Current, for their airplay. 

A musician’s musician, baroque folk/pop artist Andrew Bird, who considers the Twin Cities a kind of second home, made the most of his forty-five minute middle set, to satisfy longtime fans and introduce himself to many in the audience seeing him for the first time.  Bird is still in support of last April’s Are You Serious (Loma Vista Records) and played an abbreviated set, similar to last September’s Festival Palomino outing. 

Opening with the mesmerizing lead single from the new album ‘Capsized’, Bird and band deftly moved through tunes old and new, filled with his trademark violin work and string plucking, as well as plenty of whistling. 

“I’m no stranger to this town” Bird said introducing himself, mentioning he recorded ‘Plasticities’ in North Minneapolis and saying he was at the Turf Club the previous night seeing a local band. Ending his set with 2005’s ‘Fake Palindromes’, it was plain he’s great, but better seen playing a full set in an environment where people will listen more intently, like a church.

After a set change, The Lumineers didn’t even wait for their intro music to finish, as the curtain fell and found the band playing along to the end of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’.  The core Denver trio, Wesley Schultz (vocals, guitar) , Jeremiah Fraites (drums, piano) and cellist/backing vocalist Neyla Pekarek (who joined in 2010) doubled their size for the live show, with three sidemen joining on, in support of second major label full-length, Cleopatra (Dualtone/Dine Alone Records). 

2013’s ‘Submarines’ started their eighty-minute set, singer Schultz asking “are you out there Minneapolis?!” after a verse, to screams and wails in response from the mostly millennial-aged crowd.  Surprising was watching them knock out several hits within the first fifteen minutes, as breakout song ‘Ho Hey’ was played third, followed by current single, ‘Cleopatra’.

“This is a really big room… one of the biggest we’ve played”, Schultz said just over twenty minutes in and recalling how they used to play a lot of house shows, wanted to replicate that intimacy as he and band then moved to a center B-stage, for a more sparse four-song mini set.  On ‘Where the Skies Are Blue’ Pekarek took over part of the vocals and ‘Charlie Boy’ was written for Schultz’ late uncle, lost in Vietnam.

The sound grew bigger on ‘Sleep on the Floor’ as the band returned to the main stage, with its lighted groups of organ pipes looking like stalactites and diamond shaped screen showing patterns and obscure images.  The mix sounded surprisingly crisp from the floor, as Schultz’ voice and all instruments were clearly heard and rightly prioritized. 

Arena folk songs like the new ‘Angela’ came off particularly nice, with Shultz slipping in a “I didn’t vote for him” on ‘Big Parade’, to cheers.  No sophomore slump here, as lead single from the new album, ‘Ophelia’ topped both alternative charts on Billboard, and had the 10,000 strong, singing right along, as Schultz dashed out along the right side of the floor to high-five fans. 

The encore would start quietly, with Schultz coming out alone, putting in a plug for a family salvage yard just outside of Mankato, before playing ‘Long Way’, which was inspired by his father’s cancer battle. 

“…want to play a song from somebody else from Minnesota”, Schultz said as the band rejoined him for a tempo-changed, piano-charged version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, almost reinventing it completely. 

A bevy of confetti showered the crowd on finale, ‘Stubborn Love’ as the crowd sang along with the chorus, with the group taking bows as the Springsteen outro music ushered them from the stage. 

True to their name, The Lumineers continue burning brightly on their meteoric ride, as evidenced by capacity arena crowds and even an invitation from U2, to open a leg on their upcoming tour. Their biggest song-to-date starts, “I've been trying to do it right” and from the crowd reception on this night, mission accomplished.

Margaret Glaspy	Margaret Glaspy	Andrew Bird	Andrew Bird	Setlist
The Lumineers	The Lumineers	The Lumineers	The Lumineers	The Lumineers

The Lumineers at Target Center, Minneapolis (19 Jan 2017)

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

New Edition at Target Center, Minneapolis (24 July 2016)

New Edition Setlist You're Not My Kind of Girl Hit Me Off Crucial Do Me! (Bell Biv DeVoe song) NE Heartbreak Superstar / If Only for One Night (Luther Vandross cover) My My My (Johnny Gill song) When Will I See You Smile Again? (Bell Biv Devoe song) Do What I Gotta Do (Ralph Tresvant song) Sensitivity (Ralph Tresvant song) Rub You the Right Way (Johnny Gill song) / You Dropped a Bomb on Me (Gap Band cover) Poison (Bell Biv DeVoe song) Boys to Men Can You Stand the Rain This One’s For Me and You (Johnny Gill song) Candy Girl Popcorn Love Is This the End Mr. Telephone Man Cool It Now If It Isn't Love Babyface Setlist Intro For the Cool in You Every Time I Close My Eyes Soon As I Get Home / Never Keeping Secrets Whip Appeal Sunshine Exceptional Medley: Slow Jam (Midnight Star cover) There You Go (Johnny Gill cover) We’re Not Making Love No More (Dru Hill cover) These are the Times (Dru Hill cover) Two Occasions (The Deele cover) Don't Be Cruel (Bobby Brown cover) Every Little Step (Bobby Brown cover) Rock Wit Ya (Bobby Brown cover) Tenderoni (Bobby Brown cover) Can We Talk? (Tevin Campbell cover) Ready or Not (After 7 cover) My My My (Johnny Gill cover) I'll Make Love to You (Boys II Men cover) End of the Road (Boys II Men cover) Read More New Edition Nafloyd Scott and New Edition singer Ralph Tresvant as Sam Cooke, among others. ...

Ahead of an upcoming BET miniseries about their lives, R&B/Pop group New Edition just ended another successful reunion tour, stopping in Minneapolis at the Target Center, on the recent last leg.

Kenny Babyface Edmonds got things going with an opening hour-long set that ran the gamut from tender ballads to rhythmic stompers, to a barrage of cover hits that he had a hand in writing and/or producing.  In promotion of last year’s Return of the Tender Lover (Def Jam Recordings), his first studio effort in a decade, Babyface mainly kept it retro, much to the fans’ delight and theme of the evening.

Smooth as ever in sunglasses and a blue jacket and with a full band in tow, ‘Face opened with the tender R&B of 1993’s ‘For the Cool in You’ and 1996’s ‘Every Time I Close My Eyes’, taking everyone back twenty-plus years, to seemingly simpler times.  The half-arena swayed side-to-side with 1989’s Grammy-winning ‘Whip Appeal’ (from the Tender Lover LP), with many in the nattily-dressed crowd singing along with the chorus.

The new ‘Exceptional’ flowed in seamlessly with the hit maker’s other songs, then ‘Face and band took the last half of his set, like Nile Rodgers did the night before, to remind everyone of all the hits he had a hand in contributing and/or creating.  “This is my favorite part of the show” Babyface said, starting chronologically with 1983’s ‘Slow Jam’ from Midnight Star.

Maybe borrowing a little of New Edition’s thunder, ‘Face dropped in a little of Johnny Gill’s hit singles he helped on, then exclaimed “Can I get My Bobby on?!” for a quartet of Bobby Brown covers (as close as the crowd would get to hearing the missing New Edition member this tour), before ending with two of his best known songs written / produced for Michael Bivins’ own protégés, Boys II Men.

In case we needed a reminder, New Edition showed a trailer of the planned three-night TV miniseries due in 2017 before taking to the stage in dark pants, matching red jackets, and oh, those signature moves.  “If you’re sitting down, you might want to get up right about now”, they urged, before launching into ‘Hit Me Off’, a 1996 comeback single.

The songs came in rapid-fire for the first fifteen minutes , before the band paused to introduce themselves one-by-one, followed by a Johnny Gill solo of a couple Luther Vandross songs and his own ‘My My My’.  Gill looks a little out of fighting shape, but the baritone voice still has its signature ring.

The still high-pitched Ralph Tresvant was next to shine, serenading the audience with a couplet of radio hits, before Gill re-emerged with his high-energy ‘Rub You the Right Way’, followed by Messrs. Bell, Bivins and DeVoe with their own biggest hit, ‘Poison’.

Their newest collaboration, ‘This One’s For Me and You’ is actually on the Johnny Gill 2014 album, Game Changer (J-Skillz/Caroline), but sounds like trademark New Edition, a group continuing to evolve since their 1978 start in Boston.

A wardrobe change ensued (eggshell glittered jackets with black trim and dark hats) and the quintet (Ricky Bell; Michael Bivins; Ronnie DeVoe; Johnny Gill ; Ralph Tresvant) was on their final lap, taking everyone all the way back to the early 1980’s and their earliest radio hits.

1988’s ‘If It Isn’t Love’ (written/produced by former Mpls. residents Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) ended the evening, with the crowd (more than half women) trying to scream like they once did for these songs, three decades earlier.

Thirty-five plus years later, the New in New Edition may not apply like it once did, but the throngs of fans still happy to see them , will always be their candy girls. 

Poster	Setlist	Babyface	Babyface	Babyface
New Edition: Ralph Tresvant	New Edition: Johnny Gill	New Edition	New Edition	New Edition

New Edition at Target Center, Minneapolis (24 July 2016)

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

Cage the Elephant at U.S. Bank Theater, Minneapolis (10 Jun 2016)

Setlist Cry Baby In One Ear Spiderhead Take It Or Leave It Aberdeen Too Late to Say Goodbye Cold Cold Cold Trouble Ain't No Rest for the Wicked Mess Around Punchin' Bag Telescope Back Against the Wall It's Just Forever Come a Little Closer -- Encore -- Cigarette Daydreams Shake Me Down Teeth Tour Dates 06/11/16 In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT 06/14/16 Crocodile Cafe Seattle, WA 06/15/16 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR 06/17/16 Slim's San Francisco, CA 06/18/16 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA 06/21/16 House of Blues San Diego, CA 06/24/16 House of Blues Dallas, TX 06/25/16 House of Blues Houston , TX 06/28/16 12th & Porter Nashville, TN 07/16/16 Elitch Gardens Denver, CO Read More Cage the Elephant Cage the Elephant – Come a Little Closer Apparently there’s no rest for the wicked, as the KY band is back on tour. They’ll be stopping by the U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center on June 10th, in support of their fourth studio album Tell Me I’m Pretty. … Portugal. The Man Portugal. The Man's frontman John Gourley recall working on his seventh album, Evil Friends , as a collaboration with Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton). According to Gourley, "I walked into his [Danger Mouse] place … Twin Peaks This is the Chicago Twin Peaks band... I wonder if they will get sued once Showtime start their David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks production in 2016? ...

Grammy-nominated rock band Cage the Elephant just headlined the U.S. Bank Theater (inside the Target Center) in Minneapolis on Friday night, June 10th.

Twin Peaks

Opening the show was Chicago’s Twin Peaks. The band joked, “We used to play across the street all the time [referring to their various 7th Street Entry appearances], so we’re not used to this small place.”

Since we last saw the band at the 7th Street Entry, they had a lot more songs, especially because they now have three albums under their collective belts: Sunken (Autumn Tone), Wild Onion (Grand Jury), and their latest Down In Heaven (Grand Jury).

Majority of their 30-min set consists of Down In Heaven songs, including their latest single, ‘Butterfly’. Also, once again, lead vocals were traded by the three guitarists: Cadien, Clay, and Jack.

Portugal the Man

Portugal. The Man was next on the bill, playing a full hour long set. It’s been a rather long time since we saw the Alaskan band in 2013 (when they were touring for their last album Evil Friends on Atlantic Records)... but based on seeing a hype man on stage (which we later learned that he is Chris Black), I can only speculate that their forthcoming Gloomin + Doomin will be more hip-hop based. This is confirmed because rapper Mac Miller and Mike D (from The Beastie Boys) were involved in making the new record.

There weren’t any ‘hip hop’ styled songs on this set, so we’re not sure if they previewed some new songs... many of their songs were of the dance-variety from Evil Friends, such as ‘Hip Hop Kids’ and closer ‘Purple Yellow Red and Blue’.

Cage the Elephant

Since we saw Cage the Elephant last year, we described singer Matthew Shultz as something of “a younger Mick Jagger or Scott Weiland”. As with their last appearance, Shultz never stopped moving or dancing or jumping up and down. His energy was so impossibly high that it’s hard to believe he’s human! This is especially impressive, because Shultz maintained an amazing vocal output.

New songs from their fourth studio album Tell Me I’m Pretty were sprinkled in with fan favorite tracks like ‘Take It or Leave It’ (done early in the set) and personally I feel was their biggest hit song ‘Ain't No Rest for the Wicked’ (done midset).

New songs like ‘Too Late to Say Goodbye’ and ‘Cold Cold Cold’ were surprisingly well-received from the fans, as you can clearly see them singing along to the catchy lyrics.

By the time their latest hit song ‘Mess Around’ was played, the mostly younger audience started taking their chance with body surfing for the remaining show.

Cage the Elephant proved that they are one of the best live bands touring today, thanks to Matthew Shultz’ impressive high-energy performance and their many catchy hit songs (all those #1 singles on the Billboard charts can’t be a coincidence).

Tell Me I’m Pretty is out now on RCA Records.

Cage the Elephant at US Bank Theater, Minneapolis (10 Jun 2016)

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

Paul McCartney at Target Center, Minneapolis (05 May 2016)

Setlist A Hard Day’s Night Save Us Can’t Buy Me Love Letting Go Temporary Secretary Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady I’ve Got a Feeling My Valentine Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five Here, There and Everywhere Maybe I’m Amazed We Can Work It Out In Spite of All the Danger You Won’t See Me Love Me Do And I Love Her Blackbird Here Today Queenie Eye New The Fool on the Hill Lady Madonna FourFiveSeconds Eleanor Rigby Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! Something Ob La Di, Ob La Da Band on the Run Back in the U.S.S.R. Let It Be Live and Let Die Hey Jude -- Encore -- Yesterday Hi, Hi, Hi/Let’s Go Crazy (Prince cover) Birthday Golden Slumbers The End Tour Dates 05/15/16 Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes 05/17/16 Estadio Unico Ciudad De La Plata 05/19/16 Estadio Unico Ciudad De La Plata 05/28/16 Dusseldorf, Germany ESPRIT arena 05/30/16 Paris, France AccorHotels Arena 06/02/16 Madrid, Spain Estadio Vicente Calderon 06/10/16 Munich, Germany Olympic Stadium 06/12/16 Landgraaf, Netherlands "Pinkpop Festival" 06/14/16 Berlin, Germany Waldbühne Berlin 06/16/16 Prague, Czech Republic O2 Arena 06/24/16 Bergen, Norway Bergenhus Festning 06/27/16 Herning, Denmark Jyske Bank Boxen 06/30/16 Rock Werchter Festival 07/08/16 Milwaukee, WI "Summerfest" 07/10/16 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena 07/12/16 Philadelphia, PA Citizens Bank Park 07/17/16 Boston, MA Fenway Park 07/19/16 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Arena 07/21/16 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre 08/07/16 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium 08/09/16 Washington, DC Verizon Center 08/10/16 Washington, DC Verizon Center 08/13/16 St. Louis, MO Busch Stadium 08/15/16 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena 08/17/16 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena 08/18/16 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena 10/04/16 Sacramento, CA Golden 1 Center 10/08/16 Indio, CA "Desert Trip" 10/15/16 Indio, CA "Desert Trip" Read More Paul McCartney Members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl, Krist Noveselic and Pat Smear, reunited for the first time in 18 years after Kurt Cobain's death with Sir Paul McCartney …

For the 18,000 or so that were lucky enough to get in, the Fifth of May last week brought a new holiday to Minneapolis (at least for the day)- Cinco de Macca!

While many of the after work crowd gravitated to Mexican bars and restaurants to celebrate the Cinco de Mayo holiday;  downtown at the Target Center, it was the second consecutive night of Paul McCartney and his band in town, playing on their One on One Tour.

Only a legend like McCartney could consider an arena (vs. a stadium) a more intimate venue, and the faithful were more than rewarded with a career-spanning set of more than three-dozen songs played over two hours and forty-five minutes.  Pretty great for an almost 74-year old.

Though the tickets stated an 8pm start time, like the night before, the show began 45 minutes later, as big venue security measures never mean quick entry in, these days.

Wearing a blue Nehru-collar jacket and white shirt, McCartney bounced to the stage supported by the solid band he’s had for twenty years - Rusty Anderson (backing vocals, guitars); Brian Ray (backing vocals, bass, guitars) ; Paul Wix Wickens (backing vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, accordion); Abe Laboriel, Jr. (backing vocals, drums, percussion) and opened with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ , a song last in regular set rotation in 1965.

The show seemed a tale of two halves, with the first half being more for himself, taken up by several songs from McCartney’s last release, 2013’s New (on Hear Music), and assorted deep cuts with some hits peppered in, and the second half being for the fans- a hit-filled cavalcade of one classic song after another.

Paul McCartney

“Good evening Minneapolis”, McCartney said after the second song, still shaking a cold but in better voice than the night before, “I get the feeling we’re going to have a party in this room tonight!”

‘Temporary Secretary’ from 1980’s McCartney II received an electronic update, complete with Kraftwerk-like visuals spinning on the large screen behind the band.  1973’s ‘Let Me Roll It’ rolled itself into the end of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’ and a rare glimpse into seeing how versatile McCartney himself is, on guitar.

The song this night was dedicated to Prince, and McCartney admitted to writing him a fan letter in his earlier days, as well as told of being in St. Barts this New Year’s Eve, for a private Prince concert staged there.

‘My Valentine’ was written for present wife, Nancy, and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ soon followed, written for then-wife Linda.  McCartney took time out between songs to look at a few of the signs held up too, “this guy’s been to our show 105 times…and you’re still not bored…!”

‘In Spite of All the Danger’, a 1958 Quarrymen song was the earliest song played, and started the endearing mini campfire set of stripped down songs, done in front of an evening barn scene backdrop. Several Beatles songs had new life breathed into them by this format and also featured a few stories from the early days, as well as a George Martin tribute.

The newest song in his catalog, 2015’s ‘FourFiveSeconds’ (a collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West) was performed with lyrics on the screen; though it was an odd sight, seeing 18,000 mostly baby boomers sing about “wildin’”. From then on, it was nothing but songs we all know by heart.

The George Harrison tribute with McCartney on ‘Something’ is still touching, ‘Band on the Run’ remains an epic three-songs-in-one, and ‘Live and Let Die’ brought out all the lights and pyro, the burned scent of which, still lingered through the rest of the show. ‘Hey Jude’ predictably had the crowd singing and swaying along to end the main set.

The five-song encore began with a gentle solo ‘Yesterday’ then McCartney brought up a mother/8 yr. old daughter pair from the audience to sign the mother’s arm (presumably for a tattoo).

1972’s ‘Hi. Hi. Hi’ segued into the end of Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ to rave applause, complete with purple lighting and his signature glyph emblazoned on the screen. “Prince, the man! We love you, Prince”, McCartney exclaimed.

After thanking the crew and band, ‘Golden Slumbers’ and ‘The End’ appropriately sent the crowd back into the streets;  smiles on their faces, happy to have reveled for almost three hours in a musical trip covering over fifty-five years… Viva Cinco de Macca!

Paul McCartney at Target Center, Minneapolis (05 May 2016)

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

Minneapolis/St. Paul - Gone Country (?!?!)

Read More Garth Brooks After all, what is more intriguing than a musician who adopts a highly stylized persona without losing credibility? Sorry Garth Brooks. .…

Get out your cowboy boots and hats, as apparently, Minneapolis/St. Paul is a hotbed for country music.

Garth Brooks has just started his record setting 11-show at Target Center, selling over 188,000 tickets and a recent Star Tribune article mentioned 4 of the 5 upcoming area stadium concerts in the metro will be country themed—a two-night stand at Target Field from Kenny Chesney w/ Jason Aldean (only one is announced thus far), Luke Bryan/Florida Georgia Line coming to TCF Bank Stadium in June, and Zac Brown Band expected at a stadium in August.

The only other stadium show on the horizon for 2015 is pop boy band One Direction at TCF in late July… what happened?!?

Despite Minneapolis/St. Paul being the 14^th biggest metro area (according to the 2010 census) and 16^th largest radio market, it ranks as 4^th in terms of country music ticket sales, an impressive but no less puzzling accomplishment.

Country music has been more appealing to the masses for years, with the lines between country and pop blurring further and bands like The Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd easily becoming a part of either genre.

Rock stars like Darius Rucker, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Kid Rock have all taken a turn towards Country (with varying degrees of success), Taylor Swift has moved from country-pop to full on Pop with her 1.3 million unit selling 1989, and this week’s CMA Awards telecast included help on performances from non-Country acts Meghan Trainor, Ariana Grande, and The Doobie Brothers.  Country is clearly now more the mainstream.

Eric Church at Target Center

Concert promoters no doubt love a full house, but also reap the benefits of additional liquor sales with these acts, as the Strib article mentioned Eric Church’s September show at Target Center as being the second highest beverage-per-person sales, in the venue’s history.

Need more proof?- Country radio is the #1 radio format nationwide of people 18-54 and the Twin Cities ranks highest in viewership for ABC’s “Nashville” series…ugh.

What happened to Rock?  There’s still hope with U2 due to tour next year, a new Foo Fighters record just around the corner, and a hope that Tool’s long-awaited new album might see the light of day in 2015.

Many promising alternative bands that W♥M covers are hitting the busy local club circuit and Electronica in its many variations, is still packing venues area wide.

So Rock is not quite dead yet, though clearly needs a strong comeback.  In the meantime, get out your boots, Stetson hat, and Wrangler jeans, as apparently Minneapolis is still crazy for country.

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

Arcade Fire w/ Kid Koala, Dan Deacon at Target Center, Minneapolis (08 March 2014) concert review

Arcade Fire at Target Center Show Poster Setlist My Body Is a Cage (stripped snippet - Win, Régine, Owen on B-stage) Reflektor Flashbulb Eyes Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) Rebellion (Lies) Joan of Arc Rococo (w/ Lady Gaga's "Do What U Want"/Black Eyes Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" snippets) The Suburbs Ready to Start Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) We Exist Normal Person (w/ Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine"/Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" intros) No Cars Go Haïti Afterlife It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (w/'Damian Taylor Remix' intro) -- Encore -- When You Were Mine - Reflektors on B-stage Controversy (Prince cover) Here Comes the Night Time Wake Up Tour Dates 03/12 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 03/13 Toronto Toronto, Canada 03/14 Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 03/16 Cleveland Cleveland, OH 03/7 Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA 03/18 Conneticut Bridgeport, CT 03/28 Vive Latino Festival Mexico City, Mexico 03/30 Lollapalooza: Chile 04/01 Lollapalooza: Argentina 04/04 Rio de Janeiro Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 04/06 Lollapalooza: Brazil Sao Paulo, Brazil 04/09 Houston Houston, TX 04/10 Austin Austin, TX 04/13 Coachella Indio, CA 04/20 Coachella Indio, CA 04/23 Colorado Denver, CO 04/26 Kansas City Kansas City, MO 04/27 St Louis St Louis, MO 04/29 Columbus Columbus, OH 05/01 Nashville Nashville, TN 05/02 Atlanta Atlanta, GA 05/04 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage 05/29-05/31 Primavera Festival 05/31 Rock In Rio Lisbon, Portugal 06/03 Paris Paris, France 06/06 London, United Kingdom 06/07 London, United Kingdom 06/09 Pinkpop Landgraaf, Netherlands 06/10 Antwerp Merksem, Belgium 06/12 Norwegian Wood Festival Oslo 06/15 Northside Festival Aarhus, Denmark 06/17 Dresden Dresden, Germany 06/18 Berlin Berlin, Germany 06/20 Southside Festival Tuttlingen 06/20 Hurricane Festival Scheessel 06/23 Rock In Roma Rome Rm, Italy 06/24 Verona Verona, Italy 06/29 Dublin Dublin, Ireland 07/30 Mountain View Mountain View, CA 08/08 Seattle Seattle, WA 08/09 Squamish Valley Festival Squamish 08/11 Edmonton Edmonton, Canada 08/12 Calgary Calgary, Canada 08/14 Winnipeg Winnipeg, Canada 08/17 Washington Washington, DC 08/19 Mansfield Mansfield, MA 08/20 Bangor Bangor, ME 08/22 Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY 08/23 Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY 08/24 Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY 08/26 Chicago Chicago, IL 08/27 Chicago Chicago, IL 08/29 Toronto Toronto, Canada 08/30 Montreal Montreal, Canada Read More Arcade Fire Arcade Fire w/ Kid Koala, Dan Deacon I'm still not clear on the dress up situation. The band required their fans to dress up in formalwear or costumes to attend their shows. ...

Let’s take a Roll Call of who was present at Arcade Fire’s second arena show of their Reflektor Tour—

Astronaut- check, ...Teletubbies, giant bottle of ketchup, fairy princess, Superman, woman in a banana outfit, and a lot of people that were supposedly in formal attire... but just looked like they’d come from a job interview or church, were there too.

They had all heeded the call of the Montreal band’s request to come dressed in costume or formally, for what turned out to be a mostly satisfying, eclectic show at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Kid Koala

The evening actually started at the back of the arena, on the soundboard platform that had been transformed to a DJ station, complete with camouflage netting, lighted oil drums, and a hydraulic lift. Kid Koala started the night’s festivities, donned in a brown koala-like hoodie, spinning old school turntables for a set that even included his remixed version of classic crooning song, ‘Moon River’.

Dan Deacon

Dan Deacon, known for his crowd-interactive DJ sessions followed, involving the entire general admission floor into a dance circle and contest, including a giant-headed masked Win Butler, who was shaking and moving with the pack on the floor.

The two-hour surreal arena spectacle then began, as a completely mirrored figure walked to the back platform stage, met by The Reflektors, the “fake band” adorned in oversized head masks that included Arcade Fire singer Win Butler, wife Régine Chassagne, and multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett , who began with a sparse ‘My Body is a Cage’, from 2007’s Neon Bible.

Arcade Fire

The rest of the 12-person strong band then was revealed on the main stage, for the title track from their Reflektor double album (Merge Records), which sounded more immediate live than on the record, and personified the art-party vibe of the evening.

The band, which included conga drummers and a string section, then went through the next several numbers in rapid-fire succession (“C’mon, let’s go!”, Butler shouted), without pause, and with each song smoothly transitioning into the next, images flashing from the disco-mirrored stage onto the multi-hexagonal screens on either side.

"This is the perfect song for the Target Center- it's a song called 'The Suburbs”, the lanky Butler intro’d, catching his breath long enough to briefly address the audience after a half-hour in, and that wasn’t the end of the band’s clever local-centric commentary.

‘We Exist’ was prefaced by an intro from Butler about the song’s inspiration of a gay youth trying to awkwardly have that conversation with his father, and the new classic, ‘Normal Person’ had the entire floor crowd pogoing in unison at the chorus.

Musically overall, the new songs were more robust live, due to the added personnel and energy and the slower songs more soulful in delivery. ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’ was the vocal showcase for Chassagne and served as the main set closer.

Lights went down and the bobble-headed Reflektors re-appeared on the B-stage, drumming lethargically to a piped-in ‘When You Were Mine’ by Prince, before Butler stopped them mid-song from the main stage, to don a 4-sided video screened head and lead the full band in a driving, authentically funky version of The Purple One’s ‘Controversy’(The 1981 A-Side to ‘When You Were Mine’s vinyl B-Side). The cubed, illuminated head showed Prince’s own face singing, as well as controversial House Rep Michele Bachmann, in a brilliant piece of satire amidst playing a great cover song.

This segued into a spirited, island-inspired ‘Here Comes the Night Time’ and ended with alt-anthem ‘Wake Up’, from the band’s first album, Funeral.

Like most notable works of art, their evolution is a work-in-progress, which will refine further as the tour progresses. But, on this, only their second night of arena-sized performances, Arcade Fire affirmed their ability to regularly play on a scale this large… and guaranteed good “people-watching” of fans in attendance.

Arcade Fire at Target Center, Minneapolis (08 March 2014)

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Selena Gomez at the Target Center, Minneapolis (11/21/13)

Setlist Bang Bang Bang Round & Round Like a Champion B.E.A.T. Stars Dance Write Your Name Birthday Love You Like a Love Song Love Will Remember Dream (Priscilla Ahn) Who Says Whiplash Undercover Come & Get It Slow Down Tour Dates 11/22/13 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena 11/23/13 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena 11/26/13 Auburn Hills, MI Palace Of Auburn 12/02/13 IHeartRadio's Jingle Bell Concert Tour 12/06/13 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center 12/08/13 Everett, WA Comcast Arena 12/12/13 B96 J Show's Christmas For The Kids 12/13/13 IHeartRadio's Jingle Bell Concert Tour 12/14/13 Boston, MA TD Garden Read More Selena Gomez Selena Gomez is playing the Target Center in Minneapolis this Thursday. When not appearing in films like "Spring Breakers" and "Getaway" (with Ethan Hawke), Gomez is currently in the middle of a tour …

Disney pop princess, Selena Gomez is currently on tour in support of her solo debut studio album Stars Dance, stopping by the Target Center in Minneapolis last night, November 21st.

Apologies for the poor (or lack of) photographs, we actually weren't given photo passes, so all the low quality live photos were taken with a mobile device.

With Love

YouTube star Christina Grimmie opened up the show, playing a very brief five-song set. All her tracks were taken from her debut album With Love ("Over Overthinking You", "Get Yourself Together", "Absolutely Final Goodbye", "With Love", and "Tell My Mama"). Although Grimmie is only 19 years old, she seem to know how to perform and work the crowd, particularly getting the audience to help her with "Absolutely Final Goodbye."

EMBLEM3

Pop band Emblem3's entrance was a lot of fun, they burst out of custom crate set with "Girl Next Door", from their debut album Nothing to Lose.

The '3' in Emblem3 stands for the three singers: two brothers, Wesley and Keaton Stromberg, and their best friend Drew Chadwick. On last night's show, the band left off their Rihanna cover, possibly due to Wes not feeling well because of his flu.

Highlight of their set was for "3000 Miles", which had hundred of cellphones "lit up"!

Emblem3's full setlist: "Girl Next Door", "Spaghetti", "3000 Miles", "Just For One Day", "Sunset Blvd", and "Chloe (You're the One I Want)".

By the time Selena Gomez took the stage, the Target Center was full of screaming teen/preteen girls and their parents. Her show was actually pretty entertaining, featuring lots of dancing and set pieces. Between costume changes, we're shown a video of Selena Gomez as she travel in her dreams.

While many of her songs were well received, although she toned it down a little with a quiet version of Priscilla Ahn's "Dream." Gomez confessed that she would listened to that Ahn song when she was younger... which was actually only four years ago in 2008.

Several highlight from her set, with the first for "Birthday", because of the chairs, and the final song "Slow Down", because of the over-the-top confetti action.

The show was fun, and for the young girls, this show was an absolute blast for them.

Selena Gomez's album, Stars Dance, is out now. Her final U.S. Stars Dance tour will wrap up at Rosemont (11/22), Columbus (11/23) and Auburn Hills (11/26), then she is off to Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, and Australia.

Selena Gomez at the Target Center, Minneapolis (11/21/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com