W♥M

Minneapolis: May 7 to May 9

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

05/07 Peter Cat Recording Co. at Fine Line

05/07/2023 Sunday

Peter Cat Recording Co.
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

Originally booked at the 7th Street Entry, this upcoming Peter Cat Recording Co. (not to be confused with Glasgow’s Peter Cat aka Graham Gillespie) show has been upgraded to the Fine Line. All tickets purchased for the Entry show will be honored at the Fine Line.

This collective was originally formed in New Delhi around 2010 by Suryakant Sawhney, and over the years have covered everything from gypsy jazz to psychedelic cabaret to ballroom waltzes to epic space disco, etc.

No opening band listed as of this writing.

Tour dates:

Apr 26 Toronto, ON, Canada Velvet Underground
Apr 28 Washington, DC, US Songbyrd
Apr 29 Brooklyn, NY, US The Sultan Room
Apr 30 New York (NYC), NY, US Mercury Lounge
May 1 New York (NYC), NY, US Mercury Lounge
May 2 Philadelphia, PA, US The Foundry
May 3 Allston, MA, US Brighton Music Hall
May 5 Columbus, OH, US A&R Music Bar
May 6 Chicago, IL, US Beat Kitchen
May 7 Minneapolis, MN, US Fine Line
May 9 Nashville, TN, US The Basement East
May 10 Atlanta, GA, US The Loft
May 12 Dallas, TX, US The Cambridge Room
May 13 Houston, TX, US Bronze Peacock Room
May 14 Austin, TX, US Antone's Nightclub
May 19 Phoenix, AZ, US Valley Bar
May 20 San Diego, CA, US Voodoo Room
May 22 Los Angeles (LA), CA, US The Echo
May 23 Los Angeles (LA), CA, US The Echo
May 25 Santa Cruz, CA, US The Catalyst
May 26 Outdoor Napa, CA, US BottleRock Napa Valley
May 28 San Francisco, CA, US Rickshaw Stop
May 31 Seattle, WA, US The Crocodile
Jun 1 Vancouver, BC, Canada Biltmore Cabaret
Jun 5 West Hollywood, CA, US The Roxy Theatre
Jun 6 Los Angeles (LA), CA, US The Masonic Lodge

05/09 Waterparks with HUNNY and Daisy Grenade at First Avenue Read More Waterparks Waterparks is headlining the Varsity Theater this Friday, December 6th. Show up early to check out pop stars Kitten (stylized as KITTEN). If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the band features Chloe Chaidez of . ..

05/09/2023 Tuesday

Waterparks
with HUNNY and Daisy Grenade
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

Genre-bending pop/rock trio Waterparks is touring in support of Intellectual Property (Fueled by Ramen). The band will headline First Avenue on May 9th, 2023.

The last time the band was in town, Dec 2019, it was right before the world shut down due to the pandemic.

HUNNY and Daisy Grenade to open.

Tour Dates:

4/28/23 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
4/29/23 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
5/1/23 – Portland, OR Wonder @ Ballroom
5/2/23 – Seattle WA @ The Showbox
5/3/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
5/5/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
5/6/23 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
5/9/23 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
5/10/23 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
5/12/23 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
5/13/23 – Chicago IL @ House of Blues
5/14/23 – Detroit, MI @ Crofoot
5/16/23 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre
5/17/23 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
5/19/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
5/20/23 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
5/23/23 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
5/24/23 – Harrisburg, PA @ Club XL Live
5/26/23 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
5/27-28/23 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Adjacent Music Festival
5/30/23 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
5/31/23 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
6/2/23 – Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
6/3/23 – Tampa, FL @ Jannus Live
6/4/23 – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
6/6/23 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
6/7/23 – Austin, TX @ Emo's
6/8/23 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory
6/10/23 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
6/11/23 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
6/13/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
6/14/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
10/21/23 – Las Vegas, NV @ When We Were Young Festival

05/09 My Sister My Brother at Icehouse Read More Sean McConnell The tour will stop by First Avenue on November 3rd with special guest Sean McConnell. Tour dates: 10/13 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern 10/14 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Fremont Theatre . ..

05/09/2023 Tuesday

My Sister My Brother
at Icehouse
icehousempls.com

Sean McConnell & Garrison Starr Present: My Sister My Brother at the Icehouse on May 9th. This is is the songwriting duo of Garrison Starr + Sean McConnell.

The last time we heard from them, they released their self-titled EP in 2020 and was a trio (Sean McConnell, Garrison Starr, and Peter Groenwald). They were dubbed a “Songwriting Supergroup” by Billboard, and had a lot of promises.

Find out for yourself at the Icehouse, this May 9th.

Live dates:

May 3 Memphis, TN, US The Green Room
May 4 Columbus, OH, US Natalie's Grandview Music
May 5 Lake Orion, MI, US 20 Front Street
May 6 Grand Rapids, MI, US Midtown
May 7 Evanston, IL, US SPACE
May 9 Minneapolis, MN, US Icehouse
May 10 Des Moines, IA, US xBk live
May 11 Kansas City, MO, US Knuckleheads
May 12 Nashville, TN, US Grand Ole Opry House
May 18 Chattanooga, TN, US Songbirds
May 19 Decatur, GA, US Eddie's Attic
May 20 Charlotte, NC, US The Evening Muse
May 20 Charlotte, NC, US The Evening Muse

05/09 Icon For Hire with Hooked Like Helen at 7th St Entry Read More Icon for Hire There is an earlier all-ages show at the Triple Rock Social Club for Icon For Hire and Assuming We Survive at 5pm at the Triple Rock Social Club (also $15). The last time we heard about Icon for Hire, the alt-rock duo cracked the Billboard . ..

05/09/2023 Tuesday

Icon For Hire
with Hooked Like Helen
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

Rock duo Icon For Hire (power vocalist Ariel Bloomer and guitarist/producer Shawn Jump) will headline the 7th Street Entry, in Minneapolis, on May 9th, 2023. The duo have built up a good following from their multi-year stint on Vans Warped Tour.

Opening the show will be Hooked Like Helen, who we last heard covered Tori Amos’ song ‘Winter’.

Live dates:

Apr 12 Knoxville, TN, US The Open Chord
Apr 13 Greensboro, NC, US Hangar 1819
Apr 14 Atlanta, GA, US The Masquerade
Apr 15 Ybor City, FL, US Crowbar
Apr 16 Winter Park, FL, US Conduit
Apr 18 Dallas, TX, US Sundown at Granada
Apr 19 Austin, TX, US Come and Take It Live
Apr 23 Albuquerque, NM, US Launchpad
Apr 25 Phoenix, AZ, US The Rebel Lounge
Apr 26 San Diego, CA, US Brick By Brick
Apr 27 Roseville, CA, US Goldfield Trading Post Roseville
Apr 30 Seattle, WA, US El Corazon
May 4 Salt Lake City, UT, US Soundwell
May 5 Denver, CO, US The HQ
May 6 Lincoln, NE, US 1867 Bar
May 7 St Louis, MO, US Old Rock House
May 9 Minneapolis, MN, US 7th St Entry
May 10 Bloomington, IL, US The Castle Theatre
May 11 Chicago, IL, US The WC Social Club
May 12 Pittsburgh, PA, US Mr Smalls Theater
May 12 Hamtramck, MI, US Small's
May 13 Pittsburgh, PA, US Crafthouse Stage & Grill
May 15 Boston, MA, US Brighton Music Hall
May 16 Philadelphia, PA, US Warehouse on Watts
May 17 Baltimore, MD, US Zen West Roadside Cantina
May 18 Richmond, VA, US Canal Club
May 21 Nashville, TN, US The End

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

We♥KC - May 25-31, 2022 Upcoming Shows (Kansas City / Lawrence KS)

Dying Fetus, Granada Read More Dying Fetus The Dying Fetus and Thy Art Is Murder co-headlining tour started a few days ago... and they’ll be in town this March 22nd at the Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis. …

Read more Kansas City Music Guide.

Coming up on the Memorial Day holiday weekend slows things down a bit, but the month ends on an exclamation, with another hard decision on which show to attend. 

Don’t think there’s an overabundance of musical panhandlers in Lawrence this weekend either, it’s the annual Busker Festival downtown, or there’s always that Top Gun sequel (35+ years later!) at the cinema.

Here’s what’s happening in the Kansas City/Lawrence, KS metro MAY 24-31

(Several artists are still requiring precautions for entry, so check with the venue and/or assume vaccination proof and possibly a mask, might still be required)

Wednesday May 25

Dying Fetus with Chelsea Grin, Bodysnatcher more, May 25, Granada. $27.50

Maryland death-metal rockers will bring the heavy to LFK as part of the back half of a 33-date tour.  It’s been since 2017 since their last album, but they are promising new music later this year. 

Chelsea Grin is Salt Lake City deathcore, while FL band Bodysnatcher has new album, Bleed-Abide, out now.

Starset, May 25, Truman, $25-$50

The Ohio electronic/prog metal band has been around a decade now, out on their Horizons Tour from the album of the same name.  The tour starts in KC with support from Red, Fame on Fire, and Smash into Pieces for a full evening of cutting-edge rock. 

George Lopez, Prairie Band Casino- Mayetta

Thursday May 26

George Lopez (comedian), May 26, Prairie Band Casino- Mayetta, SOLD OUT

The longtime Latino comedian returns to the road with a new tour, another TV series on the way, and a role in DC’s upcoming Blue Beetle movie. 

A Place to Bury Strangers, Bottleneck- Lawrence

Friday May 27

A Place to Bury Strangers w SONA May 27, Bottleneck- Lawrence, $18-$20

The Brooklyn noise rock band has new album, See Through You, just out with frontman Oliver Ackermann still leading the band despite recent lineup changes. 

Arrive early for Tampa, FL synth-rock openers Glove, who have a new album, Boom Nights, out now and hearken back to the modern goth nu-wave dystopian bliss of late ‘80s bands (that we like!).

5/25 update: Glove is experiencing transportation issues so is likely off the tour for the next few stops, including this one. :( Local shoegaze, post-punk band SONA will be opening.

Mewithoutyou, May 27, Granada. $30

After over two decades, the Philadelphia indie-rock band is calling it a day, out on their Farewell Tour.  Spoken-word vocals are often very spiritual in theme and the band has seven studio albums under their belt.

Saturday May 28

Animal Collective, The Truman

Animal Collective w Spirit of the Beehive, May 28, The Truman, POSTPONED

5/27 Update: Show now Postponed for Covid-related reasons.

The Baltimore experimental pop art band is back on the road on their Time Skiffs Tour, named after their Feb-released new album, which featured the return of member Deakin, who had sat out the previous release. We last saw them at the Desert Daze Fest in 2019.

Opening on this solid double-bill is Philadelphia’s Spirit of the Beehive, supporting fourth album, Entertainment, Death, which came out last summer and they play somewhat similar psychedelic, experimental pop rock. 

Still Woozy, May 28, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. $39.50

Bay Area (by way of Portland) bedroom dream pop artist is fresh from playing both weekends at last month’s Coachella in support of his 2021 Interscope release, If This Isn’t Nice, I Don’t Know What Is.

Bastille, Uptown Theater

Sunday May 29

Bastille, May 29, Uptown Theater, $39.50-$75

We’re fans of this London electro-pop band whose newest record, Give Me The Future, came out in Feb. and they broke out with early single, “Pompeii”.  We caught them live back in 2016 in MN, headlining a multi-act radio show and have been impressed ever since.

The new album is a bit of a concept record so expect interludes during the live show, along with previous hits, including “Happier” which was a smash Marshmello collaboration. 

Texas indie singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe is support for this first leg of the tour.  Golden Aquarians is a project done with longtime drummer Roberto Sanchez and they released the new Night Drive just last month.  She's worked on numerous soundtracks as well but might be best known for co-writing and singing on Eminem's "Bad Guy".  We were talking about her ten years ago, back when she was fronting a band called The Dividends.  

5/27 Update: Sarah Jaffee is unable to join the tour "due to family emergency"

Young Oklahoma multi-instrumentalist Josh Fudge now tapped to open.

Tori Amos, KC Music Hall Read More Tori Amos For me, and it looks like for a lot of other people as well, one of those magnificent guru‚Äôs in the world of which we call music, is the fiery redhead Tori Amos. … Phoebe Bridgers, Starlight Read More Phoebe Bridgers In the age of the internet and social media, it's incredibly hard to keep a big secret, but that's just what singers Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers pulled off …

Monday May 30 (Memorial Day)

Tuesday May 31

Tori Amos, May 31, KC Music Hall, $46-$86

The piano songstress has returned, out on her Ocean to Ocean Tour supporting her sixteenth studio album.  Written during lockdown in Cornwall, it reflects the isolation and then trying to renew yourself feeling of the current times. Amos usually changes it up slightly night to night, but expect some (but not all) of the hits, a solo portion, and a lively encore with maybe a cover version mixed in.  We last saw her twice back in 2014. 

Phoebe Bridgers, May 31, Starlight, $39.50-$69.50

Consider us big fans of California indie-rock darling Bridgers, still out on her Reunion Tour, in support of 2020’s acclaimed Punisher album, though she has released some new songs since, including last month’s “Sidelines” from the Conversations with Friends soundtrack. 

Bridgers also keeps herself busy with side projects boygenius (w/ Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus) and the super-secret Better Oblivion Community Center (w/Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst) who we were thrilled to catch live back in 2019. 

She’s also founded her own record label, Saddest Factory and arrive early to see one of her first signees and childhood friend, Charlie Hickey perform in support of his EP, Count the Stairs and now first full-length, Nervous at Night, just out last week (and who might just join Phoebe on stage for a song, skeleton one-sie optional).

Girl Ultra, May 31, Bottleneck. $20

The Mexican R&B/pop artist had her first full length, Nuevos Aires released in 2019 and draws influences from Beyonce/Destiny’s Child and recently played huge outdoor festival stages in Chile, Mexico and Argentina, so within the relatively small confines of the Granada might be a rare treat.

Suffocation, May 31, Granada. $20

Out on their Forces of Hostility Tour, the technical death metal band put out a second live album, Live in North America, late last year.  Atheist, Soreption, and Contrarian round out this early show and full evening of head banging. 

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

Rocktober: October 24, 2017

Rocktober: Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on October 24, 2017.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Tori Amos For me, and it looks like for a lot of other people as well, one of those magnificent guru’s in the world of which we call music, is the fiery redhead Tori Amos. …

TORI AMOS
The O'Shaughnessy
Tue 10/24/2017 (7:30pm/$42)
stkate.edu

The great Tori Amos is back at the The O'Shaughnessy this Tuesday. The appearance is part of her highly anticipated new album, Native Invader, available on Decca Records. The record was inspired after taking a trip through North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains and reconnecting with the stories and songs of her mother’s family.

We caught Amos in 2014 and wrote, “As for the concert, Tori's Unrepentant Geraldines set are broken into three parts, with the middle section called Lizard Lounge, which includes nothing but cover songs. If you've ever heard Tori's covers, they are so different than the original that they really deserve to be their own songs. I've said it time and time again, but she definitely performs the best cover songs. Her original live songs are treated the same way, it's like Tori is covering herself, because often her well known songs starts off like something completely different.”

North American Fall Tour

10/24: Saint Paul, MN @ O'Shaughnessy
10/26: Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
10/27: Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre
10/29: Cleveland, OH @ State Theatre
10/30: Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
10/31: Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theater
11/2: Boston, MA @ The Orpheum Theatre
11/3: Washington, DC @ MGM National Harbor
11/4: Philadelphia, PA @ The Tower Theater
11/7: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
11/8: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
11/10: Atlanta, GA @ Atlanta Symphony Hall
11/11: Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center
11/12: Nashville, TN @ The Ryman Auditorium
11/14: New Orleans, LA @ Mahalia Jackson Theatre
11/16: Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion
11/17: Austin, TX @ ACL Live
11/19: Denver, CO @ The Paramount Theatre
11/22: Portland, OR @ Schnitzer Hall
11/24: Seattle, WA @ The Paramount Theatre
11/25: Eugene, OR @ The Hult Center
11/26: Oakland, CA @ The Paramount Theater
11/28: San Diego, CA @ The Balboa Theatre
11/29: Phoenix, AZ @ The Mesa Arts Center
12/1 Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
12/2: Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
12/3: Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel

Read More Cults New York's Cults are in the middle of their tour for their second album, Static, stopping by Minneapolis' First Avenue on November 22nd.… Cullen Omori After the 2014 breakup of Smith Westerns, singer Cullen Omori decided to strike out on his own as a solo artist. His debut New Misery recently came out (March 18th) .…

CULTS
+ Cullen Omori, Hideout
Turf Club
Tue 10/24/2017 (7pm/$18)
turfclub.net

The NYC-based duo Cults (Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion) is back in town. I’ll never forget catching the band in Toronto, Canada in 2011 to see them with Devo and Men Without Hats!

Please note that this show was originally scheduled at the Fine Line Music Café. It is now at the Turf Club in St Paul.

Cullen Omori (formerly of Smiths-Western) and Hideout (aka Gabriel Rodriguez) to open.

Cults North American tour dates

10/14 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's *@
10/15 - Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *@
10/17 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall *@
10/18 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall *@
10/19 - Albany, NY - The Hollow *@
10/20 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace *@
10/21 - Detroit, MI - Marble Bar *@
10/22 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *@
10/24 - St Paul, MN - Turf Club *@
10/25 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *@
10/26 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews *@
10/27 - Omaha, NE - Bemis Center *@
10/28 - Denver, CO - Globe Hall *@
10/29 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *@
10/31 - Seattle, WA - Neumos *@
11/01 - Portland, OR - Star Theater *@
11/03 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel ^!
11/04 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy and Harriet's ^!
11/05 - San Diego, CA - The Irenic ^!
11/06 - Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room ^!
11/07 - Los Angeles,CA - Teragram Ballroom ^!
11/09 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom %@
11/11 - Dallas, TX - Dada %$
11/12 - Austin, TX - Antone's %$
11/13 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall %@
11/14 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks %@
11/15 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn %@
11/16 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In %@
11/17 - Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5 %@
11/18 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle %@
11/19 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar %@

* w/ Cullen Omori @ w/ Hideout
^ w/ Curls
! w/ The Willowz
% w/ She-Devils
$ w/ Deep Cuts

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

Vu's Best Of 2014 Concerts

Read More Slowdive Shoegaze band Slowdive are currently on a reunion tour, stopping by Minneapolis' Fine Line Music Café, after being absent from the city in twenty-two years! .... Kaiser Chiefs Never miss a beat. It had been a long seven years since their last appearance in Minneapolis (the band skipped us in 2012), but Leeds, UK band Kaiser Chiefs re-stormed the city and stage for an animated, back-to-glory performance .... Paul Weller The Modfather Paul Weller is currently on a tiny US tour heading to Riot Fest in Chicago. For some reason, Minneapolis is just one of four US non-festival dates, and so naturally, the Varsity Theater show last night, September 10th, was sold out. .... Stars Canadians Stars and Hey Rosetta! are currently on tour together, supporting new albums, stopping by First Avenue in Minneapolis, last night, November 19th. For fans who couldn't make it, you can watch the show streaming online Lily Allen Lily Allen is currently in the US, touring in support of her latest album, Sheezus (Regal, Parlophone), stopping by the Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis last night

Of my 113 live shows I personally attended in 2014, these are my top ten.

1. Slowdive at Fine Line (31 Oct 2014)
An absolutely unforgettable show. After a 22 year absent, the band is back, healthier, happier, and dressed for the occasion (Halloween). Played all the hits, completely professional and absolutely a treat (like the candies they handed out) to finally see live.

2. Kaiser Chiefs at First Ave (13 June 2014)
WOW, these guys are amazing live. They did some things on this show that I've never, ever seen done at First Avenue (climbing owner's box rafters).

3. Paul Weller at Varsity Theater (10 Sep 2014)
Speaking of 20+ years absent from Minneapolis, the Modfather Paul Weller returned to the city. Fans of British music could not absolutely miss this sold out show.

4. Stars at First Avenue (19 Nov 2014)
Maybe it was because they were filming this live show for Yahoo, but this was a great show. I've criticized the band before when they only played new songs... but not this 2014 show. They played a lot of old stuff, including some hits and they did it because of the fans.

5. Lily Allen at Skyway (01 Oct 2014)
I love it when a band put on a show, and that's exactly what I got when I saw Allen. Sure, the setlist is the same every night, but the routines (including three costume changes) were absolutely fun to watch.

6. Peter Hook at Fine Line (15 Nov 2014)
I'll probably never see New Order live, so seeing Peter Hook play some classic New Order songs were good enough for me. Plus, bad snowstorm and sold out environment and three-hour music set, made it for a memorable show.

7. Buzzcocks at Varsity Theater (11 Sep 2014)
Legendary punk band... absolute blast to see them still at it.

8. Tori Amos at O'Shaughnessy (03 Aug 2014)
My first time seeing Tori, and it was everything I expected! Her set is different every night, thanks to fan requests... so you never know what she is going to play!

9. Pixies at State Theatre (11 Oct 2014)
This is one of those bands on my bucket list... I can finally cross them off the list. Really tight show, the band played all the hits and showcased their new songs.

10. Festival Palomino (20 Sep 2014)
Although the Americana music thing isn't my cup of tea, I have to give big thumbs up for this incredibly well-organized first-ever music festival of its kind. The event sold so well that they've already announced a second Festival Palomino... so obviously I'm looking forward to 2015.

Tori Amos at the O'Shaughnessy, St Paul (03 August 2014)

Program Book Setlist Parasol Space Dog Crucify Mrs. Jesus Cooling A Sorta Fairytale Forest of Glass Toast Lizard Lounge Real Men (Joe Jackson cover) Little Red Corvette (Prince cover) (ending with Shakespeare's Sister's "Stay With Me") Little Amsterdam Honey Sugar The Beekeeper Sweet the Sting Cornflake Girl -- Encore -- Winter Bliss Raspberry Swirl (ending with Prince's "Raspberry Beret") Pretty Good Year Tour Dates 08/06: Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre 08/07: Cleveland, OH @ Cain Park 08/08: Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall 08/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Verizon Hall 08/12: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre 08/13: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre 08/15: Boston, MA @ Opera House 08/16: Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall 08/18: Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium 08/19: Atlanta, GA @ Cobb-Energy PAC 08/20: Durham, NC @ Durham PAC 08/22: Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall 08/23: Orlando, FL @ Bob Carr PAC 08/24: Miami, FL @ Fillmore Read More Tori Amos For me, and it looks like for a lot of other people as well, one of those magnificent guru’s in the world of which we call music, is the fiery redhead Tori Amos. … Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou Opening for Tori were Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou, an adorable husband and wife folk duo from the UK. Founding members of Indigo Moss, the two ditched the name and decided to continue on …

"I wore my space frames for you all," stated Tori Amos at the O'Shaughnessy in St Paul, August 3rd, during her brief, but scheduled, Tori Says Hello segment. It's understandable that she's trying to limit the talk time, so she can fit in more songs, because she's got so many song requests that it's hard to play everything, otherwise "we'll be here all night."

Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou

Opening up for Tori was Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou, a married couple, who previously played under the name Indigo Moss. When they lost their bassist and drummer, the two decided to play under their own names.

The 'hightlight' of their brief 30 minute set was when the spotlight went out and they kept playing in complete darkness without any breaks! Real pros, and the audience kept handclapping to help cheer them on.

They ended their set with a cover of Charlie Parr's "Cheap Wine", a nice tribute to the Minnesota bluesman.

Setlist

Although the tour was for Tori Amos' latest release Unrepentant Geraldines, as evident by the setlist, she is only playing fan requests. The setlist is dictated by the fans, so every show is unique, in terms of live songs. She got so many requests that some of the songs on last night's set were from previous cities... and anything not played last night will be carried over to Chicago's show, etc.

While this is amazing for fans who wants to hear the rare, obscure songs, it's bad for casual fans who wants to hear the greatest 'hits' tour. Still, I was very satisfy with the Saint Paul setlist, which included "Crucify" (from her debut solo Little Earthquakes album) and two Prince nods, "Little Red Corvette" and "Raspberry Swirl" with an outro of "Raspberry Beret" and, of course, the set finale "Cornflake Girl."

Chicago Theatre marquee photo: Amber

I spoke to some Tori fans who is travelling the country, seeing most, if not every, show on this stop and they've all agreed that this Unrepentant Geraldines tour was by far the best tour yet. Like other dedicated fan groups, like Morrissey or Insane Clown Posse or Phish, going to a Tori Amos show isn't just about Tori Amos... it's also experiencing the fan community.

As for the concert, Tori's Unrepentant Geraldines set are broken into three parts, with the middle section called Lizard Lounge, which includes nothing but cover songs. If you've ever heard Tori's covers, they are so different than the original that they really deserve to be their own songs. I've said it time and time again, but she definitely performs the best cover songs. Her original live songs are treated the same way, it's like Tori is covering herself, because often her well known songs starts off like something completely different.

The third portion of the set had a switch in equipment, which had an organ sound, which you can clearly hear during "The Beekeeper". Tori is often switch back and forth between her two instruments, sometime quite quickly, and often accompanied by loud cheers.

Her four-song encore started with "Winter" (from my favorite Little Earthquakes album), followed by "Bliss" (from her fifth album To Venus and Back) "Raspberry Swirl" (from the third From the Choirgirl Hotel album, but 'swirling' in a little Prince's "Raspberry Beret" mix) and ending with "Pretty Good Year" (from the second Under the Pink album). As you can see from just that small sampling, Tori Amos has a large body of work to draw from.

In a few years, when Tori goes back on tour, you can sure bet fans will be asking for some Unrepentant Geraldines tracks. Unrepentant Geraldines, the fourteenth album by Tori Amos, is out now on Mercury Classic/Universal Mercury Classic, and is available in the standard CD, a limited CD+DVD, and two disc vinyl LP set.

Tori Amos at the O'Shaughnessy, St Paul (03 August 2014)

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

Tori Amos at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles (23 Jul 2014)

setlist courtesy of facebook.com/toriamos Setlist Parasol Bouncing Off Clouds Crucify God (with "Tubular Bells" & "Running Up That Hill" teases) Roosterspur Bridge A Sorta Fairytale Winter Purple People Fire on the Side (Y Kant Tori Read song) Oysters -- Lizard Lounge -- Hyperballad (Björk cover) (with elements of "Cloud on My Tongue") You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) (Dead or Alive cover) Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Elton John cover) Maybe California Almost Rosey Little Earthquakes i i e e e Cornflake Girl -- Encore -- Riot Poof Wedding Day In Your Room (Depeche Mode cover) Hey Jupiter ‎information from setlist.fm Tour Dates 07/24: San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s 07/25: Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center 07/27: Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre 07/29: Dallas, TX @ Winspear Opera House 07/30: Austin, TX @ Long Center 08/01: St. Louis, MO @ Peabody Opera House 08/02: Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theatre 08/03: St. Paul, MN @ The O’Shaughnessy 08/05: Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre 08/06: Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre 08/07: Cleveland, OH @ Cain Park 08/08: Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall 08/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Verizon Hall 08/12: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre 08/13: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre 08/15: Boston, MA @ Opera House 08/16: Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall 08/18: Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium 08/19: Atlanta, GA @ Cobb-Energy PAC 08/20: Durham, NC @ Durham PAC 08/22: Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall 08/23: Orlando, FL @ Bob Carr PAC 08/24: Miami, FL @ Fillmore Read More Tori Amos If you've been keeping up with Tori Amos, you may have remember her musical adaptation of George MacDonald story The Light Princess for the Royal National Theatre. As for regular music releases goes, Tori Amos is back…

As I walk the mile from my house to the Greek Theatre, adorned in a flowing floral skirt matched with super-comfy combat boots, I marvel at the eclectic crowd heading to tonight’s show. There are people of all ages, young and old, hip, not so hip, couples, goth stars, artsy 90’s wave kids (which is the category I presumably fall into), industry savvy professionals, and massive amounts of nerds...but you know, like the cool, unassuming nerds. Amongst the sea of people I feel a sense of calm come over me, because not only am I bathing in the twilight as I slowly wander up the hill into the magic that is Griffith Park, but I feel a sense of oneness that I don’t always get at shows. Tonight we aren’t coming together to merely see an artist or a musician, no...we are coming together to experience a revolution, to capture that feeling of nostalgia that we all turn to music to fulfill, that meditative state that only certain songs are able to give us. For me, and it looks like for a lot of other people as well, one of those magnificent guru’s in the world of which we call music, is the fiery redhead Tori Amos.

I have been listening to Tori since I was 9 years old. My mother introduced me to her, as she was obsessed herself. Tori’s songs are the epitome of the bonding experiences we shared. We would be in the car together for long periods of time on the commute from where we lived to her college, and would blast Little Earthquakes from the speakers, singing our little hearts out. Since Little Earthquakes Tori has produced 14 studio albums, won countless awards and has toured the world consistently. She started composing music on the piano at age 5 and was the youngest person ever admitted into the Peabody Institute at John Hopkins University. Her brilliance has been unwavering; as her music not only depicts her talent but her courage as well-with her sensual and at times controversial lyrics having zero sensor-something I feel was a pinnacle milestone for female artists of that time. What has always stuck out in my mind was the part in Precious Things, ‘I wanna smash the faces, of those beautiful boys, those Christian boys, so you can make me cum, that doesn’t make you Jesus...’ To a nine year old these things have a tendency to stick, not that I really knew what the hell she was talking about until I was older.

Opening for Tori were Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou, an adorable husband and wife folk duo from the UK. Founding members of Indigo Moss, the two ditched the name and decided to continue on by themselves. Hannah had a voice similar to Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries, and Travis is a hoot onstage, joking about the less-than-stellar hotels they had to endure their first time in America. They played mostly new songs (they’ve released three albums so far), and one particularly lovely one titled For A Minute There. Having never heard them before I did my research when I got home. Their songs are clever and light-hearted, with uplifting harmonies and romantic music videos. Interesting pick for Tori though, I would have guessed she’d have someone a little more dark and edgy.

Suddenly the lights on the stage go dim, basking the audience in darkness as the sun had just set below the theatre. Tori enters the stage as the audience goes nuts, all smiles and waves. She’s dressed in leather tights and a black layered dress, with perfectly curled hair and black cat-eyed glasses. She sits down at her pristine Bosendorfer piano, and behind her is another one, equally stunning. She opens with Parasol, the first track on her 2005 album The Beekeeper. The crowd welcomes her with a standing ovation, and when she starts her infamous double-piano playing the cheers erupt like a volcano all over the stadium. If you haven’t seen Tori, she puts you on sensory overload with her beyond-impressive piano playing to her erotic movements to her angelic, breathy vocals. She is a ghost that’s been pent up in purgatory for centuries and is finally allowed to haunt the masses; she’s a beautiful temptress with the power to cast spells on anyone she comes into contact with. She precedes to tell us how much she loves L.A., how she used to live on Franklin and Gower and about the incredible inspiration she experienced there, which helped her write many of the songs on Strange Little Girls and Scarlett’s Walk. She laughed while exclaiming “I gotta say I’m disappointed in you queens. You didn’t come glammed up. I know you bitches were at the Staple Center.” Tori has a wonderful sense of humor.

After she plays the upbeat Bouncing off Clouds, I rejoice in the first notes of Crucify, from Little Earthquakes. Little Earthquakes is by far my favorite album, not only for nostalgic purposes but because it’s filled with mostly melancholy and simple tracks, with just her piano mixed in with some strings. Most of her albums to follow, although staying saturated with the piano, include more electronic sounds. Tori grabs her neck while singing ‘You’re just an empty cage girl if you kill the bird’, always keeping us entertained with her dramatic gestures. Next, A Sorta Fairytale, which is her most radio-friendly and commercially popular song, followed by my personal favorite song of hers, Winter. I sat there in wonder as tears flowed down my cheeks...it amazes me how one person can write and perform one song that is able to transport you into another world completely; a world you’ve known and will never know, a world you wish for and long for every day of your life. You can always count on this one song, this one moment, even when everything else in this life is transcending, changing, falling away. A truly life-changing moment for me to hear this live, that’s for sure. She then lifted the mood with some happier tunes, including Purple People and Oysters. The stage is backlit with the words Lizard Lounge for her next conquest. She laughs jokes that she has to get prepared, shuffling around papers and saying “This is complicated you guys. I have a surprise for ya’ll, I know I know you’re like “Hurry it up, Mom!” She switched her pianoto organ and starts playing You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive. I love Tori’s covers, she takes pop music and puts her own spin on it, making it almost sinister. Of course she played Maybe California, such a tearjerker, followed by Cornflake Girl, also one of my favorites.

Tori Amos

For her encore she played four songs, ending with her echoed mic on Hey Jupiter. I’ve always heard about Tori being gracious and adoring to her fans, and tonight was no exception as I watched her take pictures and kiss people on the cheek in the front row. She said goodbye to us with her gorgeous smile and tons of waves as she hopped off stage in her heels blowing kisses. It was simply a magical night under the stars with a heartbreaking performance by one of the most influential female artists of our time.

Tori is currently in the middle of her US tour, and is taking a couple month break before she plays some shows in Australia in November.

Tori Amos at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles (23 Jul 2014)

jess ♥ weheartmusic.com

Rock Royalty

Morrissey, with Paula the dog, at La Fabrique Studios, France Photograph by Donnie Read More Morrissey Morrissey is riding high on his Autobiography book and has announced a new U.S. tour with songwriter / keyboardist Kristeen Young, and Tom Jones to join Moz in Los Angeles and Sir Cliff Richard …

MORRISSEY
true-to-you.net

The King of Mope, Morrissey is back with World Peace Is None Of Your Business, coming out this late June/early July, worldwide release by Harvest Records through Capitol.

In addition to the new album, Parlophone (UK) is planning to reissue Morrissey's Vauxhall and I on June 2nd, marking a 20th Anniversary of the album. As a fan who bought the album the first time around, I don't know how interested I am in re-buying the album. Even if it's to hear that it's been re-mastered by Bill Inglot.

Morrissey is also heading out on tour this Summer. Let's hope he doesn't get sick this time around.

May 07 San Jose CA Civic Auditorium
May 10 Los Angeles CA Sports Arena
May 13 El Paso TX Plaza Theater
May 14 Albuquerque NM Sunshine Theater
May 16 Salt Lake City UT Kingsbury Hall
May 17 Denver CO Ellie Caulkins
May 19 Lincoln NE Rococo Theatre
May 20 Lawrence KS Liberty Hall
May 22 Dallas TX Majestic Theatre
May 24 Austin TX Austin Music Hall
May 25 Beaumont TX Julie Rogers Theatre
May 27 Memphis TN Orpheum Theatre
May 28 Nashville TN Ryman Auditorium
May 30 St Petersburg FL Mahaffey Theater
May 31 Miami FL Adrienne Arsht Center
June 4 Atlanta GA Cobb Energy Center
June 6 Atlantic City NJ Revel Ovation Hall
June 7 Boston MA Boston Opera House
June 10 Baltimore MD Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
June 11 Washington DC Lincoln Theater (NEW)
June 13 Chicago IL Civic Opera House
June 14 Flint MI James Whiting Auditorium
June 16 Lewiston NY Artpark Main Stage Theater
June 17 Wilmington DE Grand Opera House
June 19 Hershey PA Hershey Theatre
June 21 New York NY Barclays Center Arena

Read More Freddie Mercury ...Bring to mind the operatic singing style of the late, great Freddie Mercury. …

QUEEN
queenonline.com

Since Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, Queen has been without a regular lead singer. Various vocalists have temporarily joined on stage, including Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Zucchero, Robbie Williams, Kris Allen, and Jessie J, but nothing permanent.

In 2009, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert came on board with Queen. Now called "Queen + Adam Lambert" to distinguish themselves from original Queen and also "Queen + Paul Rodgers", they announced on March 6, 2014, on Good Morning America that the band will do a North American tour.

06/19 Chicago United Center
06/21 Winnipeg MTS Centre
06/23 Saskatoon Credit Union Centre
06/24 Edmonton Rexall Place
06/26 Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome
06/28 Vancouver Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
07/01 San Jose SAP Center
07/03 Los Angeles The Forum
07/05 Las Vegas The Joint
07/06 Las Vegas The Joint
07/09 Houston Toyota Center
07/10 Dallas American Airlines Center
07/12 Detroit The Palace of Auburn Hills
07/13 Toronto Air Canada Centre
07/14 Montreal Bell Centre
07/16 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center
07/17 New York Madison Square Garden
07/19 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
07/20 Washington, DC Merriweather Post Pavilion

FallinLove2Night Epic Records Read More Prince Step aside William and Harry, there’s a new Prince in town! His Purpleness, backed by band 3rdEyeGirl, has been popping up all over London in a series of surprise shows. …

PRINCE
3rdeyegirl.com

Did you catch Prince's appearance on "New Girl"? If so, you may have heard his brand new single, "FALLINLOVE2NITE", featuring singer and actress Zooey Deschanel. The song will be available for purchase on March 17th through iTunes and all digital retailers via Epic Records.

The single also marks the first time Prince has ever joined forces with Epic Records Chairman and CEO, L.A. Reid for a song release.

The press release described the track as "powerful as ever." You can preview the song, "FallinLove2Night", yourself on YouTube right now.

More details on news.weheartmusic.com.

As far as touring goes, Prince won't do traditional tour announcements anymore. Instead, he'll just randomly announced shows a few days before the date. Prices are usually astronomical (the Fox Theater in Oakland 03/15 tonight's general admission price is $99.50 or $199.50 for mezzanine seating or $149.50 for an afterparty), but fans don't seem to mind the high prices.

Unrepentant Geraldines Mercury Classics/Universal Music Classics Read More Tori Amos You know I love Tori. Who doesn't? She announced that she's gone back and hand-picking songs from her entire catalog and re-imagining those songs for her thirteenth studio album, Gold Dust …

TORI AMOS
toriamos.com

If you've been keeping up with Tori Amos, you may have remember her musical adaptation of George MacDonald story The Light Princess for the Royal National Theatre. As for regular music releases goes, Tori Amos is back with a new studio album Unrepentant Geraldines, which is coming out May 13th in the U.S. on Mercury Classics/Universal Music Classics. Unrepentant Geraldines is a return to pop/rock, unlike her previous orchestral take on Christmas/Seasonal songs, Classical Music, and her own songs.

I'm a long-time Tori Amos fan, so personally, it does not matter what she does, I'll support her work. She's great, and anyone who listened to her crazy cover re-working of songs will agree with me.

Tori Amos will be out on tour this Summer, in support of Unrepentant Geraldines:

07/16: Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum
07/17: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
07/18: Portland, OR @ Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre
07/21: Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
07/23: Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
07/24: San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s
07/25: Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center
07/27: Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
07/29: Dallas, TX @ Winspear Opera House
07/30: Austin, TX @ Long Center
08/01: St. Louis, MO @ Peabody Opera House
08/02: Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theatre
08/03: St. Paul, MN @ The O’Shaughnessy
08/05: Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
08/06: Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
08/07: Cleveland, OH @ Cain Park
08/08: Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
08/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Verizon Hall
08/12: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
08/13: New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
08/15: Boston, MA @ Opera House
08/16: Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall
08/18: Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
08/19: Atlanta, GA @ Cobb-Energy PAC
08/20: Durham, NC @ Durham PAC
08/22: Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
08/23: Orlando, FL @ Bob Carr PAC
08/24: Miami, FL @ Fillmore

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

Going for Gold 13

Read more Going for Gold articles.

Read More Tori Amos You know I love Tori Amos. She is one of those artists that I'll still continue to buy her albums, despite getting review copies.

TORI AMOS
toriamos.com

You know I love Tori. Who doesn't?

She announced that she's gone back and hand-picking songs from her entire catalog and re-imagining those songs for her thirteenth studio album, Gold Dust (to be released for October 2012). Announcement is so far that I'm using her previous album, Night of Hunters, as the cover artwork.

I am expecting these "new" songs will be incredibly different, just like her previous re-working of classic Christmas songs and Classical Music.

Also, expect a bit of orchestra, as long-time collaborator John Philip Shenale will be on board with the renowned Metropole Orchestra (conducted by Jules Buckley).

Tori comments on the forthcoming album: "My relationship with all of these songs has changed over the years and they have changed my life. So it wasn’t just about capturing the past it was about realizing that the songs had a new narrative now - 10 or 20 years later than they did when I originally recorded them".

Be sure to see her on tour:

Oct 1 Rotterdam w/ Metropole Orkest Conducted by Jules Buckley
Oct 2 Brussels w/ Metropole Orkest Conducted by Jules Buckley
Oct 13 Warsaw (On-Sale Date 6/11)

Read More The Cribs The Cribs are an excellent three piece indie band of twin brothers Gary and Ryan Jarman and their little brother Ross Jarman.

THE CRIBS
thecribs.com

We like these guys, I was lucky enough to have caught these guys the last few times they toured through Minneapolis.

They premiered a video called "Glitters Like Gold" on Pitchfork in early June.

Here is what the directors, Andy Knowles and Stephen Agnew, had to say about the video: "We wanted to capture the look and feel of the videos we grew up loving, Vids by directors like David Marky (1991, The Year Punk Broke, Fuzz Gun '91) And Kevin Kerslake ('sliver') We loved the relaxed playful lo-fi feel of spots, and wanted to evoke the same love in a newer audience. Its also very relevant to the over all sound and feel of the track. However, we didn't want to simply wallow in our own selfish nostalgia, we also wanted to create something playful and interactive to run parallel to the linear video. So we arrived at the idea of creating an interactive fact driven video."

The band's currently on tour:

Jun 21 Club Quattro Osaka, Japan
Jun 23 Hostess Weekender, Ebisu Tokyo, Japan
Jul 06 T in The Park Balado, United Kingdom
Aug 24 Richfield Avenue Reading, United Kingdom
Aug 25 Leeds Festival 2012 Leeds, United Kingdom
Aug 26 Bramham Park Bramham, United Kingdom

TRISTAN PRETTYMAN
www.tristanprettyman.com

The California singer Tristan Prettyman will be returning to music after her four-year recording hiatus to unveil Cedar + Gold, coming out on September 25 via Capitol Records.

You can hear a sneak peek of "My Oh My" on Entertainment Weekly. The track will be available on July 10th to impact radio a few weeks later.

The track-listing for Cedar + Gold is as follows: Say Anything / I Was Gonna Marry You / My Oh My / Unconditionally / Quit You / Bad Drug / Come Clean / Glass Jar / When You Come Down / Deepest Ocean / Blue / Second Chance / Never Say Never / The Rebound (bonus track).

Since the album is announced so far in advance, we weren't given the cover artwork for it. Instead, I'll be using the cover from the last album, Hello, from 2008.

Be sure to catch Prettyman and Joshua Radin on their tour:

07/12 Napa, CA Uptown Theater 07/15 Boise, ID Knitting Factory 07/17 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot 07/18 Aspen, CO Belly Up 07/20 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s 07/22 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater 07/23 Cincinnati, OH 20th Century Theatre

07/25 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse 07/27 Huntington, NY Paramount 07/28 Cleveland, OH Cain Park 07/29 Annapolis, MD Ramshead Onstage 07/31 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts 08/02 Alexandria, VA Birchmere 08/03 Norfolk, VA NorVa

HOLLOWS
hollowschicago.com

eMusic recently premiered "Golden Chain," the first video from Hollows' sophomore LP, Vulture.

I did a quick search on the 'net for Hollows, they have to do something about their name - there are already a few bands called Hollows - including one from Brooklyn and one from Glasgow.

Anyroad, the Chicago band is heading out on tour:

June 26 - Tip Top - Grand Rapids, MI
June 27 - Painted Lady - Detroit, MI
June 28 - Parts & Labour - Toronto, ON *
June 29 - Capital Rehearsal Studios - Ottawa, ON *
June 30 - Barfly - Montreal, QC *
July 1 - WWTA - Boston, MA *
July 2 - Glasslands - Brooklyn, NY *
July 3 - Cake Shop - New York, NY
July 5 - TBA - Baltimore, MD *
July 6 - Gillie's - Blacksburg, VA
July 7 - Espresso News - Boone, NC
July 8 - Springwater - Nashville, TN
July 9 - The Exhange - Hot Springs, AR
July 10 - H&H Lounge - Shreveport, LA
July 11 - Club Dada - Dallas, TX &
July 12 - White House - Conway, AR
July 13 - The Pleasure Chest - Fayetteville, AR
July 14 - Replay Lounge - Lawrence, KS
July 15 - Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
July 16 - PK's - Carbondale, IL

w/ Boyhood *
w/ Bass Drum of Death &

BRIEFLY:

GRASS WIDOW grasswidow.org "Goldilocks Zone" is the new song from Grass Widow, which premiered on Pitchfork. The song is taken from their self-released record, available through Internal Logic.

BILLY & DOLLY billyanddolly.com San Francisco's Billy & Dolly has a second full-length album out now called Dally Bon Idyll. Check out their single for "Gold" on Soundcloud.

IAN MCGLYNN ianmcglynn.com Ian McGlynn has a new album called Now We're Golden, which just came out earlier this month, June 5th via Bailey Park Records. The album was recorded all over the place, including Paris, Amsterdam and "exotic" Somerville, NJ. Will the songs on the album reflect his environment? I guess you have to listen for yourself.

THE HAPPY HIPPO FAMILY thhf.se Swedish indie band, The Happy Hippo Family, tells me that they have a second single for 2012 called "Settle for Gold" (this is after their previous single "Mustache"). "Settle for Gold", I am told, is about the mythical dream of fame and stardom and getting there without settling for second best.

THE KNOCKS www.facebook.com Don't know anything about the Knocks, they didn't send in links or bio, just that they recently remixed Santigold's "The Keepers", you can hear it on soundcloud.

PATRICK GOLDEN twitter.com Patrick Golden followed us on Twitter, so I thought I'd say hi. According to his twitter biography @7StringSerenade, he's the lead guitarist for Vulture King and Bog Iron and loves old stuff.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Christmas Music Guide 2009

You must think it's so great to review music, even as a hobby. That is until you realize that I've been listening to nonstop Christmas music ... in October!! Most of the smarter record labels are releasing their Seasonal music of or prior to that American tradition known as "Black Friday".

What we have in store for you are three very special Christmas albums that's already released or coming out soon-ish.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Is Zat You Santa Claus Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Read More Putumayo World Music http://weheartmus...

Putumayo Presents: A Family Christmas
putumayo.com

Putumayo's Christmas album came out at the end of October, and features eleven tracks of very well-known Seasonal songs, including "Winter Wonderland" and "Frosty the Snowman". The emphasis seems to be on "family", as these are all very cheery and traditional-sounding. Which should also translate to boring/age-old songs, but this being from the folks at Putumayo, is nothing but predictable.

Starting with appetizers, Johnny Bregar's banjo-like strumming and snapping to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". We move to some smooth drink with a jazzy "Holly Jolly Christmas" by Martin Sexton.

The main dish for me is a swingy big band "Is Zat You Santa Claus?" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Now, I've heard of these guys when "Swing was the thing" movement, but I had no idea they were so good. Based on this Christmas song, I can see why the band was honored to play the half-time at Super Bowl in 1999.

My other favorite off the album is the Hawaiian Christmas song, "Mele Kalikimaka", as a duet between Debbie Davies & Matt Perrine. The song sounds very retro to me, like something you'd hear in the 1950s by The Andrews Sisters, especially because I have visions of Ukulele and Hulu hoops, as I'm drinking my Kauai Cocktail.

The rest of the album seems very snacky, especially with the acoustic version of "Winter Wonderland" by Deana Carter. This works because of Carter's sweet voice. The other girl-singer Kate Rusby, who brought an international flavor to "Here We Come A-Wassailing", you can tell with her English accent.

The album comes to a close with a dance-for-all jamboree "Frosty the Snowman" by Lars Edegran and his Santa Claus Revelers. This instrumental sounds very New Orleans to me, a bit of jazz and wild swing that grooves you to dance out of the restaurant.

As usual, with all Putumayo's releases, this release comes with a handsome packaging with large lyric book (two pages of biography is devoted to each artist, written in English, French, and Spanish). If you're not convinced, you can hear three more songs at putumayo.com with the option of downloading a free song from there.

Tour Dates 12/05/09 Vaughan’s, LA 12/07/09 Blue Nile New Orleans, LA 12/10/09 Bullet’s New Orleans, LA 12/12/09 Vaughan’s, LA 12/17/09 Bullet’s New Orleans, LA 12/19/09 Vaughan’s, LA 12/21/09 Balcony New Orleans, LA 12/24/09 Bullet’s New Orleans, LA 12/26/09 Vaughan’s, LA 12/27/09 Blue Nile New Orleans, LA 12/28/09 Balcony New Orleans, LA Read More What I like about jazz is how multi-dimensional it can be. From Dixieland, Big Band to a small t...

Kermit Ruffins
myspace.com/kermitruffinsmusic

Speaking of New Orleans and jazz and Putumayo alumni, Kermit Ruffins has a Christmas album coming out on November 10^th called Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas.

As expected, this is an album of Christmas standards, but with a jazzy twist. Lots of trumpets and piano-playing on the album. Ruffins does some scatting "What Will Santa Say When He Finds Everybody Swingin’", which you can clearly hear some Louis Armstrong-influences.

While I say these are standards, these songs often have change in either musical shifts or lyrics have been changed or sung in a very different way. I noticed that "swing" replaces a few words, like in "Santa Claus is swinging into town". Also, as with most jazz improvisation, the music often become its own entity, usually stretching out the songs into five or six minutes, when traditionally they're two or three minute songs. For instance, "Little Drummer Boy" is now a sad New Orleans-style six minute epic song.

My favorite on the album is the duet "Baby It's Cold Outside". My review copy does not include liner notes, so I do not know who the part of the woman is sung by. Anyway, it's not as cheesy as the Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews version, but it's still pretty funny whenever I hear this song about a couple fighting and the guy is locked outside his home. Ruffins' humor can be found on his title track, "Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas" where he warns people to have a crazy cool Christmas, but "don't get knocked up!"

If you want to hear Christmas songs in a jazzy style, you do need to check out Kermit Ruffins' Have Yourself a Crazy Cool Christmas. The album will be available next week on Basin Street Records.

Tour Dates 12/12/09 Regent Theatre Melbourne 12/13/09 Regent Theatre Melbourne 12/15/09 Canberra Theatre Canberra 12/16/09 Opera House Sydney 12/17/09 Opera House Sydney 12/19/09 Thebarton Theatre Adelaide 12/21/09 PCEC Riverside Perth 12/24/09 QPAC Concert Brisbane Read More Tori Amos http://weheartmus... Tori Amos is a pianist and singer-songwriter. She is married to English sound engineer Mark Hawle...

Tori Amos
toriamos.com ♥ myspace.com/toriamos

On a similar note, Tori Amos' Christmas album is a reworking of classic Seasonal songs. While it's easy to dismiss these Christamosed song, I think she's doing a fantastic job on changing your expectations of these songs. If you have ever heard any Tori Amos cover songs, you'll notice that she always transforms the original song into something completely new and different. And that's exactly what she's doing on Midwinter Graces.

While some of the more popular and traditional songs, "What Child Is This?" (retitled as "What Child, Nowell"), "Emmanuel", and "We Three Kings" (retitled as "Star of Wonder"), are reimagined, I think there might actually be some original Tori songs such as "Pink and Glitter" and "Our New Year".

What else is new is that she has a full orchestra behind her on this album. You can clearly hear all the sweeping arrangements on all the songs, in particular "Harps of Gold". In contrast, my favorite is "Snow Angel", a quieter song with lots of violins and pianos.

If you're a Tori fan, there's something to like here: a bit of traditional with a bit of modern... but clearly a Tori Amos product. I've stressed before that Abnormally Attracted to Sins will only appeal to Tori Amos fans, with Midwinter Graces, I feel people outside of the Amos circle will like and understand. I mean, who doesn't like Christmas music?

Midwinter Graces is available next week on Universal Republic. You can pre-order the CD/DVD combo on amazon. Unfortunately, my review copy does not include the DVD portion, but I'm sure it's the usual interview and/or music video.

 11/03/2009 17:10:02 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted to Sin

Tori Amos - Welcome to England Tori Amos Tour Dates 07/10/09 WaMu Theater Seattle, WA 07/11/09 Arlene Schnitzer  Portland, OR 07/13/09 Paramount Theater Oakland, CA 07/14/09 Paramount Theater Oakland, CA 07/16/09 Humphrey’s San Diego, CA 07/17/09 Greek Theater Los Angeles, CA 07/18/09 Dodge Theater Phoenix, AZ 07/20/09 Abravenal Hall Salt Lake City, UT 07/21/09 Paramount Theater Denver, CO 07/23/09 Starlight Theater Kansas City, MO 07/24/09 Nokia Theater Grand Prairie, TX 07/25/09 Long Center Austin, TX 07/27/09 Chastain Park  Atlanta, GA 07/28/09 Bob Carr PAC Orlando, FL 07/29/09 Fillmore  Theater Miami, FL 07/31/09 Durham PAC Durham, NC 08/01/09 DAR Constitution Hall Washington 08/03/09 Chicago Theater Chicago, IL 08/04/09 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI 08/05/09 State Theater Minneapolis, MN 08/07/09 Murat Theater Indianapolis, IN 08/08/09 Detroit Opera House Detroit, MI 08/10/09 Massey Hall Toronto, ON 08/11/09 St. Denis Theater Montreal, PQ 08/13/09 Radio City Music Hall NY 08/15/09 Tower Theater Philadelphia, PA 08/17/09 B of A Pavillion Boston, MA 09/06/09 Manchester Apollo Manchester 09/07/09 Birmingham Symphony Hall 09/08/09 Royal Concert Hall Glasgow 09/10/09 Hammersmith Apollo London 09/13/09 Festsall Congress Center 09/14/09 Circus Krone Munich 09/15/09 Kongresshaus Zurich 09/17/09 Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam 09/20/09 Royal Opera House Copenhagen 09/21/09 Sentrum Scene Oslo 09/24/09 Congress Centre Prague 09/25/09 Stadthalle Halle F Vienna 09/27/09 Laeiszhalle Hamburg 09/28/09 Tonhalle Dusseldorf 09/30/09 Auditorium Parco  Rome 10/01/09 Teatro Smeraldo Milan 10/03/09 Palais des Congres Paris 10/04/09 Lotto Arena Antwerp 10/05/09 Jahrunderhalle Frankfurt 10/07/09 Tempodrom Berlin Discography [1992] Little Earthquakes [1994] Under The Pink [1996] Boys For Pele [1998] From the Choirgirl Hotel [1999] To Venus and Back [2001] Strange Little Girls [2002] Scarlet's Walk [2003] Tales of a Librarian [2005] The Beekeeper [2007] American Doll Posse [2009] Abnormally Attracted to Sin Read More Tori Amos http://weheartmus... Tori Amos is a pianist and singer-songwriter. She is married to English sound engineer Mark Hawle...

Tori Amos needs no introduction, her latest album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, out now on Universal Repblic Records on May 18^th. I was originally offered to listen to the album via a software called Play MPE, which I had absolutely no interest in installing. Maybe it's not true, but my perception of these installation is that they track everything you do through their music: what tracks you listen to, how many times you listen to it, when you fast-forward it, (the same sort of thing is done via lastfm). Anyway, it was just easier to just go and pick up the album at the store. Luckily, Target carried the deluxe edition.

So, before we get to Abnormally Attracted to Sin, I should tell you how Tori came into my life. In the early 90s, I remember VH-1 and MTV both playing Tori Amos, particularly "Silent All These Years". VH-1 was known primarily as more of an adult-contemporary (soft rock) to their more hip-new MTV, so Tori was pulling in both direction for me.

Tori Amos - Silent All These Years

The interesting thing about "Silent All These Years" is that it was originally the b-side to "Me and A Gun" (the true single), but because of its potential suicidal implications, radio station only played the b-side. The song was eventually repackaged and endorsed by Tori Amo's creation: RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)... although I have personally never associated the song to rape.

I do think it contain some of the best weird/funny lyrics: "so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts, what's so amazing about really deep thoughts?" and "My dog won't bite if you sit real still, I got the Anti-Christ in the kitchen yelling at me again."

It wasn't until I heard the entire album that I had extra respect for Tori when I heard the line: "If you need me, me and Neil'll be hangin' out with the Dream King. Neil says Hi by the way. Remember, this was 1992, and hearing this and know this was a reference to Neil Gaiman and the Sandman was a bonding little secret shared only with other comic book and Tori Amos fans. Gaiman is now a respected and celebrated author, but he did start off writing comic books (alongside other wonderful UK talents like Peter Milligan, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore).

Anyway, back to the new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin: she does another Neil song on "Not Dying Today":

Neil is thrilled he can claim he's a mammalian
"But the bad news," he said "Girl you're a dandelion."

I'm pretty sure that the whole song is about her hanging out with Neil Gaiman one Summer day.

If you're a Tori fan, you've already bought the album, so I'm not sure what else I can say about it to non-fans. It's pretty much what you would expect from a girl and her piano, but with a lot more synth and guitar.  If you've never liked Tori Amos, chances are, you're not going to like the new album.

While I liked songs like "500 Miles" (not a cover), "That Guy" (mostly for the pronunciation of "Neeew Yurk") and "Police Me", I feel these songs won't talk to the mainstream - instead I'm playing it safe with her lead-single "Welcome to England".

Apparently the single was available as a download last month, April 14^th, and a physical CD single was made available in the UK market on May 25^th. I know CD singles don't do well in the US, but if it was just available at stores, I wouldn't mind paying $3 for a single (especially because I want to hear the new B-Side "Oscar's Theme"). Unfortunately, buying an import single will set me back $10+, so it's not really worth it for a non-hardcore fan like myself for two songs.

Incidentally, have anyone noticed the 'sinful' photographs of Amos by Karen Collins? Do they look airbrushed ? Her face looks very symmetrical and her distinguishing cheekbones are barely noticeable. With her straight red hair, it just seems like she's a different woman on the cover of Abnormally Attracted to Sin.

If you get the deluxe package, it comes with a folded poster and a slightly oversized lyric booklet and a DVD. In addition, you are also given access to more content. Trying to access the extra content from Tori's Secret Site caused my computer to freeze the first time because of its use of Java. Am I the only person that actually really, really, hate java? It's painfully slow on my computer, it's always trying to update itself... I just hate java, as much as I hate real audio.

Upon ctrl-alt-deleting Firefox and reloading it, Tori's Secret Site keeps giving me this error: "Please insert your disc and click OK below".

Apparently, it doesn't seem to want to work with Firefox? When I finally launched IE8, it seems to work without any problems. The layout is fairly simple with "Download" on the bottom-left with mostly Quicktime videos for: "Maybe California", "That Guy" and "Not Dying". They also offered a free ringtone, which probably won't work with my phone, so I didn't bother with that.

Abnormally Attracted to Sin is out now, and you'll probably hear all about it when she does her massive world tour and heavy promotion for this album.

 06/01/2009 00:12:06 ♥ vu () ♥ toriamos.com ♥ myspace.com/toriamos