W♥M

Aldous Harding w/ Yves Jarvis at Turf Club, St. Paul (15 April 2019)

Aldous Harding 2019 Tour Dates Aldous Harding Setlist Designer Zoo Eyes Treasure The Barrel Damn Weight of the Planets Heaven is Empty Pilot Blend -- Encore -- Right Down the Line (Gerry Rafferty cover) Old Peel Yves Jarvis Setlist sugar coated A Level Playing Field I Felt the Evening Come Through the Window Fruits of Disillusion That Don't Make It So Hard to Say Bye The Plight Comes Pigs at the Helm To Say That is Easy Nothing New Goodbye Reason, Goodbye Rhyme Into the Forefront Staying in Line Talking or Listening? Aldous Harding Tour Dates 22 APRIL Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, CA 24 APRIL Zebulon Los Angeles, CA 12 MAY Privatclub Berlin, Germany 14 MAY Botanique - Rotonde Brussels, Belgium 15 MAY Concorde 2 Brighton 16 MAY J2, Cambridge Junction Cambridge 17 MAY Brudenell Social Club Leeds 18 MAY Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow 19 MAY The Cluny 2 Newcastle Upon Tyne 21 MAY Manchester Gorilla Manchester 22 MAY EartH London 23 MAY Trinity Centre Bristol 25 MAY La Maroquinerie Paris, France 26 MAY Maison Folie Wazemmes Lille, France 28 MAY Stereolux - Salle Micro Nantes, France 29 MAY Rock School Barbey Bordeaux, France 29 MAY – SUN 2 JUNE Primavera Spain 30 MAY – 1 JUNE This Is Not A Love Song France 31 MAY – 2 JUNE Best Kept Secret Festival Hilvarenbeek, NL 6– 8 JUNE NOS Primavera Sound Porto, Portugal 29 JUNE – 6 JULY Roskilde Festival Roskilde, Denmark 7 JULY Cactusfestival 2019 Bruges, Belgium 12 JULY Iveagh Gardens Dublin, Ireland 13 JULY Barclaycard British Summer Time London 25–28 JULY Port Eliot Festival 2019 St Germans 2–4 AUGUST OFF Festival Katowice, Poland 15–18 AUGUST Green Man Festival Brecon Beacons 11 NOVEMBER AB Flex Brussels, Belgium 12 NOVEMBER La Cigale Paris, France 13 NOVEMBER La Laiterie Strasbourg, France 15 NOVEMBER Locomotiv Club Bologna, Italy 16 NOVEMBER Bogen F Zürich, Switzerland 18 NOVEMBER Feierwerk / Kranhalle Munich 19 NOVEMBER Artheater Cologne, Germany 20 NOVEMBER Heimathafen Neukölln Berlin 22 NOVEMBER Cosmopolite Oslo, Norway 23 NOVEMBER Fasching Stockholm, Sweden 26 NOVEMBER Knust Hamburg, Germany 29 NOVEMBER The Institute 2 Birmingham 30 NOVEMBER Manchester Academy 2 Manchester 1 DECEMBER Summerhall Edinburgh 4 DECEMBER Arts Club Liverpool Liverpool 5 DECEMBER Roundhouse London 6 DECEMBER The 1865 Southampton 7 DECEMBER O2 Academy Bristol Bristol Read More Aldous Harding New Zealand’s Aldous Harding was up next, playing sensitive acoustic songs from her self-titled album (Flying Nun Records). She’s joined by a keyboard player after Harding solo song ‘Swell Does the Skull’. ...

For New Zealand singer/songwriter Aldous Harding, it’s a brave new world--

Already buzzing with critics and selling out most of her upcoming shows, her third full-length is called Designer (4AD Records) and is due out April 26 with a busy spring and summer ahead, culminating in mid-July at London’s Hyde Park in front of 100,000+, but we managed to see her at the much more intimate Turf Club in St. Paul.

For Montreal-based Yves Jarvis, it is a new world as well-- having released The Same But By Different Means (ANTI- Records) under this name after being once known as Un Blonde (and his given name of Jean-Sebastian Audet) and finds some similarities (other than a simple name change and high afro) with pre-fame Prince.

Like the prolific Minneapolis artist, Jarvis is equally serious and has a preset internal standard of musical excellence about his output, has committed himself to insular composing of a complete song per day at one point, played the many different instruments (as well as did the cover art) on his record, and blends the elements of R&B/soul with more experimental sounds and genres.

With forest-like sounds, bird and insect chirping, and churning wind as backing ambiance resonating throughout his thirty-five minute opening set, Jarvis managed fourteen compositions in that brief time, most coming off as evolving musical sketches instead of finished drawings, creatively both asking and answering on multi levels of consciousness, and the product of the process of creation, rather than just the end result.

The St. Paul venue for this show can often be boisterous, filled with Pabst-swilling hipsters and area blue collar residents, which is why it was so surprising to hear complete silence as Aldous Harding took to the stage for her headlining sixty-five minute set. Before she entered, her band went up first, took their positions and just waited quiet and motionless, as the crowd came around to do the same.

After Harding’s 2017 release Party (produced by PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish) went on to critical acclaim and ended up winning the Taite Music Prize, expectations were high for the follow-up, done again with Parish over a couple week’s in the producer’s native Bristol and Wales.

Harding began with the upcoming album’s title track, set to a slow beat that Duluth’s Low would envy and vocals that could move from a higher-pitched young and innocent tone like early Kate Bush, to something deeper and smokier, like a Marianne Faithful or Nico, at a turn of a phrase.

She was still developing this vision when we first saw her in 2016, but has noticeably musically matured into a subtle and low-key force of nature. All but the first track of the new record were played live, though several of the songs like ‘Pilot’ were composed and debuted live on her last tour.

After the first few songs on guitar, Harding moved to piano for ‘Damn’, first exhaling frustratingly presumably about the tuning or specific setup. “Why must you drag all the hopes out of bed? I blame the seasons, we all have our reasons” Harding sings over a slow keyboard melody, mindful that the spaces and the sparseness, are as important as any notes played or lyrics sung.

A swoop of synth strings punctuated the end of a line on the gentle folk of ‘Weight of the Planets’ and the goth heaviness of ‘Heaven is Empty’ (that sounded similar in theme to Bowie’s ‘Black Star’) was simply composed traveling by train. Harding commits live to her performances, often staring wide-eyed or focused in place, sometimes with eyes rolled back as she delivers a key lyric.

“I'm ashamed of the quiet but I want to be silent, always practicing, still no grace” Harding sings on the introspective of ‘Pilot’, a somewhat sad existential self-conversation admitting faults and questioning her own fears and anxieties. 2016’s ‘Blend’ would end the main set, but the well-behaved crowd would not go quietly until an encore was answered, and the band returned for two more songs.

Changing from her handwritten setlist notes, ‘Elation’ was instead replaced by a slow-turning Gerry Rafferty cover of ‘Right Down the Line’, with Harding emoting in a high-key, like ‘Wuthering Heights’-era Kate Bush. “This is a new one- it’s not on Designer, it’s not anywhere” Harding said, then picking up a drumstick and black ceramic coffee cup to use as island-like tinking percussion for her most upbeat tempo song of the evening, ‘Old Peel’ which would close out things.

Two artists, both equally internally focused on bringing their musical visions to life, made for an entertaining and surprisingly subdued evening at an unlikely venue –the names Yves Jarvis and Aldous Harding may both now just be a whisper from a music-savvy connoisseur, but their own talents say that secret will grow louder and more known, as both enter their own brave new worlds.

(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)

Yves Jarvis	Yves Jarvis	Yves Jarvis	Setlist
Aldous Harding	Aldous Harding	Aldous Harding	Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding at Turf Club, St. Paul (15 April 2019)

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Stella Donnelly at Turf Club, St Paul (30 Mar 2019)

Stella Donnelly at Turf Club Stella Donnelly Setlist Solo Set Grey U Owe Me Beware of the Dogs Mosquito Allergy Boys Will Be Boys Full band Set Lunch Old Man Watching Telly Season's Greetings Bistro Die Tricks Mechanical Bull Stella Donnelly Setlist Right Side of My Neck What Used to Be Mine Yo-Yo Demonstration: Rock the Baby Is It Too Much to Ask Cheap Thrills (Father cover) Alone Again Hurts Me Too Room Temperature Read More Stella Donnelly The other stellar Stella is Australian native Stella Donnelly, over at the Turf Club in St Paul on the same night. Stella Donnelly is touring in support of her debut album, Beware of the Dogs (Secretly Canadian). … Faye Webster Atlanta Millionaires Club is in Faye Webster's feelings, and that's the way she likes it. "Everything is way personal, " Webster says. "I have to write about very personal things for me to even want to write." …

Welsh-Australian musician Stella Donnelly headlined the Turf Club in St Paul on Saturday night. Donnelly still remembered fondly of her first time in St Paul with Natalie Prass, earlier in September 2018.

Opening the show was 21-year-old Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, Faye Webster, touring in support of her forthcoming album Atlanta Millionaires Club (due out May 24 on Secretly Canadian). I had to mention the album early, because Webster actually never mentioned the album during her entire tour so far. “I’m so bad at my job!” she realized.

Webster stopped using setlists for her brief 30-min set, “People would steal our setlist every night, so we just stop using them.” The result is that her set may slightly change night, after night, depending if she wants to tune her guitar or not.

She’s joined on stage with a drummer Chad, who recently signed up for an Instagram account. After “What Used to Be Mine”, Webster mentioned that she was going through a yo-yo phrase. She said she knew some tricks and did a demonstration for us, including Rock the Baby and a special “Faye Webster Yo-Yo Trick” (which looks like she just hops and catches the Yo-Yo). It’s fun, and it’s not often you see this at a concert. However, truth be told, as she confessed to us, that she actually had a bit of a sore throat and was killing time so she didn’t have to sing.

She actually did a Father cover song, called “Cheap Thrills”, converting the rap/hip-hop song to something pleasant and muzak... although it did sound a bit weird when Webster sings “We’re nowhere near a lake, but I can still get you pretty wet.”

The Fremantle, Australia’s Stella Donnelly show can only be described as a show in two sets: a solo set (occassionally joined on stage by George Foster) and a full band set... which is a bold move, considering that she only have one album, Beware of Dogs (Secretly Canadian).

So the choices were divided to early singles and a fuller/rock sound for the second part of her show. Since these songs were very personal to Donnelly, she had stories for practically all her songs.

For example, she explained that “Mosquito” was a love song, “The only love song I’ll ever write.” This is followed by the break-up song, “Allergy”.

At the end of her solo set, she got very crossed at some chatters in the front: “If you guys are gonna talk the whole night, chat back there. (looking at the back of the floor)” They behaved, but Donnelly had to remind people not to talk during these quieter songs, especially her sensitive, sad song, “Boys Will Be Boys” (a song about rape culture).

For the first time, Donnelly was pleased to have brought her live band with her on tour (so this was the band’s first time in the city). The full band consists of bassist Jennifer Aslett, drummer Talya Valenti, guitarist George Foster, and producer Dean Tuza.

The second part of the show was much louder and, I felt, a much better representation of Donnelly’s music, as heard on her album, Beware of Dogs.

Remaining tour dates:

April 2 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
April 3 - Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
April 5 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
April 6 - Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater
April 11 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
April 12 – Hamburg, DE @ Skybar
April 13 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
April 15 – Cologne, DE @ Yuca
April 16 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
April 17 – Amiens, FR @ La Lune Des Pirates
April 18 - Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up Du Label
April 23 - Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
April 24 - Bristol, UK @ Thekla
April 25 - Southampton, UK @ Joiners
April 27 - Brighton, UK @ Haunt
April 28 - Manchester, UK @ Yes
April 29 - Dublin, IE @ Grand Social
May 1 - Glasgow, UK @ The Blue Arrow
May 2 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Community Room
May 4 - Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Sound City
May 5 - Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
May 7 - London, UK @ Scala
July 4 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskildge Festival
July 5 - Vilanova I La Geltrú, ES @ Vida Festival
July 17 - Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
July 18 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
July 19 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
July 23 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In &
July 24 - Louisville KY @ Headliners Music Hall
July 25 - Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
July 28 - Tachikawa, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
Aug. 9 - Rees, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival
Aug. 10 - Bristol, UK @ Boomtown Festival
Aug. 17 - Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man Festival
Aug. 29 - Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival

Faye Webster

Faye Webster

Faye Webster

Faye Webster

Faye Webster demonstrating a Yo-Yo trick

Stella Donnelly

Stella Donnelly

Stella Donnelly

Stella Donnelly

Stella Donnelly

Stella Donnelly at Turf Club, St Paul (30 Mar 2019)

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The Flesh Eaters w/ Porcupine at Turf Club, St. Paul (09 March 2019)

The Flesh Eaters at Turf Club The Flesh Eaters Setlist See You in the Boneyard Pray 'Til You Sweat House Amid the Thickets Cinderella (The Sonics cover) Satan's Stomp My Life to Live So Long Black Temptation Cyrano de Berger's Back Pony Dress The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (Fleetwood Mac cover) Divine Horseman The Wedding Dice Miss Muerte -- Encore -- She's Like Heroin to Me (The Gun Club cover) Ghost Cave Lament The Flesh Eaters Tour Dates 03/14 BOSTON, MA City Winery Boston 03/15 PHILADELPHIA, PA Johnny Brenda’s 03/16 WASHINGTON, DC Union Stage 03/17 NEW YORK, NY Bowery Ballroom Porcupine Tour Dates 03/14 – City Winery – Boston, MA 03/15 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA 03/16 – Union Stage – Washington DC 03/17 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY 03/29 – The Red Herring Lounge – Duluth, MN 03/30th -Palace Theatre – St Paul, MN w/ Bob Mould 04/5th – The Aquarium – Fargo, ND 04/6th – What’s Up Lounge – Mankato, MN 05/18th – Midwest Music Festival – La Crosse, WI 06/28th- Reggies-Chicago, Ill- w/Flipper 10/12th – The Basement East – Nashville, TN -w/Mudhoney 10/14th – Off Broadway – St Louis, Mo -w/ Mudhoney Read More The Flesh Eaters The Flesh Eaters is a supergroup, featuring John Doe and DJ Bonebrake of X, Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman of The Blasters, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and the Legendary Punk Poet Chris D. The group just released I Used to Be Pretty on Yep Roc Records. … Porcupine The word was that MN/WI alternate rock trio Porcupine lobbied to be on the bill, and with good reason as the kind of no-holds-barred, unapologetic rock played by Casey Virock (guitars/vocals), Ian Prince (drums), and Greg Norton (bass) …

Back from the dead… and loving it!

California-based collective The Flesh Eaters have returned, having been in existence since 1977 and last assembled in 2006, braving the elements for a long sold-out show at the Turf Club in St. Paul.

Another dumping of snow, this time six inches of the heavy and wet kind, couldn’t keep most people away from seeing this unconventional “supergroup” of punk/roadhouse/rockabilly veterans, reuniting their 1981 lineup (from their classic album A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die) for a short tour celebrating their first new recording in more than thirty-five years, I Used to Be Pretty (on Yep Roc Records).

The evening opened with a set from area band Porcupine, led by Casey Virock (guitars/vocals) with Ian Prince (drums) and who have upped their profile considerably since adding Greg (ex-Hüsker Dü) Norton (bass) in recent times.

Evolving forward from a late ‘80s/‘90s indie-rock sound of Swervedriver meets QOTSA, the trio is out in support of latest six-song record, What You’ve Heard Isn’t Real (on Dead Broke Rekerds/DC-Jam) and recent lead single, ‘Lifetime’.

The teenage alienation of their version of Hüsker Dü’s ‘Standing by the Sea’ from the new record was originally penned by Norton’s ex-band mate, the late Grant Hart, and is a fitting tribute to his musical legacy. Even songs like 2011’s ‘Rooftops’ resonate further, with Norton providing an extra bump from his restless stage presence and formidable bass skills.

The band stays focused and prefers to let the music do their talking, and fortunately for anyone in the area wanting to catch them that couldn’t find a ticket or didn’t want to risk the weather, the band returns to St. Paul on March 30^th at the Palace, opening for Bob Mould to help celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Hüsker Dü’s first show.

Led by poet, singer and author Chris Desjardins (Chris D), and joined by Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman (The Blasters), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and John Doe and DJ Bonebrake (X), The Flesh Eaters casually took to the stage to begin their ninety-minute headlining set. Though each musician is arguably a star in their own right, they all humbly stayed back from any grandstanding and were just band members, all contributing to the whole.

The band’s set began with a revisit to their 1981 album, with the opening ‘See You in the Boneyard’ and ‘Pray 'Til You Sweat’ before moving ahead to 1999’s ‘House Amid the Thickets’.

Chris D’s vocal delivery is a part-spoken low growl /part twisted wail and coupled with his menacing and often morbid lyrics, make for a weird-scenes-inside-the-goldmine delivery akin to something Jim Morrison might sing like, were he still alive.

Alvin showed numerous flashes of why he remains one of the most distinctive guitarists of his genre, Bonebrake kept mostly to the vibraphones and mirimbas, and Berlin’s versatile sax work shifted from big band-esque, to jazz, Tex-Mex, and even E-Street Band-type rock, depending on the song.

“We got a regular winter wonderland out there tonight… us California boys, we’re stunned!” Chris D said about the snow and sleet outdoors, thanking the audience for making the extreme effort to come out to see them.

On the new record, the band revisits some older songs, including 1982’s ‘My Life to Live’, a stomping upbeat love song that is a bit of a departure in theme, coming from emotional conflict and a no-win situation. 1981’s ‘So Long’ was a fine music complement to the former and stunning to hear live as Alvin completely cut loose on guitar, on the back half of the tune.

The new ‘Black Temptation’ is more typical of Chris D’s lyrical themes, “If this is my heart, with soul-ending sorrow, this dream of life is no tomorrow” he sings, but the doom and gloom is forgiven as the band rages and Berlin’s sax helps morph much of the initial darkness away.

Their version of ‘The Green Manalishi ‘, a song originating from Fleetwood Mac’s early blues days and also notably covered by Judas Priest, was stretched out and turned so inside out that the song became a micro-genre of its own, and the main set would end with the horror-pulp pulse of ‘Miss Muerte’.

The encore began with another visit back to 1981, but to The Gun Club’s fabled debut album, Fire of Love (which Chris D partly produced and provided album art for), for the band’s cover of ‘She's Like Heroin to Me’.

Things then directly transitioned into the night’s epic finale, the new ‘Ghost Cave Lament’ (which runs thirteen minutes on record), culminating everything that is about the band- free form sax against calm vibe tones, and ominous building guitar riffs behind dark lyrics wailed like “she plucked her eyes out from her sockets, it amounted to nothing more than loose change in her pockets”.

With I Used to Be Pretty, The Flesh Eaters have returned gloriously – arguably, never really pretty in the first place, but always exploring the blackness, breaking open the emotional doors, and finding tarnished beauty in the ugly.

 

(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)

Flesh Eaters 2019 art poster

Flesh Eaters 2019 poster

The Flesh Eaters Setlist

Porcupine

Porcupine

Porcupine

The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters

The Flesh Eaters at Turf Club, St. Paul (09 March 2019)

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The Joy Formidable at Turf Club, St Paul (02 Nov 2018)

The Joy Formidable at Turf Club Joy Formidable Setlist This Ladder Is Ours Cradle The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade Y Bluen Eira (The Snowflake) Passerby Ostrich Cicada (Land on Your Back) A Heavy Abacus Buoy The Wrong Side The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie The Leopard and the Lung The Better Me Whirring Tancred Setlist Song One Joey Queen of New York Hot Star Poise Clipping Underwear Not Likely Something Else Pens Pretty Girls Read More The Joy Formidable Wale’s The Joy Formidable (vocalist/guitarist Ritzy Bryan, bassist Rhydian Dafydd, drummer Matt Thomas) is back in town, after their recent Foo Fighters North American tour. The group’s fourth album AAARTH is out now. … Tancred As for Tancred, we saw her n March 2016 and said, “A little backstory on Jess Abbott, who mentioned on stage that she lived in Minneapolis for five years and does not miss the snow/cold …

London-based, Welsh band The Joy Formidable (guitarist/vocalist Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan, bassist Rhydian Dafydd, and drummer Matthew James Thomas) sold out the Turf Club in St Paul on Friday, November 2nd.

Tancred (aka Jess Abbott) opened the show. We’ve been writing about Abbott since her days in Now, Now Every Children (later shortened to just Now, Now), but left the band in late 2013. Her first national tour, she said she travelled by herself in Oct 2014, but admitted that it was too awkward playing music by herself. By March 2016, we got to see her with a full band: bassist Terrence Vitali and drummer Kevin Medina. It’s that same lineup that we see Tancred at the Turf Club on Friday night.

Before “Underwear” (taken from her latest album Nightstand), Abbott mentioned that she used to live in Minneapolis, “It’s still cold here. There’s still good food and polite people.”

Near the end of their 40-min set, as they were tuning their guitars for the finale song “Pretty Girls”, Abbot mentioned how her black turtleneck made her look like Steve Jobs. Then Vitali interrupted about how he overheard her saying how she was sweating through her turtleneck.

“Why would you say that?!?” Abbot clarified that she was just nervous (sweating) about playing, but admitted that it sounded pretty funny hearing “sweating through my turtleneck”. She closed out the banter with her Steve Jobs joke: “Did you hear about the iPhone 69? It still sucks.”

Tancred’s Nightstand is out now on Polyvinyl.

As previously mentioned, The Joy Formidable was one of the first bands we covered a decade ago. The Wales/London band were brand new at the time in July 2008, but we wrote that “a band that I see a lot of potential in.” Our prediction came true, and over the years, we’ve seen the band on and off, whenever they came to town.

In April 2016, while on tour for Hitch, they played their biggest stage in Minneapolis - the 1,500-capacity First Avenue. We’ve only seen the band at smaller “club” gigs prior, so it felt like everyone was on their best behavior: “the First Avenue performance was more of a proper rock show, with bigger stage, full light rigs, and the band seemingly very focused.”

After a two year-absent, the band returned to the Twin Cities, headlining and selling out the Turf Club in St Paul on Friday night. It was nice to see the band at a small “pub gig” again. Bassist Rhydian Dafydd and singer “Ritzy” seemed really loose and making faces as they launched into “This Ladder Is Ours”. Even the drummer would occasionally rise from his seat to whip the audience into a deserving frenzy. Seeing the band this animated vs their button-down-proper gig in 2016, was a much better experience.

Even though St Paul was not their first show in this 2018 tour, it sure felt fresh and fun, as if they were just starting out. Maybe it’s also because it felt like the band really loved playing new songs from the band’s fourth album AAARTH (which means “Bear”), but it all sounded like everyone was having a good time.

Some of the stand-out AAARTH songs, like “Y Bluen Eira” (which means “The Snowflake”) and “Cicada (Land on Your Back)” went over well with the audience. However, of course, older songs like “The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie” and “Whirring” from their debut The Big Roar had the loudest and best response from the audience.

After ten years of covering The Joy Formidable, they still sound as fresh and amazing as they did a decade ago. Here’s looking for another ten years.

Remaining tour dates:

Nov 4 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
Nov 6 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
Nov 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
Nov 8 – Buffalo, NY – Rec Room
Nov 9 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Nov 10 – Washington, DC – Black Cat

Tancred

Tancred

Tancred

Tancred

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable at Turf Club, St Paul (02 Nov 2018)

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Tall Heights at Turf Club, St Paul (22 Oct 2018)

Tall Heights at Turf Club Tall Heights Setlist Not Like It Was Back to Autumn Midnight Oil Cross My Mind Only White Frost Fire Escape Two Blue Eyes River Wider The Running of the Bulls (acoustic) Gold Horse to Water No Man Alive The Deep End Spirit Cold -- Encore -- House on Fire Read More Tall Heights Tall Heights will headline the 7th Street Entry on Sunday. Show up early to check out rising Vermont singer/songwriter Henry Jamison in support of his critically-acclaimed EP The Rains (Akira Records). 7pm, $13. … Old Sea Brigade Tall Heights + Old Sea Brigade, Frances Cone Turf Club Mon 10/22/2018 (7pm/$13) turfclub.net Boston duo Tall Heights (Paul Wright and Tim Harrington) … Frances Cone Original Release Date: February 26, 2013 Release Date: February 26, 2013 Label: Frances Cone Copyright: 2013 Frances Cone Total Length: 31:57 …

Boston’s Tall Heights headlined the Turf Club in St Paul on Monday, October 22nd.

Starting the show was Brooklyn’s Frances Cone. We first came across the trio (singer/keyboardist Christina Cone, guitarist Jeff Malinowski, and bassist Andrew Doherty) in 2014, when we read that they were a cross between Neko Case and Cat Power.

Singer Christina Cone talked about the last time they were in the area, they had spent their day off being drunk and then ordering $50 worth of hotel food (meatball pizza). Most of their songs from a forthcoming album in January 2019, including “Easy Love”.

Although the Cone said that she would love to hang out, she said they had to basically hit the road as soon as possible as they had an eight-hour drive to the next venue.

They ended their 35-min set with “Leave Without You.”

Old Sea Brigade was up next. The stagename is for Nashville-based, Atlanta-born singer, songwriter Ben Cramer, who is releasing his debut LP Ode To A Friend on January 4, 2019, via Nettwerk Records. The album title was inspired by Cramer’s sudden loss of a best friend to suicide.

With a typical one album, Old Sea Brigade played those upcoming song, including “Seen a Ghost” (the leading single). Sometime Cramer had a Bob Dylan-esque style to his vocals and music.

Cramer also apologized in advance, because they had a long drive ahead of them and couldn’t stay after the show.

Normally Tall Heights is duo cellist/vocals Paul Wright and guitarist/vocals Tim Harrington, but for their live shows, they’re joined on stage by percussionist Paul Dumas, a keyboard player, and a bassist/additional guitarist.

Perhaps it’s because their new album is Pretty Colors For Your Actions (Sony Music Masterworks), they did “paint” the Turf Club with a variety of fog and mixed color lights throughout their set.

Most of Tall Heights’ early work were simple cello and guitar sound, but since 2015, the duo have expanded their music with additional drums, electric guitar, and keyboards.... which perfectly fit in with their live sound.

The most interesting part of their show had to do with using feedback from two cellphones and incorporating it into their song “Cross My Mind”. The sound is somewhat of a chirping nature, and is unique to each live performance of that song.

They ended their set with “Spirit Cold” and a quick encore of “House on Fire”.

Remaining tour dates:

10/27 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
10/29 Vancouver, BC Roxy Cabaret
10/30 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
10/31 Portland, OR Douglas Fir Lounge
11/2 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
11/3 Los Angeles, CA The Roxy
11/4 San Diego, CA Voodoo Room
11/6 Phoenix, AZ The Rebel Lounge
11/8 Austin, TX Stubb’s Jr.
11/9 Dallas, TX Curtain Club
11/10 Oklahoma City, OK VZD’s
11/12 Nashville, TN The High Watt
11/13 Birmingham, AL Saturn
11/14 Athens, GA 40 Watt
11/15 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
11/16 West Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern
11/17 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
11/18 Richmond, VA Capital Ale House
11/28 Washington, DC U Street Music Hall
11/29 Philadelphia, PA Foundry
11/30 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall
12/1 Boston, MA Royale

Frances Cone

Frances Cone

Old Sea Brigade

Old Sea Brigade

Old Sea Brigade

Tall Heights Setlist

Tall Heights

Tall Heights

Tall Heights

Tall Heights

Tall Heights at Turf Club, St Paul (22 Oct 2018)

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The Church at Turf Club, St Paul (15 Oct 2018)

The Church at Turf Club The Church Setlist Starfish Set Destination Under the Milky Way Blood Money Lost North, South, East and West Spark Antenna Reptile A New Season Hotel Womb Set Two Anaesthesia Metropolis Another Century Undersea Sealine Constant in Opal Day 5 Ripple Louisiana Tantalized -- Encore --            Almost With You The Unguarded Moment Miami Tour Dates Oct. 20 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern Oct. 21 - Montreal, QC - Cafe Campus Oct. 23 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair Oct. 24 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live Oct. 25 - New York, NY - City Winery Oct. 26 - New York, NY - City Winery Read More The Church Australia’s The Church is back in the city. The last time we saw them at the Cedar in 2015 we noted, “The show was performed as one long set, versus the two separate sets done …

Australia’s longtime 80s band The Church recently played the sold-out Turf Club show in St Paul, as part of their 30th Anniversary of Starfish tour. Undoubtable, this is the Sydney band’s most well-known album, at least to an international audience, thanks to their top 40 hit single, “Under the Milky Way”.

Thirty years later, we find only original members singer/guitarist Steve Kilbey and bass guitar Peter Koppes, and by our definition, it’s still the same The Church, as we know and love. The new members are drummer Tim Powles and lead guitarist Ian Haug, both officially joined The Church for touring post-2014 (when Marty Willson-Piper left the group in 2013), although they’ve previously worked with The Church in one form or another (Powles worked with the Church since 1996). Also, for live shows, Jeffrey Cain joined the group since 2017, as extra guitarist and keyboards/production work.

As a unit, the band looked and sounded great, playing songs after songs without any problems. There was a guitar tech, who made sure each guitar was tuned correctly for the next song. There were very minutes wasted on tuning, or finding the right instrument, but it also meant very few banters between songs. It was all business, with an occasional “This is song number six” joke, which is good, because The Church had about two hours of music they had to play before curfew.

As expected with the Anniversary tour, their first set was dedicated to playing Starfish, from start to finish. For fans who knew the album well, they were aware that “Under the Milky Way” was the second song, so many of them turned up to the show very early and waited in the front to hear the band’s signature song. Understandably, it was a work night (Monday), and a few fans left after the first set was played in its entirety.

For those who stayed for the second set, which, personally speaking, was a far superior set, we were treated to some rarely heard songs (with the usual hit songs from the past: “Metropolis” and “Tantalized”).

Personally, for me, hearing “Ripple” live was a rare treat. According to setlist.fm, and I don’t know how accurate it is, but they said that “Ripple” was last played in Minneapolis at First Avenue in 1999. In the past ten years of seeing the band on and off, I can verify that I’ve never heard the group had never played “Ripple”. I’ve even previously complained about it. The band re-introduced the song into their set in 2016, but managed to skipped out the Twin Cities. They did eventually return to Minneapolis in Oct 2017, but did not include the song on their 2017 set.

Another highlight of the second set was for “Undersea”, which featured a special guest bassist, introduced as Rob (or Ross?).

If you love The Church, chances are that Starfish was your first album you own. So seeing them on this Anniversary tour is a must. Plus, with a double set of pure The Church, this is a great tour for any diehard fan.

Can’t wait for the 30th Anniversary Priest=Aura Tour in 2022!

The Church at Turf Club, St Paul (15 Oct 2018)

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

We Were Promised Jetpacks at Turf Club, St. Paul (28 Sep 2018)

We Were Promised Jetpacks 2018 Tour WWPJ Setlist Impossible Human Error Someone Else’s Problem Keeping Warm The More I Sleep, the Less I Dream Safety In Numbers Ships With Holes Will Sink Make it Easier In Light Sore Thumb Not Wanted It's Thunder and It's Lightning Hanging In Short Bursts Repeating Patterns Jenn Champion Setlist You Knew No One Holding On Coming For You Bleed Never Giving In Going Nowhere Mainline O.M.G. (I'm All Over It) Time to Regulate Tour Dates 10.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre 10.12 - San Diego, CA @ Irenic 10.13 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom 10.15 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 10.16 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk 10.17 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 10.18 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues 10.19 - Chattanooga, TN @ Songbirds 10.20 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West 10.22 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 10.23 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club 10.24 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes 10.26 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 10.27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry 10.28 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club 10.29 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel 11.14 - Aberdeen, UK @ The Lemon Tree 11.15 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke's 11.16 - Kilmarnock, UK @ Kilmarnock Grand 11.17 - Edinburgh, UK @ Old Citadel 11.18 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 11.19 - Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute 11.21 - London, UK @ Bush Hall 11.22 - Luxembourg City, LU @ Rotondes 11.24 - Berlin, DE @ Lido 11.26 - Vienna, AT @ Chelsea 11.27 - Graz, AT @ Postgarage Read More We Were Promised Jetpacks Scottish rock band We Were Promised Jetpacks is back in town with their fourth full-length album, The More I Sleep The Less I Dream. … Jenn Champion Jenn Champion (formerly known as S and Jenn Ghetto and band member of Carissa's Wierd) will open the show. …

We live in an age of electric cars, robot dogs, and artificially intelligent computer assistants... but where are the jet packs?!

While the actual jet packs for common folks are still years away, Scotland’s own We Were Promised Jetpacks have returned with a new album and tour, making a recent stop in St. Paul at the Turf Club.

The evening was opened up with a chill electro-pop set by Jenn Champion, a singer-songwriter originally from Arizona who was formally a member of Carissa’s Wierd and went previously under the names of Jenn Ghetto and (the un-Googleable) “S”.

With two other musicians (who rotated playing various instruments), the Champion trio played mostly songs from her new album, Single Rider (Hardly Art Records), a collection of honest lyrics against technically solid beats and rhythms, that easily won over the audience. There is often an underlying sadness to the heavily tattooed Champion’s songs, but tempered against an irresistible beat, most couldn’t help but to swing and dance any blues away.

After over three years away, the Scottish quartet cleverly named We Were Promised Jetpacks has reset themselves with a self-released album out last month called The More I Sleep The Less I Dream (Big Scary Monsters Records) and a re-dedication to shredding faces with their incendiary live shows.

Now in their more mature thirties, the band (Adam Thompson -vocals/guitar; Michael Palmer-guitar; Sean Smith-bass, Darren Lackie- drums) begins their second decade together much like they left their first- with songs that feature somewhat dreary lyrics that reflect their Scottish environment, sung impeccably by the howling Thompson, against a building sonic wall of guitar fuzz, reverb, and echo (seen similarly in fellow bands like The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit).

Taking a well-deserved short break after their last touring cycle, the quartet’s new songs show a return to the basics that first put them on the map, whilst still sounding as urgent and contemporary as their other work. Their eighty-minute set opened with the opening track of the new record, ‘Impossible’ before going straight ahead next into 2011’s ‘Human Error’ then returning to the new and ‘Someone Else’s Problem’, with Thompson vocally pleading “I told you not to listen” (though we all were).

The band is not one to waste time or even talk much between songs (maybe because the Scottish accent makes our American ears strain to understand everything) but more so, to set their sonic mood and play the set as almost one long musical movement. Thompson and band encouraged us to all ‘Keep Warm’ during this chilled autumn night before the menacing title track of the new album was played, a song that starts slowly and droning before building upon itself, as things progress.

“Thank you very much- you guys are very nice!” Thompson said, speaking briefly after over a half-hour into the set, before quickly resuming with a blazing version of 2009’s ‘Ships With Holes Will Sink’. 2011’s ‘Sore Thumb’ was sung partially off-mic, with Thompson’s carrying voice more than enough to fill the room without the need of amplification as guitarist Palmer ferociously stroking up the riffs.

2009’s ‘It’’s Thunder and It’s Lightning’ was as powerfully emotive as ever, with Thompson’s aching voice repeating “your body was black and blue” as drummer Lackie pounded the skins and the volume rose.

The slow burning ‘Hanging In’ and set-ending sharp and swirling jabs of ‘Repeating Patterns’ found 2009’s howling ‘Short Bursts’ between those two new songs, with Thompson singing, “Your silence is bearable... but only in short bursts”. Not believing in the traditional encore walk off/walk back-on process, it was truly to be their last song of the evening, but met with the loudest applause and crowd cheering.

While we may still not be flying around just yet in actual jet packs, the sonic swell of Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks is a welcome return to record bins and live stages and enough to propel one virtually and musically against their formidable g-force.

(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)

WWPJ Setlist

Jenn Champion Setlist

Jenn Champion

Jenn Champion

Jenn Champion

We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks at Turf Club, St. Paul (28 Sep 2018)

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

The Presets at the Turf Club, St Paul (03 Oct 2018)

The Presets at Turf Club The Presets Setlist Talk Like That Eucalyptus Martini Ghosts Do What You Want Downtown Shutdown Tools Down Feel Alone Girl and the Sea This Boy's In Love I Go Hard, I Go Home Youth in Trouble My People Are You The One? Together Are You Here? 14U+14ME Until the Dark -- Encore --            Anywhere Blood Red Shoes Setlist The Perfect Mess Cold An Animal Black Distractions Light It Up God Complex This Is Not for You Lost Kids Red River Je Me Perds I Wish I Was Someone Better Read More The Presets Australia’s dance duo The Presets is headlining the Turf Club in St Paul on Wednesday, October 3rd. The duo (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) won a few Australian awards, including APRA for Songwriters of the Year and ARIA for Best Dance release in 2009. .… Blood Red Shoes Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes to open. The last time we saw the duo (guitarist Laura-Mary Carter and drummer Steven Ansell), they blew us away with their anthemic song “Light It Up”. .…

Australia’s dance duo The Presets (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) is touring North America in support of their new album Hi Viz (Modular Records); stopping by the Turf Club in St Paul on Wednesday, October 3rd.

Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes opened the show, the stage completely lit in a deep green (which remained unchanged throughout their entire set), possibly due to the fact that the artwork for their forthcoming 2019 album Get Tragic is also in the same green tone. They didn’t play any of those 2019 songs, it’s really not the time to start promoting those singles, but instead concentrated on their various hit singles.

You may recall that when we caught the duo (guitarist Laura-Mary Carter and drummer Steven Ansell) opened for the Fatellis, they really won our hearts with their catchy, anthemic songs. Our favorite is still the great singalong “Light It Up”, which Ansell introduced as, “You guys may know this one.”

They commented on the weather (a miserable, rainy night) as “feels like being in England… raining and cold!” Although the band has been in Minneapolis twice (once at the 7th Street in 2014 and once at First Ave with the Fatellis), they admitted that this was their first time in St Paul.

Up in the front were perhaps some of their biggest fans, including a guy with a tattoo of the band on his arm. With these diehard, dedicated fans in the area, you can bet that it won’t be long until Blood Red Shoes returns to the Twin Cities.

If you love hard alternative guitar/drum combo rock, Blood Red Shoes is a band worth watching out for. Hopefully with their 2019 album coming out in January, that would only mean the duo will be back headlining their own shows next year.

As for The Presets, we’ve heard about the duo since their 2005 debut album Beams. When they went straight to #1 on the ARIA charts with Apocalypso in 2008, we knew they were special. In fact, after numerous tour (including support for the incredible popular Daft Punk), The Presets earned “Best Live Act” from inthemix Awards.

The Australian band only comes to American once in a while, the last time we saw them, it was at First Avenue in May 2013 and said, “ The Australian duo broke into the mainstream with their #1 album, Apocalypso, spawning six hit singles: "My People", "This Boy's in Love", "Talk Like That", "Yippiyo-Ay", "If I Know You" and "Kicking and Screaming".”

Back in town, and again, of course the Presets brought the strobe lights. If you have photosensitive epilepsy, you should probably not go to a Presets show. To be fair, the strobe effects were used to sync with the music, and create a pumping sound. A video screen was used against their music, sometime to very cool effects.

If you love dance music, like Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk (but with live vocal mix), you should go to a Presets show. Their brief North American tour will end in Brooklyn on October 9th.

The Presets’ Hi Viz is out now on Modular Recordings.

US / Canada Tour Dates:

10/04/18 - Chicago, Illinois @ Metro
10/05/18 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
10/06/18 - Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
10/08/18 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
10/09/18 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel

Blood Red Shoes

Blood Red Shoes

Blood Red Shoes

BRS Setlist

The Presets

The Presets

The Presets at the Turf Club, St Paul (03 Oct 2018)

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

Still Corners at Turf Club, St Paul (25 Sep 2018)

Still Corners at Turf Club Poster Still Corners Setlist Black Lagoon Fireflies Lost Boys Dreamlands The Cavalry Cross Don’t Fall in Love Cuckoo Beginning to Blue The Message The Photograph Endless Summer Berlin Lovers Horses at Night The Trip -- Encore -- Wish Slow Down Tour Dates 10/25/2018 - Austin, TX - Barracuda 10/28/2018 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress 10/29/2018 - Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge 10/30/2018 - San Diego, CA - Casbah 10/31/2018 - Tustin, CA - Marty's On Newport 11/1/2018 - Los Angeles, CA - Resident 11/2/2018 - San Francisco, CA - Neck of the Woods 11/4/2018 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge 11/5/2018 - Seattle, WA - Sunset 11/6/2018 - Vancouver, BC - Fox Cabaret 11/19/2018 - Sofia, Bulgaria – Central Military Club 11/20/2018 - Bucharest, Romania - Control Club 11/22/2018 - Athens, Greece – Gagarin 205 11/23/2018 - Zürich, Switzerland – Bogen F 11/25/2018 - Madrid, Spain – Costello Club 11/26/2018 - Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz 3 11/27/2018 - Paris, France – Espace B 11/28/2018 - Amiens, France – La Lune Des Pirates 11/29/2018 - London, UK – Pickle Factory 11/30/2018 - Bristol, UK – The Louisiana 12/1/2018 - Newcastle Upon Tyne - Star & Shadow 12/2/2018 - Glasgow, UK – Broadcast 12/3/2018 - Manchester, UK – YES 12/4/2018 - Oxford, UK – O2 Academy2 Oxford 12/6/2018 - Groningen, The Netherlands – Vera 12/7/2018 - The Hague, The Netherlands – PAARD 12/8/2018 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Q-Factory Read More Still Corners Austin’s Still Corners is back with a fourth studio album Slow Air (released August 17 via Wrecking Light). The promo tour will stop by the Turf Club in St Paul on Tuesday. We haven’t seen the band since 2013, …

Dreampop Still Corners stopped by the Turf Club, in St Paul, last night, September 25... their third time in the area.

Transmission’s DJ Jake Rudh played music videos before and between sets. Normally, Rudh’s set would include plenty of 80’s British music, but for last night, it would appear that he’s playing more modern/contemporary (some dreampop songs like Blonde Redhead) music. It’s a little different from what we’re used to, but still a nice change of pace.

Rudh ended his first set with Chromatics’ “Shadows”, which lead nicely to Foxes in Fiction. The music of Foxes in Fiction (aka Warren Hildebrand) is very similar with Chromatics, but often more depressing, as he mentioned in an early interview, “Personal loss and dealing with anxiety and depressive issues that I've struggled with my most of my life have played into my music and the way I work for as long as I can remember.”

Currently based in New York, Hildebrand originally started in project in Toronto, Canada, in 2005, during his sophomore high school year. His music did speak to a small audience, who were more than happy to see him at the Turf Club’s stage. Some of them could hardly contain how excited they were to see Foxes in Fiction, as they fumbled with their phone to take the best picture of the producer in a backlit/dimmed lighting environment.

Foxes in Fiction’s Virgos To Waste, a collection of rare songs recorded from 2010-2016, was released last year, to benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Normally, Still Corners is a duo, featuring songwriter/producer Greg Hughes and vocalist/synth Tessa Murray. For this tour, the band is joined by drummer Leon Dufficy.

First off, Murray apologized for several things: “We want to apologize for advertising this show as ‘Minneapolis’, Saint Paul. And it’s Tuesday, I know, I would be at home watching TV too.” Near the end of their set, Murray mentioned that this was their third time in the general area. Their first time was as headliner at the 7th Street Entry with Ganglians and Dada Trash Collage on 28 October 2011, and their second was opening for CHVRCHES at the Fine Line Music Café on 08 June 2013. Technically, as we noted , they were supposed to be headlining, but a last-minute call, they ended up opening for CHVRCHES.

The duo is touring for their fifth studio album Slow Air (Wrecking Light Records), so they were obligated to play a few tracks from their new album (three songs).

Since the band is now based in Woodstock, New York, it would make sense that the new record, Slow Air, was written and recorded in Austin, Texas. They’re still very British, describing the hot air of Texas as “slow air”, and, of course, their music is still very much emphasizing on guitars and beautiful vocals.

They played their signature song, “Fireflies”, early in their set to get fans pumped up, and played some of their favorite Sub Pop-era songs throughout their set. Each song had a custom background video to accompanied the song, so we think they play the same set every night (since it may be hard to change the playlist night after night).

For their encore, it was simply Murray and Hughes coming back on stage to play “Wish” (they would be joined by Dufficy for the second song). Murray, again, apologizing that she may or may not remember all the lyrics for an older song and a newer song. If she did messed up, no one noticed, or cared, as they were too busy getting lost in the music.

Still Corners will be taking a brief break after this, but they’ll be resuming their tour in late October 2018.

Foxes in Fiction

Foxes in Fiction

Still Corners Setlist

Still Corners

Still Corners

Still Corners

Still Corners at Turf Club, St Paul (25 Sep 2018)

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

Rolling Blackouts C.F. at Turf Club, St. Paul (07 Sept 2018)

Rolling Blackouts CF at Turf Club Rolling Blackouts C.F. Setlist The Hammer Clean Slate Mainland Wither With You Sick Bug An Air Conditioned Man Exclusive Grave Time in Common Bellarine Sister's Jeans Talking Straight Julie's Place Wide Eyes French Press Fountain of Good Fortune -- Encore -- Colours Run Read More Rolling Blackouts CF Melbourne’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever is headlining the 7th Street Entry on Monday, April 30th. Their upcoming debut album Hope Downs will be out June 15 via Sub Pop. …

No outtages, instead an hour-long power surge--

Melbourne, Australia quintet Rolling Blackouts C.F. returned to the area, this time on the St. Paul side on the Mississippi River for a headlining show at The Turf Club. The Sub Pop-signed alternative rock band is back in the U.S., headlining clubs as part of their Hope Downs Tour, after first coming here in the spring and spending the summer in other parts of the world, and at festivals.

The band’s intro music was a deceptive bit of easy listening music, but amps were soon turned up and the bass drum throbbed as the band began their sixty-five minute set with ‘The Hammer’, playing most of the current record as the set progressed. ‘Clean Slate’ was next, another guitar-driven track with an increased tempo, and no less than three of the five members (all but the bassist and drummer) would step to the mic to sing lead vocals on at least one song, during the evening.

Guitars were often jangly in an appealing way, with the rhythm section propelling the songs on a musical walkabout, and a slightly rough and raw edge about them, not unlike early Midnight Oil albums or the first two INXS records, yet untouched by any glossy, hit-making producers (which is a good thing).

‘Exclusive Grave’ from the new record, musically bobbed and weaved, visibly catching the crowd’s ear while ‘Time in Common’ sounded like a throwback to early 80’s post-punk, with a “get in/get out” brevity to the song itself. The band remembered their previous time in the area, mentioning spending some time at the C.C. Club in Uptown, and eating at Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown, which the crowd appreciated hearing.

The set seemed to gain even more momentum towards its end, as the mid-tempo’d ‘French Press’ seems ideal for radio airplay and the set-closing ‘Fountain of Good Fortune’ took its time to build things, starting with simple acoustic guitar and building its sound layers following, in a journeyman way.

The band returned to the stage for a single-song encore, ‘Colours Run’ which again showcased a post-punk sound against a quick beat, with guitar riffs cutting through and across the anchoring rhythm.

Where they’re from, its already tomorrow (according to the international date line anyway), and the sound of Rolling Blackouts C.F. may be a sound of the future of alternative rock’ n roll. The Melbourne band shows a lot of promise with a refreshing sound that at times, tips its hat at what came before, but sounds completely modern and is worth keeping an eye (and both ears) out for.

Remaining tour dates:

09/14/2018 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA
09/15/2018 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
09/17/2018 Black Cat Washington, DC
09/27/2018 Brisbane Brisbane Festival
09/28/2018 Sydney Factory Theatre
09/29/2018 Yours & Owls Festival Stuart Park
10/05/2018 Perth Rosemount Hotel
10/06/2018 Adelaide Jive
10/12/2018 Geelong Worker's Club
10/13/2018 Melbourne Corner Hotel
10/14/2018 Melbourne Corner Hotel
10/18/2018 Cardiff swm Festival
10/19/2018 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy
10/20/2018 Bristol, UK Simple Things Festival
10/21/2018 Leeds Stylus
10/23/2018 Brighton Concorde 2
10/24/2018 Portsmouth, UK Wedgewood Rooms
10/25/2018 Oxford O2 Academy
10/26/2018 Bilbao, Spain BIME Live
10/27/2018 Bilbao, Spain BIME Live
10/29/2018 London, UK KOKO
10/31/2018 Nantes, France Festival Soy
11/01/2018 Paris, France Pitchfork Festival
11/02/2018 Antwerp, Belgium Trix
11/03/2018 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso Noord
11/04/2018 Nijmegen Doornroosje
11/07/2018 Oslo, Norway John Dee
11/08/2018 Stockholm, Sweden Nalen
11/09/2018 Lund, Sweden Mejeriet
11/12/2018 Hamburg, Germany Molotow
11/13/2018 Cologne, Germany MTC
11/17/2018 Canberra Spilt Milk Festival
11/30/2018 Berry Showgrounds Fairgrounds Festival
12/31/2018 Langley Park, Perth Origin Fields

(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)

Rolling Blackouts C.F. at Turf Club, St. Paul (07 Sept 2018)

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