With warm sunshine in short supply, temperatures at or near zero, and a snow pack that seemingly will never melt, it’s probably best to look just past these Winter Blues and preview a taste of what’s ahead in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area this spring and summer.
The official start of Spring may be less than a month away, but these are truly the dog days of what’s turned out to be a pretty frigid winter season. Even
W♥
M Head Ringmaster
Vu, mostly refuses to venture out for these months, and the bands that are daring to tour, are dramatically less in number than in the warmer months.
So with that, we optimistically look ahead at just a few of the upcoming season’s highlights:
MARCH This month means
SXSW or the
South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, which brings together multitudes of bands
March 17-22. Thankfully, several of these bands decide to make a short tour out of getting-to, and going-from
SXSW, meaning many of them book an area performance.
Just a few of these acts include
The Church, The Twilight Sad, Gang of Four, and
The Ting Tings, among the almost 1,000 acts playing in Austin for those few days and are also making a local appearance in March.
Promotional-related appearances have even reached this far north, with SXSW-bound
Delta Spirit headlining a free but invite-only intimate show sponsored by
Lagunitas beer on
March 12, and upstart alternative station
Go 96.3 holding their first station-sponsored concert the next night (
March 13) with
New Politics, Banks, and K Flay.
APRIL April means
Coachella, a massive music festival in the desert of Indio, CA that has recently expanded to two separate weekends. Like SXSW, many bands schedule touring coming or going to the West Coast and Minnesota benefits from some of that.
Clean Bandit, George Ezra, Glass Animals, Father John Misty and
Milky Chance are just a few of the bands making a local stop en route.
MAY
Northern Invasion (09 May 2015)
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Concerts start to ramp up as the weather warms with
Slipknot and friends staging a headbanging
Northern Invasion in nearby Somerset, WI on
May 9.
Local hip-hop collective
Rhymesayers bring its more-successful-than-ever
Soundset back to Canterbury Park on
May 24, with act details announcing soon.
JUNE Bonnaroo is a growing music festival in Manchester, TN happening
June 11-14, and like Coachella and SXSW, fingers are crossed that MN gets a few of those key acts in transit.
Blue Ox Music Festival (11-13 June 2015)
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June brings the inaugural
Blue Ox Music Festival to nearby Eau Claire, WI from the
11th-13th, focusing on Americana and Bluegrass with acts such as
Pert Near Sandstone, Justin Townes Earle, and
Sam Bush.
Rock the Garden returns to the Walker Art Center as a two-day affair June 20/21, with acts to be announced on-air March 31st. Wishful thinking says Belle and Sebastian w/Courtney Barnett (who are touring together), Run the Jewels, and Florence + the Machine would be great additions, though it’s all pure speculation.
UPDATE: 89.3 The Current announced last week that the RTG lineup announcement has been bumped up, now to be revealed on March 10.
Twin Cities Jazz Festival (25-27 June 2015)
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Last year’s fun, free, and outdoor
Twin Cities Jazz Festival was its biggest yet in its 17 years and this year’s (
June 25-27) looks to be even bigger, with the not-yet-officially announced Saturday headliner being
Dr. John, so keep those Mardi Gras beads handy.
JULY Taste of Minnesota recently decided to return to last year’s site of Waconia and will be held
July 2-5, with a roster of acts expected to be announced soon.
The annual
Basilica Block Party is scheduled for
July 10/11 and typically features a diverse range of alternative acts over its two main stages, with local acts on a third stage.
Jason Isbell was briefly listed as a performer (an artist the sponsoring radio station
doesn’t even play), but the listing was removed with full announcements expected late next month.
Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival (17-18 July 2015)
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One of the most anticipated events of the summer is the first
Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival, scheduled
July 17-18, in Eau Claire, WI and curated by Justin (
Bon Iver) Vernon and Aaron (
The National) Dessner. In addition to their own bands,
Charles Bradley, Doomtree, Spoon, and
The Lone Bellow, round out a very full bill.
The annual
Vans Warped Tour returns on
July 26 at Canterbury Park, with
Blessthefall, Splitbreed, and
Family Force 5 among the dozens of bands performing.
Lollapalooza happens in Chicago on
July 31- August 2nd, and with its close proximity to Minneapolis, expect several of the bands playing there, to make a stop here. Acts to be announced.
AUGUST
Summer Set (14-16 August 2015)
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August begins with the mostly EDM and hip-hop related festival
Summer Set at Somerset Amphitheater on
August 14-16, with acts to be announced.
Chipotle recently announced its free
Cultivate Festival is returning on
August 22, headlined by
Walk the Moon, who has a two-night already upcoming in March at
First Avenue, with other acts to be announced.
The end of the month brings the last days of summer and the glorious twelve days of the
Minnesota State Fair, running
August 27-Sept 7. In addition to the Grandstand evening shows (some already announced include
Carrie Underwood,
Def Leppard, and
Alan Jackson, with more TBA) most of the artists on the free
Leinie Lodge Bandshell have leaked out. Look forward to two-night stands from
Pine Leaf Boys, Sonny Knight and the Lakers, ex-Foreigner vocalist
Lou Gramm, swamp blues guitarist
Kenny Neal, and just maybe,
Merle Haggard.
TBD (and rumors) Will this finally be the year the
First Avenue Festival gets off the ground, after a couple years of delays due to bookings and logistics?
Rumors are that
Target Field is working on a non-country show to be booked in sometime this summer. As much as I’d like it to be
AC/DC and/or
The Rolling Stones, who have both announced summer stadium tours, it will more likely be along the lines of
Jimmy Buffet, who’s heading out this summer as well.
We ended up loving the first
Festival Palomino experience, held last September as a
Trampled by Turtles curated festival, and despite the bad weather that chased 10,000 people indoors for two hours we hope it returns again.
Prince has had two new albums out for some time (with no real tour that followed), and a deal with
Warner Brothers that returned his masters of the classic songs to him. 2015 is perfect timing to re-establish himself on the concert stage and fingers are crossed that he does something completely memorable locally.
Could 2015 mark the long-awaited return of
Jack White (who hasn’t come to town since a two-night stand in 2005 with
The White Stripes)?
WHEW! With this just being the tip of the concert iceberg ahead (expect the unexpected shows too) and warmer days within sight, it’s hard
NOT to get excited about live music in the upcoming months.
♥♥♥
We Heart Music will do our best to bring you all the details and reports! ♥♥♥
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