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Flashback: Hole at EdgeFest, Wisconsin (29 May 1999)

photo courtesy of deflepparduk.com Hole Setlist Violet Awful Pretty on the Inside Heaven Tonight Miss World Reasons to Be Beautiful Malibu Dying Celebrity Skin Read More Hole The main story that I'll be talking about is the Courtney Love vs the former Nirvana band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. I remember really hating Love (haha) after reading this article. …

I’ve told this story before, but I went to see Hole at EdgeFest 6 in Somerset, Wisconsin on May 29, 1999. This was a two-day event, with a price of $30 for both days. I’m almost certain I did not attend the second night, simply because of a disagreement between my friends that went to his music festival. I won’t go into details, but we spent money to rent a camp ground, but did not actually utilize it.

Anyway, as I previously mentioned in Nov 2015, the only thing I can remember from this show 23 years ago, was that singer Courtney Love kept flashing us her underwear. I know it’s intentional, but it’s funny what I do remember. I’ve drawn her from my memory below. What’s funny is that it looks nothing like her appearance at EdgeFest. Someone posted the entire 30-min set on YouTube - I’d forgotten she had butterfly wings on!

Lineup:

Hole Cake Staind Might Mighty Bostones Flipp Marvelous 3 Buckherry Local H My Friend Steve Econoline Crush The Offspring Mason Jennings Dropkick Murphys

Motörhead Def Leppard Nothingface The Flys Supercell Sponge Hatebreed Second Coming American Head Charge Grinspoon Bare Jr. Coup de Grace SoulMotor Moby

Update:

Andrew O adds, "This show was very memorable for Courtney Love complaining that she had an early time slot when she was supposed to be the headliner. She stopped many times while playing and was upset about how hot it was. The thing I remember most was when she climbed up the side scaffolding on the sides of the stage. She went way up, about 40-60 feet, and then climbed down in her short dress. She quit playing and blamed the heat. The Offspring were a highlight in the evening and the campgrounds kept going all night long."

Vuart: Hole

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

TV: Devs and Star Trek: Picard

Still under relatively lockdown, and now with the George Floyd riots, I’ve been staying mostly indoors and watching long-form television shows.

With Scott Pilgrim vs the World returning to theaters for its 10 year anniversary in August 2020… Here are two recent Sex Bob-omb’s drummer Alison Pill’s Sci-Fi shows you can watch now… although I don’t recommend one of them.

Read More Movies The British horror film 28 Days Later came out at a time (2002) that there was a dry-spell in the Zombie movie genre. This film may have inspired the term “fast zombies” (all George Romero’s zombie films have always been slow-moving zombies)… …

DEVS
fxnetworks.com

I think the show’s title, Devs, is a bad one. I didn’t know what that title would imply, and it took a lot of recommendations from friends and family, before I begrudgingly decided to check it out. Spoiler alert, I really love Devs.

Going beyond the fantastic science fiction of a computer that can map the past (and therefore apply it to see the future)… the show is really about a love story. You don’t realize it’s a love story, until it hits you, and you noticed that all the clues were there.

All the actors were amazing, particularly Sonoya Mizuno as Lily Chan and Jin Ha as Jamie. Two Asian leads and they really carry the show.

I don’t think there will be a Devs Season 2, nor do I want one, as the ending to Season 1 is so good and wraps up the show nicely. Some shows shouldn’t go on more than one season, like Watchmen.

If you don’t take my word for it, take the writer/director/show runner Alex Garland’s body of work. He wrote: The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine , Never Let Me Go, and Dredd. For the most part, I have enjoyed most of his films (particularly Dredd and 28 Days Later). I also own his directorial debut for Ex Machina.

P.S. Scott Pilgrim Sex Bob-omb’s drummer Alison Pill stars in Dev.

About:

In Devs, an FX limited series, a young software engineer, Lily Chan, investigates the secret development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company based in Silicon Valley, which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend.

Devs stars Sonoya Mizuno as “Lily Chan;” Nick Offerman as “Forest,” the CEO of Amaya; Jin Ha as “Jamie,” Lily’s former boyfriend; Karl Glusman as “Sergei,” Lily’s boyfriend; Zach Grenier as “Kenton,” Amaya’s Head of Security; Stephen McKinley Henderson as “Stewart,” one of the top minds working in Amaya’s secret development division; Cailee Spaeny as the young, brilliant “Lyndon;” and Alison Pill as “Katie,” the gifted quantum physicist and second in command at Amaya.

Alex Garland writes, directs and serves as executive producer of Devs along with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of DNA TV, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Garrett Basch. The series is produced by FX Productions.

Read More Star Trek You know I love Star Trek, so it is a sad day when I saw that original Spock actor Leonard Nimoy is dead. Live long and prosper. ....

STAR TREK: PICARD
cbs.com

As many of you already know, I’m a longtime Trekker, and so, originally, I was excited about Star Trek: Discovery, you quickly realize this new Star Trek by Alex Kurtzman, is definitely not the Star Trek I wanted. It’s like whoever is making new Star Trek don’t understand the franchise creator Gene Roddenberry’s idea of a bright future.

ST:D Season 2 is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. You have characters saying “I like science!” to a bomb that destroys everything except for a “blast door”. It’s just stupid. Red Letter Media did a pretty good job making fun of it on their YouTube. You can tell they’re fans, who thought the new Star Trek so overdramatic and had terrible writing.

I gave Star Trek: Picard a chance, of course. ST:P is simply the worst Star Trek in my ranking… yes, even worst than Star Trek: Enterprise. Even though I didn’t love Enterprise, I still own the Bluray and DVDs, because I love Science Fiction and Star Trek. With new Star Trek, I just refuse to buy the DVDs or Blurays, because I’ve no interest in owning these depressing new Star Trek.

ST:P continues this dark universe, characters like Raffi is living as “white trash” trailer and addicted to drugs. Romulans can just teleport anywhere … why not teleport the characters out to their death prison or something? Plus, the most unforgiving thing about new Star Trek is that they say the F-word. Star Trek has always been all-ages. This new Star Trek is not for children.

Picard is just a bad show, I am not going to recommend it for Sci-Fi fans… and especially if you like Star Trek. If you like Star Trek, there is a show called The Orville, which is a Star Trek knock off… but they have an understanding of classic Star Trek. Or if you just want realistic Sci-Fi, The Expanse is an excellent show.

PS, Sex Ba-bomb’s drummer Alison Pill plays Agnes Jurati, an expert on synthetic life, is part of Picard’s crew.

About:

Star Trek: Picard features Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new series will follow this iconic character into the next chapter of his life.

The series is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, James Duff, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers and Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) serves as co-executive producer and Kirsten Beyer as supervising producer. Hanelle Culpepper will direct the first two episodes of the series.

Vuart: Sheer F*** Hubris (2020)

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News: Childish Gambino Tour Postponement

Childish Gambino 2018 Tour Read More Childish Gambino In need of a ship that can make the journey, Solo meets Lando Calrissian (smartly played by Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino) the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission -- the Millennium Falcon. …

As you may have heard already, Childish Gambino (the stagename for actor Donald Glover), suffered an injury that forced the singer to postpone his remaining “This Is America Tour”.

According to TMZ, they reported that Glover made a bad misstep during a dance move and basically broke his leg at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday night (Sep 23). He walked, or maybe limped, off stage and didn’t return for an encore.

We didn’t go to the show, but inspired by this news, here is Vu’s art of what really happened.

The press release from Live Nation confirmed that Childish Gambino will still appear at Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans on October 27, however, his appearance at Austin City Limits Music Festival is now canceled:

Childish Gambino has been forced to postpone his remaining “This Is America Tour” stops until later this year due to an injury. The rescheduled routing can be found below. Tickets will be honored for the newly scheduled dates. The Seattle show is canceled due to venue renovations and refunds for that date are available at point of purchase.

Childish Gambino’s appearance at the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in New Orleans on October 27 is moving forward as planned. His appearance at Austin City Limits Music Festival is canceled. Justice will headline on both Saturdays (October 6 and 13) alongside Metallica, and Travis Scott will headline both Sundays (October 7 and 14) alongside Arctic Monkeys. The updated performance schedules can be found at www.aclfestival.com. Fans with a Weekend Two Saturday 1-Day Ticket may exchange at no charge for a Weekend Two Sunday 1-Day Ticket by contacting Front Gate Tickets. Exchanges must be requested by Tuesday, October 2 at 11:59pm CT.

Latest tour information:

12/02/2018 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
12/04/2018 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
12/07/2018 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
12/11/2018 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
12/12/2018 San Jose, CA SAP Center
12/15/2018 Phoenix, AZ Gila River Arena
12/16/2018 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
rescheduled from Sept 26
12/17/2018 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
rescheduled from Oct 3

Vuart: How Childish Gambino broke his leg art by Vu

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

Living with the Apple's iPad Pro12.9 and Pencil

iPad Pro 12.9 Specs Model: A1670 (Wi-Fi) CPU: Apple A10X Fusion with Apple M10 2.36 GHz hexa-core Apple Fusion (3× Hurricane + 3× Zephyr) Graphic: 12-core PowerVR Series 7XT Display: 12.9 inches (330 mm) [diagonal] multi-touch display with LED backlighting and an oleophobic and scratch-resistant coating, Wide color display, True Tone display, Fully laminated display, Antireflective coating, ProMotion display (120 Hertz refresh rate) 2732-by-2048 pixel resolution at 264 ppi (Retina Display) Read More Apple It's hard to believe that it's only been three years since the iPad was introduced. Despite me thinking what a crap name "ipad" was, I think the name is probably well-accepted with people now. …

I’ve been living with the iPad 12.9 Pro (2017 Model) since March 2018. After using the iPad daily for about two months, here are my thoughts:

COMICS
Since I mainly wanted to read comics on a bigger screen (coming from the smaller 9.7 size), the iPad’s nearly 13 inches is just perfect for comics. The size is nearly one to one, if not slightly larger than the print version.

For comics bought on ComiXology, they upgraded their comics to nearly 4k resolution, so a typical “Epic” collection is about a gigabyte in size! While they look gorgeous on the higher resolution, you really need to make sure you have the disk space for it.

Magazine View

On the other hand, the magazine experience is only okay. I bought a subscription to PC Gamer on Zinio, and was not impressed. While the text is super crisp and readable, the art/images did not look so good on a higher resolution. I suspect on a smaller sized iPad, you wouldn’t notice... but you can clearly see the pixelation on the iPad Pro. See screen print as an example.

Until the magazine industry catches up or offers high quality resolution, I don’t think I’ll be buying it on digital (unless is free as part of a print subscription).

If you want to load your own content, the two iOS apps I’ve used and endorsed are: Chunky and Foxit PDF Reader (or the built in Books reader). Although I’m not a fan of the name “Chunky”, it’s probably the best CBR reader. I’ve even upgraded to the Pro version, even though I didn’t need or want the Pro features - I just wanted to support the Chunky creator.

SMART CONNECTOR
I have several Bluetooth keyboards, but I have never really liked pairing the keyboards. Sometime, particularly with the original Apple bluetooth keyboard because it doesn’t have a reset button, the iPad does not see the keyboard because it was previously paired with another iPad. It’s very frustrating.

With the Smart Connector, the keyboard is instant-on when you connect. You don’t need to charge the keyboard (since it’s powered through the connector).

I’ve read some reviews on Smart Connector keyboards, and they mentioned the magnets, but let me empathize on the magnets: the iPad will automatically align and stick to the keyboard. It’s powerful enough that you can lift it up and the iPad without any worry that the keyboard will drop off.

Although only Apple and Logitech makes Smart Connector keyboards, I think it’s worth it to buy one. I have the first generation Logitech iPad Pro keyboard, which is technically not meant for the iPad Pro second version, but it fits and the price was discounted to $75 (originally $149).

DRAWING
Before the new 2018 “New” iPad was announced last month, only the iPad Pro supported the Apple Pencil. I’ve wanted to draw on digital for a long time and have, in the past, used various instruments and softwares. None of them really worked for me, that is until the iPad and Apple Pencil combination.

Using ProCreate ($10), drawing was is pretty amazing. Trust me, drawing was nearly real time one to one, just like drawing in “real life”. Since it’s digital, there’s no paint mess or cleanup. Plus, producing artwork, from idea to finalized art, can be pretty fast and efficient.

Don’t take my words for it, professional artist Mark Ulriksen went from traditional to digital for The New Yorker with the same setup I have (iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and ProCreate). Read his interview and profile at businessinsider.com

CONCLUSION
Let me get to the point: the iPad is not a laptop replacement. There are many limitations with the iOS system, for example true multitasking and file transfers. If you’re a traditional laptop user, you’re not going to be happy with the iPad, so stay with the tried-and-true laptop experience.

What the iPad is meant for, and excel at, is media consumption and portability. Watching movies and television is a joy (especially on a larger 12.9 screen) and reading is wonderful (at the higher resolution). Apple is known for their gold-standard battery life, and the iPad’s weight is a feather compared to traditional laptops.

If you like what you read, but don’t want to shell out the premium price usually associated with Apple products, the new 2018 9.7 iPad, at $329 (with Apple Pencil support), is the iPad I would recommend for you. Sure, you’re not getting the larger 12.9 screen or Smart Connector, but for most people, they’re not going to care to spend the extra cash to upgrade.

P.S. This article was written on the iPad using the Logitech Smart Connector Keyboard and Google Keep. If this was a collaborative article (requiring other people’s input), then I would use Google Docs with its sharing functionality.

Vuart examples:

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

John Maus at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (05 April 2018)

John Maus at Cedar Poster Tour Dates 04/15/2018 Coachella 04/22/2018 Coachella 05/04/2018 Red Bull Music Academy Festival Read More John Maus In his first show in seven years, John Maus will be headlining the Cedar Cultural Center on Thursday, April 5th. Maus is known for his emotional, passionate live ..… C. Kostra Devata Daun (aka Nikki Pfeifer) and C. Kostra (aka Ryan Olcott) to open. After this warm-up gig, he’ll be travelling to various music festivals from around the world … Devata Daun Two local bands were special guests at the show. Darkwave band Devata Daun (aka Nikki Pfeifer) was first, playing some tracks from her album Look (Pytch Records). …

It was a sold-out show for John Maus’ first show in Minneapolis in seven years, at the Cedar Cultural Center on Thursday night. Sadly, that also meant that there were a few fans without tickets, waiting outside in the cold asking for spare tickets.

Devata Daun (aka Nikki Pfeifer) and c.Kostra (aka Ryan Olcott) opened the show. The first 30 minutes featured Devata Daun’s sweet, atmospheric songs from her album Look (Pytch Records), then, midway, the two swap places as c.Kostra finished out the remaining 30 minutes with his new album now i feel it (Pytch Records). The seamless transition suggests that the two often work together… and it’s probably safe to say that if you see one of them at a show, the other is close behind.

Just to give you a little background, but John Maus is often associated with Ariel Pink, as the two were roomates/classmates at the California Institute of the Arts. Maus would end up as a member of the Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti stage band.

When Maus signed and released his debut record Songs (Upset the Rhythm) in 2006, he toured and built up a good reputation for his passionate performances. Then, in 2012, he just decided to take a four-year break from music. He spent that time finishing his dissertation, and gained a PhD in political science from the University of Hawaii.

Maus’ fourth album (and his latest) is called Screen Memories and came out last year. So, for the first time in four years, he went on tour to promote the record. While fans and critics were already accustomed to his solo one-man-karaoke shows, last year’s tour featured a full live band (featuring his brother Joe Maus on bass, Luke Darger on keyboards, and Jonathan Thompson on drums). After over a year of touring, the band was actually still very tight, which is important as they are set to play Coachella next week.

After a seven-year absent from Minneapolis, the show wasn’t just about Maus, it was also about his diehard fans. It wasn’t uncommon to see friends surprised and happy to see each other at the show. Or when a familiar song started to play, some people would just turn to each other and started hugging (especially hearing the opening chords to “Streetlight”). It’s heartwarming to see so many people happy to celebrate their mutual love for John Maus.

As you would expect, there was a lot of high-energy bopping up and down, fist punching the air, and plenty of sweating.

With an upcoming album Addendum (made of extra songs from Screen Memories), expect to see Maus more active in shows… and hopefully another Minneapolis date next year.

Devata Daun

c.Kostra

Devata Daun

Devata Daun (art by Vu)

John Maus

John Maus

John Maus

John Maus at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (05 April 2018)

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

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at First Ave, Minneapolis (18 Mar 2018)

OMD First Avenue Poster O.M.D. Setlist     Intro: Art Eats Art/La Mitrailleuse Ghost Star Isotype Messages Tesla Girls History of Modern (Part 1) One More Time (Forever) Live and Die If You Leave Souvenir Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans) 📼: Time Zones 2016 Of All the Things We've Made What Have We Done So in Love Locomotion The Punishment of Luxury Sailing on the Seven Seas Enola Gay -- Encore -- Dreaming Secret Electricity Ggoolldd Setlist Without You Secrets City Lights Excelsior Springs The Way That I Feel Undercovers Read More OMD We were actually meant to see Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (or shortened to O.M.D.) in 2013, but due to ..… Ggoolldd Milwaukee’s Ggoolldd (Margaret Butler, Nick Ziemann, Mark Stewart, Thomas Gilbert, and Nick Schubert) was up next. Singer and dramatic dancer Margaret Butler announced the ... DJ Jake Rudh This is billed as a Transmission (aka DJ Jake Rudh) / BNLX release show, but music fans may want to take note that at nearly midnight, The Ocean Blue is scheduled to appear. …

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (or shortened to O.M.D.) just headlined First Avenue in Minneapolis on Sunday, March 18th.

Starting the show was DJ Jake Rudh, from Transmission, playing to the crowd with a collection of nostalgic 80s-era British music videos to keep the audience entertained before the first band.

Milwaukee’s Ggoolldd (Margaret Butler, Nick Ziemann, Mark Stewart, and Nick Schubert) was up next. We’ve previously seen the band in October 2016 and knew there was something special about their “singer and dramatic dancer” Margaret Butler. Seeing them with OMD on Sunday night was almost like seeing a completely different band. Butler, now in a bold white unicorn outfit, completely captivated the unsuspecting mostly middle-age audience.

With even more room to dance around, Butler unveiled her light-up swan cape near the end of their brief 30-minute set. They ended their set with “Undercovers”, an upbeat number, but with depressing lyrics: “we are alone, deep under covers.”

You can tell that Ggoolldd is having a great time on this tour with OMD, and, judging from the people surrounding me, that they may have some newfound fans the next time they come back to town.

It’s good to finally get OMD (Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper, and Stuart Kershaw) back in Minneapolis. It’s been a long journey back for this New Wave British band, as the band originally scheduled for July 8, 2013, only to have it pushed back to July 22nd. Then just days before their appearance at the Varsity Theater, their drummer had a heart attack (or as singer Andy McCluskey affectionally puts it, “tried to die”) and the group had to cancel their remaining 2013 tour.

With a new 13th studio album Punishment Of Luxury (White Noise Records), the band promised “some new songs”, but quickly added, “as well as old” to the crowd’s delight.

And indeed, plenty of classic fan-favorite songs were played. Right before “Messages” (from their self-titled debut album in 1980), Andy, breaking out the bass guitar “for the old songs”, asked us, “You did bring your dancing shoes, didn't you? It was on the ticket!”, this was followed by another classic sing-along song “Tesla Girls” from 1984’s Junk Culture.

Of course, who could not love hearing their biggest hit single, “If You Leave”, which many fans probably first heard it on John Hughes’ Pretty in Pink film in 1986. The film soundtrack helped moved OMD’s song to #4 on Billboard Hot 100 that summer. It is the song that many fans came to hear, and as evident, about a hundred cellphones went up in the air to record the moment.

For “Time Zones 2016”/“Of All the Things We’ve Made”, all four band members came to the front of the stage, with simple drum, guitar and handheld electronics. As soon as the song ended, Andy joked, “that’s about as unplugged as we get.”

The band ended their set with their signature song, “Enola Gay”, which Andy graciously thanked their fans, “Thank you SO much- you have been wonderful to play to tonight!... This is your last chance to dance!”

The three-song encore started “Dreaming”. Then afterward, Andy bent forward and pretending to whisper to the crowd before keyboardist Paul Humphreys took the lead vocals for “Secret”.

With the final song, Andy asked the crowd, “Are you tired?” and the crowd screamed back “No!”. Andy continued, “because we do want to play do want to play this song, but it’s so fast- we want to end at the beginning, this is the oldest song we’ve got.” The set-ending song was “Electricity”, which was written in 1979, written when Andy and Paul were both sixteen years old.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark continues their Punishment Of Luxury tour.

3/20 Denver, CO, Ogden Theatre
3/21 Salt Lake City, UT, The Depot
3/23 Vancouver, B.C., Commodore Ballroom
3/24 Seattle, WA, Showbox
3/25 Portland, OR, Wonder Ballroom
3/27 San Francisco, CA, The Regency Ballroom
3/29 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre
3/30 Anaheim, CA, The House Of Blues
3/31 San Diego, CA, The House of Blues
4/2 Phoenix, AZ, The Van Buren
4/5 Dallas, TX, House Of Blues
4/6 Austin, TX, Emos
4/7 Houston, TX, House OF Blues
4/9 New Orleans, LA, Civic Theatre
4/10 Atlanta, GA, Center Stage
4/12 Orlando, FL The Beacham
4/13 St. Petersburg, FL The State Theatre
4/14 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution Live

Ggoolldd

Ggoolldd

Ggoolldd

Ggoolldd (art by Vu)

OMD Setlist

OMD

OMD

OMD

OMD

OMD

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OMD

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OMD

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at First Avenue, Minneapolis (18 Mar 2018)

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

Devendra Banhart & Friends: Wind Grove Mind Alone at the McGuire Theater, Minneapolis (14 May 2016)

Devendra Banhart Setlist Golden Girls You’re Through Hating You (new) Lonely Woman (new) Never Seen Such Good Things Celebration (new) Note: new songs titles may change when officially recorded. Read More Liquid Music The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series, now in its third season, offers performances by artists who bend the distinctions between classical music and other genres, and take their music in new and unique ..... Devendra Banhart Back in 2004, Acid-folk god Devendra Banhart compiled a collection of folk music for some magazine. Much like Nostradamus before him, he managed to predict some of the leading lights of modern folk music … Rodrigo Amarante Opening up the show will be Los Angeles, by the way of Rio de Janeiro, Rodrigo Amarante (who was previously in town two weeks ago at Bryant Lake Bowl ... Hecuba At first listen, Los Angeles' Hecuba, I thought I would classify them as lo-fi electronica, but by the time "Ch-Changes" came on the debut EP, the sound shifted to soul and gospel. ...

The recent Walker Art and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music sold out show, featuring Venezuelan American singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart, last Saturday was simply a blast. The reports from fans who attended Banhart’s first night, they said that Friday’s show was a little ‘avant-garde’ and ‘experimental’ than Saturday’s show - which featured Banhart’s full live band.

Banhart was given complete control over his two-night music festival, and for the first night, his choices were Lucky Dragons, Jessica Pratt, Helado Negro, and William Basinski. Banhart would open up the show, solo with some sort of “Father Dom” Sylvester Houédard’s 1974 poem “Wind Grove Mind Alone” theme.

The Saturday night would also have a similar setup, Devendra Banhart, this time with a full electric band, would open up the show. As described by Banhart, there were no established setlist for his band and some sets were entirely improvised and some old songs are completely redone in a different direction. Whatever they decided to play, it was clear that Banhart was absolutely giggly about the whole thing. You can hear it in his voice and his mannerism, he was extremely excited to perform these songs for us.

Devendra Banhart: Everything’s dead! vuart

The band kicked off their set with ‘Golden Girls’, and shortly after was hit with technical difficulties. Since no photos were allowed, here is a doodle of the funny event. Quote Banhart, “Everything’s dead!”

The band would continue with new/unheard materials on their brief 40-min set... ending with of a song that Devendra “Fancyman” Banhart said was a ‘Celebration.’

Brazil’s Rodrigo Amarante (who also played in Banhart’s band and also is in Los Hermanos) was up next, and his barefoot exaggerated back and forth on stage and off stage were too comical. The self-confessed ‘big man with tiny guitar’ started his set with ‘Nada Em Vão’, followed by ‘Hourglass’, and ending with ‘The Ribbon’.

Amarante said that he will be back in the city, at the Cedar Cultural Center this June 16, as soon as his 20-min set was over. By this time (9pm), Banhart came back on stage to tell the audience that they were going to take a 10 minute break (which was actually more like 15 minutes).

Los Angeles’ Hecuba was my favorite of the night. I actually reviewed their debut SIR EP in 2008 and wrote that they were “lo-fi electronica” and that the duo, Isabelle Albuquerque and Jon Beasley, met working on film & theater, so they do have a little theatric side to their performance: Beasley dancing uncontrollably in one place while Albuquerque passionately singing into the mic... sometime on the floor.

I couldn’t quite figure out their set, but the majority of their song had the lyrics of “Brother, sister, two people, one swimmer.”

The show ended with a bizarre performance of Harold Budd, Bradford Ellis and Veda Hille. The one-piece performance wasn’t a song, but rather was something read from perhaps a diary or chapter of a book. The background music was provided by Budd and Ellis, while Hille read.

Once again, Walker Art/Liquid Music made this very unique show possible. We’re so lucky to have this great music program. For forthcoming shows and additional details, head over to liquidmusicseries.org.

Devendra Banhart at the McGuire Theater, Minneapolis (14 May 2016)

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

Minneapolis: December 12, 2015

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on December 12, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Michael W Smith Michael W Smith will be performing Christmas songs from his The Spirit of Christmas holiday album (released September 30th) with a full symphony orchestra at the Target Center … Amy Grant It's hard to believe that six-time GRAMMY winner Amy Grant is releasing her first record in 10 years called How Mercy Looks From Here on May 14, 2013. …

MICHAEL W SMITH
at Target Center
Saturday, 12/12/15, 7pm ($32-$77)
targetcenter.com

The Michael W Smith and Amy Grant Christmas show is returning to the Target Center in Minneapolis next Saturday. They will be performing all your favorite Christmas/Holiday songs; fun for the entire family.

I am assuming, like the previous appearance, that they will also be accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. Should be for a swingin' good time.

Tour dates:

12/05/15 Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods
12/06/15 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
12/08/15 Grandville, MI Resurrection Life Church
12/09/15 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
12/11/15 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
12/12/15 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
12/13/15 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford
12/15/15 Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati Music Hall
12/16/15 Brandon, FL Bell Shoals Baptist Church
12/18/15 Duluth, GA Infinite Energy Center
12/19/15 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
12/20/15 Fairfax, VA EagleBank Arena
07/02/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/03/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/04/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/05/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/06/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/07/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/08/16 Oasis Of The Seas
07/09/16 Oasis Of The Seas

photo: Jason Larkin Read More Zoo Animal Next was Zoo Animal, a band that I've seen a few times. Mostly with just Holly Newsom by herself, so it's always nice to see her backed up with a full functioning band. … Bruise Violet We will be having our release show on the 13th at the 7th Street Entry with our best friends, Rupert Angeleyes, Real Numbers and Bruise Violet. …

ZOO ANIMAL
at Amsterdam Bar and Hall
Saturday, 12/12/15, 7:30pm ($8/$10)
amsterdambarandhall.com

The special Amsterdam Bar and Hall’s 4th Anniversary show is this December 12, featuring some local bands: Zoo Animal, Bruise Violet (probably named after a Babes in Toyland song) and Swimsuit Area.

Holly Hansen (vuart)

According to details below - this is the final Zoo Animal show... but I'm sure we'll see singer Holly Hansen around. You probably know that I randomly sketch at shows if I don't have a camera (for example), and as a special bonus, here are some notes and vuart for Holly.

We last saw Zoo Animal at Basilica Block Party 2015 and solo Holly Hansen with Tiny Ruins in 2014.

Details:

89.3 The Current an Deschutes Brewery present Amsterdam Bar and Hall's 4th Anniversary!

Celebrating 4 years in downtown St. Paul, Amsterdam will be hosting Zoo Animal and Bruise Violet on Saturday, December 12th. Tickets are on sale now!

Zoo Animal (farewell show)

Bruise Violet

Swimsuit Area

$8 advance, $10 day of show
Doors at 7:30 PM
18+

Read More Grandtheft Toronto producer Grandtheft has released his debut Quit This City EP, out today on Mad Decent / Pirates Blend in Canada. The emotional video for "Quit This City" (feat. Lowell) was directed by John Poliquin …

GRANDTHEFT
at The Loft
Saturday, 12/12/15, 9pm ($15/$25)
skywaytheatre.com

Toronto producer Grandtheft will be stopping by the Loft (inside the Skyway Theatre) in Minneapolis, in support of his debut EP Quit This City (Mad Decent / Pirates Blend).

The promo video for "Quit This City" (feat. Lowell) was directed by John Poliquin and featured a sex worker in Barcelona struggling to provide for her two children. Director John Poliquin had this to say about his vision for the video, "Shot across two nights in Barcelona with a primarily Spanish cast and crew, these scenes are a combination of conventional filmmaking and on-the-wall documentary observations. Many of the scenes were filmed in the rowdy nightlife district where the camera had to be concealed at points for safety. The scenes where the girls are working the corner was photographed on a long lens from across the street, which led to the actresses being approached by both police and men looking to hire sex workers. Some of the men who approached the actresses were disrespectful and harassing, which unfortunately mirrored the malicious spirit of the final man in the film."

Tour dates:

12-05 Pittsburgh, PA - 415 Bingham Street
12-11 Atlanta, GA - Havana Club
12-12 Minneapolis, MN - Bar Fly
12-30 Phoenix, AZ - Decadence

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

Site Update (June 2012)

Today is going to be really busy for me. Just wanted to point out that I've updated a few things on the side-bar of W♥M, notably the new custom Twitter logo (yes, I know they have a new "upward" logo).

Anyway! Just got done with season two of "Flight of the Conchords" via borrowed DVD (yes, three years too late). It is a true shame that there won't be a season three, but reading about the duo's struggles to write season two I can understand why. Apparently the band used up most of their music comedy material in season one, so when it came to filming season two, they simply didn't have enough songs to carry season two.

I was so inspired by the duo that I put together this vu-art of Bret, Jemaine, and their stalker Mel.

BONUS: I'll be attending The Daredevil Christopher Wright this June 23rd. Here's some details on the band.

THE DAREDEVIL CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT
thedaredevilchristopherwright.com

I remember a few years ago, Brody was telling me about The Daredevil Christopher Wright and I thought they were superheroes from some pulp magazine. DCW is from Eau Claire, a city that has the benefit of being between Minneapolis and Milwaukee, and I have been told many times, has a huge music scene.

The trio has a new album called The Nature of Things, which is coming out June 26th. Starting next week, the band is doing a few dates between here (Minneapolis) and there (Milwaukee).

UPDATE:

THE DAREDEVIL CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT

06/22 Eau Claire, WI Grand Little Theater 06/23 Minneapolis, MN The Cedar Cultural Center 06/26 Eau Claire, WI Volume One (Free In-Store) 06/29 Madison, WI The Frequency 06/30 Sheboygan, WI Paradigm 07/01 Milwaukee, WI Cactus Club 07/17 Milwaukee, WI Paste Mag - Live at Aloft 07/28 Avoca, WI Shitty Barn Session: Field Trip 08/01 Chicago, IL Subterranean * 08/02 Iowa City, IA The Mill *

08/03 Cincinnati, OH MOTR Pub * 08/04 Lakewood, OH Mahall's 20 Lanes * 08/14 New York, NY TBA 08/15 Boston, MA Great Scott * 08/19 Shippensburg, PA The Thought Lot 08/23 Kalamazoo, MI Old Dog Tavern 09/13 Hayward, WI The Park Theater 11/02 Madison, WI UW-Madison 11/16 Minneapolis, MN United Methodist Church * = Via Audio

PS, maybe it's a local thing, but the cover artwork to The Nature of Things reminds me of Chino Latino.

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

Gretchen Phillips

Gretchen Phillips - To The Lady C Gretchen Phillips Tour Dates 02/18/09 Genghis Cohen Los Angeles, CA 02/19/09 Don Quixote’s Felton, CA 02/23/09 Cafe Du Nord San Francisco, CA 02/25/09 Sam Bond’s Eugene, Oregon 02/26/09 SPACE: A Design Build Collective Seattle, WA 02/27/09 ABC House Olympia, WA 02/28/09 Mississippi Pizza Portland, OR See Also Amy Ray http://weheartmus... Amy Ray is best known for being one half of the legendary Indigo Girls. She just released her lat...

Gretchen Phillips wants you to know that she's a Lesbian singer/songwriter - it's written all over her latest album, I Was Just Comforting Her. I'm not familiar with her previous work, but based on hearing this album, I can tell you that she's very funny and clever. There's clear evidence of her lesbianism on the album, but it's not riot militant. It's also not preachy (Save the world! Save the cows!)... Instead it focuses on humor and desire and love.

I did end up reading her biography, about the various bands (punk Meat Joy to country/folk Two Nice Girls) and what an extraordinary life she's lead up to this album, and all those years of performing on stage contributed to her confidence in her songs. In fact, from my understanding, this is her most accessible, most poppiest, album ever.

Gretchen Phillips - Swimming (Excerpt)

You know, after listening to her spoken dialogue at the end of "Swimming", I thought she was clearly an actress. Just listen to that vulnerable, awkward, anxious, scared voice. You can just hear it. I was squinting my eyes out of embarrassment for her! It's quite an entertaining way of ending that Rated-R song.

The song is 'drench' in sex, and it's the first time I've ever heard a pop song with the words "public hair" in it (to rhyme with "freak and stare").

Vu vs cat

The funniest song on here is "Peola", about a cat that doesn't love her master. Although if you read too much into it, it could be about a hard-to-get lover, but I'm pretty sure this is about her cat. I think even the cover art is a portrait of Peola by Phillips. Well I felt so inspired about this song about her cat not wanting to sleep with her - that I made this drawing my own experience with my cat in bed.

Gretchen Phillips - Red State/Blue State

The main single and video for the album is the song "Red State/Blue State". Although the title is political-sounding, the song is not about politics, it seems to be about hope ("I could believe that this world is going straight to hell, but I'd rather believe that kindess will prevail.")

Although a great song as a lead song, I prefer the most poppiest song on the album, "To The Lady C". I just love the melodies and her voice on this song. It's just full of love and happiness.... unlike the very serious song about alcoholism on "Your Drinking".

So, it's been over five years since her last co-album Togetherness, with Dave Driver, so fans of her work should definitely want to pick up I Was Just Comforting Her (which was just released today - on February 4^th). You can find it on Amazon and, of course, iTunes. See her on tour if you can make it to any of those dates, I'm sure it would be quite an entertaining time.

 02/04/2009 02:25:28 ♥ vu () ♥ gretchen-phillips.com ♥ www.myspace.com/gretchenphillips