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Meghan Murphy at the Woman’s Club (6/23/2022)

Read More Meghan Murphy The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis is proud to present Meghan Murphy in the long-awaited Twin Cities debut of her performance of “The Big Red Show” on Thursday, June 23. … Twin Cities Pride It’s pride month, and Twin Cities Pride Festival is bringing their biggest show yet this Saturday at Loring Park. With over 400 exhibitors and four free music stages, this is a LGBTQ+ friendly environment for the whole family …

The Twin Cities Pride Festival kicked off its weekend celebration with the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis hosting Meghan Murphy and her Big Red Show.  The show had a summer-start feel as the host, Kevin Winge, sported his finest seersucker suit and invited the crowd to return on Saturday night and enjoy the Pride Festival’s fireworks display from the rooftop of the Woman’s Club.

Winge then introduced Monica West to the stage. West a female impersonator for 36 years strutted and sashayed to “Le Jazz Hot” before grabbing the mike and working the crowd like a seasoned standup comic.  She was hilarious, searching the crowd for any straight men to rib and jest before moving into a short bio of how she arrived at this stage.  It was funny and touching and after 36 years in the biz, with 16 years as emcee at the Gay 90’s, she told the crowd that she was onto a new adventure with hopes of opening Roxy’s Cabaret just down the street.  “Soon,” she said.

West then invited her “new best friend” onto the stage and Meghan Murphy with her Big Red dress and Big Red hair appeared with her three-piece band to start off the set with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” 

A proclaimed gaycon, Murphy is based out of Chicago but has been all over the world with a killer voice and an expansive musical portfolio, ranging from musical genres of pop, jazz and blues to folk, soul and show tunes.

Murphy’s own website describes her as a “… combination of Lucille Ball, Bonnie Raitt, Rita Hayworth and Etta Jones.”  The Chicago Sun Times describes her as a “… sparkling redhead with a dynamic voice.”  What she brought to the Woman’s Club was buoyant enthusiasm by channeling the spirits of her three favorite divas, “Judy, Barbara and Bette.” 

Like West, Murphy also gave a brief bio by changing the lyrics to Reba McEntire’s “Fancy.”  She even did a leg split to the salty “Everybody’s Girl” from the musical, Steel Pier, then provided a hilarious rendition of “Long John Blues.” 

photo courtesy of Woman’s Club Facebook

Like the best of cabaret shows, there was plenty of burlesque ribaldry to keep the audience howling with either laughter or shock.  Even after the subdued “Make You Feel My Love” from Bob Dylan, Murphy immediately said, “Enough of that sappy Sh--!”

Murphy was there to have a good time and thankful to be in Minneapolis at the Woman’s Club to help kick off the 50^th Anniversary of the Pride Festival.

“Happy to be in front of an audience,” she said, after Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.”  “It was a rough couple of years.  Well you know… You were there.”

Murphy had no intention on dwelling on the subject.  Based on her song selections, she wanted to a positive feeling of empowerment to emanate.  Even when singing Otis Redding’s wistful “Dock of the Bay”, you couldn’t help think that even if she was sitting on a pier all by herself, she was going to belt-out the words for all to hear.  

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Minneapolis: June 23 to June 26

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide

06/23 The Wrecks with girlhouse and Mothé at Amsterdam Bar & Hall Read More The Wrecks The all-ages show started earlier than the usual show time, but that did not stop the fans from showing up early and on time for the first opener, The Wrecks (Nick Anderson, Aaron Kelley …

06/23/2022 Thursday

The Wrecks
with girlhouse and Mothé
at Amsterdam Bar & Hall
first-avenue.com

Los Angeles pop/rock band The Wrecks is headlining their “Better Than Ever” tour, with support from girlhouse and Mothé.

The Wrecks’ latest album Sonder is available from Big Noise Music Group.

Tour dates:

6.9 - Fresno, CA - Strummer's
6.10 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
6.11 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
6.13 Seattle - The Crocodile
6.14 - Portland, OR - Holocene
6.16 - Salt Lake City, UT - Soundwell
6.17 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theater
6.18 - Lincoln, NE - Bourbon Theater
6.20 - St. Louis - Delmar Hall
6.21 - Indianapolis, IN - Old National Centre
6.23 - Minneapolis, MN - Amsterdam Hall
6.24 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
6.25 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
6.26 - Grand Rapids, MI - Elevation
6.28 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
6.29 - Buffalo, NY - Rec Room
6.30 - Albany, NY - Empire Underground
7.1 - Asbury Park, NJ - Asbury Lanes
7.6 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Music Hall
7.7 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
7.8 - New York City, NY - Webster Hall
7.9 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair
7.10 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA
7.12 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
7.13 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
7.14 - Orlando, FL - Beacham Theater
7.15 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
7.16 - Nashville, TN - Basement East
7.18 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
7.19 - Austin, TX - Antone's
7.21 - Phoenix, AZ - Nile Theater
7.22 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater
7.23 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater

06/23 Meghan Murphy with Monica West at The Woman's Club Read More The Woman’s Club The Woman’s Club was founded in 1907, and the building was created in 1928. This historic club rarely book music concerts, but when they do, it’s usually in support for women musicians. …

06/23/2022 Thursday

Meghan Murphy
with Monica West
at The Woman's Club
womansclub.org

The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis is proud to present Meghan Murphy in the long-awaited Twin Cities debut of her performance of “The Big Red Show” on Thursday, June 23.

Murphy’s one-woman show, The Big Red Show, has left audiences laughing, crying, and rising to their feet at every performance. The Chicago Sun Times calls her, “A sparkling redhead with a dynamite voice.”

Opening for Meghan will be Monica West.

Ticketing information:

VIP tickets include premiere seating, parking, pre-concert Rooftop reception with appetizers, a signature cocktail, and a post-concert meet & greet with Big Red herself, Meghan Murphy - $75

Main Floor Seating - $40 general public / $35 for Club members

Balcony Seating - $30 general public / $25 for Club members

Tickets available starting on Thursday, May 19 at 10:00 am at etix.com

06/23 Eyelids with Muun Bato at 7th St Entry Read More Muun Bato It’s the new year, so let’s find out the best band of 2019… courtesy of First Avenue, The Current … Fruitpunchloverboy Green/Blue Loki’s Folly Mae Simpson Muun Bato . …

06/23/2022 Thursday

Eyelids
with Muun Bato
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

Portland band Eyelids is touring for their new album The Accidental Falls. The group recently added a new member, Victor Krummenacher (of Monks of Doom, Camper Van Beethoven).

Their secret origin of The Accidental Falls was when former Tim Buckley collaborator Larry Beckett first offered Chris Slusarenko and John Moen of Eyelids to write new lyrics for their next record, the band wasn’t sure how it would fit their brand of guitar-driven rock. But they trust it to work and as a result, the fourth album was created with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, as record producer. How they got involved with R.E.M. is another story altogether… but let’s just say that the group is a big fan of R.E.M’s music, and it’s an honor for them to work with Peter Buck.

Muun Bato to open.

Tour dates:

Jun 10 Portland, OR, US Mississippi Studios
Jun 17 Milwaukee, WI, US Cactus Club
Jun 18 Evanston, IL, US SPACE
Jun 19 Windsor, ON, Canada Meteor
Jun 20 Toronto, ON, Canada Horseshoe Tavern
Jun 21 Cleveland, OH, US Beachland Ballroom
Jun 23 Minneapolis, MN, US First Avenue & 7th St Entry
Jun 24 Madison, WI Kiki’s

06/25 Violent Femmes with The Breeders at Palace Theatre Read More Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are back at it again. This time, it looks like they are going back to their typical setlist. The key differences from last night’s show and tonight was that Gordon Gano … The Breeders The Deal sisters (Kim & Kelly) and their band, the Breeders, is taking their last, last, really last splash with the 20th Anniversary Tour. Be on the lookout for the deluxe limited 7xLP …

06/25/2022 Saturday

Violent Femmes
with The Breeders
at Palace Theatre
first-avenue.com

What a dream lineup! It’s Cult-favorite band Violent Femmes with The Breeders 2022 tour.

Violent Femmes’ recently celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Why Do Birds Sing? with a deluxe 2-CD reissue. The album was remastered with previous unreleased material (including alternative takes and outtakes), and a complete concert from 1991 (captured at the Boathouse in Norfolk, VA).

We last saw VF in Oct 2017 and wrote, “It basically boils down to the fact that fans probably haven’t seen VF for 16 years. That’s a long time, but, based on hearing almost every song sung back, word for word, these same fans clearly haven’t forgotten about the Violent Femmes. They saved two of their biggest singalong classics ‘Kiss Off’ and ‘Add It Up’ for the encore.”

Tour dates:

Jun 1 Portland, OR, US McMenamin's Crystal Ballroom
Jun 2 Bellingham, WA, US Mount Baker Theatre
Jun 3 Seattle, WA, US Moore Theatre
Jun 4 Seattle, WA, US Moore Theatre
Jun 6 San Francisco, CA, US The Fillmore
Jun 7 Berkeley, CA, US The UC Theatre
Jun 8 Reno, NV, US Virginia Street Brewhouse
Jun 10 West Valley City, UT, US Maverik Center
Jun 11 Outdoor Morrison, CO, US Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Jun 12 Aspen, CO, US Belly Up Aspen
Jun 25 St. Paul, MN, US Palace Theatre
Oct 1 Kansas City, MO, US Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

06/26 Roosevelt with Caroline Loveglow at Fine Line Read More Caroline Loveglow Opening the show was Los Angeles’ Caroline Loveglow. She normally plays a 30 min set, but unfortunately, due to starting really late from the original schedule, it would seem she cut the set ...

06/26/2022 Sunday

Roosevelt
with Caroline Loveglow
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

German singer Roosevelt is headlining the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis on Sunday, June 26th.

Didn’t we just see Caroline Loveglow? Yes, just last month! With Hatchie in St Paul on 15 May 2022: “Opening the show was Los Angeles’ Caroline Loveglow. She normally plays a 30 min set, but unfortunately, due to starting really late from the original schedule, it would seem she cut the set short under 15 minutes. That’s just the logical conclusion, it could be that she wasn’t feeling very well. I couldn’t tell, as she hardly spoke. She made one announcement, telling us the title to her song “Happy Happy”, and that the guitarist on stage with her was called Layne, her best friend.”

Tour Dates:

May 26 Hamburg, Germany Gruenspan
May 27 Berlin, Germany Huxleys Neue Welt
May 29 Cologne, Germany Carlswerk Victoria
Jun 2 Paris, France Le Trabendo
Jun 3 Amsterdam, Netherlands Melkweg
Jun 6 London, UK Electric Ballroom
Jun 7 Manchester, UK Band On The Wall
Jun 8 Brussels, Belgium Botanique - Orangerie
Jun 9 Istanbul, Turkey Zorlu PSM 100% Studio
Jun 17 Houston, TX, US White Oak Music Hall
Jun 18 Dallas, TX, US The Studio at the Factory
Jun 20 Atlanta, GA, US Terminal West
Jun 21 Nashville, TN, US Eastside Bowl
Jun 22 Columbus, OH, US Newport Music Hall
Jun 23 Rothbury, MI, US Electric Forest Festival
Jun 26 Minneapolis, MN, US Fine Line Music Cafe
Jun 28 Englewood, CO, US Gothic Theatre
Jun 29 Salt Lake City, UT, US Soundwell
Aug 12 Outdoor Buftea, Romania Summer Well

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to [email protected] with a good lead time. Thank you.

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

Twin Cities Venue Guide: The Woman's Club of Minneapolis

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know that I’m working on a Minneapolis/St Paul venue guide: Twin Cities Venue Guide.

We haven’t had a lot of time to work on this, but it’s something I wanted to do for myself. I often have to look up venue’s capacity or need links and additional information.

Photo from Vu Read More The Woman's Club Colin Meloy and Eleanor Friedberger just finished their little two-week Fall 2013 tour at the Woman's Club in Minneapolis last night. …

IRREGULAR: THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS
AKA: Woman’s Club, Assembly of the Woman’s Club, The Woman’s Club Assembly
Capacity: 630
Years active: 1928 - Present
Website: womansclub.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 612-813-5300
Address: 410 Oak Grove St, Minneapolis, MN 55403

The Woman’s Club was founded in 1907, and the building was created in 1928. This historic club rarely book music concerts, but when they do, it’s usually in support for women musicians.

As of this writing, there are no upcoming music concerts.

They have a dining service (closed on Monday, Brunch Buffet only on Sunday), which requires reservation.

Currently, the Woman’s Club is focusing on granting scholarship to benefit women and children:

Today, our original mission of “educational, civic, and social services, study and friendly association” continues. In addition to our many outreach activities, The Club each year gives scholarship monies and grants that benefit women and children; over the years we have given over five million dollars. In 2015, we gave scholarship monies to the MCTC Foundation -- a 30-plus year tradition -- and gave grants to ten nonprofit organizations.

Education is another of our deep commitments. We continue to operate the historic Ard Godfrey House in Chute Square, which was our bicentennial gift to the city. We have a robust education program, including a circulating library and stimulating talks for our members and guests on a broad variety of topics and issues.

We are many things to our members and guests -- a friend, a respite, a force for good, a place for belonging. The Woman's Club of Minneapolis welcomes you, women and men. Come join us.

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

Colin Meloy with Eleanor Friedberger at the Woman's Club, Minneapolis (11/13/13)

Colin Meloy Setlist The Singer Addresses His Audience July, July! Hank, Eat Your Oatmeal Calamity Song The Soldiering Life Oceanside Do You Remember Walter? June Hymn Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga) Engine Driver On the Bus Mall Philomena Lake Song January Hymn Skyway The Apology Song Bandit Queen Encore: The Crane Wife 1 & 2 The Crane Wife 3 Eleanor Friedberger Setlist I'll Never Be Happy Again Other Boys Tomorrow Tomorrow My Own World Evergreen I Am the Past When I Knew Echo or Encore Singing Time Stare at the Sun My Mistakes Tour Dates 01/16/14 Los Angeles, CA Fonda 01/17/14 San Francisco, CA Fillmore 01/21/14 Portland, OR McMenamins 01/22/14 Seattle, WA The Neptune Read More Colin Meloy Colin Meloy, as you probably know, is the lead singer of the much-beloved The Decemberists. The band is currently on a break, but in the meantime, you can catch … Eleanor Friedberger We like The Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger, having caught her in Minneapolis a few times (in June and in September). She's returning here on the last date of the Colin Meloy …

Colin Meloy and Eleanor Friedberger just finished their little two-week Fall 2013 tour at the Woman's Club in Minneapolis last night. The tour was really a great match, as both musicians are generally known for their heady lyrics and little storytelling songs.

ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER

Eleanor Friedberger, in her artsy video gamey/Egyptian dress, started her set with the rather depressing song, "I'll Never Be Happy Again". The song is about meeting someone so perfect that afterward, she'll never be happy again. That song, as well as the majority on her set, was taken from her latest album Personal Record, out now on Merge Records.

Friedberger is noticeably by herself, the last two times we saw her in Minneapolis, since June, she is usually accompanied by a full backing band. Still, despite the absent of her band, Friedberger seem incredibly comfortably sitting and playing her electric guitar for us.

Highlight from her set was a The Fiery Furnaces song, "Evergreen", which was unexpected since it's not from Personal Record. I also thought "Echo or Encore" was also good, although, based on its lyrics, could have been the finale ("I adore you as before, your echo or your encore"). Instead, the last song was "My Mistakes", which she played over a sax pre-recording.

Colin Meloy described his solo shows as a campfire shows. Eight years ago, he decided he was going to release these themed cover EPs, starting with Morrissey. His latest cover EP is devoted to The Kinks, although, surprisingly only one Kinks cover was done for last night's show ("Do You Remember Walter?").

Photo of Setlist

As you can see from the setlist, the majority of the songs are the Decemberists songs, which is just perfect for fans in the audience. Meloy knows his audience well, often egging fans to finish singing the songs for him.

A few new songs, possibly for a future Decemberists album, included the intro song, "The Singer Addresses His Audience", "Philomena" and "Lake Song".

Meloy must benefit from hearing someone call out "Free Bird" every night, because without a beat, he answered, "Are you trying to troll me, sir?" He then stated that he's a board member of the MACOF, the Musician Against Calling Out Freebird.

There was a surprising moment when Meloy started playing The Replacements' "Skyway". Clearly he wanted to play that song for Minneapolis, but based on the loose play style, he may have not had the time to rehearse. Still, it sounded pretty dang good for an unrehearsed effort.

Also, worth noting for any Morrissey fans, is that the "Apology Song" was not about Morrissey (the line in the song, "I'm really sorry Steven, but your bicycle's been stolen" was often speculated about Steven Patrick Morrissey and his "punctured bicycle"), but about a stolen red Schwinn bicycle. The song was actually never meant to be recorded, according to Meloy on stage.

Anyway, at the end of the campfire journey, Meloy asked his audience to imagine floating into space and landing in New Mexico and hearing a cow herder singing "Bandit Queen" and doing a terrible whistling effort.

Encore was an epic rendition of all three parts of "The Crane Wife".

With the final night of the tour, Colin Meloy will be returning home to his "farm", while Eleanor Friedberger will be playing a number of East Coast shows in December (Great Scott in Massachusetts, Port City Music Hall in Maine, and The Space in Connecticut.)

Colin Meloy at the Woman's Club, Minneapolis (11/13/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ colinmeloy.com ♥ eleanorfriedberger.com

Laura Marling at The Assembly at the Woman's Club, Minneapolis (08/14/13)

Tour Dates 08/15/13 - Milwaukee - Pabst Theater 08/28/13 - Louisville - Big Four Bridge Lawn 08/30/13 - Philadelphia - Prince Music Theatre 09/01/13 - Vineyard Haven - Martha's Vineyard 09/03/13 - Somerville - Somerville Theatre 09/04/13 - Washington - Lincoln Theatre 09/06/13 - Woodstock - Bearsville Theater 09/08/13 - Brooklyn - Music Hall of Williamsburg 09/09/13 - Brooklyn - Music Hall of Williamsburg Read More Laura Marling As you know, we've been writing about Laura Marling since 2007. We obviously love her and will jump at any opportunity to talk about her. …

Laura Marling just started her U.S. Summer 2013 tour for her latest album Once I Was An Eagle last night at the sold-out Assembly at the Woman's Club show in Minneapolis.

PAUL METZGER

Opening up for Marling was Minneapolis' Paul Metzger, who started his set with a humorous observation: what a better way to open up for a young lovely woman, than an old man with a banjo. The most interesting thing about Metzger is that his banjo, is in fact, unique to Metzger, as he modified the instrument to serve his needs. The neck's a little longer, there's extra strings, etc. As you watch him masterfully play his set, you realized that he's probably the only person that can play this banjo.

"Punctual" Laura Marling came on stage at 9:30 and started her set with an epic 16-minute song, combining "Take The Night Off", "I Was An Eagle" and "You Know". After her official second song, ""Master Hunter", she apologized for making us sit through the extra-long opening song. No one minded, of course.

Marling's quite funny, a nervous kind of funny, on stage. For instance, she admitted that after touring solo, that her shows are now 20% more tuning. Of course, she does what all musicians do when they tune, they prepare for onstage banters. It's not as easy as it look, because often there's more stories than there are actual tuning.

My favorite tuning story was about paying $5 to park at the Science Museum, only to spend about 20 minutes at the gift shop to purchase a photo of "The Great American rocks" and metal container that gets ride of garlic smell.

As to be expected, Marling played songs from Once I Was An Eagle, including the opening tracks and her last couple of tracks, "Once" and "Saved These Words". She doesn't do encores, so for encore fans, she suggested they think of "Once" as the last song.

Making up the rest of her set, including her favorites, "Rambling Man", "I Speak Because I Can", "What He Wrote" and "Sophia". But perhaps the most interesting choice was her cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Kathy's Song", a song that she confessed that she wished she'd written.

Laura Marling is currently on tour for Once I Was An Eagle. The album is out now on Ribbon Records.

Laura Marling at The Assembly at the Woman's Club, Minneapolis (08/14/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ lauramarling.com ♥ paulmetzger.net