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Kurt Vile at 400 Bar, Minneapolis (05/22/12)
Tour Dates
05/25/12 Bitmore Vancouver, Canada
05/26/12 Sasquatch Music Festival George, WA 05/27/12 Star Theatre Portland, OR 05/30/12 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA 06/06/12 Catalyst Atrium Santa Cruz, CA 06/07/12 Largo @ The Coronet Los Angeles, CA 06/10/12 Bonnaroo 2012 Manchester, TN 06/15/12 Maxwell's Hoboken, NJ 06/16/12 Central Park Summerstage New York, NY 06/22/12 Hurricane Festival Scheessel, Germany 06/23/12 Southside Festival Neuhausen, Germany 06/26/12 WWDIS Summer Festival Stockholm, Sweden 06/27/12 Peace And Love Festival Borlänge, Sweden 06/30/12 HIPPODROME D'EVREUX Evreux, France 07/07/12 Minne Waterpark Brugge, Belgium 07/08/12 Melkweg Oude Zaal Amsterdam, Netherlands 07/09/12 Salle Pleyel Paris, France 07/12/12 Plaine De La Machine A Feu Elouges 07/13/12 Plaine De La Machine A Feu Elouges 07/14/12 Plaine De La Machine A Feu Elouges 07/15/12 Plaine De La Machine A Feu Elouges 08/03/12 OFF Festival Katowice, Poland Read More Kurt Vile is the founding member of The War on Drugs. Although the band is still around, Vile left the band in 2008.
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True Widow
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Black Bananas
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Unfortunately, it turned out to be pretty tame and surprisingly short. The band chomped through about 6 songs in less than 30 minutes and while Herrema had plenty of spit and vinegar in her step, her vocals were barely audible. During the set, Herrema was telling the sound guy to turn up her mike because “if they [the band] can’t hear me, they won’t know what to play,” to which an audience member yelled, “No one can hear you!” Indeed, amidst the blast of guitar, keyboard and other computer-aided sounds, Herrema’s voice was nowhere to be found. And when her voice did surface, there was heavy vocal distortion swallowing it back up. It’s not that the music was bad; it was just sort of sloppy and unfocused. Now being sloppy and unfocused can be compelling elements in some rock bands, but it just didn’t work in this scenario. Aside from the rocking “My House,” the band just looked a little bored.
Kurt Vile and the Violators hit the stage and whipped out a cover of The Feelies “For Awhile” to kick things off. Vile, founding member of indie band The War on Drugs, and his band of skinny, curly-haired rockers played an exhilarating 60+ minute set with a smattering of songs from not only his latest release, but also lo-fi gems Childish Prodigy and Constant Hitmaker. He wasted no time in pleasing the nearly sold out crowd with “Jesus Fever” off his latest offering Smoke Ring For My Halo , his heralded fourth solo effort. The gentle melancholy of “Heart Attack” gave way to a driving, meaty cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Downbound Train.” Epic and sprawling Childish Prodigy track “Freak Train” got the crowd excited and moving; Vile himself stood concentrating over his guitar, his curtain of hair parting only to punctuate the air with cries of “Ride on the freak train! Train! Train! Train!” that trickled off into feedback oblivion. There within the sticky, red-walled womb of the 400 Bar, Kurt Vile closed the show by his lonesome with a stunning version of “He’s Alright,” a satisfying end to a really remarkable performance.
