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Tour Dates
03/20/13 Detroit, MI / Magic Stick Lounge
03/21/13 Newport, KY / Southgate House 03/22/13 Indianapolis, IN / Radio Radio 03/23/13 Pittsburgh, PA / Altar Bar 07/19/13 Truck Festival Hill Farm, Oxford 07/20/13 Super Bock Super Rock Portugal 07/27/13 Kendal Calling Lake District 08/02/13 Camp Bestival Dorset 08/03/13 Y Not Festival Derbyshire Read More Sure, I mentioned Ash last week, but today, they released the official SXSW shows and "mini" tour dates - which looks like they are catering to the mid-west .…
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"We got delayed by a storm for... seven years," joked singer Tim Wheeler from Ash, as they apologized for staying away from Minnesota for so long. Ash is currently on small U.S. tour, making a rare Minneapolis appearance at the Varsity Theater last night, March 18th.
Opening up the show was Strange Names, a band from Minneapolis, who may or may not be friends with Howler's Jordan Gatesmith. For a new band, I thought Strange Names was really comfortable on stage and sounded like they've been doing this for a while.
The two key players were dedicated singer, and sometime tambourine player, Liam Benzvi, and guitarist, and sometime singer, Francis Jimenez. Both of them were excited about an upcoming new single or EP on March 26th, as they played two new tracks from it called "White Irish" and "Minor Times" (which they ended their set with).
As for Ash, what can I say? It's been a long time, but well worth it, finally seeing them again. I've seen the bands a few times, but they usually were not billed as headliner - for instance, opening up for Saves the Day in 2003 or Bravery in 2005.
For casual fans, let me help catch you up: the Irish band started off as a trio (Tim, Mark, and Rick) and had a massive hit with 1977 in 1996. Charlotte Hatherley joined the band in 1998 with Nu-Clear Sounds, she became an integral part of the band, until her departure in 2004 with Meltdown. By 2007, the band returned to their music roots as a trio with Twilight of the Innocents, but Tim and company were unhappy with its release that they announced it will be Ash's last album. That's not the end of the story: Ash would come back as strictly a "singles" band, returning with the "A-Z" series (recording a new single every two weeks for a year).
I am also happy to report that a good portion of songs on this current tour were taken from my personal favorite 1977 album ("Goldfinger" , "Angel Interceptor", "Kung Fu", "Oh Yeah", and "Girl From Mars"). You can tell that the audience loved the album as well with their strong sing-along feedback and dancing.
There were a couple of surprises for me at this show, first is Nu-Clear Sounds was largely ignored (no "Jesus Says", no "Wildsurf", etc.), the second is that songs from Free All Angels ("Walking Barefoot", "Shining Light", and the encore "Burn Baby Burn" ) got huge responses from the fans, and third, who knew bassist Mark Hamilton was such a rock star? Wow check out his moves!
It's really been too long. Let's hope we don't have to wait another seven years to see Ash again, the band promised to come back soon.
Ash's A-Z Series is out now. You can pick up all 62 songs at a bargain price of $8.99 on amazon. The physical discs (both Vol 1 & 2) can be picked up at their merchandise table for $10 each.
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STRANGE NAMES
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The two key players were dedicated singer, and sometime tambourine player, Liam Benzvi, and guitarist, and sometime singer, Francis Jimenez. Both of them were excited about an upcoming new single or EP on March 26th, as they played two new tracks from it called "White Irish" and "Minor Times" (which they ended their set with).
As for Ash, what can I say? It's been a long time, but well worth it, finally seeing them again. I've seen the bands a few times, but they usually were not billed as headliner - for instance, opening up for Saves the Day in 2003 or Bravery in 2005.
For casual fans, let me help catch you up: the Irish band started off as a trio (Tim, Mark, and Rick) and had a massive hit with 1977 in 1996. Charlotte Hatherley joined the band in 1998 with Nu-Clear Sounds, she became an integral part of the band, until her departure in 2004 with Meltdown. By 2007, the band returned to their music roots as a trio with Twilight of the Innocents, but Tim and company were unhappy with its release that they announced it will be Ash's last album. That's not the end of the story: Ash would come back as strictly a "singles" band, returning with the "A-Z" series (recording a new single every two weeks for a year).
“Return of White Rabbit” was really, really good!
If you were afraid that Ash is only doing "A-Z" songs on this tour, let me squash that fear right now. Only a few selected songs were played ("Arcadia", "Joy Kicks Darkness", "Binary" and "Return of White Rabbit"), and they sounded great live. In particular, the set closer, "Return of White Rabbit" was really, really good!
I am also happy to report that a good portion of songs on this current tour were taken from my personal favorite 1977 album ("Goldfinger" , "Angel Interceptor", "Kung Fu", "Oh Yeah", and "Girl From Mars"). You can tell that the audience loved the album as well with their strong sing-along feedback and dancing.
There were a couple of surprises for me at this show, first is Nu-Clear Sounds was largely ignored (no "Jesus Says", no "Wildsurf", etc.), the second is that songs from Free All Angels ("Walking Barefoot", "Shining Light", and the encore "Burn Baby Burn" ) got huge responses from the fans, and third, who knew bassist Mark Hamilton was such a rock star? Wow check out his moves!
It's really been too long. Let's hope we don't have to wait another seven years to see Ash again, the band promised to come back soon.
Ash's A-Z Series is out now. You can pick up all 62 songs at a bargain price of $8.99 on amazon. The physical discs (both Vol 1 & 2) can be picked up at their merchandise table for $10 each.
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Ash at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (03/18/13) |
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