Tour Dates
11/11 – Waco, TX @ Common Grounds *
11/12 - Austin, TX @ Lamberts 11/13 – Dallas, TX @ Trees 11/15 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge * Marc Scibilia solo show Read More
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How generous is rocker Butch Walker to his diehard fans? Enough to give up the stage for his biggest radio hit, and let an audience member instead sing it to the crowd. More on that in a moment…
The Georgia based performer (known more recently for his writing/producing stints for Avril LaVigne, Pink, and others) brought the spirit and passion his longtime fans have come to expect, for a 100 min. performance Friday night at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.
Newcomer Marc Scibilia opened on this night with a stripped down but solid set of soulful folk rock, many culled from his latest third EP, The Shape I’m In (Hickory Records/Sony/ATV). Accompanied by just one other guitarist, the affable Scibilia endeared himself to the crowd with songs like the EP’s title track, ‘How Bad We Need Each Other’ and ‘Something Good in this World’ (both of which were featured in Fox TV’s Bones).
Scibilia, a Buffalo native now based in Nashville, also charmed with his stories of lamenting his first glimpses of snow seen for the season on the drive in to the venue, and about his supporting mother attending many of his recent shows, though cheekily mentioning it might be more to see Butch Walker, rather than her own son. Keep an eye out, as Scibilia hopes to return soon with full band, which includes his brother on drums.
After a brief intermission, Walker emerged in front of a piano on a dimly lit stage. Illuminated only by a small makeshift lamp, fashioned from a Jameson Whiskey bottle, Walker quietly played the first two solo numbers there, followed by another two on solo guitar, including the sing-a-long, ‘Mixtape’ .
“Let’s keep going back in the wayback machine… but you know there’s a catch”, Walker mentioned as the first chords of Marvelous 3’s ‘Freak of the Week’ began and he asked for a volunteer to commandeer the song in his place. “This is the only guy I saw pointing at himself”, Walker said, bringing up local aspiring singer Joshua Logan for a houserocking performance that had the crowd singing the chorus back to everyone on stage.
Walker remembered his recently deceased father (“Big Butch”) in a moving tribute that had him momentarily choked up for the intro to ‘Let It Go Where It’s Supposed To’. He knows his musical history too, evidenced by a seamless melding of Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ ‘Come on Eileen’ with his own ‘Synthesizers’ and Steve Miller’s ‘The Joker’ into his ‘She Likes Hair Bands’. Both were well received by the crowd that had an odd dichotomy: - most were devoted fans that knew many of the lyrics, yet were also half-drunk, restless, and chatty for most of the evening, which amounted to a strange combination.
For the encore, ‘3 Kids from Brooklyn’ started with a slinky slide guitar intro, channeling Zeppelin’s ‘In My Time of Dying’, that had Walker making his way through crowd to climb onto the back bar and request a shot. Upon his return to the stage, he paused, had everyone creep low, to then explode into a jumping mass of waving and dancing humanity. Final song, ‘Hot Girls in a Good Mood’ was punctuated by a balloon drop and snow machine blast…like Minnesotans need to see any more of that this early in the season!
“I'll know wherever you are, that's my home”, Walker sings on the title track of his highly personal latest release, the digital EP/ltd. CD, Peachtree Battle (Dangerbird Records), and as proven by his versatile performance this night, the road seems a very comfortable home for him.
The Georgia based performer (known more recently for his writing/producing stints for Avril LaVigne, Pink, and others) brought the spirit and passion his longtime fans have come to expect, for a 100 min. performance Friday night at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.
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MARC SCIBILIA
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Scibilia, a Buffalo native now based in Nashville, also charmed with his stories of lamenting his first glimpses of snow seen for the season on the drive in to the venue, and about his supporting mother attending many of his recent shows, though cheekily mentioning it might be more to see Butch Walker, rather than her own son. Keep an eye out, as Scibilia hopes to return soon with full band, which includes his brother on drums.
After a brief intermission, Walker emerged in front of a piano on a dimly lit stage. Illuminated only by a small makeshift lamp, fashioned from a Jameson Whiskey bottle, Walker quietly played the first two solo numbers there, followed by another two on solo guitar, including the sing-a-long, ‘Mixtape’ .
“Let’s keep going back in the wayback machine… but you know there’s a catch”, Walker mentioned as the first chords of Marvelous 3’s ‘Freak of the Week’ began and he asked for a volunteer to commandeer the song in his place. “This is the only guy I saw pointing at himself”, Walker said, bringing up local aspiring singer Joshua Logan for a houserocking performance that had the crowd singing the chorus back to everyone on stage.
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Butch Walker
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Photo of Setlist
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“I'll know wherever you are, that's my home”, Walker sings on the title track of his highly personal latest release, the digital EP/ltd. CD, Peachtree Battle (Dangerbird Records), and as proven by his versatile performance this night, the road seems a very comfortable home for him.
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Butch Walker at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/08/13) |
