Communion #2 at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/19/13)

Tennis Tour Dates 11/27/13 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater 01/03/14 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court 01/04/14 Boise, ID Neurolux 01/05/14 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios 01/06/14 Vancouver, BC Fortune Sound Club 01/07/14 Seattle, WA Barboza 01/10/14 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill 01/11/14 Los Angeles, CA The Satellite 01/12/14 San Diego, CA Soda Bar 01/13/14 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom 01/15/14 Austin, TX The Parish 01/16/14 Dallas, TX Dada Dallas 01/17/14 Norman, OK Opolis 01/18/14 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar Read More Communion Communion is a club night, formed in London in 2006 by musicians Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons), Kevin Jones (Bear’s Den), and producer Ian Grimble (Manic Street Preachers … Tennis We last saw Tennis with Sharon Van Etten at First Avenue last year, but the husband/wife duo (Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore) is back as headliner. … Solid Gold It's been a few years since I saw Solid Gold, so it was nice to see them again. They seem to have a lot of dedicated fans, who showed up just to see the band perform. … On An On On An On hit the stage with All the Horses, a dreamy tune that immediately changed the mood into a more chill vibe. The always clever Alissa on keys shouts into the crowd “Feel free to dance!” This band is a pleasure to watch... … Savoir Adore I've previously mentioned that Savoir Adore is made up of two best friends, Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro. This Brooklyn band sound like dreampop/shoegazing, lots of guitars and effects. … Nathaniel Rateliff Local Denver folk-rocker, Nathaniel Rateliff, debuted his new musical endeavor last Thursday at the Bluebird Theater accompanied by soul outfit, The Night Sweats.… Carroll Shayna is really excited about Carroll. The band won Vita.mn's fourth annual "Are You Local" contest and is heading down to SXSW…

The original Communion London Club Night was started in 2006 by Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons), Kevin Jones (Bear’s Den), and producer Ian Grimble (Manic Street Preachers). The aim was to showcase emerging artist, and since its inception, they've help build the careers of Michael Kiwanuka, Daughter, Gotye, and Ben Howard, among others.

Last month, the same concept was brought to various cities (including Minneapolis) via the Communion Tour. The event was successful that the label decided to make the Communion Minneapolis every third Tuesday.

So the second Communion Minneapolis night took place last Tuesday, with Tennis (who recently signed with Communion Records) as headliner at the Varsity Theater (which, incidentally, just won America's Best Bathroom Award 2013).

Before we talk about the music, I just wanted to talk a little about the setup. Along the side of the venue, there were various vendors, selling records (Electric Fetus), used clothing, food & drinks, massages, and the City Pages. Jade from the Current 89.3 provided intermission music as well as band introductions, when required.

CARROLL

Carroll was the first local band on. The band is a Varsity favorite and they had a brief 30 minute set, kicking off with "Sticks" and followed by "Alligator". The band had trouble limiting their set, leaving off a few songs off their setlist, but they promised a full Carroll set if we made it to their Cabooze show tomorrow (November 22nd).

SAVOIR ADORE

Brooklyn's Savoir Adore was next, a so-called "fantasy pop" duo, consisting of Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro. Since the last time I saw the band, they've definitely refine their pop sound, with many of their new tracks containing very energetic catchy vocal melodies (particularly with "Bodies" and their set finale "Dreamers".)

ON AN ON

We've been tracking this Minneapolis-based band On An On since Jess fell in love with them, having caught them in Europe and again in Los Angeles. Songs on their set were mostly from their debut album Give In, including "All The Horses", "The Hunter", and their set closer "Every Song".

SOLID GOLD

Solid Gold's music has gone more instrumental, it would seem. Since I last saw them, I noted that they've been concentrating on playing tracks from Eat Your Young ("Six Days", "The Pendulum", "Laugh It Up", etc), however they did end on an oldie, "Bible Thumper".

NATHANIEL RATELIFF AND THE NIGHT SWEATS

Denver's Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats was actually last on the bill, but they were not the headliner. The band had a great upbeat soul/funk sound (with major highlight on their finale song "Son of a Bitch"), which is actually quite different than Rateliff's previous quieter work.

Tennis Setlist

As you can see from their setlist, Tennis had a longer set than all the previous bands. Since they have that new EP called Small Sound, they did work in those new songs, including "Mean Streets", "Cured of Youth", and "Timothy."

For Tennis' oldest song, "Marathon" (from their 2011 album Cape Dory), singer Alaina Moore stepped away from her usual keyboard spot to center stage. Moore confessed that whenever she did that, it felt like she was at a talent show.

For their final song, "Origins", they had the Night Sweats' saxophonist joined them on stage to finish the song.

Look for the next Communion Show in Minneapolis in December. Tennis is currently on tour in support of Small Sound.

Tennis at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/19/13)

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