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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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