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Three of Clubs Tour Dates
12/03 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
Read More12/04 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court 12/06 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret 12/07 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project 12/08 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater 12/09 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent 12/11 - San Diego, CA - 5th Avenue Side Stage 12/12 - Los Angeles, CA - Roxy Theatre 12/14 - Scottsdale, AZ - Roxy Lounge 12/17 - Tulsa, OK - The Vanguard 12/18 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar 12/19 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird
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Three of Clubs isn’t considered a great card in poker or in blackjack,
But, in terms of indie-pop/rock, the Three of Clubs Fall Tour is much closer to a winning hand. The tour has brought together Sweden’s The Royal Concept, Brooklyn’s American Authors and NYC’s Misterwives; bands that each foreshadowed bigger things ahead, in a Sunday night performance at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.
NYC indie-pop-soul band Misterwives got things started with a brief but energetic set; petite singer Mandy Lee (who has also sang with Boyce Avenue) has pipes at least twice her size, as showcased on tracks like ‘Coffins’ and the dancy ‘Kings and Queens’, both from their Revolutions EP. A slower ‘Lullaby’ is making radio waves currently and they threw in a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’, assumedly, for the fun of it.
Next up was the band we assumed was headlining- Swedish quartet, The Royal Concept, who we liked when they opened for UK’s The Wombats at this same venue last year. The just-released Royal EP (Lava/Universal/Republic) follows hot on the heels of their self-titled EP, with full-length Goldrushed still only available as a Swedish import, though that may change in 2014.
David Larson (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), Filip Bekic (guitar), Robert Magnus (bass), and Frans Povel (drums) got the crowd moving immediately with the title track to their full-length, then into ‘Radio’ and ‘World on Fire’ (with Larson on vocoder) from the new EP. Comparisons have been made to a “Phoenix+Strokes sound”, but careful listening shows the band to be deeper than that, with charming electro-pop songs that bring warmth into any cold night and a live energy that is all their own.
A Daft Punk cover, ‘Digital Love’ was well received, though it was unsure how many in the young crowd recognized it as such, and the 1-2 punch of ‘D-D-Dance’ and ‘Gimme Twice’ from their first EP, struck the crowd to “dance until you get it right” as the lyrics to the former were heard.
Very fitting that the last song played, the cheery ‘On Our Way’, was about living for today and letting go of any inhibitions. If this and their Wombats opening slot were any indication, this is a band to watch “on their way.”
Brooklyn-based American Authors closed the night with their first area headlining show, perhaps the result of single ‘Best Day of My Life’ getting so much recent airplay, as well as being featured in Lowe’s and World Series commercials. Or the fact that lead singer Zachary Barnett actually grew up locally and went to high school here, before meeting his fellow bandmates at Berklee College in Boston.
Changing their name from The Blue Pages in 2012 (into something actually more ubiquitous to Google), the band has released a 5-track self-titled EP (Mercury Records), with full-length expected in March 2014.
In addition to Barnett, James Shelley (guitar/ banjo), Matt Sanchez (drums), and Dave Rublin (bass) kept the positive energy level high; never standing still, and feeding off the energy of an excited crowd. Initial hit ‘Believer’ had the faithful huddled near the front of the stage mouthing every word, with Barnett asking afterwards, “How many of you did I go to high school with?”, knowing it wasn’t just friends and family that have been made aware of their music.
‘Trouble’ started slow and ballad-like, then morphed, with Sanchez’ booming drumbeats and Shelley’s banjo, into an anthemic, foot-stomping rouser. The band followed this with a surprising cover of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Lights’ which also started quieter, but transformed into a big sound version of the electro-based original.
Set finale was predictably ‘Best Day of My Life’ with the crowd involved in the call-and-response of the chorus, which had them sounding louder than the band itself and pogoing in place.
Like Imagine Dragons, American Authors aspires to a sound bigger than the small clubs they are currently playing; though it remains to be seen if they can achieve that same level of success, Sunday’s performance was a positive sign in that direction.
Overall, Three of Clubs is a winning hand, and a fall tour worth catching; for the fun of it all and to say in a few years, that you saw one or more of these bands when they were still playing to small crowds.
But, in terms of indie-pop/rock, the Three of Clubs Fall Tour is much closer to a winning hand. The tour has brought together Sweden’s The Royal Concept, Brooklyn’s American Authors and NYC’s Misterwives; bands that each foreshadowed bigger things ahead, in a Sunday night performance at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.
NYC indie-pop-soul band Misterwives got things started with a brief but energetic set; petite singer Mandy Lee (who has also sang with Boyce Avenue) has pipes at least twice her size, as showcased on tracks like ‘Coffins’ and the dancy ‘Kings and Queens’, both from their Revolutions EP. A slower ‘Lullaby’ is making radio waves currently and they threw in a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’, assumedly, for the fun of it.
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THE ROYAL CONCEPT
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David Larson (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), Filip Bekic (guitar), Robert Magnus (bass), and Frans Povel (drums) got the crowd moving immediately with the title track to their full-length, then into ‘Radio’ and ‘World on Fire’ (with Larson on vocoder) from the new EP. Comparisons have been made to a “Phoenix+Strokes sound”, but careful listening shows the band to be deeper than that, with charming electro-pop songs that bring warmth into any cold night and a live energy that is all their own.
A Daft Punk cover, ‘Digital Love’ was well received, though it was unsure how many in the young crowd recognized it as such, and the 1-2 punch of ‘D-D-Dance’ and ‘Gimme Twice’ from their first EP, struck the crowd to “dance until you get it right” as the lyrics to the former were heard.
Very fitting that the last song played, the cheery ‘On Our Way’, was about living for today and letting go of any inhibitions. If this and their Wombats opening slot were any indication, this is a band to watch “on their way.”
Brooklyn-based American Authors closed the night with their first area headlining show, perhaps the result of single ‘Best Day of My Life’ getting so much recent airplay, as well as being featured in Lowe’s and World Series commercials. Or the fact that lead singer Zachary Barnett actually grew up locally and went to high school here, before meeting his fellow bandmates at Berklee College in Boston.
Changing their name from The Blue Pages in 2012 (into something actually more ubiquitous to Google), the band has released a 5-track self-titled EP (Mercury Records), with full-length expected in March 2014.
In addition to Barnett, James Shelley (guitar/ banjo), Matt Sanchez (drums), and Dave Rublin (bass) kept the positive energy level high; never standing still, and feeding off the energy of an excited crowd. Initial hit ‘Believer’ had the faithful huddled near the front of the stage mouthing every word, with Barnett asking afterwards, “How many of you did I go to high school with?”, knowing it wasn’t just friends and family that have been made aware of their music.
‘Trouble’ started slow and ballad-like, then morphed, with Sanchez’ booming drumbeats and Shelley’s banjo, into an anthemic, foot-stomping rouser. The band followed this with a surprising cover of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Lights’ which also started quieter, but transformed into a big sound version of the electro-based original.
American Authors aspires to a sound bigger
Barnett constantly incited the crowd into singing and clapping along, entering the middle of the floor towards the end of the set. A catchy new number, ‘Ghost’ was followed by the driving ‘Hit It!’, that had Barnett sounding somewhat like Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath with its rapid-fire lyrics.
Set finale was predictably ‘Best Day of My Life’ with the crowd involved in the call-and-response of the chorus, which had them sounding louder than the band itself and pogoing in place.
Like Imagine Dragons, American Authors aspires to a sound bigger than the small clubs they are currently playing; though it remains to be seen if they can achieve that same level of success, Sunday’s performance was a positive sign in that direction.
Overall, Three of Clubs is a winning hand, and a fall tour worth catching; for the fun of it all and to say in a few years, that you saw one or more of these bands when they were still playing to small crowds.
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American Authors at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (12/01/13) |
