W♥M (Archive)

Perfect Pussy at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (03/30/2014)

Setlist Bells Advance Upon the Real Driver Interference Fits Dig IV Tour Dates 04/01/14 Chicago, IL Township 04/02/14 Columbus, OH Ace Of Cups 04/03/14 Pittsburgh, PA The Shop 04/04/14 Brooklyn, NY Death By Audio 04/05/14 New York, NY Mercury Lounge 04/24/14 Cambridge, MA Middle East 04/25/14 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian 04/26/14 Washington, DC DC9 04/27/14 Richmond, VA Gallery 5 04/28/14 Raleigh, NC King's Barcade 04/29/14 Atlanta, GA Mammal Gallery 04/30/14 Birmingham, AL BottleTree 05/01/14 Cambridge, MA Middle East Upstairs 05/02/14 Cambridge, MA Senior House MIT 05/03/14 Austin, TX Hotel Vegas 05/05/14 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory 05/06/14 St. Louis, MO Melt 05/07/14 Omaha, NE Sweatshop Gallery 05/08/14 Iowa City, IA Gabe's 05/09/14 Kalamazoo, MI Shakespeares Lower 05/10/14 Detroit, MI Trumbullplex Theatre 05/30/14 La Jolla, CA Che Cafe Collective 07/20/14 Pitchfork Music Festival Read More Perfect Pussy I'll be at 7th Street to cover Perfect Pussy. The NY band has been touring relentlessly in support of their acclaimed new album Say Yes To Love, which is out now on Captured Tracks. Lots of buzz for this band … "We're awesome, we're awesome. You're awesome, too!," singer Meredith Graves said, with a smirk. Setlist Photo The Syracuse-based band, Perfect Pussy, is currently on a post-SXSW tour, stopping by the 7th Street Entry. Blink and you'll miss the whole gig, as the punk noise band only played for fifteen minutes. You've read that right, fifteen minutes. So far, they hold the record for quickest headliner show. If you've never seen the band, they're loud and is known for their high energy performance. Only four or five songs in, Graves already announced, "This is our last song." With that note, the fans moshed harder and, just like that, the show was over. It was a very interesting experience, it certainly got some of the confused audience members talking about this band. Perfect Pussy is currently on tour in support of Say Yes to Love, out now on Captured Tracks. vu ♥ weheartmusic.com Perfect Pussy at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (03/30/2014)

Warpaint at First Avenue, Minneapolis (03/29/2014)

Read More Warpaint I've actually seen Warpaint before, in 2009, and I remember really loving them: "I actually quite enjoyed Warpaint, who wowed me with their melodic music as all three girls took turns singing their part.… Stefanie was kind enough to send in some photos from the Warpaint show, with Cate Le Bon as opener, at First Avenue in Minneapolis last night (03/29/14). Warpaint continues their tour: 03/30 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon 04/01 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's 04/02 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room 04/12 Indio, CA - Coachella 04/17 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic 04/19 Indio, CA - Coachella 04/21 Austin, TX ACL - ACL Live 04/22 Austin, TX ACL - ACL Live 04/23 Austin, TX ACL - ACL Live 04/24 Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's 04/26 Dallas, TX - Trees 04/28 Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen 04/29 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge 05/01 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom 05/02 Seattle, WA - Neumos 05/03 Bellingham, WA - The Wild Buffalo 05/04 Vancouver, BC - The Rickshaw Theatre 05/24 Boston, MA - Boston Calling Festival 06/16 Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace* 06/18 Kansas City, KS - Arvest at The Midland* 06/20 Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Theater* 07/11 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Auditorium* * (w/ Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) vu ♥ weheartmusic.com photo by stefanie

Oasis at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco (04/13/1996)

Tour Poster Setlist The Swamp Song Acquiesce Supersonic Hello Some Might Say Roll With It Morning Glory Cigarettes & Alcohol Champagne Supernova Noel Gallagher's Acoustic Set Slide Away Cast No Shadow Whatever (Ending with Octopus's Garden) Wonderwall Don't Look Back in Anger Live Forever I Am the Walrus (The Beatles cover) setlist from: setlist.fm Read More Oasis Internet time moves so quickly. If I had mentioned something about Noel Gallagher quitting Oasis on Friday, that would've been accepted. But it's been three days later and now I feel like people …

Twenty years ago, Oasis released "Supersonic" (April 1994), their first single. It was brilliant and the band quickly became the face of Britpop.

I interviewed Liam Gallagher for KFSR 90.7 FM in Sacramento, California (September 27, 1994). They weren't that well-known back then, and you can easily approach any of the band members and talk to them.

Definitely Maybe (Autographed)

As I mentioned in the podcast, Noel Gallagher flat-out refused to sign my Definitely Maybe CD (which hadn't officially been released in America yet, but we got a promo copy for the radio station). Anyway, their tour manager persuaded Noel (basically forced him), and he eventually signed the album.

Later that evening, after the interview and watching their soundcheck, we caught the band at Melarky's, with opener Trace (which I think we missed them because we grabbed dinner).

As I recall, we only stayed about half way because this was a school night and we had about a three hour's drive back to Fresno. But it was worth it to get to meet Oasis in the flesh. Songs on their full set were: "Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Columbia", "Fade Away", "Digsy's Dinner", "Shakermaker", "Live Forever", "Bring It on Down", "Up in the Sky", "Slide Away", " Cigarettes & Alcohol", "Married With Children", "Supersonic", and "I Am the Walrus".

A few years later, I would see the band again, fresh off their massive hit song, "Wonderwall". I bought tickets for both San Francisco and Los Angeles shows, but unfortunately, the LA show was cancelled due to Liam's illness.

Thankfully, we got refunds and it wasn't a full loss because I did see their full show at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on April 13, 1996, with Third Eye Blind as opener. I'm not entirely sure if I actually showed up early enough to catch that band (as I was not a fan).

The thing about the SF show was that the venue was much, much, much larger than their Sacramento show in 1994. In fact, I was standing next to a guy at the balcony and he brought binoculars (which, at my young age, had never seen anyone with binoculars to see a show).

I'm sure their setlist is well documented, but from my memory, they did a great cover version of "I Am The Walrus" as a closer to their set, which had the entire audience singing along to the "cuck-koo-ca-choo" part. You had to be there.

Oh yes, there was a middle break with just Noel on acoustic, as the band all rest up in the back stage.

After heading back to the dance floor, which was extremely crowded, I had lost my Timex watch! When the show was over, I spent the entire time looking at the floor for my watch. I found it, and it was still working after being stomped on by Oasis fans. Since then, Timex was always my choice of watch (although I will confessed that my current watch is a Casio because of the solar power technology).

That's my story (morning glory) with Oasis. I never caught the band again, and by 2009, the band had split. According to Noel, they broke up because his brother, Liam attacked him (and could have killed him) over a disagreement about Liam's clothing line advertised in the Oasis program book. I haven't heard Liam's side of the story, but this story sounds plausible.

Anyway, these days, Oasis are divided between the two brothers. Liam with Beady Eye and Noel with the High Flying Birds. Unfortunately, based on the brother's bitter history, I do not think they will re-unite as Oasis, despite all the rumors.

Oasis at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco (04/13/1996) Ticket Stub

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com

W♥M212: Britpop in the USA

W♥M212: Britpop in the USA (53 mins) Read More Britpop The second part of the show is all about British magazines. We touch on some of these: Select Magazine, Q Magazine, Vox, NME, Melody Maker, The Face, Word, Uncut Magazine, Mojo …

April 2014 is the 20th anniversary of Britpop, according to BBC6 and Radio 1.

This whole month, we are devoting W♥M Radio to our love of Britpop.

Vu and John discuss the story of Britpop, the short-lived movement from 1993 to 1997.

pre-Britpop

Start of Britpop

Important album: Blur's Parklife (Apr 1994)

Britpop in Mainstream

Britpop "Time Line"

Suede: Suede (Mar 1993); Dog Man Star (Mar 1995)

Blur: Parklife (Apr 1994)

Pulp: His n Hers (Apr 1994); Different Class (Oct 1995)

Echobelly: Everyone's Got One (Jul 1994)

Oasis: Definitely Maybe (Aug 1994); Morning Glory (Oct 1995)

Sleeper: Smart (Jan 1995)

Elastica: Elastica (Mar 1995)

Gene: Olympian (Mar 1995)

Supergrass: I Should Coco (May 1995)

Cast: All Change (Oct 1995)

Death of Britpop

Politics: Labour Party was elected

Record labels merging in 1997

Oasis: Be Here Now (Aug 1997)

Death of Princess Diana

Life after Britpop

There are a lot of exciting new British bands emerging and making it big in the U.S.A... including the 1975

Most of the old 90s Britpop bands are no longer around, but the few surviving ones are worth checking out if you've never seen/heard of them.

BONUS: A bunch of Britpop-era bands and snippets of music.

Vu and Select Magazine (Apr 1993)

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Incan Abraham's Album Release Show this April 2nd at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles

Read More Incan Abraham Los Angeles' Incan Abraham is currently on tour, building buzz for their forthcoming album Tolerance (scheduled for April 8th on White Iris Records). In the meantime, the band previewed "Concorde" single … Los Angeles' Incan Abraham is releasing their album Tolerance this April 8th on White Iris Records. Jess described this band as sounding like "Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear and High Highs." The band just recently wrapped up a national tour (which we previously mentioned), but the band is saving this upcoming show at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles (04/02) as best/favorite/important show yet: We've just played in 30 states, except the most important. Now we're back and it's time to release this beasty. Next Wed (4/2) is our jam-packed release jam with Vanaprasta, The Black Apples, KCRW's DJ Marion Hodges, and other **magical guests**, all presented by BuzzBands.LA . Also a chance to grab the vinyl a week early (drops public 4/8). Less doothis. /// Event: on.fb.me/1gSSOun ~ Tickets: bit.ly/1gvDVUi W♥M is covering this show, so we'll get back to you regarding these 'magical guests'. vu ♥ weheartmusic.com

The Night Party - Get To You

• Who's up for a dance?
• A slow dance?
• Some borderline dirty moves that you wouldn't dare do in front of your nanna?
• Some rollicking rock'n'roll dance steps?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions then the debut album, Get To You, by Melbourne songwriting duo, The Night Party, is probably for you. Simple and stripped down to just drums and guitar, The Night Party bring you soul-filled rock'n'roll how it's meant to be done.

The Night Party started out two years ago as a songwriting project for Rick Sands (The Palms, Odette, Sand Brothers) and Buck Lexton (Boss Cuts, South of Nowhere, Six Feet). Influenced by a whole range of bands from yesteryear it's really hard to slot these guys into a single obvious genre.

Get To You was released on March 7th (through Rum Jungle Records), so you have no excuse to not hunt it down right now. Also, keep your eye out for details of any upcoming live shows. These guys are sure to put on a live show that's well worth seeing.

For more information or to stream the album, head over to one of these:

thenightparty.bandcamp.com 

http://thenightparty.net/

www.facebook.com/wearethenightparty

 

[email protected]

Gary Numan: Splinter Tour 2014

Gary Numan: 2014 Splinter Tour With Special Guests Big Black Delta and The Roman Remains Read More Gary Numan Electro and industrial music pioneer Gary Numan kicked off his U.S. tour on Wednesday. He'll be opening up for Nine Inch Nail for a number of dates, so see details below. As for the day after Labor Day … The Roman Remains Opening up for Numan will be Big Black Delta and Roman Remains. The latter is basically The Duke Spirit (Liela Moss and Toby Butler), in support of their full-length album, Zeal, out now on Dhani Harrison …

The man that famously sang about “Cars” in the 1980’s is back with his first album of original material in seven years, and back on the road for the Splinter Tour, stopping by Mill City Nights in Minneapolis this Sunday.

Fresh from his first-ever appearance at SXSW and promoting the new Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) (on Machine Music USA), Gary Numan promises a show lush in synthesizers, filled with atmospheric lighting, and with probably a lot of black and eyeliner in the crowd.

Many call his latest efforts, including this recent album, his 20th, some of his best work and his sound has evolved into something darker and industrial, compared to the poppy electro of his ‘70s/’80s works.

Big Black Delta Master of Bates

Big Black Delta is the band name and title of the debut full-length (on Master of Bates) from Mellowdrone bassist and vocalist, Jonathan Bates. The space rock sound is echoed on the album’s cover art and is a departure on this solo project, from Mellowdrone’s more straight-ahead alternative sound.

The Roman Remains is probably a better name than Half the Duke Spirit. The Duke Spirit's Liela Moss and Toby Butler form this UK electro-pop band that is decidedly different and less garage sounding, than their main band. Debut EP, Energy You, was released late last year on Dhani Harrison’s H.O.T. Records, with full length, Zeal, released earlier this month. The band has even remixed Gary Numan’s “I Am Dust”, which is appropriate, as they open this triple bill.

Tour dates:

03/28/14 Crofoot Ballroom, Detroit, MI
03/29/14 Metro, Chicago, IL
03/30/14 Mill City Nights, Minneapolis, MN
04/01/14 Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
04/02/14 Firebird, St Louis, MO
04/04/14 Gothic, Denver, CO
04/06/14 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Q&A: NO

Tour Dates 03/28 Minneapolis, MN | 7th Street Entry 03/29 Winnipeg, MB | Union Hall 04/01 Edmonton, AB | The Artery 04/02 Calgary, AB | The Gateway @ SAIT 04/03 Kelowna, BC | Habitat 04/04 Seattle, WA | Barboza 04/05 Vancouver, BC | Biltmore 04/06 Portland, OR | Mississippi Studios 07/04 George, WA | Sasquatch! Music Festival Read More NO Echo Park in Los Angeles currently seems to be a current hotbed for new alternative bands. Add NO to that list, as the band is a part of Arts & Crafts’ North American label tour, which also features The Darcys and Reuben And The Dark… The Darcys Toronto's The Darcys took their name from two Darcys: Mr. Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice" and D'Arcy McGee, the first Canadian political figure to be assassinated. Although they look to be a young bunch … Reuben and the Dark Not a lot of information on the band, the only thing I know is that it's headed by Reuben Bullock. They have a song "Shoulderblade" which you can download for free. The track will be … NO is playing Minneapolis TONIGHT. Special thanks to singer Bradley Hanan Carter for providing these answers below: 1. I would imagine with a name like "NO", how difficult it would be to promote yourself and make yourself known. Has this been a problem for you guys? When Sean [Stentz] and I first chose the name, the last thing on our mind was the internet or how people would search for us, perhaps we should have been smarter... but honestly with our Instagram and YouTube being just NO it's working out okay! 2. You've recently played SXSW 2014 (your third time?), tell me about these experiences. Was is all fun and no work? This SX was a largely relaxed experience compared to our first couple years. There was a lot less frantic running around between shows, and it was really nice seeing people coming out to see us from all over the world. We found this little whiskey bar party hiding off 6th street for the last couple days. It was so quiet and had soothing music playing, so we escaped there a few times to down some old-fashioned's. 3. With the sudden influx of notable alt-indie bands from Echo Park and L.A. and if there is anything there, that's encouraging this? I don't think any of us noticed it till people pointed it out. So many of my friends there are in bands that work so hard, and we all play a lot of shows together or help each other out with recording or lending gear or artwork or what not... It's a real community, and we are proud to be a part of it. 4. What was it like to play on national television (Carson Daly)? That performance was actually at a show where we were on a tour supporting The Naked And Famous, it didn't really feel any different to a normal show, but I bet that being on Fallon or Letterman or something in a studio, that must be an interesting feeling! 5. Tell me about El Prado (18 February 2014), your latest record from Arts & Craft. What is it like to work with a Canadian record label? They are kind of like a big family, and the most hard working and supportive people. They really believe in what we are doing and have let us be as creative as we like in all that we do. We just played Toronto a couple nights ago, and a ton of Arts & Crafts fans and friends came out to the show, it felt pretty cool to be welcomed into their community like that. You can check out that big family love with NO, The Darcys, and Reuben and the Dark, tonight at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis. Follow NO's Instagram and YouTube. vu

Skaters with Team Spirit at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (03/27/14)

Tour Poster Setlist One of Us Symptomatic Deadbolt Mel Band Breaker Miss Teen Massachusetts This Much I Care Armed I Wanna Dance (But I Don't Know How) Nice Hat Charming Schemers Tour Dates 03/28/14 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge* 03/29/14 CD102.5 Day 03/31/14 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop* 04/01/14 Newport, KY - Southgate House 04/02/14 Pittsburgh, PA - Altar* 04/03/14 Arlington, VA - Rock & Roll Hotel* 04/04/14 Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle* 04/05/14 Cambridge, MA - Brighton Music Hall* 05/11/14 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live! 07/19/14 Super Bock Super Rock Festival *with Team Spirit Read More Skaters New York's Skaters got rave reviews on the SXSW 2014 Recap. The band is stopping by Minneapolis next week, March 27th at the 7th Street Entry. … Team Spirit Opening up for Surfer Blood were Montreal's Andy Boay and Brooklyn's Team Spirit. Ayad Al Adhamy from Team Spirit played very energetic garage music, such as "Jesus, He's Alright" … Bollywood Minneapolis' Bollywood, a band that is more into 80s films than actually Bollywood pictures. I'm pretty sure in-between their set, they played dialogues from the classic Repo Man. …

Skaters and Team Spirit are currently touring together. The two bands are friends (and not to mention sort of label mates, being involved with Warner Bros. Records), so naturally they coordinated a tour together after meeting up at SXSW. The two NYC bands stopped by the 7th Street Entry, in Minneapolis, as part of their "Excellent Adventure" tour.

Bollywood

Opening up for them was Bollywood, who I previously described them as "a band that is more into 80s films than actually Bollywood pictures." This time around, the band upgraded to four monitor (instead of one) displays showing off various distracting videos, including wrestling (Heart Foundation), MTV ('The Year in Rock'), video gaming graphics, etc., but no Bollywood films in sight. The only song I recognized was "Young", from the last time I saw the band.

Team Spirit

Team Spirit managed to outdo their "very energetic garage music" performance from last year. I got the feeling that Team Spirit does this at every show, no matter how big or small the crowd is. Singer/guitarist Ayad Al Adhamy is absolutely fun to watch, whether he's singing in the middle of the crowd or pouring beer in a fan's open mouth. The band comes off as fun, and ultimately winning over the audience last night.

Team Spirit basically played their self-titled EP, including "Phenomenon", plus a handful of new songs about love, murder, and Jeff Goldblum.

Skaters already wowed Jonathan and Christopher at SXSW 2014, so they had a lot of good buzz about them. The New York band was out touring in support of their debut album Manhattan (Warner Bros. Records).

Skaters Setlist

As you can see from their setlist, they played almost all of their debut album, plus a few b-sides and new tracks. No encores were given, but this is typical of new bands... and even if they did have extra songs, I wasn't surprised that they didn't come back, because their guitarist, Josh Hubbard, and singer, Michael Ian Cummings, was complaining about sound problems and technical issues. From an audience's perspective, the sound was an issue, because the vocals were hard to hear on tracks like "Miss Teen Massachusetts". Even though I knew the song, it was almost unrecognizable because of the guitars drowned out the vocals... which is a shame because I think Cummings has a great voice.

Outside of the technical difficulties, the band seem comfortable on stage. The way Team Spirit and Skaters spoke, it seems like the two bands are old, old friends. They respected each other and love hanging out.

Skaters were actually pretty funny, it's too bad they had little banter in their set. One story they told was that they were friends with Har Mar Superstar and how they borrowed the key to the city from him. They went all over town, including Macy's where they bought some socks...

Skaters and Team Spirit are both currently on tour together, go check them out. Team Spirit's latest release is a self-titled EP (Vice/Warner Bros), and Skaters just released their debut album Manhattan (Warner Bros).

Skaters at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (03/27/14)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Northrop Auditorium - University of MN 2.0: a venue re-born

Northrop Auditorium logo Read More University of Minnesota Mat Kearney’s latest effort is called ‘Young Love’ and that was what the several hundreds of University of Minnesota students showed Kearney on his 70 min. outdoor appearance near Coffman Union …

After 85 years, a facelift was most in order.

Northrop Auditorium exterior courtesy Star Tribune

The centerpiece of the University of Minnesota, Northrop Auditorium, just completed a five-year long major renovation, and is due to re-open as a vital performance space in the Twin Cities area.

The grand (re-)opening happens next Friday, with a celebration and performance by the American Ballet Theatre, but W♥M was lucky enough to get an early look, and tour inside the new building. Built in 1929, the “grand old dame” of the University of Minnesota was the home for the Minnesota Symphony and Weisman Art Museum for half a century, and has hosted numerous dignitaries, concerts, and special events over the years, but had fallen in stature due to its age and disrepair.

Northrop Auditorium Renovation courtesy U of MN

Though its outer façade remains mostly the same (with the exception of a back addition), the interior was completely gutted (or “surgically deconstructed” as they prefer to call it) and remade, to fits the changing needs of today’s culture. Five years and $88 million dollars later, the end result is impressive.

Another 70,000 concrete blocks, 50,000 bricks, and 152 miles of wire, were among the additions to upgrade the facility, while its seating area dramatically shrank from 4,847 to 2,700, resulting in a more intimate sensory experience (more than double the previous seats are less than 100ft from the stage than before) and noticeably improved sight lines and acoustics. While the old Northrop concerts sounded like listening through a soup can/string kid’s telephone, the new Northrop carries sounds as delicate as a sneeze and sheet music page-turning, throughout all levels.

The view onto the stage remains similar- its proscenium arch remains, embedded with medallions representing colleges and divisions, but more light shines through and the backstage area is greatly improved.

Northrop Auditorium new balconies

The biggest change to the theater area is the balcony—once, a central jutting level resulting in an echoing ceiling above the back half of the lower level, it is now a rounded and separated three-level design, that is also seen in more venerable modern concert halls and opera houses.

Triple the amount of previous box office windows, almost double the amount of restrooms, and additions of collaborative spaces and a (soon-to-come) café add to the finishing touches inside. Unfortunately, no mention of LEED certification or other sustainable/environmentally-friendly attributes, but that is probably more challenging to accomplish when refurbishing an older building, than beginning it in a new one.

While no rock shows are currently scheduled at Northrop Auditorium, with the building finished and ready to be seen, a few bookings can’t be that far behind.

Northrop Auditorium stage

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ northrop.umn.edu