W♥M (Archive)

The Preatures at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (29 Mar 2015)

poster Preatures Setlist Blue Planet Eyes Somebody's Talking Manic Baby Whatever You Want Rock and Roll Rave Threat Two Tone Melody It Gets Better Ordinary Cruel Am I Ever... -- Encore -- Business, Yeah (Solo) Take a Card Is This How You Feel? The Bots Setlist You Are A Liar Ubiquitous Wet Blanket Passage Plastic Jacket Bad Friends Blinded Side Effects 5:17 Desperate Bloods Setlist What Do I Care Boys Like You Bodies Thinkin' About You Penelope Back to You No Fun Into My Arms Untitled (New Song) Want It Read More The Preatures Sure, the Australian band The Preatures was last seen in Minneapolis last Roctober 2014, but it would seem that the Sydney-based band is back - this time with The Bots (who was last seen Turf Club in Oct 2014 .... The Bots The evening got off to a great start as well, as guitar/drum brotherly duo The Bots who we just saw a few weeks prior, returned to town to open the evening, in promotion of their finally just out full-length, Pink Palms … Bloods The evening got off to a great start as well, as guitar/drum brotherly duo The Bots who we just saw a few weeks prior, returned to town to open the evening, in promotion of their finally just out full-length, Pink Palms …

Australia's The Preatures is currently touring the USA in support of their latest Blue Planet Eyes album, stopping by the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, last Sunday, March 29th.

Bloods

Accompanying on this tour were fellow Sydney's Bloods, or billed as Bloods Band to avoid confusion with other 'blood' bands, such as Japanese band Blood?

The trio (guitarist MC, bassist Sweetie, and drummer Dirk) were in good spirit, often exploiting their cute Australian accents with random conversations between their songs. For example, the three just only ate dinner right before they showed up on stage with Sweetie's belly jiggling full of noodles... or how cassettes (which they were selling) were "very 2015".... or my personal favorite was when an overexcited MC said "toneet" instead of "tonight". They seem to be enjoying their time on tour, that's for sure.

Right before they left Australia on tour, the band wrote a brand new song ... which was so new they haven't actually came up with a title. Perhaps they can name it "Sweet Jam," because that's what it sounds like.

The Bots

Los Angeles' The Bots continues to impress us. This is our third time that we've covered the band, and they are always worth showing up to see. If you haven't been keeping up, they are two brothers singer/guitarist Mikaiah and drummer Anaiah Lei. Watching them rock out is like watching a young Jimi Hendrix on stage, but with a hat.

As you can see from their setlist, most of the songs were taken from their debut album Pink Palms, which came out last year via the FADER label.

The Preatures is the sort of band that we would normally cover at W♥M, but unfortunately, October 2014 proved one of our busiest month (aka "Rocktober"), and we had to miss them because of scheduling conflicts. So I'm glad to see that the Australian band is back in the Twin Cities, and we've made the extra effort to see them this time around.

Although everyone in the band played their best, all eyes were focused on singer Isabella Manfredi, who had an irresistible sex appeal. It's not uncommon to see her doing cartwheels in her skirt or singing flat on the floor of the stage. Sometime it's funny, like when the band was waiting for Manfredi and she said, "What are you waiting for? I can do this in my f**** sleep."

Like Bloods earlier, you can tell that The Preatures really love the touring life. They seemed really excited to see places and meeting new fans and friends.

The Preatures

During the encore, someone must have snuck in balloons, as they were being tossed all around. Manfredi grabbed a pair and held it to her chest, and joking said, "Wish I had tits this big."

They ended the show with "Is This How You Feel?", the very first Preatures song that they wrote and eventually won the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition for $50,000 in 2013.

The Preatures' album Blue Planet Eyes is out now, via CMG.

Remaining Preatures tour dates:

04/04/15 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
04/05/15 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
04/07/15 San Francisco, CA Independent
04/08/15 Los Angeles, CA Bahia
04/09/15 San Diego, CA The Casbah
04/25/15 "Groovin The Moo" (Oakbank)
04/26/15 "Groovin The Moo" (Bunbury)
05/02/15 "Groovin The Moo" (Bendigo)
05/03/15 "Groovin The Moo" (Canberra)
05/09/15 "Groovin The Moo" (Maitland)
05/10/15 "Groovin The Moo" (Townsville)

The Preatures at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (29 March 2015)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Alex & Sierra w/ Paradise Fears and Rachel Platten at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (29 Mar 2015)

poster Alex & Sierra Setlist Just Kids Give Me Something Little Do You Know (medley with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive") Here We Go Toxic (Britney Spears cover) Broken Frame Barton Hollow All For You Scarecrow Paradise Fears Setlist You To Believe In What Are You Waiting For? Battle Scars Ignition (R. Kelly Cover) Sanctuary Back To Life Jealous Rachel Platten Setlist Congratulations Lone Ranger Work Of Art Fight Song Read More Rachel Platten New York City-based singer/songwriter Rachel Platten kicks off a cross country U.S. tour this week alongside Andy Grammer and Alex & Sierra, with dates continuing through April 3 at Los Angeles’ House of Blues. .…

It was a sold out all-ages show at the Andy Grammer and Alex & Sierra co-headlining tour at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Sunday, March 29th.

Rachel Platten

Starting at 5:30pm, New York City-based singer/songwriter Rachel Platten (along with drummer Craig Meyer) started off the evening with a very brief 25-min set, including her new single "Fight Song" (which climbed iTunes' Top 100 chart after appearing in the Christmas episode of Pretty Little Liars).

The four songs ("Congratulations", "Lone Ranger", "Work Of Art", and "Fight Song") were previews of what is in store for us when she finally release her debut album for Columbia Records, expected to be out sometime this year.

Paradise Fears

South Dakota's Paradise Fears was a lot of fun. Although the band is young, you can tell they've been touring a lot... often working on the crowd to get them to participate in their songs. My favorite moment from their 30-min set was for "Back To Life", they taped a random girl in the audience saying her name "Leah" (which, coincidentally enough was also the name of singer Sam Miller's sister.) The word "Leah" was then looped throughout the song.

Paradise Fears' latest single is called "Who We Were With"... their first release through Nashville label DigSin.

Since winning the third and final season of The X Factor USA, Alex & Sierra (Alex Kinsey and Sierra Deaton) have signed with Columbia Records and released their debut album It's About Us last year.

The two are currently on their 2015 "The Good Guys & A Girl Tour", with Andy Grammer.

As you can see from their setlist, they played selected tracks from their debut album, including set finale "Scarecrow".

Other highlight from their set included throwing in Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and Britney Spears' "Toxic".

NOTE: We normally cover all the bands, but unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts, we had to miss Andy Grammer. Grammer's out on tour in support of his latest, Magazines Or Novels, available now via S-Curve Records.

Remaining Andy Grammer tour dates:

03/31/15 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
04/01/15 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
04/03/15 West Hollywood, CA House Of Blues
06/23/15 Del Mar, CA Del Mar Fairgrounds

Alex & Sierra at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (29 March 2015)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis: April 8 - April 10, 2015

Here are some shows taking place in Minneapolis/St Paul from April 8 to April 10, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Twerps According to the poster artwork, Melbourne's Twerps were openers to all the Australian Laneway Presents/Penny Drop dates. The last news I heard from Twerps was that their new album is called Range Anxiety ....

TWERPS
at 7th Street Entry
Wednesday 04/08/15, 8pm ($10)
first-avenue.com

We reported Twerps from Sydney, Australia, and again at SXSW 2015 in Austin, Texas, so we're excited to see that they'll be in Minneapolis next Wednesday, April 8th, at the 7th Street Entry.

Opening up for the show will be Minneapolis trio Real Numbers and Larry Wish & His Guys. Also listed is DJ Shawn Reed from Night-People Records.

Tour dates:

03/30/15 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
04/02/15 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
04/04/15 Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern
04/08/15 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
04/10/15 Bloomington, IN The Bishop
04/11/15 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
05/13/15 Brussels, Belgium Rotonde
05/28/15 Barcelona, Spain Various Venues
05/30/15 This Is Not A Love Song Festival
06/05/15 Oporto, Portugal Parque De Cidade

Read More Field Report Although from Milwaukee, Field Report had a lot of local support... including singer Chris Porterfield's parents who drove all the way from Rochester to see the band. Joining ..... Max Jury Des Moines singer-songwriter Max Jury is excited to announce his Spring North American headlining tour dates today. The tour begins on April 9 in Minneapolis before heading throughout the Midwest .....

JOE PUG w/ Field Report
at Turf Club
Thursday 04/09/15, 7:30pm ($15)
turfclub.net

A couple of shows taking place next Thursday, April 9th, including Des Moines Max Jury at the 7th Street Entry and also Maryland's Joe Pug with Milwaukee's Field Report (we've previously seen the full band Communion (Oct 2014).)

Pug is currently on tour in support of his third studio album Windfall, which came out earlier this month, March 10, 2015.

Tour dates:

03/30/15 Missoula, MT Top Hat
04/01/15 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
04/03/15 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
04/04/15 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar
04/07/15 St. Louis, MO Firebird
04/08/15 Iowa City, IA Gabe's
04/09/15 Saint Paul, MN Turf Club
04/10/15 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
04/11/15 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
04/22/15 Indianapolis, IN Hi-Fi
04/23/15 Nashville, TN High Watt
04/24/15 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
04/25/15 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
04/26/15 Charlottesville, VA The Southern
04/29/15 Philadelphia, PA Boot & Saddle
04/30/15 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
05/01/15 New York, NY The Bowery Ballroom
05/02/15 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
05/03/15 Charleston, WV Cultural Center Theater
05/05/15 Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe
05/06/15 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
05/07/15 Buffalo, NY Ninth Ward At Babeville
05/09/15 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
05/10/15 Columbus, OH Rumba Cafe
05/13/15 Fayetteville, AR George's Majestic Lounge
05/14/15 Dallas, TX Dada Dallas
05/15/15 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's - Downstairs
05/16/15 Austin, TX Red 7

Read More Jeff The Brotherhood Nashville's brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, otherwise known as JEFF the Brotherhood were recently dropped by Warner Brothers Records... but quickly bounced back with this statement .... Bully Nashville's Bully, the band fronted by Alicia Bognanno, will open up the Minnesota show. The band was last seen with Drowners in September. ....

JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD
at 7th Street Entry
Friday 04/10/15, 7pm (FREE)
first-avenue.com

Interested in a FREE show for JEFF the Brotherhood? Simply RSVP at redbullsoundselect.com to get your ticket to see Jeff, with Bully, France Camp and Stereo Confession.

We have previously reported on Bully at SXSW 2015 and seen France Camp in 2012.

JEFF the Brotherhood tour dates:

03/31/15 Portland, OR Bunk Sandwich Shop
04/01/15 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
04/02/15 Victoria, BC Lucky Bar
04/03/15 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret
04/04/15 Kelowna, BC The Habitat
04/05/15 Calgary, AB Palomino Social Club
04/06/15 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
04/07/15 Saskatoon, SK Amigos Cantina
04/09/15 Winnipeg, MB The Good Will
04/10/15 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
04/11/15 Des Moines, IA Vaudeville Mews
04/12/15 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway Nightclub
05/16/15 Gulf Shores, AL Gulf Shores Public Beach
05/17/15 Gulf Shores, AL Gulf Shores Public Beach
06/05/15 Seaside Heights, NJ Seaside Heights
06/19/15 Waverly, IA Wartburg College
07/17/15 Louisville, KY Louisville Waterfront Park
08/14/15 Walla Walla, WA Whitman College
08/21/15 Salida, CO Vandaveer Ranch

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

SXSW 2015: Only Real

Read More Childhood Brody caught up with London's Childhood, who is currently in Brighton to play some shows at the Great Escape. The new group started off as a duo (Leo Dobsen and Ben Romans-Hopcraft) ....

Brody caught up with Only Real at British Music Embassy, Austin (20 Mar 2015) for SXSW 2015.

Niles almost didn't make it to SXSW, having lost (but eventually found) his passport.

Brody: "They sound like the Beastie Boys, Jamie T. Believe the hype."

Only Real: "Sound like the House that Jack Built. Y'know, if you like it, you love it. If you love it... then I like you."

Originally debut "Days In The City" on LuvLuvLuv Records, Only Real's major label LP Jerk At The End of The Line will be available on March 30th, 2015, via Harvest Records... however, the US will have to wait until late Summer 2015. The record was produced by Ben H Allen in Atlanta and Dan Carey (Franz Ferdinand, Childhood) in London.

Only Real's tour dates:

16 Apr 2015 I.BOAT Bordeaux, France
18 Apr 2015 Unknown venue Rezé, France
20 Apr 2015 Hospice D'havré Tourcoing, France
21 Apr 2015 Badaboum Paris, France
22 Apr 2015 La Lune Des Pirates, France
26 Apr 2015 Broadcast Glasgow, UK
29 Apr 2015 The Jericho Oxford, UK
30 Apr 2015 100 Club London, UK
03 May 2015 The Ruby Lounge Manchester, UK
06 May 2015 The Hope & Ruin Brighton, UK
07 May 2015 The Louisiana Bristol, UK
08 May 2015 Southampton - Joiners
09 May 2015 Birmingham - The Rainbow

Only Real at British Music Embassy, Austin (20 Mar 2015)

vu + brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Decemberists w/ Alvvays at Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis (24 March 2015)

The Decemberists Spring Tour 2015 Poster Decemberists Setlist intro The Singer Addresses His Audience Cavalry Captain Down by the Water Hank Eat your Oatmeal > Calamity Song On the Bus Mall The Wrong Year Make You Better The Island Los Angeles, I'm Yours Carolina Low A Bower Scene > Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga) The Rake's Song 16 Military Wives Dracula's Daughter O Valencia! -- Encore -- June Hymn The Mariner's Revenge Song Alvvays Setlist The Agency Group Next Of Kin Your Type Atop A Cake New Haircut Dives Adult Diversion Party Police Archie, Marry Me Tour Dates 03/30 – Massey Hall – Toronto, ON 03/31 – Benedum Center – Pittsburgh, PA 04/01 – UB Center For The Arts – Buffalo, NY 04/03 – House of Blues – Boston, MA 04/04 – House of Blues – Boston, MA 04/06 – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY 04/07 – Academy of Music – Philadelphia, PA 04/09 – The Fillmore Charlotte – Charlotte, NC 04/10 – The Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA 04/11 – The Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA 04/12 – Rhythm N’ Blooms Festival – Knoxville, TN 04/13 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN 04/29 – Mesa Performing Arts Center – Mesa, AZ 04/30 – North Park Theatre – San Diego, CA 05/01 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA 05/02 – Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA 05/22 – Les Schwab Amphitheatre – Bend, OR 05/24 – Big Sky Brewing Company – Missoula, MT 05/27 – Red Rocks – Denver, CO 05/29 – Sumtur Amphitheatre – Papillion, NE 05/30 – Peabody Opera House – St. Louis, MO 05/31 – The LC Pavilion – Columbus, OH 06/01 – nTelos Wireless Pavilion – Charlottesville, VA 06/03 – Red Hat Amphitheatre – Raleigh, NC 06/04 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD 06/05-06/07 – Governors Ball – New York, NY 07/10 – Edgefield – Troutdale, OR Read More The Decemberists Sure, their music is associated with hipsters and it's fair to assume singer Colin Meloy writes lyrics like he's from 1920, but The Decemberists are an unbelievably good band. … Alvvays Opening up the show will be Alvvays, who we recently caught at the Turf Club on December 2014 and reported, "Although the band only has one album, you couldn’t ask for better surf-pop sweetness." …

You have to respect a band that dresses nicely in vests, jackets, and ties to go work… only to be later eaten one-by-one on stage…!

What a terrible show, what a beautiful show from Portland’s The Decemberists, when they came to Minneapolis to play the sold-out and acoustically shiny Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus—thankfully, the beautiful parts were very much so, and the couple terrible parts were very purposely meant to be that way.

Alvvays

Toronto indie-pop band Alvvays was on their first night as support act and had reason to feel the slightest bit awkward as singer Molly Rankin mentioned it being their first time playing to a seated audience.  The five-piece played most of their eponymous debut (out now on Polyvinyl) working in nine songs in just forty minutes.

Molly Rankin

During tuning for their song ‘Dives’, Rankin muttered to herself jokingly, "play 'Freebird', man."  If only she was aware that Decemberists' singer Colin Meloy is "famously" a self-ordained board member of “MACOF (Musician Against Calling Out Freebird)” as we found out at his last solo gig in town.

Alvvays managed to play all four released singles, ending with current radio hit, ‘Archie, Marry Me’, with guitarist Alec O'Hanley playing on Rankin's so-called "tiny girl guitar".

The Decemberists

Amidst a giant lighted backdrop very similar to the quilt-like pattern of the new album’s cover (What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World out now on Capitol Records), The Decemberists confidently strode out to the regal trumpet intro music before singer Meloy started gently with the hushed and folky ‘The Singer Addresses His Audience’ before it progressed into the expansive full band sound.

Reserved but joyous applause met the next song, ‘Calvary Captain’, causing Meloy to mention, “So, so, so very quiet... unnerving.” That quiet was quickly broken as everyone stood and clapped along for ‘Down by the Water’, from 2011’s The King is Dead.

A purposefully simple ditty called ‘Hank Eat Your Oatmeal’ was created as Meloy strummed at his kitchen table, trying to convince his young son to eat—that same song (as we also heard at Nov 2013 Meloy gig) would morph into ‘Calamity Song’, also from 2011 (much better song, though both are catchy).

New songs were a little limited with ‘The Wrong Year’ going back to back with single, ‘Make You Better’ before the band launched into their folk-prog epic, ‘The Island’, with standout performances from instrumentalist Chris Funk and accordionist/keys player, Jenny Conlee. Even background singers were top notch as Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor Kean (both artists in their own right) kept a steady hand on the vocal rudder.

Colin Meloy

Before ‘Los Angeles, I’m Yours’, Meloy reminisced about the band first jaunt into town, at the now-closed 400 Bar, and managing to pinch a picture of The Replacements’ Bob Stinson while there.  After an errant Applebee’s comment went the wrong way, Meloy righted himself by saying how much he enjoying the previous night’s dinner at the James Beard award-nominated, The Bachelor Farmer, which mostly redeemed him.

Stage lights went from all red for ‘Won’t Want for Love’ to all blue for crowd favorite, ‘The Rake’s Song’, with the latter song turning into an extended clap-a-long and ’16 Military Wives’ was a fun call-and-response contest between different parts of the venue.

“We’re going to play you the very worst song I’ve written in my entire life”, Meloy mentioned, before going into ‘Dracula’s Daughter’, to then stop to a hushed crowd, save someone from the upper balcony, shouting, “…sucks!”, which drew immediate laughter.

Setlist

The encore was first teased with the ready for springtime song, ‘June Hymn’, then was a direct hit to the gullet, with their other folky mega-epic, the bouncy ‘The Mariner’s Revenge Song’ which stretched some twenty minutes. People were prompted to scream at a certain part ¾ of the way into the song, and the reaction was not unwarranted as a large cut-out profile of a whale ambled on stage to slowly eat each of the band members in a row, to the crowd’s shrieking delight.

Luckily, as stage lights rose back up after the song, band members seemed unscathed and ready to carry on, in the next town.  So, what a terrible show,what a beautiful show -  the two half-baked songs purposely provided good comic relief and the audience was really treated to a nattily-dressed  band, returning as strong as ever, after a few year’s hiatus.

The Decemberists at Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis (24 March 2015)

vu + john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Game On: Pillars of Eternity and Guild Wars 2

Read More Dragon Age The soundtrack is composed by Inon Zur, who also previously did soundtrack work for Bioware's Baldur's Gate II and Icewind Dale II. Dragon Age soundtrack has the typical epic orchestral instrumentals …

PILLARS OF ETERNITY
eternity.obsidian.net

This is the game I've been waiting for since I beat Dragon Age: Inquistion.

I am loving the RPG game Pillars of Eternity, which just came out yesterday. Since I'm a big fan of Black Isle's Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, I felt right at home with Pillars. This game plays like those old games, only with amazing new beautiful graphics. Compare Pillars' graphics to "Enhanced" edition of Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate, and there's no comparison: Pillars is by far superior in every way. That is because Pillars is 3-D rendered, so you can zoom in and out for further details... unlike the old Bioware engine, which is 2-D lower-resolution.

Play style is also the same, you can always pause the game mid-combat via the spacebar and assign instructions to your party. In addition to gaining pre-generated NPC (Non Player Characters), you can also create or "hire" your own creations if you have the cash. I like creating my own characters because I can spec out and personalized their appearance...

Anyway, I'm only a few hours in the game and had to quit because I encountered an area that killed me. Sometime the game is unforgiving, even if I'm only playing it on "Normal".

I also have a ton of equipment and I haven't seen a merchant to sell them off. Obviously I'm still very early in the game, I haven't even travel to the main city yet... I'm just exploring every inch of the area I'm in right now.

Like the Bioware Engine that inspired Pillars of Eternity, the new game suffer from the same problems the original games had: mainly the inability to change camera view and limited character portraits. I'm sure you can import your own artwork, but what you start off with is very limited.

If you love Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, you have to check out Pillars of Eternity.

Read More Games Well if you're in the same boat and want a game that is meatier, you need to check out Dragon Age: Inquisition. …

GUILD WARS 2
guildwars2.com

A few weeks ago, Guild Wars 2 was on sale for $10 (normally $39), so I couldn't resist and got in on the sale.

The download for the game was so large that I left my computer on overnight to download the game. Then when I launched it for the first time, after spending a lot of time creating my first character, I got disconnected from their server. Not a good sign.

I figure a lot of people also bought the game on sale as I did, so they may have had a spike in the number of users logging in for the first time. My second time logging in was fine, I was able to do my first set of new quests. I'm only level four eight, and so far, I'm not really loving it.

I actually own the first Guild Wars and Guild Wars: Nightfall expansion, and like those first two games, Guild Wars 2 is pretty much the same game. There are two types of game you can play with Guild Wars, either co-operative campaign or competitive against other human players. I've never played the latter, choosing instead to play solo for all my sessions.

Some things you should know about the game:

1. No game controller support.
2. This should be a free-to-play game
3. Graphics are stunning
4. Teleportation costs money, so you can save a few bucks if you just walk it

I've only played the game for a few weeks, but I think I'm going to have to put it on the back burner. I own a lot of games and there's just too much going on right now for me to really focus on Guild Wars 2.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis: April 5 - April 7, 2015

Here are some shows taking place in Minneapolis/St Paul from April 5 to April 7, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Meg Mac I’m so glad I downloaded her free song of the week. I think I’ve found a new artist. She is so spunky and her voice is amazing. 5 stars! …

CLEAN BANDIT w/ Meg Mac
at First Avenue
Sunday 04/05/15, 7:30pm ($20)
first-avenue.com

British electronic group Clean Bandit's song "Rather Be" won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. On the strength of the single and their debut album New Eyes, the group is currently touring the US, stopping by Minneapolis' First Avenue this April 5th.

Australia's most buzzworthy breakout artist of 2014, having won Triple J's Unearthed Artist of 2014, the 24 year-old singer-songwriter Meg Mac, will be opening the First Avenue show. This will mark her first US tour, and possibly her first time in Minneapolis... so give her a warm welcome.

Meg Mac is currently supporting her latest self-titled EP, which came out this week, March 24, 2015, via Littlebigman Records/300 Entertainment.

Tour dates:

03/26/15 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre*
03/27/15 Orlando, FL @ The Beacham*
03/30/15 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade*
03/31/15 Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom*
04/01/15 Chicago, IL @ Metro*
04/03/15 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant*
04/04/15 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre*
04/05/15 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
04/07/15 Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre*
04/09/15 Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee Theatre*
04/10/15 Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *

* with Meg Mac

Read More Happyness Count me as one of the many people unhappy with the misspelling of Happyness, who probably stole their name from the 2006 film The Pursuit Of Happyness. ....

HAPPYNESS
at Turf Club
Monday 04/06/15, 7:30pm ($10)
turfclub.net

I've said it before, I just don't like the name Happyness. The typo just drives me nuts, and I really don't know why it bothers me.

The trio just recently played NINE shows at SXSW, which is possibly the most shows I've seen a band can squeeze in at SXSW.

Happyness will be joined by Danger Ron & The Spins and Nancy's Raygun for the Turf Club show.

Tour dates:

03/26 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival
03/28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo ^
03/29 - Santa Ana, CA - Burgerama 2015
03/30 - San Francisco, CA- Bottom of the Hill #
04/01 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
04/03 - Seattle, WA - The Sunset Tavern
04/04 - Missoula, MT - Stage 112
04/06 - St, Paul, MN - Turf Club
04/07 - Iowa City, IA - Gabe's Oasis
04/08 - Chicago, IL – Subterranean
04/09 - Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog East
04/10 - Middletown, CT -Wesleyan College
04/11 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby's All Right
04/12- Manhattan, NY - Cake Shop

# w/ White Fence, Twerps
*w/ Ezra Furman
^w/ Jacco Gardner, Twerps

Read More Wand Not to be confused with Canadian band Wand or Denmark's The Wands or Japanese rock band Wands or Wooden Wand (aka Wand), this the Los Angeles-based band Wand. ....

WAND w/ Heaters
at 7th Street Entry
Tuesday 04/07/15, 8pm ($10)
first-avenue.com

Los Angeles-based Wand are currently on tour in support of their latest album Golem, out last week, March 17th via In The Red. The album was recorded by Chris Woodhouse at The Dock in Sacramento, California.

Joining Wand will be Heaters, a trio (Andrew Tamlyn, Nolan Krebs, and Joshua Korf) from Michigan.

US tour dates:

03/26 - Durham, NC @ The Pinhook >
03/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy >
03/28 - Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right >
03/29 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
04/01 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East >
04/02 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz P.D.B.
04/03 - Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar ~
04/04 - Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog ~
04/05 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle ~
04/07 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry ~
04/09 - Missoula, MY @ Stage 112
04/11 - Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
04/12 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
04/14 - Santa Rosa, CA @ Arlene Francis Center
04/15 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
04/16 - Costa Mesa, CA @ The Wayfarer

> with BABES
~ with Heaters

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Twins coming to the Twin Cities

Read More Twin Shadow Los Angeles-based George Lewis Jr., or better known by his stage name Twin Shadow, has been around since 2010 with his debut album Forget. …

TWIN SHADOWS
twinshadow.net

We previously announced that Los Angeles' Twin Shadow (aka George Lewis, Jr.) signed with Warner Bros Records earlier in November 2014.

Tumblr IRL Presents Twin Shadow At SXSW (18 March 2015) photo courtesy of Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Twin Shadow recently played at SXSW at Ironwood Hall as the first in six Tumblr IRL events called "Tumblr IRL Presents Twin Shadow At SXSW".

Tumblr shared this photo of Twin Shadow live, courtesy of Robin Marchant/Getty Images.

Twin Shadow Eclipse Tour Dates:

03/26/15 Jacksonville Beach, FL - Freebird Live
03/27/15 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
03/28/15 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03/30/15 Washington DC - Black Cat
04/01/15 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall
04/03/15 Boston, MA - Paradise
04/04/15 Montreal, QC - Café Campus
04/06/15 Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
04/08/15 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
04/09/15 Columbus, OH - A&R Music Bar
04/10/15 Chicago, IL - Metro
04/11/15 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
04/13/15 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
04/14/15 Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
04/15/15 St. Louis, MO - The Ready Room
04/16/15 Lawrence, KS - The Granada Theatre
04/17/15 Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
04/19/15 Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen
04/21/15 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04/23/15 Seattle, WA - Neumos
04/24/15 Vancouver, BC - Imperial
04/25/15 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
04/27/15 Reno, NV - The Knitting Factory
04/29/15 San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
04/30/15 Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre

TWINSMITH
twinsmith.com

Omaha four-piece Twinsmith will be in Minneapolis at 7th Street Entry on Sunday, March 29th. The band is out promoting their new album Alligator Years, set for release on May 5th via Saddle Creek.

Hear their song "Seventeen" now:



Tour dates:

Mar 28 Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, IA
Mar 29 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
Apr 05 Hotel Utah San Francisco, CA
Apr 06 The Satellite Los Angeles, CA
Apr 07 Soda Bar San Diego, CA Tickets
Apr 09 Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT

SHOOK TWINS
shooktwins.com

Shook Twins are an Indie folk-pop band from Portland, Oregon, featuring identical twins Katelyn and Laurie Shook, with Kyle Volkman and Niko Daoussis.

The Twins will be heading out on tour in support of their latest, What We Do, stopping by Minneapolis at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater on April 19th.

Tour dates:

Apr 10 The Sandpoint Hive (21+) Sandpoint, ID
Apr 11 The Bartlett Spokane, WA
Apr 12 Live From The Divide Bozeman, MT
Apr 15 The Maintenance Shop Ames, IA
Apr 16 Redstone Room (19+) Davenport, IA
Apr 17 Beat Kitchen (21+) Chicago, IL
Apr 18 Stoughton Opera House Stoughton, WI
Apr 19 Bryant Lake Bowl Theater Minneapolis, MN
Apr 22 Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. (21+) Billings, MT
Apr 23 Top Hat Lounge (21+) Missoula, MT
Apr 24 Lewis-Clark State College Lewiston, ID
Apr 25 River City Saloon (21+) Hood River, OR
Apr 30 The Historic Old Church Portland, OR
May 09 Rogue Valley RootsFest Ashland, OR
May 22 MeadowGrass Music Festival Black Forest, CO
May 23 Denver Day of Rock Denver, CO
May 24 Campout For The Cause Bond, CO
May 30 Ogden Music Festival Ogden, UT
May 31 Ogden Music Festival Ogden, UT
Jun 01 Ogden Music Festival Ogden, UT
Jun 20 Fairfest Fairfield, IA
Jun 26 Stuart's Opera House Nelsonville, OH
Jul 04 Fun Fourth Festival Greensboro, NC
Jul 12 RED WING ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL Mount Solon, VA
Jul 30 Summer Nights @ BioPark Aquarium Albuquerque, NM
Aug 07 Arise Music Festival Loveland, CO
Aug 08 Arise Music Festival Loveland, CO
Aug 28 Fayetteville Roots Festival

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Tycho, w/ Beacon at First Avenue, Minneapolis (22 March 2015)

poster Tycho Setlist Intro: Spectre (Bibio Remix) Adrift Apogee L See Hours Dye Past Is Prologue PBS Ascension Dive A Walk Spectre -- Encore -- Intro: Awake (Com Truise Remix/Album Version) Montana Elegy Read More Tycho Tycho is back in Minneapolis this Tuesday, April 8th, in support of Awake, at a much bigger venue, First Avenue. Hopefully it's big enough to accommodate all of Tycho's fans. … Beacon Brooklyn's Beacon was a big buzz last night, having talked to a few fans that came out just to see them last night. This beats duo (Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett) just recently signed to Ghostly International …

San Francisco's Tycho is currently on their 2015 tour, stopping by First Avenue in Minneapolis, on Sunday, March 22nd.

Beacon

Opening up the show was Beacon, a duo (Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett) from Brooklyn, New York, playing some tracks from L1 EP (Ghostly International) to near darkness with a custom film, projected onto the band.

We've seen the electronic duo before, last December 2012, and I wrote that they had "big buzz." While at the time, I said they were 'thunderous rap bass', they seem to have taken it down a notch to more minimalistic and atmospheric.... at least based on hearing them perform on Sunday.

Mullarney said that about three years ago, Tycho took them on tour and was honored to be back, as part of their journey with Tycho. Since the band just came from SXSW 2015, they said they were glad to not play in the rain and mud... that they were just happy to be indoors (despite the snowstorm taking place outside).

Scott Hansen, or probably better known as Tycho is back in Minneapolis. The band was recently in Minneapolis last April 2014, promoting Awake, which Hansen described as "the first true Tycho record."

According to Hansen regarding the April 2014 show, "almost didn't happen!" He didn't go into details about "crazy story" on stage, but I suspect it was likely due to transportation issues. In fact, Hansen rarely spoke at all, instead letting his music speak for him.

The thing about Tycho is that they are an instrumental band, and their music feels like it is taking its audience on a long journey. The videos projected on the screen behind them also help us move and understand the songs. I am assuming visuals were also the handiwork of Hansen, who is also a photographer and graphic designer by the name of ISO50.

While I wondered why Tycho is back in town so soon (especially because they don't have any new material), obviously their fans didn't questioned it, as the main room was nearly sold out, if not sold out, for last Sunday.

Tycho's latest Awake is out now on Ghostly International.

Remaining Tycho tour dates:

03/25 | St. Louis, MO | Ready Room
03/27 | Royal Oak, MI | Royal Oak Music
03/28 | Toronto, ON | Danforth Music Hall
03/29 | Indianapolis, IN | The Vogue
03/31 | Columbus, OH | Newport Music Hall
04/01 | Cleveland, OH | State Theatre #
04/02 | Pittsburgh, PA | Benedum Center #
04/03 | Raleigh, NC | Red Hat Amphitheater #
04/04 | Atlanta, GA | Chastain Park #
04/05 | Birmingham, AL | Workplay
04/06 | Nashville, TN | Grand Ole Opry #
04/08 | Oklahoma City, OK | Bricktown #
04/11 | Indio, CA | Coachella
04/18 | Indio, CA | Coachella
06/11-14 | Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo

# - w/ alt-J

Tycho at First Avenue, Minneapolis (22 Mar 2015)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Helado Negro - Island Universe Story at Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul (21 March 2015)

Setlist Intro: Stop Living Dead/Excerpt Time Aparts Árboles Regresa Espuma Invisible Heartbeat Junes Myself on 2 U Mitad De Mundo Levantar Las Piernas Con Mi Suerte Lechuguilla 2° Dia Dance Ghost Tranmission Listen Calienta Paz a ti Helado Negro Tour Dates 04/15/15 Columbia, SC Boyd Plaza @ Indie Grits 06/02/15 San Diego, CA Jacobs Music Center* 06/03/15 Los Angeles, CA Dorothy Chandler Pavilion* 06/04/15 Los Angeles, CA Dorothy Chandler Pavilion* 06/05/15 Oakland, CA Fox Theater* 06/06/15 Oakland, CA Fox Theater* 06/08/15 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall* 06/09/15 Vancouver, BC Orpheum 06/10/15 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre 06/11/15 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre * with Sufjan Stevens Read More Helado Negro Helado Negro's "Island Universe Story" show at the Ordway Concert Hall for March 21st, 2015, in St Paul. We've already mentioned the show earlier in January, so just a reminder ... Lætitia Sadier Laetitia Sadier will be performing a new collaborative song with Helado Negro along with performing new versions of other songs. She produces music under her own name and plays in Monade and Stereolab. … Liquid Music We've seen some Liquid Music shows before and raved about their ability the world of classical music to a much broader audience, usually through very unique presentations. …

…and for dessert, black ice cream… waitaminute… black ice cream?!

Helado Negro is actually the musical nom de plume of Roberto Carlos Lange, a South Florida native of Ecuadorian descent, who along with some carefully chosen friends brought the world premiere performance of his Island Universe Story (Cuentos del Universo Solitario) to the Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul.

The performance was part of the often-eclectic, always-interesting St. Paul Chamber Orchestra-presented Liquid Music Series, which is midway into its third season of bringing in boundary-defying works by innovative artists.

Adron and Helado Negro photo courtesy of Jayme Halbritter Photography, jaymehalbritter.com

For this installment, Latin rhythms, electronic beats and classical influences were uniquely combined with the help of ensemble collaborators including Lætitia Sadier (Stereolab), Adron, Mikael Jorgenson (Wilco), and Jason Trammell (David Byrne, William Onyeabor) and the Minneapolis Music Company as the octet string section. New arrangements were done by composers Trey Pollard (Matthew E White Band) and Jason Ajemian (Marc Ribot) for double string quartet, percussion, and electronics.

A note about the venue itself- the 1,100 seat new Ordway Concert Hall was some two+ years in the making as the new home of the SPCO, is acoustically brilliant, and offers a good view from any seat in the house.  Among the design highlights, the ceiling was raised 30ft to accommodate almost fifteen miles worth of oak dowels that wrap the contoured drop shapes.

The stage is framed as well, in a U-shaped bowl that even allows seating directly above and beside the performers for a unique audio and visual experience.  Acoustically (and similar to the new Northrop), it is ideal to the types of events offered, and even a whisper from the upper deck, carries far down below.

Inspired by Miami sounds from his childhood and with a border-crossing, genre-expanding mission, Roberto Lange and friends brought his latest work (probably born from his earlier Island Universe Story One EP) to life with precision, that both took from the past and looked forward in an Aldous Huxley way that is bigger than all of us.

Singing in Spanish and English, the 85 min. program melded new works with some from the four Helado Negro full-length albums with Lætitia Sadier joining the troupe a few songs in, only to leave, and then return again, as things progressed.

Lætitia Sadier at Treehouse Records (20 March 2015)

She also was in town long enough to generously play a rare 40 min. in-store at Treehouse Records the day before, which showcased her own solo work, including latest album Something Shines (Drag City Records), which came out last fall.

String arrangements were lush, transforming both the new and the older Helado Negro songs, like ‘Junes’ from 2013’s Invisible Life which was bookended by ‘Invisible Heartbeat’ and ‘Myself on 2 U’, both from last year’s Double Youth (Asthmatic Kitty Records), into something bigger and more contemplative.

Staging of the musicians was critical to the performance as well, with the string octet at stage right, keyboards near the back, bass and percussion to stage left, and principal voices scattered in the middle, all of which made for a cohesive collective sound.

Lekach & Helado Negro photo: Jayme Halbritter

Co-vocalists Adron and Isaac Lekach were on stage for the duration, including the encore when Lekach  was dressed head to toe in a glitter-fringed ball-like suit, dancing around Lange and finally embracing him in an extended hug at the end.

Final song, ‘Paz a ti (Peace to You)’ had people singing to themselves the repetitive chorus out the door as they left, “claro que si”, which roughly translates to “clearly, why yes” or “by all means”.  So, if ever asked if you’d like Helado Negro, your response should naturally be that.

Helado Negro at Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul (21 March 2015) photo courtesy of Jayme Halbritter Photography, jaymehalbritter.com

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic