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We Were Promised Jetpacks 2018 Tour
WWPJ Setlist
Jenn Champion Setlist
Tour Dates
10.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
10.12 - San Diego, CA @ Irenic 10.13 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom 10.15 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 10.16 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk 10.17 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 10.18 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues 10.19 - Chattanooga, TN @ Songbirds 10.20 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West 10.22 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 10.23 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club 10.24 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes 10.26 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 10.27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry 10.28 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club 10.29 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel 11.14 - Aberdeen, UK @ The Lemon Tree 11.15 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke's 11.16 - Kilmarnock, UK @ Kilmarnock Grand 11.17 - Edinburgh, UK @ Old Citadel 11.18 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 11.19 - Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute 11.21 - London, UK @ Bush Hall 11.22 - Luxembourg City, LU @ Rotondes 11.24 - Berlin, DE @ Lido 11.26 - Vienna, AT @ Chelsea 11.27 - Graz, AT @ Postgarage Read More
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We live in an age of electric cars, robot dogs, and artificially intelligent computer assistants... but where are the jet packs?!
While the actual jet packs for common folks are still years away, Scotland’s own We Were Promised Jetpacks have returned with a new album and tour, making a recent stop in St. Paul at the Turf Club.
The evening was opened up with a chill electro-pop set by Jenn Champion, a singer-songwriter originally from Arizona who was formally a member of Carissa’s Wierd and went previously under the names of Jenn Ghetto and (the un-Googleable) “S”.
With two other musicians (who rotated playing various instruments), the Champion trio played mostly songs from her new album, Single Rider (Hardly Art Records), a collection of honest lyrics against technically solid beats and rhythms, that easily won over the audience. There is often an underlying sadness to the heavily tattooed Champion’s songs, but tempered against an irresistible beat, most couldn’t help but to swing and dance any blues away.
After over three years away, the Scottish quartet cleverly named We Were Promised Jetpacks has reset themselves with a self-released album out last month called The More I Sleep The Less I Dream (Big Scary Monsters Records) and a re-dedication to shredding faces with their incendiary live shows.
Now in their more mature thirties, the band (Adam Thompson -vocals/guitar; Michael Palmer-guitar; Sean Smith-bass, Darren Lackie- drums) begins their second decade together much like they left their first- with songs that feature somewhat dreary lyrics that reflect their Scottish environment, sung impeccably by the howling Thompson, against a building sonic wall of guitar fuzz, reverb, and echo (seen similarly in fellow bands like The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit).
Taking a well-deserved short break after their last touring cycle, the quartet’s new songs show a return to the basics that first put them on the map, whilst still sounding as urgent and contemporary as their other work. Their eighty-minute set opened with the opening track of the new record, ‘Impossible’ before going straight ahead next into 2011’s ‘Human Error’ then returning to the new and ‘Someone Else’s Problem’, with Thompson vocally pleading “I told you not to listen” (though we all were).
The band is not one to waste time or even talk much between songs (maybe because the Scottish accent makes our American ears strain to understand everything) but more so, to set their sonic mood and play the set as almost one long musical movement. Thompson and band encouraged us to all ‘Keep Warm’ during this chilled autumn night before the menacing title track of the new album was played, a song that starts slowly and droning before building upon itself, as things progress.
“Thank you very much- you guys are very nice!” Thompson said, speaking briefly after over a half-hour into the set, before quickly resuming with a blazing version of 2009’s ‘Ships With Holes Will Sink’. 2011’s ‘Sore Thumb’ was sung partially off-mic, with Thompson’s carrying voice more than enough to fill the room without the need of amplification as guitarist Palmer ferociously stroking up the riffs.
2009’s ‘It’’s Thunder and It’s Lightning’ was as powerfully emotive as ever, with Thompson’s aching voice repeating “your body was black and blue” as drummer Lackie pounded the skins and the volume rose.
The slow burning ‘Hanging In’ and set-ending sharp and swirling jabs of ‘Repeating Patterns’ found 2009’s howling ‘Short Bursts’ between those two new songs, with Thompson singing, “Your silence is bearable... but only in short bursts”. Not believing in the traditional encore walk off/walk back-on process, it was truly to be their last song of the evening, but met with the loudest applause and crowd cheering.
While we may still not be flying around just yet in actual jet packs, the sonic swell of Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks is a welcome return to record bins and live stages and enough to propel one virtually and musically against their formidable g-force.
(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)
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