Fitz and the Tantrums at First Avenue
Fitz and the Tantrums Setlist
20/06/2019 Maine Savings Pavilion at Rock Row, Westbrook, ME*
21/06/2019 Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA* 22/06/2019 Fillmore Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA 23/06/2019 92.3 Summer Open, Queens, NY* 25/06/2019 Virginia Credit Union Live, Richmond, VA* 27/06/2019 STAGE AE, Pittsburgh, PA* 28/06/2019 EXPRESS LIVE!, Columbus, OH* 29/06/2019 Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, Sterling Heights, MI* 30/06/2019 Jacob's Pavilion, Cleveland, OH* 02/07/2019 Brenton Skating Plaza, Des Moines, IA* 03/07/2019 Harrah's Council Bluffs Casino , Council Bluffs, IA* 05/07/2019 WhiteWater Amphitheater, New Braunfels, TX* 06/07/2019 Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Irving, TX* 07/07/2019 White Oak Music Hall - Lawn, Houston, TX* 09/07/2019 Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, OK* 10/07/2019 Walmart AMP (Arkansas Music Pavilion), Rogers, AR* 12/07/2019 Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN* 13/07/2019 Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amph, Charlotte, NC* 14/07/2019 Cadence Bank Amphitheatre , Atlanta, GA* 16/07/2019 Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh, NC* 18/07/2019 The Cuban Club Courtyard, Tampa, FL* 19/07/2019 St. Augustine Amphitheatre, Saint Augustine, FL* 20/07/2019 Klipsch Amphitheater at Bayfront Park, Miami, FL* 21/07/2019 Central Florida Fairgrounds, Orlando, FL* 01/08/2019 Lollapalooza Grant Park, Chicago, IL 02/08/2019 Wisconsin State Fair Park, West Allis, WI 04/08/2019 Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA* 06/08/2019 McMenamin's Edgefield Amph, Troutdale, OR* 08/08/2019 Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA* 09/08/2019 Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, San Diego, CA* 10/08/2019 The Forum, Inglewood, CA* 11/08/2019 Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ* 14/08/2019 Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Reno, NV* 15/08/2019 Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA* 16/08/2019 Downtown Las Vegas Events Center - DLVEC, Las Vegas, NV * = with Young the Giant Read More
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Third time’s the charm--
For the third time is less than a year, Los Angeles band Fitz and the Tantrums returned to one of their strongest markets, Minneapolis/St. Paul, for an intimate night at the Mainroom at First Avenue.
The band is currently on a summer co-headlining amphitheater tour with labelmates Young the Giant (who we saw on their own, earlier this year) and took advantage of a tour off-day bringing along tour opener, COIN with them for an energy-filled evening. The group was here last July for a slot at the Basilica Block Party, then returned to downtown Minneapolis in still-chilly April, for an abbreviated free show on the night of the NCAA Final Four Championship game (and we strangely seemed to be the only area outlet that fully covered that show).
We’ve written about Nashville band COIN since early 2015, managing to catch their frenetic set the following year, on one of six previous times in the area. The band has a brand new single, ‘Crash My Car’ ahead of their upcoming third full-length, due later this year.
The foursome (Chase Lawrence– vocals/synths; Ryan Winnen– drums; Joe Memmel– guitar; Matt Martin– touring bass) have always brought an infectious energy to their live performance and this night was no exception. “I feel like every time we come to Minneapolis, something strange happens, but not tonight” Lawrence said, without further detail, “but not tonight, we have to come back!”.
After the new ‘I Want it All’ (not to be confused with the Queen song), the biggest crowd response was saved for their breakthrough radio single, ‘Talk Too Much’, with the crowd singing the chorus back to the band, and COIN ended their forty minute set with 2015’s ‘Fingers Crossed’. Expect them to return and headline once the new album is released.
Though technically an off-day from their summer amphitheater tour, you could tell that Fitz and the Tantrums were more interested in celebrating and playing live, than any relaxing and putting their feet up, still one of the better live bands touring today. The full First Avenue crowd seemed ready as well, responding overall with enough gusto that you’d think the band hadn’t been here in years.
The six piece group (Michael Fitzpatrick– vocals/keys; Noelle Scaggs– vocals/percussion; James King– sax/flute/keys; Joseph Karnes– bass; Jeremy Ruzumna– keys; John Wicks – drums) has had a continually growing following locally, stopping by a dozen times over the last eight years, including several Basilica Block Party appearances, which have all heightened their local profile and continued popularity.
The main difference between this seventy-five minute headlining set and the April appearance, was that the crowd was treated to several new songs, from their upcoming full-length, All the Feels, due out in September, even offering a tour-only CD EP with new songs at the merch booth, for fans that couldn’t wait to own the long-awaited new music.
Scaggs helped incite the crowd with tambourine in hand during classic ‘Don’t Got to Work it Out’, and Fitzpatrick smiled wide as he noted that most in the crowd knew all the lyrics to the older songs. Fans counted along on the new ‘123456’ and went crazy when initial hit, ‘Moneygrabber’ was played early in the set, with Fitzpatrick also recalling the band’s first local appearances and the extreme temperature swing between their initial February appearance, and then returning that July which was 120 degrees warmer.
New songs, ‘OCD’ with a dizzying rhythm and hard drumbeat and ‘I Need Help!’, perhaps the band’s most seriously themed lyrics though still played upbeat, were played with 2013’s solid ‘Fools Gold’ in between, with everyone’s hands up in the air next for 2016’s ‘Roll Up’.
2016’s emotional ‘Burn it Down’ is Fitzpatrick’s love letter to his wife and a new song that is a midtempo earworm filled with lyrics of determined positivity called ’Shine’ ended the main set.
A roar from the crowd helped bring the band back for a three-song encore beginning with their game-changing hit from 2016, ‘HandClap’ followed by new song, ‘All the Feels' which Fitzpatrick revealed was to be the title track of the upcoming record, and proved to be a slow burner, ideal for swaying from left to right, and back again.
Fitzpatrick thanked everyone on behalf of the band (as he always has graciously done at shows), for making their dreams come true, “Thank you being real people and real music lovers to spread the word about this band” with the irresistible whistled intro beginning the evening’s final song, ‘The Walker’ punctuated by an explosion from two confetti cannons just before the last chorus to shower the main floor and end things with exclaim.
Fitz and the Tantrums continues on their summer co-headlining outdoor tour, but expect a return appearance soon after the new album releases, as the Twin Cities has shown, they will come out in large numbers and happily experience all the feels live.
(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)
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Fitz and the Tantrums at First Avenue, Minneapolis (15 June 2019) |
