W♥M (Archive)

Delorean at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (02/14/14)

Tour Dates 02/15/14 Iowa City, IA The Mill 02/17/14 Grand Rapids, MI Covenant Fine Arts 02/18/14 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall 02/20/14 Toronto, ON The Hoxton 02/21/14 Montreal, QC Il Motore 02/23/14 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair 03/13/14 SXSW - Plush Read More Delorean Originally Delorean were scheduled to appear in Minneapolis last October 14th, but due to Visa kidnapping problems, they had to reschedule to play this February 14th, Valentine's Day. … I assumed Barcelona band Delorean had to canceled their Minneapolis last year was due to Visa issues (since three other bands experienced Visa issues in that same month), but as it turned out, Delorean's problem was much worst. According to the band, the band was kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico: On Monday morning October 7th we received a phone call at our hotel room in Mexico City from a person posing as a hotel security officer. We were informed that there was a security threat at the hotel. What followed for the next 30 hours was an experience where the threat of death was real due to the psychological manipulation inflicted on us by our kidnappers. Thanks to the fantastic work of the National Police in Spain, Ertzantza, Interpol and the Federal Police in Mexico, we were successfully rescued yesterday morning. While it would be convenient to blame Mexico, that would not be sound. This could have occurred anywhere in the world. Our hope is that this situation will bring attention to the abuse that we were subjected to by our kidnappers, so that other travelers do not fall victim in the future. This has been extremely difficult for us and our families. At this time we have no further comment and we ask that you respect our privacy so that we can return to normality in our lives. Understandably the band was forced to cancel a slew of dates that followed. I was glad to have caught the band at the tail end of their set, as they play songs from their new Apar album. The dance-pop band rocked it pretty hard, particularly on the keyboards and drums. After they briefly left the stage and came back to say, "we got one more song for you," as they started playing "Come Wander" for the encore. Delorean is currently on tour, they will be stopping by SXSW this year. vu ♥ weheartmusic.com Delorean at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (02/14/14)

Barcelona

Barcelona-It's About Time Barcelona Tour Dates RSS Nov. 25 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room Nov. 26 Iowa city, IA @ the Picador Nov. 28 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater Nov. 30 Boise, ID @ Neurolux Dec. 2 Seattle, WA @ Neumos Dec. 3 Spokane, WA @ Big Dipper Dec. 4 Portland, OR @ Berbati's Dec. 6 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent Dec. 8 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour Dec 9 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar Dec 11 West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour See Also Barcelona http://weheartmus... This is a new wave pop band called Barcelona (who's actually based out of Arlington, Virginia). ... I'm From Barcelona http://weheartmus... So the summer is here and I still haven't found the my sunshine sound. The one that makes me sit ...

I've been meaning to check out this new Barcelona band, as they share their name with the new wave synth nerd band that I mentioned last year. This band, based out of Seattle, is a quartet (on tour they are a trio, but we'll get to that later), and is best described as a melodic rock band - signed to Curb Appeal Records with backing for worldwide on Warner/Chappell.

With introductions out of the way, they are currently on tour in support of their 2007 album Absolutes. Listening to the album yesterday, I was expecting more of a mellow set but I'm proven wrong as they opened up their show with three very upbeat rock songs, followed by two slower songs - one was called "Faded" which was about singer/songwriter Brian Fennell's friend going through a divorce.

The rest of their set was more up-tempoed, all except some song called "Time to Mend," played when the lights dimmed and the rest of the band left the stage. Fennell dropped the comfort of his keyboard to pick up and play guitar as he agonized over a breakup with his girlfriend. He did comment that he wrote the song prior to the breakup but it seems to me the feeling came through.

I was happy to see they did one cover song, "One is the Loneliest Number", but the version Barcelona played sounded nothing like the original song. My favorite song on Absolutes is "It's About Time," which is the song they ended with on a high note for this show.

As for the venue, of course, the Varsity Theater is one of my favorite places. It's so chameleon-like, as the stage and dance floor can be changed at a whim, as explained to me by staff/security person, David, after I noticed the floor was covered in a red carpet. The audience ranged from very young (12-year-old girls) to old geezers like myself but that's to be expected at an all-ages show. There were, surprisingly, a lot of very young women photographers in the audience, snapping pictures at every opportunity.

Barcelona - Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/24/08) ♥ photo by vu

Barcelona - Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/24/08) ♥ photo by vu

I believe 30% of the audience left as local Weaver at the Loom (myspace) left the stage. They started playing very early (shortly after 5:30 p.m.) and they seem to sound more like Barcelona, rather than Low vs. Diamond (lowvsdiamond.com/myspace). Although I will tell you that I was rather impressed with Low vs. Diamond; their sound is kind of an electrified rock and their singer, Lucas Field, seems to be really comfortable on stage. But I suspect they're used to playing to a more energetic crowd. For more pictures of the show, especially Low vs. Diamond, be sure to check out britrockatthetop.com.

Another surprise at the show was singer Chris Kalgren from This World Fair in the audience in support of Barcelona. Apparently they have played together and are good friends.

As for the Absolutes album, you should definitely check it out if you're a fan of WB-type music. From my understanding, some of the songs on Absolutes are recycled from Brian Fennell's debut album, Safety Songs, but after hearing Barcelona's version of "Numb", I can tell you that song functions more like a full band vs. a one singer/songwriter (especially with its angelic chorus).

You will also get "Colors," a very happy (love?) song, which I don't recall being played during their set. Perhaps they play this one at a full show, as at an all ages show, they were pressured to end the set early. Again, "It's About Time" is on this album; there are definitely some produced mixes in the studio version that make it stand out from the version that was played live.

Be sure to check out the Barcelona/Low vs. Diamond tour heading through the rest of 2008. You can pick up the album on merchsquad.com which also includes the vinyl version - which I have to add is becoming more popular as more and more music fans have turned to collecting vinyl records.

 

Links: wearebarcelona.com myspace.com/barcelona

Barcelona - Studio Hair Gel

 

 

Barcelona - Studio Hair Gel

Barcelona

This is a response to Ryan's We're From Barcelona.

This is a new wave pop band called Barcelona (who's actually based out of Arlington, Virginia). Most of their songs are about computers and nerd stuff. Their Swedish connection is a song called "Paging System Operator" which is about a boy who is trying to talk to a hacker from Sweden using a Bulletin Board System (BBS). You can listen to this song on their myspace or if you really want to break the law, you can use something like myspacevalley.

This song I've picked out is "Studio Hair Gel". It is this strange goth boy who dances funny and plays his Casio keyboard. Please note 80s acts such as Howard Jones in this song!

The band split in early 2001, and Jason Korzen went on to form the band Sprites with his wife. Not sure what Jennifer Carr (the singer in this song) is up to.

[Update: please see comment below]

vu email: Links: www.barcelonadc.com www.myspace.com/barcelonadc

 

hotrod wrote: Jun 14, 2007 at 8:22 AM

[this is good] jen's on vox: http://akaijen.vox.com/.  who cares what jay is up to?