W♥M (Archive)

Prince Block Party, Minneapolis (21 April 2016)

Read More Prince Vu and Langen talked about legendary music icon Prince’s final days and post-death celebrations. Prince’s Final Time Line …

When news of Prince’s untimely death went viral at around noon on Thursday (April 21st), it hit everyone like a ton of bricks. First Avenue immediately rushed to announce a special Prince dance party. Then, hours later, in cooperation with The Current and the City of Minneapolis, they organized what we know as the Prince Block Party. The entire block between Hennepin and 1st Avenue was blocked off by 5pm. The entire event was conceived, organized, executed within a matter of a few hours! By 6pm, the block was filled with an estimated 8,000 fans. It was just simply incredible.

Prince’s Shrine

Fans were leaving flowers, balloons, photos, letters, shirts, etc., over at Prince’s star at First Avenue... which ultimately became a shrine to the late artist.

Chris Coleman (St Paul’s mayor) came on stage to talk about Prince, followed by blaring Prince music over the speakers by DJ Shannon Blowtorch.

Since it only took hours to announce the pop-up event, Tiny Deaths took the stage with her last-minute band (featuring drummer Kenyatta Jackson-Steele and singer Claire de Lune). Without any true soundcheck or prior practice, all the bands on the bill did a fairly good job covering some of Prince’s songs.

Dem Atlas

Other last-minute addition to the show was local Dem Atlas, followed by PaviElle, Sarah White, Cameron Kinghorn , Chastity Brown, and Lizzo (who said she flew into Minneapolis just to perform for us).

The Block Party ended at 11pm, and thousands of people tried to enter First Avenue’s mainroom - only to be turned away due to maximum occupancy.

DJs listed at the free Prince “All Night Dance Party” were Mike 2600, DJ Jake Rudh, Espada, and Dudley D. They played Prince all night until the morning.

The Party was also extended to Friday and Saturday, and reports from people on the scene was that it was just as successful (selling out at capacity) as Thursday’s night.

BONUS: Listen to our podcast W♥M250: Purple Rain - A Timeline of Prince's Final Days.

Tiny Deaths at Prince Block Party, Minneapolis (21 April 2016)

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

How to Dress Well at Triple Rock, Minneapolis (03 Sep 2014)

US Tour Dates 09/05/14 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar 09/06/14 Raleigh, NC @ Contemporary Art 09/08/14 Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West 09/09/14 Nashville, TN @ Exit In 09/11/14 Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar 09/12/14 Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club 09/13/14 Hamilton, ON @ Supercrawl 09/14/14 Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont 09/16/14 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 09/17/14 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza 09/19/14 Philadelphia, PA @ District N9NE 09/20/14 Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall 09/22/14 St. Louis, MO @ Luminary Center 09/24/14 Oxford, MS @ Proud Larry’s 09/25/14 New Orleans, LA @ Hi Ho Lounge 09/26-28/14 Dallas, TX @ INDEX Festival 09/27/14 Austin, TX @ Central Presbyterian 10/22/14 Glasgow, UK @ Stereo 10/23/14 Manchester, UK @ St. Philips Church 10/24/14 Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall 10/27/14 Brighton, UK @ The Dome Studio 10/28/14 London, UK @ Heaven 10/30/14 Pitchfork Paris 10/31/14 Brussels, Belgium @ AB Box 11/01/14 Utrecht @ Tivoli Vredenburg 11/04/14 Zurich, Switzerland @ Stall 6 11/05/14 Turin, Italy @ C2C Festival 11/06/14 Rome, Italy @ Circolo degli Artisti 11/11/14 Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret 11/12/14 Copenhagen, Denmark @ VEGA 11/14/14 Hamburg, Germany @ Uebel 11/15/14 Berlin, Germany @ Bang Bang Club 11/17/14 Warsaw, Poland @ Hybrydy 11/18/14 Poznan, Poland @ Eskulap 11/19/14 Prague, Czech Republic @ Futurum 11/20/14 Vienna, Austria @ Blue Bird Festival Read More How to Dress Well We've seen How to Dress Well (aka Tom Krell) a few times, at the Triple Rock Social Club in 2013 and 7th Street Entry in 2012. Krell will be back in Minneapolis this year in support of his latest album What Is This Heart. …

"We're a mid-level band from the Tweens," stated Tom Krell, otherwise known as his stagename, How to Dress Well, at the Triple Rock Social Club last night, September 3rd. Krell is currently on tour in support of his third album What Is This Heart? (out now on Weird World). The record got amazing positive reviews, mostly from the UK, who seem to understand Krell's haunting and emotional music.

tiny deaths

Opening up the show was tiny deaths, a local electropop band lead by singer/keyboardist Claire de Lune and producer/guitarist Grant Cutler. Songs sometime felt like drone to bass+drums to ambient to electro to soul ... so they were all over the place. Highlight of their show was a cover of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got A Hold On Me," thankfully their mic issues didn't kick in until near the end of their set.

Dressed in a plain t-shirt and long shorts, Tom Krell (How to Dress Well) isn't giving anyone advice on dressing up, but was here at the Triple Rock to entertain his fans.

How to Dress Well

I've seen Krell twice before, so I knew exactly what to expect: highly emotional songs, singing in darkness, and under a film projection of videos. I also knew he lived in Minneapolis for a time, but he opened up even more on stage last night. He tells us that he lived on Fourth and Fourth, near a McDonald's. He would eat there all the time, sometime four times a day! It's there that he started writing and using the name How to Dress Well.

New on this tour, at least from my recollection, is that they used candles on stage ... along with the often blurry videos and darkness, created a nice mood for listening to music.

More than half his set were dedicated to tracks from his latest album What Is This Heart?, including the introductory track, "A Power," set closer "Words I Don't Remember," and single encore song, "2 Years On (Shame Dream)." Again, these new songs were highly personal to Krell, and we can only speculate the real meaning behind these songs.

How to Dress Well's What Is This Heart? tour will end this September in the USA and continues to the highly anticipated UK tour in mid-October.

How to Dress Well at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (03 Sep 2014)

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