Johnnyswim at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04 Aug 2014)

Setlist Falling for Me Don't Let It Get You Down You & I A Million Years Trouble Adelina Pay Dearly Live While We're Young La Vie En Rose (Édith Piaf cover) Take the World Diamonds Home (with snippet of Johnny and June Cash's "Jackson") Heart Beats (with snippet of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)") -- Encore -- Annie (with snippet of Britney Spears' "Till the World Ends") Tour Dates 08/16/14 Schwenksville, PA Old Pool Farm 08/20/14 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live! 08/22/14 Chattanooga, TN Miller Plaza 09/06/14 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center 10/04/14 Austin, TX Zilker Park 10/11/14 Austin, TX Zilker Park Read More Johnnyswim Nashville (by-way-of-L.A.) folk/soul/blues/pop duo, who also happens to be married, Johnnyswim followed with the longest set of the evening. .…

"It's not like we're keeping track, but so far Minneapolis is winning!" declared Abner Ramirez, one half of folk duo Johnnyswim at their Varsity Theater show in Minneapolis last night, August 4th.

Britten Newbill

Opening up the show was their friend Britten Newbill, who kicked off his set with "She". You can tell that he certainly knows how to work the crowd with his brief 30 minute set, first noting the large crowd with, "So this is Minneapolis on a Monday night?" and again "Minneapolis definitely doesn't have the case of the Mondays!" Later in the middle of his set, he said that his song, "Wild Flower" was inspired by our city and dedicated the song to Minneapolis.

My personal highlight for his show was a snippet of Divinyls' "I Touch Myself" and Aaliyah's "One In A Million" in his set finale... however those songs might be lost on a younger generation of music fans.

Johnnyswim

We last saw Johnnyswim, the duo consisting of Donna Summer's daughter Amanda Sudano and singer/songwriter Abner Ramirez, at the Varsity Theater earlier this year, prior to their debut album. We wrote that you should "expect the mounting buzz ... and even more exposure as the album breaks in late April."

Now that the debut album Diamonds is out, and just premiered on VH-1's "Top 20 Countdown" as well as CMT's "Pure Country", #1 on iTunes Singer-Songwriter Chart, #10 overall, and top 30 on the Billboard 200 Chart, it's safe to say that Johnnyswim have finally made it.

This is a big deal, as explained by Ramirez on stage, he grew up in a small town and dreamt being a musician as an occupation. His friends tried to discourage him, and in fact, one of his friend, Adam, gave Ramirez a quarter so he can call him when Ramirez will find himself "homeless" and looking for help. When Johnnyswim found themselves on the Tonight Show last year, and his friend saw them on national television... guess who called who? With that triumph, they wrote their "suck-it" title track song "Diamonds".

Many of Johnnyswim's songs are stories of their lives and their relationship. You get a glimpse into their love life ("Falling for Me") or family matter ("Adelina", a song about Ramirez's mother and ending with lyrics sung in Spanish.)

Johnnyswim were pretty funny too. When they announced that, "Three months ago, we had our first baby." Everyone looked perplexed, after all Amanda Sudano looked amazing for someone who just gave birth. Then the punchline came, "Not a human baby, it's our new album! We got 67 songs we're going to play, I hope you don't mind."

By the time "Home" was played, they brought back Britten Newbill on stage, who help closed out the rest of their set.

Johnnyswim's Diamonds is out now via Big Picnic Records.

Johnnyswim at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04 August 2014)

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