W♥M (Archive)

Site Update: Coronavirus

Read More SXSW SXSW 2015 is taking place March 17–22, 2015. We love this time of the year, as many bands heading down to Austin will likely stop in Minneapolis before or after the event. ....

As you are aware, the world is under a lockdown and practicing social distancing, because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In all my years of covering music and writing previews, I’ve never seen anything like this before. It started in early March 2020, when I started noticing touring bands were cancelling their appearances. I wasn’t that unusual to see bands bowing out of a tour, but there was high rate of it, within the short time line. Then we heard SXSW 2020 was cancelled on March 6th (their first-time cancellation ever), I knew we were in dire straits.

A week later, around March 15th, literally all bars and restaurants dining areas were asked to close (with exceptions to carry out dining). In a few short days, some stores and banking institutions were limiting their access to machine or internet or drive-through only.

I haven’t personally been downtown to see the evidence of empty streets and closed shops - but I’ve seen the news footage, and it’s a sad, sad sight.

Could life ever be sane again? We are hoping life will go back to normal next month, on April 15th, but if there are still deaths from COVID-19, the self-quarantine may go well into the Summer.

When things get back to normal, we will resume the concert previews and concert photos.

In the meantime, enjoy this old photo of a happier time with FFS.

FFS at First Avenue, Minneapolis (09 October 2015)

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

W♥M's Favorite 15 Shows of 2015

Read More Sleater-Kinney What are you doing on V-Day? If you're a Sleater-Kinney fan, you'll be at this sold out show. According to my bad memories and physical ticket stubs, I've seen Sleater-Kinney at least three times, and have expressed sadness ... The Decemberists Sure, their music is associated with hipsters and it's fair to assume singer Colin Meloy writes lyrics like he's from 1920, but The Decemberists are an unbelievably good band. … Belle & Sebastian Our favorite Scottish band Belle & Sebastian is releasing Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance tomorrow, January 20th, via Matador Records, their first new record since 2010's Write About Love. ... Sam Smith Sam Smith has sold out Madison Square Garden in NYC and The Forum in Los Angeles in minutes, with a second show in Los Angeles being added on January 29, 2015. The month-long .... Big Star Big Star is releasing some singles on Record Store Day. This is to coincide with the release of the documentary of Big Star called "Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me", which you can check out the … Blur After the release of The Magic Whip (first album since Think Tank was released in 2003), this world tour sees Blur play Australia (including the Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay) … Wizard World Minneapolis Wizard World Minneapolis officially began its pop culture weekend takeover last night, with a kickoff event held last night at the rotunda in the Mall of America. In addition to a trivia contest for … Violent Femmes Violent Femmes have announced details of their eagerly awaited new EP, HAPPY NEW YEAR. The four-track EP will be released April 18th, exclusively on 180 gram champagne clear vinyl … Go 96.3 We were really impressed with Go 96.3 FM's first Go Show #1 (featuring New Politics and Banks at Aria on Mar 2015). We were wondering how they can top that debut show … Festival Palomino We covered Trampled By Turtles' first ever Festival Palomino last year. It was such a great learning experience for us, and we had a great time... so much that it made it onto my top ten favorite shows from 2014 (out of … The 1975 Matt Healy, lead singer for Manchester UK band, The 1975, is a marked man. And this past weekend, he returned to the city where it all happened. … The Adicts The version Cristina loves is the Adicts' version. Song of the week is Adicts' "Falling in Love". ... FFS FFS - the unique collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks - have announced their first ever North American live dates. This once-in-a-lifetime tour .… Weezer Weezer's singer Rivers Cuomo brought out his dad, Frank Cuomo, and they play "Back to the Shack". One of the most touching things I have witness in my many years of watching Weezer shows. … Carole King Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is a musical on the life of songwriter Carole King, based on the biography written by Douglas McGrath. The musical has a residency at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis until the end of November. …

This year (2015), W♥M covered 346, which is an absolutely amazingly large number considering that we basically don't cover shows from December to February.

With so many shows, it's hard to just pick 15 shows to talk about... and I know there are a few that I feel bad about leaving off the list. I recommend looking over our list below and clicking on the shows you are most interested in reading and checking out for yourself.

With that said, here 15 favorite moments of 2015:

Sleater-Kinney at First Avenue
14 February 2015

This was my fourth time seeing Portland's Sleater-Kinney, and it was possibly my favorite. After "breaking up" in 2006, it was a bit of a surprise when they announced their reunion in October 2014 (with a new album No Cities to Love no less!). Of course, their entire 2015 North American show immediately sold out, but we were lucky enough to be there.... as were all the dedicated fans (who we haven't seen in quite a while).

We wrote, "I also wanted to mention that this wasn't just a SK reunion, but a reunion for all their fans. Personally speaking, I saw old friends I have not seen in nine years and it was all because SK came back to the music scene... so from the bottom of my heart, thank you Sleater-Kinney. "

The Decemberists at Northrop Auditorium
24 March 2015

Similar to Sleater-Kinney, beloved The Decemberists disappeared from the music scene in 2011. We caught singer Colin Meloy solo in 2013, and although he did play some Decemberists songs, it just didn't feel the same. When the opportunity to see them live, after they announced an unexpected new album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, we jumped on board on the sold out show.

Their encore, with a giant whale, was a delight: "...then was a direct hit to the gullet, with their other folky mega-epic, the bouncy ‘The Mariner’s Revenge Song’ which stretched some twenty minutes. People were prompted to scream at a certain part ¾ of the way into the song, and the reaction was not unwarranted as a large cut-out profile of a whale ambled on stage to slowly eat each of the band members in a row, to the crowd’s shrieking delight."

Belle & Sebastian at Enmore Theatre and Rock the Garden
29 January 2015/20 June 2015

My all-time favorite post-Britpop is Scottish band Belle & Sebastian. Although the band experienced some difficulties with their label (basically Jeepster Records didn't think they can grow beyond their cult-like status) and losing a few key band members (including sweet songstress Isobel Campbell), the band seemed to be in top form on this 2015 tour. They first hit the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, Australia, and eventually made their way to Minneapolis at Rock the Garden.

Personally speaking, as a diehard fan, I felt it wasn't their strongest performance in Minneapolis. They've been gone for 9 years from the city, and their song choices weren't what I wanted or expected. Still, despite all that, their two song finales were unfortgettable: "The two closing tracks, ‘The Boy With the Arab Strap’ and ‘I Didn't See It Coming’ were absolutely unforgettable. Murdoch walked on the front barrier and asked if anyone wanted to dance and encourage fans to come on stage. About thirty fans jumped to the stage and just had an absolute blast singing and dancing... and, yes, taking plenty of selfies."

Sam Smith at Roy Wilkins Auditorium
24 January 2015

We were lucky enough to have caught Sam Smith right before his road to stardom: winning six Grammy Awards (in Feb 2015) - including Record of the Year and Song of the Year - and Brit Award winner for British Breakthrough Act and Global Success.

We wrote, "With his career just starting (though he mentioned he’s had a manager since age 12) and a strong chance that he walks away with several Grammys next weekend, Sam Smith’s local debut was worth the wait, with likely several more appearances in the years ahead, to come."

Wizard World Minneapolis
01-03 May 2015

The second annual Wizard World Minneapolis was a whole lot of fun. Unlike 2014's show, this year they had a few musical acts in conjunction to the comic book/geek fandom show: Critical Hit and our favorite Japanese Superhero band Peelander-Z. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, the Peelander-Z show was cut short.

As we reported, "After just 25 minutes, the venue cut off the band's instruments!! Everyone in the audience and the band looked incredibly puzzled by the shutdown. The fans were screaming "One more song! One more song!" and Pink replied, "If only we could, but they won't let us play!"

Barenaked Ladies and Violent Femmes at Treasure Island
12 June 2015

After Brian Ritchie sued singer Gordon Gano in 2007, The Violent Femmes broke up. It was only recently (2015) that they reformed, so we were more than happy to make that long drive to Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing, Minnesota, to see them. Embarrassingly enough, I thought this was my first time seeing VF, until I was reminded by a friend of mine that we had seen them in early 2000 at First Avenue. Suddenly, the memories flooded back! I will confess that I have a terrible memory.

Anyway, seeing VF was such fun! Everyone in the audience were singing to every word (expect for the two new songs), but I will also mention that I LOVE Colin Hay (from Men At Work) and he was definitely the highlight of the Barenaked Ladies' set. BNL aren't bad either, they were surprisingly a very entertaining band.

We wrote, "Say what you will about Canada's Barenaked Ladies, but they are a great live band. All those years touring, singer Ed Robertson has developed an amazing ability to randomly improvise some raps and songs. My personal favorite was the "Ring Ding Ding for Red Wing" rap, it's clear to me that they just actually thought of it while randomly shouting out rhymes."

Go 96.3 Shows
13 March 2015/07 August 2015/03-04 December 2015

We were quite impressed with Go 96.3's very first show at Aria in early March 2015 (featuring New Politics and Banks). They spared no expenses, and it showed! They would later go on to book Go Fest 2015 (featuring Cold War Kids and Matt & Kim on 07 August 2015) and Go Snow Show (featuring Metric and Silversun Pickups on 03-04 December 2015). In fact, all the Go Shows are nothing less than spectacular. We speculate that they are possibly just losing money (thanks to their affordable pricing of "$9.63" or FREE), but we also think that getting their brand name out is well worth it.

We wrote, "So, with little Snow outside, but plenty Show inside, consider the inaugural Go96.3 Snow Show a success with the hope that this becomes a bigger and better holiday tradition, for years ahead. "

Blur in Sydney, Los Angeles, and New York
25 July 2015/20 October 2015/23 October 2015

Legendary Britpopster Blur is finally back in Australia, playing their first gig in 18 years in the country. The whole gang is back (including Graham Coxon), and we love the band so much, we travelled to Los Angeles and New York for Blur's final two US tour. It's hinted heavily that this was the band's final U.S.A. appearance. A sad reminder that for this megastar band in England... that they never really broke America.

We wrote, "I'll just say the show was bittersweet. Albarn plans to spend next year working on the band that did break the States, Gorillaz, and he has enough side projects to distract him from the band he first started out in. This may be their last concert in the country they couldn't break."

FFS (Franz Ferdinand and Sparks) at First Avenue
09 October 2015

FFS is the special project of Franz Ferdinand and Sparks. The two bands recorded an album and as expected with these type of one album-only tour, they basically played the entire album. As an added bonus, selective songs from their respective catalog was also played, including the wildly popular FF's song "Take Me Out" (the entire audience was bouncing and singing along to this number).

Of all the places the band could have chosen to play, they surprisingly added Minneapolis to their limited first-ever US tour... and it was well worth it for fans who showed up to catch this unique performance.

As we reported, "Both bands collaborated to produce some of the most interesting pop songs on the FFS album. It's smart, it's catchy, it's fun, and it's uniquely FFS. While I do not think there will be a sequel in the future, this was, by far, the most interesting team-up we've seen in a while."

Big Star's Third at First Avenue
20 September 2015

This is one of our favorite 2015 shows: Big Star's Third. Every show they do is different, mainly because they have different guests. With all these great guests, you would think they can easily screw up, but they were all surprisingly well-rehearsed and seemed to know their material and what they had to work with.

We concluded, "This show was such a massive pleasure to watch. Between a stage loaded with talent and music loaded with emotion, it was hard to walk away from this and not be inspired and heartened. Big Star created some of the most beautiful and timeless music of all time, the soundtrack to our lives. Stamey, Stringfellow and every single person who contributed to Wednesday night’s performance brought that soundtrack to life. "

The 1975 at First Avenue
10 December 2015

This was our third time seeing The 1975, fifth time if you count their two promotional appearance at Cities 97 and the Mall of America... and we called it long ago: This band is going to be massive! Not only have they sold out every appearance in the Twin Cities, but ahead of their sophomore album, they've already announced a date at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. We think it's going to sell out, which very few bands have managed such a feat. We'll wait and see. If you need further proof that the band has made it - after we saw them at First Avenue, there were bootleg T-Shirt vendors!

As reported, "From the show’s early sell out, to the stage production, and the crowd’s intense reaction to every song, it was clear right away that the band has outgrown its club confines and is destined for bigger things (something we predicted when we first saw them too)."

Festival Palomino 2015
September 2015

We felt that the inaugural Festival Palomino last year was nothing short of perfect... however, the organizers (First Avenue and Trampled by Turtles) improved on perfection! We love the new setup and, based on these two successful shows, we're pretty sure they will be hard at work on a great 2016 Festival Palomino.

We praised, "If local festivals were racehorses, Festival Palomino is best in show. Again.

The Trampled by Turtles-curated festival, held again in the inside greens of the horse racetrack at Canterbury Park in the southwest suburb of Shakopee, triumphed once more in its sophomore year, as a prime example of a highly enjoyable, expertly-run day of music. "

Rev Horton Heat & The Adicts at First Avenue
24 September 2015

This was an odd-pairing, but we were really excited about UK's The Adicts' very first Minneapolis show. They were just super-duper entertaining. The band clearly has their live show down to a T, incorporating various fun stage props, various costume changes, and choreographic dance routines. The only down side to these shows is that they are practically the same routine every night, so if this is your second or third time seeing them, it'll get old fast... but personally speaking, since it was their first Minneapolis show: we loved it.

Worth the price of admission: "If anything, The Adicts is one of the most entertaining bands touring right now. I've never seen so many stage prop used on stage, from pounds of confetti (used in streamers, umbrellas, hats, etc.) to Chinese take-out cartons (used for "Chinese Takeaway"), playing cards (used for "Joker in the Pack") to light-up plastic glass (used during "Who Spilt My Beer?") to various costume changes (hats, gloves, shirts) to beach balls, to stuffed monkeys (thrown into the audience). Although this may seem gimmicky, you can't ignore that this was a first-rate production and worth the price of admission. "

Weezer at Burgerama IV and Basilica Block Party
29 March 2015/10 July 2015

We're big fans of Weezer since 1994. Admittedly, the band's outgrown us, but we still have a soft spot for the nerdy band. Seeing them at Burgerama IV in Santa Ana was a treat, but because Rivers' dad came on stage to sing "Back to the Shack" with the band. We caught them again locally at Basilica Block Party, and it's probably our favorite Basilica show in recent memory.

The fans loved it, "As soon as the first few chords of ‘Hash Pipe’ were played, the audience immediately recognized it and started screaming and singing. Other big hits blocks included ‘Surf Wax America’, followed by ‘Island in the Sun’ with personalized "Minneapolis" lyrics, and ‘Beverly Hills’ (which did gangbuster in California, but surprisingly did really well in Minnesota as well)."

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
25 November 2015

This one is still fresh in my mind, so it's one of my favorite music event I've attended. I can probably count on my hand the few plays and musicals I've attended (The King and I, Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, etc.), but watching Beautiful: The Carole King Musical was simply just magical. The seamless set changes, the constant costume changes (and one great "quick change" costumes), the great singing and music playing... they were just flawless! It probably helped that they act the same scene night after night for the last 200+ shows, but it was still pretty amazing to witness live. I have told people that it is like watching a movie, only it's completely live.

We concluded, "If you're a fan of live musical, you definitely will want to attend a show. It is a lot of fun, and the musical numbers will bring back a lot of wonderful memories."

Below are links to all 346 shows we covered in 2015:

FFS (Franz Ferdinand + Sparks) at First Avenue, Minneapolis (09 October 2015)

FFS Setlist Johnny Delusional The Man Without A Tan Police Encounters Do You Want To↗ The Power Couple Little Guy From The Suburbs Save Me from Myself Things I Won't Get So Desu Ne The Number One Song in Heaven❇ Michael↗ This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us❇ Dictator's Son Take Me Out↗ Piss Off -- Encore -- When Do I Get to Sing "My Way"❇ Call Girl Collaborations Don't Work ↗ Franz Ferdinand songs ❇ Sparks song Tour Dates 10/11/15 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre 10/13/15 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Palladium 10/14/15 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory 10/15/15 Oakland, CA Fox Theater Read More FFS FFS - the unique collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks - have announced their first ever North American live dates. This once-in-a-lifetime tour .…

FFS, the unbelievable collaboration of Franz Ferdinand and Sparks, just played First Avenue in Minneapolis last Friday, October 9th. This was one of the very rare US appearance, the whole show was captured live by Yahoo Live (if you can get it to work).

DJ Jake Rudh played various 70s/80s music videos on screen while fans waited for the first band to go on stage. We've seen his playlist before, plenty of British-invasion favorites like David Bowie, The Buzzcocks, The Who, The Jam, etc.

The Intelligence

The Intelligence is from Seattle, lead by Lars Finberg (drummer of the A-Frames and Thee Oh Sees). Their 30-min set included a mix of their albums, including 2012's Everybody's Got It Easy But Me (In the Red Records). They were quirky, lo-fi, post-punk , and reminded me of the Fall, minus the monotonic vocal styling of Mark E Smith.

You can tell by the way they handled themselves on stage, that they've been around and have been making and playing live music for a long time.

We couldn't believe that FFS decided to add Minneapolis to one of their 11 North American tour dates. They've already played/headlined massive music festival (Glastonbury Festival), so seeing them at First Avenue was a much better experience than the crowded festival scene.

Although officially formed/announced on 9 March 2015, the two bands have been recording and collaborating on and off since mid-2000s. The record came out in June 2015, and in August announced their North American tour.

While we expected the band to play their entire self-titled debut album, we were surprised to see that they decided to throw in a few Sparks ("The Number One Song in Heaven", "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", and "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'") and Franz Ferdinand ("Do You Want To", "Michael", and "Take Me Out") songs.

The two Sparks brothers Ron and Russell Mael, clearly stood out. Russell was singing and dancing and very animated compared to his brother Ron, who is expressionless and remained quietly behind the keyboard ... that is until "The Number One Song in Heaven", which had Ron take center stage, loosen his tie, and then proceeded to do a 50s style dance.

FF's Alex Kapranos and Spark's Russell Mael handled most of the singing, so I was surprised to see guitarist Nick McCarthy take lead vocals for "Things I Won't Get".

Based on the strong reactions to the Franz Ferdinand songs (particularly for "Do You Want To" and "Take Me Out"), it's clear to me that the majority of fans were familiar with FF's pop/rock songs. Sparks, on the other hand, has always been on the weird / quirky / experimental side that appeal to a smaller, niche audience.

Both bands collaborated to produce some of the most interesting pop songs on the FFS album. It's smart, it's catchy, it's fun, and it's uniquely FFS. While I do not think there will be a sequel in the future, this was, by far, the most interesting team-up we've seen in a while.

FFS' self-titled debut album is available now via Domino.

FFS at First Avenue, Minneapolis (09 October 2015)

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

Rocktober: October 9, 2015

Read More FFS FFS - the unique collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks - have announced their first ever North American live dates. This once-in-a-lifetime tour .… Franz Ferdinand As I have suspected, Franz Ferdinand will be on a bigger tour in support of their new album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, which comes out next week (August 27th) on Domino Records.… Sparks Sparks are a new wave/glam band from Los Angeles, lead by two brothers: Ron and Russell Mael. The Los Angeles duo influenced everyone from Nirvana to New Order to They Might Be Giants. .…

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on October 9, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

FFS
at First Avenue
Friday, 10/09/2015, 8pm ($35)
first-avenue.com

What happens when you take the pop/dance rock of Franz Ferdinand and combine them with the quirkiness of Sparks? You get FFS.

We never thought we'd see these two unique bands together, but they've added Minneapolis as one of their 11 North American tour dates! Think about this: they've already played/headlined massive music festival (Glastonbury Festival), so seeing them at First Avenue will be a lot more personal and up close!

Los Angeles' The Intelligence and DJ Jake Rudh to open.

FFS' self-titled debut album is available now via Domino. The album was recorded at London's RAK Studios in London and produced by Grammy-award winner John Congleton (St Vincent, David Byrne, Anna Calvi).

FFS Tour Dates

Oct 3 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
Oct 5 Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theater
Oct 6 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
Oct 8 Chicago, IL @ Rivera
Oct 9 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Oct 11 Denver, CO @ The Ogden
Oct 13 Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium
Oct 14 Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
Oct 15 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre

Read More The Joy Formidable It's been a while since I mentioned Wales' The Joy Formidable. Their sophomore album, Wolf's Law was released today (Jan 22nd) via Canvasback Music / Atlantic Records. .…

JOY FORMIDABLE
at Turf Club
Friday, 10/09/2015, 8pm ($3)
turfclub.net

This is the best deal in town: if you RSVP, you get in the door for $3, plus you get a free Red Bull (basically you're paying for the drink and getting the show for free). This is a wonderful deal, the last time they were in town as headliner at First Avenue, the tickets were about $20.

The reason for the reduced pricing is because this show is sponsored by Red Bull Sound Select, who is picking up most of the tab in exchange for promoting the Red Bull brand and awareness.

We've been talking about the Welsh band/London-based The Joy Formidable since 2008, and was thrilled about their EP A Balloon Called Moaning.

Murder Shoes and Verskotzi to open.

Tour dates:

09 Oct 2015 Turf Club, St Paul, MN
15 Oct 2015 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY
16 Oct 2015 Cargo, Reno, NV
30 Oct 2015 City Park, New Orleans, LA
31 Oct 2015 City Park, New Orleans, LA
01 Nov 2015 City Park, New Orleans, LA
12 Nov 2015 Masonic Lodge, Los Angeles
14 Nov 2015 San Diego Music Thing
21 Nov 2015 Gundlach Bundschu Winery

Read More Lewis Black I have been aware of Lewis Black since the early 2000's. Lewis Black is an interesting stand-up comedian. He's not the type of comedian that has set ups and punchlines. He is the type more .…

VARIOUS ARTISTS
at Various Venues
Friday, 10/09/2015

As usual, there are too many shows in the area for Rocktober.

Here are some shows we are not covering, but I felt they were important enough to mention:

Get Your Gear in Rear: Classic Rock Night at Varsity Theater. Classic rock covers by The G Men, Mars Attrax, and Black Sabbath the Resurrection, to benefit the Colon Cancer Coalition. (7pm/$10)

Merge Records' Titus Andronicus sold out show at Triple Rock Social Club. Spider Bags and Baked to open. (8pm/$15/Sold Out)

Latin urban artist J Balvin will be at Myth Live, Becky G to open (8pm/$29.50)

Alternative tattooed/piercing sexy SuicideGirls to return to Minneapolis at Mill City Nights (8pm/$25)

Country/Americana singer Hayes Carll will be in town with Aubrie Sellers at Cedar Cultural Center (7pm/$20)

Vancouver's Bob Moses is headlining the 7th Street Entry, with Desert Colony Sound to open (8pm/$12)

Gwar will be at Cabooze (6pm/$25)

Ranty Lewis Black will make an appearance at The State Theatre (7pm/$39.50). Look, the man's just angry all the time.

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