British singer Kate Bush is at the start of her Before the Dawn residency at Hammersmith Apollo in London. This is her first live performance since her The Tour of Life in 1979, so it's no surprise that within minutes of the announcement
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This is the Christmas Edition with John and Vu.
News:
Band Aid 30 has the #1 Christmas single in the UK for their remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", featuring
One Direction, Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Bono, Sam Smith, Rita Ora, Emeli Sande, Paloma Faith, Sinead O’Connor, Chris Martin and Seal (with Bono being the only singer from the original to take part).
U2 (minus Bono) celebrated World AIDS Day 2014 with a full concert with Chris Martin and Bruce Springsteen.
Christmas time:
Ella Fitzgerald's Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas (1960).
Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector (1963), featuring Darlene Love, The Ronettes, The Crystals, etc.
Song of the show is Kate Bush's "December Will Be Magic Again", is a one-off single released in the U.K. in November 1980.
BONUS:
Original Christmas songs, in recent memory, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" (as recently covered by Fifth Harmony) and Wham!'s "Last Christmas" (as covered by Ariana Grande).
T.Rex's "Christmas Bop" is still a favorite.
Morrissey has a bad reputation for canceling shows.
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Kate Bush for her return to the live stage. Song of the show is Bush's "Cloudbusting" from her 1985 album Hounds of Love. …
British singer Kate Bush is at the start of her Before the Dawn residency at Hammersmith Apollo in London. This is her first live performance since her The Tour of Life in 1979, so it's no surprise that within minutes of the announcement, that all tickets to her new 2014 Before the Dawn shows were sold out.
Dan flew to England for this once-in-a-lifetime show, and he sent in this report.
Kate Bush at Eventim Apollo, London
Courtesy of Kate Bush
No photographs were taken, per Kate Bush's request, and I will say all abided by her wishes. She did release pictures to the media.
It was amazing that as large the venue was, that no one talked at all during the show. She had the whole place eating out of the palm of her hand.
As for the show, it is comprised of 6 songs, then "The Ninth Wave" suite for the first half. Second set is the suite from the Ariel LP, then two songs. Set lists are the same night to night.
Her voice sounded great. The band is amazing David Rhodes from Peter Gabriel's band, Omar Hakim on drums, John Giblin on bass (played in Simple Minds for a period of time). Nano V on percussion - I can't spell his last name without completely butchering it. They just rocked, and from where we were sitting, dead center in the balcony, we could hear every nuance in what they played.
I should mention her son Bertie is in the show and actually sings one of the songs in the Ariel suite. Credit to the kid to do so, and also encourage Kate to do the show.
Highlights for me included "King of the Mountain" - I actually had goosebumps, and that doesn't happen often at a show. "Joannie," which was a surprise, as the song isn't one of my favorites. The end of the Ariel suite, she lets David Rhodes just rock out and they have a dance of sorts that just builds and builds to the end. Lastly, "Cloudbusting" is a great way to finish with the whole place singing the chorus.
Never thought I would ever see her, and to get to go twice in a week is a great way to check one off from my bucket list.
The other thing that has gotten a lot of attention on her forums is the merchandise. She is selling tons and people are standing in line for 30+ minutes to do so.
Sounds like she made a sweet deal with God.
Kate Bush's last residency date at the Apollo is on October 1st, 2014.
Highlight of the set was a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", which was quite fitting considering that it was Bush's birthday last night. …
Is the Summer really over? Wow, that was fast! One of the highlight of the Summer was Paul McCartney at Target Center, who played nearly three hours of music. But was the past... Vu and John look forward to "Something Fall-ish", music shows in the Twin Cities in the next two months.
As you can see below, there are a lot of great shows coming up. We only highlight just some of these artists on the podcast (for time reasons), but we encourage you to check out any of these bands.
For the month of September, we touched on Bob Mould (a surprise last minute show on August 31st), The Replacements, Lykke Li, La Roux, Paul Weller, Buzzcocks, and Festival Palomino.
09/09/14 Glass Animals - Cedar Cultural Center
09/10/14 Paul Weller - Varsity Theater
09/11/14 Buzzcocks - Varsity Theater
09/13/14 Replacements - Midway Stadium
09/14/14 Die Antwoord - Myth
09/14/14 Flaming Lips - First Avenue
09/15/14 The Bots - Nether Bar
09/15/14 Ed Sheeran - Target Center
09/18/14 Lee Fields - Cedar Cultural Center
09/19/14 Royal Blood - Mill City Nights
09/20/14 "Festival Palomino" - Canterbury Park
09/20/14 Nick Waterhouse - Turf Club
09/20/14 Sir Sly - Triple Rock Social Club
09/21/14 Living Colour - Dakota Jazz Club
09/21/14 Meiko - Varsity Theater
09/24/14 DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist - Skyway
09/25/14 Brett Dennen - Fine Line Music Cafe
09/27/14 Future Islands - Skyway Theatre
09/28/14 Lykke Li - First Avenue
09/29/14 Benjamin Booker - Turf Club
09/29/14 La Roux - First Avenue
09/30/14 Australian Pink Floyd Show - Orpheum
For the month of October, we talked about Lily Allen, Paloma Faith, Kooks, Bastille, Augustines, and Banks.
10/01/14 Lily Allen - Skyway Theatre
10/01/14 Phantogram - Myth
10/02/14 Paloma Faith - Triple Rock Social Club
10/04/14 Coheed and Cambria - Skyway Theatre
10/04/14 The Kooks - First Avenue
10/08/14 Banks - First Avenue
10/09/14 Surfer Blood - Turf Club
10/09/14 Jungle - First Avenue
10/10/14 Sponge - Amsterdam Bar
10/11/14 Augustines - Turf Club
10/11/14 Afghan Whigs - First Avenue
10/11/14 Steve Aoki - Zombie Pub Crawl
10/13/14 Ryan Adams - Northrop Auditorium
10/13/14 Rachael Yamagata - Varsity Theater
10/14/14 David Gray - Northrop Auditorium
10/15/14 The Gaslight Anthem - First Avenue
10/17/14 Betty Who - Fine Line Music Cafe
10/17/14 Iggy Azalea - TCF Bank Stadium
10/17/14 Rural Alberta Advantage - First Avenue
10/17/14 Sondre Lerche - Turf Club
10/19/14 Bastille - Roy Wilkins Auditorium
10/19/14 Pearl Jam - Xcel Energy Center
10/22/14 Boy & Bear - Varsity Theater
10/22/14 Dum Dum Girls - Fine Line Music Cafe
10/24/14 The Black Keys - Target Center
10/26/14 Kodaline - Varsity Theater
10/30/14 Kimbra - Fine Line Music Cafe
10/31/14 Alt-J - Myth
Fall 2014 looks great... and speaking of, The Fall is back with a new live album Live: Uurop VIII-XII Places in Sun & Winter, Son (out October 2014 on Cherry Red), and Kate Bush for her return to the live stage. Song of the show is Bush's "Cloudbusting" from her 1985 album Hounds of Love.
BONUS: Why Vu doesn't do too many album review (God Help the Girl Soundtrack).
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07/31 Iowa City, IA - Trumpet Blossom Cafe
08/01 Chicago, IL - Hideout
08/04 Toronto, ON - The Garrison
08/05 Montreal, QB - Casa del Popolo
08/06 Allston, MA - Great Scott
08/07 Washington DC - DC9
08/09 New York, Ny - Mercury Lounge (early show)
08/10 Brooklyn, NY -Baby's All Right
10/08 Detroit - Loving Touch *
10/09 Columbus - Wexner *
10/13 Iowa City - Gabe's Oasis *
10/14 Champaign - High Dive *
10/15 St. Louis - Luminary Arts *
10/17 Dallas - Kessler Theatre *
10/18 Austin - Mohawk *
10/20 Atlanta - EARL *
10/21 Asheville - Grey Eagle *
10/23 Carrboro - Cat's Cradle *
10/24 Charlottesville - Jefferson *
10/25 Baltimore - Ottobar *
New Zealand singer-songwriter Tiny Ruins, aka Hollie Fullbrook, is currently touring North America. Her latest album Brightly Painted One is out now on Flying Nun Records. …
The "band" was the Anonymous Choir, a large cast of women backup singer lead by Nona Marie (Dark Dark Dark). The music portion was provided by the Ventures Cover Band, plus two additional horn players who came on later …
Next was Zoo Animal, a band that I've seen a few times. Mostly with just Holly Newsom by herself, so it's always nice to see her backed up with a full functioning band. …
New Zealand's Tiny Ruins is currently touring in the U.S., promoting their second album Brightly Painted One (Flying Nun Records), stopping by the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis last night, July 30.
Holly Hansen
Opening up the show were two local bands; starting with Holly Newsom, now performing under her original name, Holly Hansen. The new/old name confused a few fans, even one person insisted that First Avenue had the wrong person on the bill, as they swear that Holly Hansen and Holly Newsom were two different people. One thing was for sure was that she's still normally in a full band called Zoo Animal.
Hansen played gentle quiet songs, and often had one-way chats with the audience between her songs. She had some funny moments on stage, like forgetting how to play a chord mid-song, and gracefully calling the show as "a night of sweethearts" (which to be fair, was a quote that she stole from her mother, who was in the crowd).
Anonymous Choir
Next up were Anonymous Choir, who we previously wrote that the band was lead by singer Nona Marie from Dark Dark Dark. Color me impressed, they managed to fit all seven women on the tiny 7th Street Entry stage.
Music on their set included plenty of Leonard Cohen ("Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "I'm Your Man", "Chelsea Hotel") and
Neil Young ("After The Gold Rush", "I Believe In You", and "Don't Let It Bring You Down"). Throwing in a Curtis Mayfield cover of "I've Been Trying" for good measure. Highlight of the set was a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", which was quite fitting considering that it was Bush's birthday last night.
As for Tiny Ruins, this was a solo project originally from 2009 by singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook. Currently, with the release of the sophomore album Brightly Painted One, she's recruited bassist Cass Basil and drummer Alexander Freer, to head out on tour with her in the USA.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that the majority of songs on the setlist is from Brightly Painted One, possibly because the new songs now require Basil and Freer's involvement...
Fullbrook had a lot of little stories about her songs, which you quickly realized that all her songs are personal insight on her life. One particular story she told was for "Ballad of the Hanging Parcel". Although she's currently based in New Zealand, she spent her first ten years living in Bristol, England. One night, she climbed out her house and tied a string to a rock (?) and hung it over the garden step. The next morning her neighbor friend wondered how it got up there and Fullbrook suggested that it was magic. The swinging rock remained there for the next two years.
The highlight of the Minneapolis show has got to be "Jamie Blue", which the band claimed was the first time they played it live on this tour. The story behind this was they spent the night at the Necropolis in Glasgow and Fullbrook took a shining to one of the painting from the 1800s, which she named Jaime Blue on account that the town crier also sold blue buttons on the side of the road.
Setlist
Also, "Night Owl" was listed (see photo), but I do not believe they played this song, at least according to my notes.
For the encore, Fullbrook came back on stage, solo. She asked if there were any requests and had to turn down some songs because some of those songs required a piano. When she heard "Priest With Balloons" shouted out, she quickly said, "I'll do that one." She then tells us the story behind the song, "About four or five years ago, there was a Brazilian priest Carli, who jumped off a cliff with a bunch of helium balloons and floated off into the sky." The truth, as it turned out, "was not good."
Tiny Ruins is currently touring in support of Brightly Painted One. Exciting news is that they will be opening up for Sharon Van Etten this October.
Tiny Ruins at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (30 July 2014)
05.16 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room
05.17 - Lawrence, KS - The Granada
05.18 - St, Louis, MO - Old Rock House
05.20 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
05.21 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
Wye Oak will be returning in 2014 with a brand new yet-untitled album from Merge Records, the follow-up to their 2011's Civilian.
Singer Jenn Wasner talked to Spin Magazine about the new album…
Los Angeles' Islands is releasing Ski Mask this September 17th on Manqué Music. In addition to the new record, the band also announced a string of headlining tour dates in North America this fall. …
Wye Oak is currently on tour in support of their latest album Shriek, which came out earlier this month via Merge Records.
The duo stopped by the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis last night, May 15th.
Opening up for the band was Montreal-based Braids (not to be confused with Braid). I've previously written about both bands, with Braids as "not" Velocity Girl.
Braids
Braids unveiled their brand new PA system for their show at the Fine Line Music Café, their first time playing a different venue other than the 7th Street Entry. After playing the first song, singer Raphelle Standell-Preston asked for the venue to quickly turn off the smoke machine because it was causing her to have an asthma attack. Near the end of their set, Braids decided to play a brand new song, written and inspired by their time they spent in the Arizona desert.
Braids ended their set with "In Kind," from their latest album Flourish//Perish, out now on Arbutus Records.
Wye Oak
Wye Oak (Andy Stack on drums and guitarist/singer Jenn Wasner) warned us that they were going to play their new record Shriek live, kicking off with "Before." As promised, all the songs from Shriek, with the exception of "Paradise," were played. Making up the rest of their set were some fan favorites from their previous album Civilian.
"We've been playing this song every night, hoping it'll be Summer," Wasner said before they played "Hot As Day", adding that she "didn't bring a coat on this tour," much to her regret that Minneapolis' weather was still quite chilly for May.
Wasner would later thanked the audience for showing up to support the duo. "Performing is difficult, and there were times when I thought it might not happen again. We don't take any of this for granted. The fact that you are here, it really means that much to us." She then tells us like it is, that they were going to play two more songs before they leave the stage and then come back for the encore.
Speaking of which, the encore songs were the highlight of their set. They came back and covered Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" followed by the title track from Civilian.
Wye Oak at Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (15 May 2014)
Brooklyn's Falcon released their debut album, Disappeared, on May 17th, and you can preview a free track of "Say Goodbye" at bandcamp.com (or you can also check out the Star Wars video on youtube). As you can hear, it's a pretty rock-out-loud song.
I should also mention the name 'falcon' might be kind of hard for people to find them. Just so we're clear, the name is a tribute to band members, Neil Rosen and Shannon Ferguson, school classmate, Jared Falcon. He is currently institutionalized and left music writing behind, but Rosen and Ferguson worked on Falcon's cassette demos, found in a storage locker in 1988.
It's not clear if their debut album features all or some of Jared Falcon's songs, I know it does feature original songs by Neil Rosen, who said had this to say about Disappeared:
"It is a brief and moody record, I was inspired to write the songs for this record after seeing the Sean Penn film Into the Wild. During this time I was also expecting my first child. There is a side of me that loves nature and solitude. The idea of vanishing from NYC and my responsibilities was an alluring temptation to me at the time."
PS, be on the lookout for Falcon to compose the soundtrack to Daniel Wallace's book O' Great Rosenfeld.
Red Sparowes took their name from the old Middle English spelling of sparrow. Red Sparowes are rockish band from Los Angeles, and have been around since the early 2000's. Their last album, released last year, is called The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer, and they are heading out on tour:
06/24 Los Angeles, CA @ Eagle Rock Center for the Arts **
06/29 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah **
07/12 Cologne, Germany @ Gebaude 9
07/13 Hamburg, Germany @ Hafenklang
07/14 Hultsfred, Sweden @ Hultsfredsfestivalen
07/15 Joensuu, Finland @ Ilosaarirock Festival
07/19 Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol ^
07/20 Vienna, Austria @ Szene ^
** with Coliseum, Aeges
^ with Mono
Can't believe they are sharing the stage with Morrissey, Primal Scream, and Suede in Hultsfredsfestivalen, Sweden! That's a ticket worth selling your kidney for.
Self-described as "make-out music", this 7-piece ensemble from Omaha, Nebraska, is hitting the road after their Kickstarter Project got funded. They exceeded their goal of $1,200 to rent a van and for gasoline/food/shelter. It's actually a pretty humbling amount, so if you can make it to a show, these are the dates I'm given:
6/25 Red Sky pre-festival showcase (venue TBA), Omaha NE
6/26 Big V's, St Paul MN
6/27 Elbo Room, Chicago IL
6/28 Wilbert's, Cleveland OH
6/29 Labyrinth, Jamestown NY
6/30 Hennessey's Hooley House, Boston MA
7/1 Pianos, New York NY
7/2 National Underground, New York NY
7/3 TBA, Philadelphia PA
7/5 TBA, Washington DC
7/6 Elliott's Revue, Winston-Salem NC
7/7 Rye Bar, Athens GA
7/8 TBA, Nashville TN
7/9 TBA, St. Louis MO
I live in Minneapolis, but I've never heard of "Big V's", so I had to look it up. As it turns out, the official name is quite confusing, it's listed as "Christensen's Big V Saloon Bar" and it's actually in St Paul (I have changed the city information above), it's right next to the Turf Club. I'm sure St Paul's locals are well aware of the name.
As a cover lover myself, I'm happy to see that Brooklyn's Chiara Angelicola, aka Bird Call, have just released her covers EP, Other Creatures, out now on FHC Records.
I don't have the EP, but she covers some established acts like Nick Cave, Kate Bush, Beck, and Fleetwood Mac, but interestingly enough, also Man Man made it onto her seven-track EP. But that's not to say all she does are covers, in fact, she recently won
a Performance category on the International Songwriters Competition with her original song, "Waltz In The Snow".
Other Creatures was recently featured on iTunes' Home Page, and also, you can grab "Doo Right" as a free download on her website.
Hear Kate Bush's "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" on Soundcloud.
Just quickly that Kid Congo Powers & The Pinky Monkey Birds are on tour:
06/17 - Bellingham, WA, Shakedown
06/18 - Seattle, WA, Crocodile Cafe*
06/19 - Portland, OR, East End^
06/21 - Santa Cruz, CA, Crepe Place!
06/22 - San Francisco, CA, Rickshaw!
06/23 - Anaheim, CA, Juke Joint
06/24 - Los Angeles, CA, Echoplex $
06/25 - San Diego, CA, Casbah %
* = w/ The Intelligence
^ = w/ Cat Fancy, ! = w/ NON! $ = w/ The Middle Class % = w/ Holly Golightly
I've previously reviewed their Two Matchsticks album, but I wanted to pass along that you can listen to the whole album on hypem.com. Also, download a special three songs Two Matchsticks Pre-Release EP at consequenceofsound.net (which includes covers of Hall & Oates' "Maneater" and Kenny Rogers' "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town.").
Released last month, Two Wounded Birds' double A-Side, All We Wanna Do/Midnight Wave, are on limited 7" vinyl and digital download on Moshi Moshi Records.
Fri 11/22/2019 • Charlie Parr at Cedar • Kikagaku Moyo at Turf Club • Summer Walker at Myth
• Dreamers at Amsterdam Bar
• Marcus King at Varsity Theater
• Ronnie Milsap at Medina
• Yelawolf at Skyway
Sat 11/23/2019 • Sound+Vision at Valley Creek Mall • Cory Branan at Aster Cafe • Booker T. Jones at Medina
• Whiskey Myers at Myth
• "On A Winter's Night" at Cedar
• Schoolboy Q at Armory
• Chris Janson at Treasure Island
• In Flames at Cabooze
• Sloan at 7th St
• BoDeans at Sheldon
• Yotto at Skyway
Sun 11/24/2019 • Hobo Johnson at First Ave • Third Eye Blind at Myth
• Helmet at Varsity
• Iron Kingdom at Club Underground
Sun 12/01/2019 • Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall
Mon 12/02/2019 •
Cautious Clay at
Fine Line
Tue 12/03/2019 • Cat Clyde at 7th St
• Brockhampton at Armory
• CeeLo Green at Ames
Wed 12/04/2019 • Vintage Trouble at Amsterdam Bar
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Ames
• As I Lay Dying at Varsity
Thu 12/05/2019 • Emarosa at 7th St
Fri 12/06/2019 • Waterparks at Varsity
• Michael W. Smith at Target
• The Motet at First Ave
Sat 12/07/2019 • Jim Brickman at Pantages
• Deadmau5 at Armory
• J.S. Ondara at First Ave
• Lorie Line at Ames
• Steepwater Band at Ballentine VFW
• Morbid Angel at Fine Line
• Sunny Sweeney at Cabooze
• Tiffany at Varsity
Sun 12/08/2019 • Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall
Mon 12/09/2019 • 5 Seconds Of Summer at Xcel
Wed 12/11/2019 •
Merkules at
Cabooze
•
Batushka at
Skyway
Thu 12/12/2019 •
Mariachi Reyna at
Dakota
•
The Blenders
Pantages
•
Morgan Evans at
Varsity
Fri 12/13/2019 • Blenders at
Pantages
•
Low at
Fitzgerald
Sat 12/14/2019 • Joy Formidable at
Fine Line
•
Glitterer at
Garage
•
311 at
Armory
• Blenders at
Pantages
•
David Archuleta at
Cedar
•
Hot Tuna at
Fitzgerald
Sun 12/15/2019
• Blenders at
Pantages
Tue 12/17/2019
•
Tonic Sol-fa at
Ames
Wed 12/18/2019 •
Marc Roberge at
Varsity
•
Sounds of Blackness at
Pantages
Sat 12/21/2019 •
Diamond Rio at
Treasure Island
Sat 12/21/2019 • Fixx at Cedar
• BoDeans at
Dakota
)
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