W♥M (Archive)

Minneapolis: July 29, 2015

Read More Ringo Deathstarr Ringo Deathstarr just announced their new EP called God's Dream, coming out March 25, 2014, on Neon Sigh / Noyes Records. Leading up to the release, expect the shoegazey …

Here are some concerts taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area on July 29, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

RINGO DEATHSTARR
at Turf Club
Wednesday, 07/29/2015, 7pm ($8)
turfclub.net

Austin trio Ringo Deathstarr (guitarist Elliott Frazier, bassist Alex Gehring, and drummer Daniel Coborn) will be back in the Twin Cities next week, July 29th. We first talked about them in 2011 when we discussed our guide to Shoegazing music.

As a special bonus, take a few hours and drive north to Duluth's Pizza Lucé for this 21+ event with The Keepaways.

Two local bands Vats and Brilliant Beast will open the Turf Club show.

Tour dates:

07/21 Small's Hamtramck, MI
07/22 This Ain't Hollywood Hamilton, Canada
07/23 Lee's Palace Toronto, Canada
07/26 The Empty Bottle Chicago, IL
07/29 Turf Club Saint Paul, MN
07/30 Pizza Lucé Duluth Duluth, MN
07/31 Riverwest Public House Milwaukee, WI

Read More Zella Day A dusky-voiced 20-year-old singer/songwriter from deep in the mountains of Arizona, Zella Day makes electro-charged, guitar-driven indie-pop that’s steeped in a magic of her own invention. …

ZELLA DAY
at 7th Street Entry
Wednesday, 07/29/2015, 7:30pm ($12)
first-avenue.com

Although young (she's 20 years old), Arizona's Zella Day has been writing and recording music since she was 14. Zella will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, next Wednesday, July 29th, in support of her latest album Kicker (Pinetop Records / Hollywood Records / Universal Music Australia).

Los Angeles-based electronic trio Lany (Paul Klein, Les Priest, and Jake Goss), to open the show.

Tour dates:

07/19/15 Sloss Music & Arts Festival
07/21/15 Houston, TX House Of Blues
07/22/15 Austin, TX Stubb's Bar-B-Q
07/23/15 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
07/25/15 96.5 The Buzz Beach Ball
07/29/15 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
07/30/15 Lollapalooza Aftershows
07/31/15 Live On King Street
08/01/15 Lollapalooza
09/11/15 Live On The Green
09/19/15 iHeartRadio Daytime Village

Read More Lee DeWyze While fellow American Idol winner Phillip Phillips was just down the street opening for John Mayer, Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze entertained with a 40 min. …

LEE DEWYZE
at Loring Pasta Bar
Wednesday, 07/29/2015, 9:15pm ($17)
varsitytheater.org

We previously caught singer/songerwriter Lee DeWyze with Toad the Wet Sprocket in 2013, which John wrote, "Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze entertained with a 40 min. opening set promoting his latest, Frames (Vanguard Records). New songs like ‘Silver Lining’ and ‘Fight’ were well received, and the audience was mostly receptive to his humble and honest songwriting."

DeWyze will be at the Loring Pasta Bar (right next to the Varsity Theater) next Wednesday, July 29th.

Tour dates:

07/23/15 The Woodlands, TX Dosey Doe
07/24/15 Dallas, TX The Prophet Bar
07/25/15 Little Rock, AR Juanita's Cantina Ballroom
07/27/15 Kansas City, MO The Record Bar
07/28/15 Omaha, NE Reverb Lounge
07/29/15 Minneapolis, MN Loring Pasta Bar
08/06/15 Corydon, IA Old Settlers Days
08/21/15 Richmond, VA Short Pump Town Center
08/23/15 Elon, NC Elon University
08/25/15 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
08/26/15 Fitchburg, WI True Coffee Roasters
08/27/15 Des Moines, IA Drake University
08/29/15 Palatine, IL Durty Nellie's
08/30/15 Spring Lake, MI Seven Steps Up
09/01/15 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
09/02/15 Cincinnati, OH Live at the Ludlow Garage
09/03/15 Indianapolis, IN Rathskeller

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

Toad the Wet Sprocket w/ Lee DeWyze - Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (11/23/13) concert review

Setlist The Moment Woodburning Good Intentions Crowing Windmills New Constellation Inside All I Want Dam Would Break Come Back Down Nightingale Song Crazy Life Rare Bird Is It For Me California Wasted Come Down Brother Fall Down -- Encore -- Something's Always Wrong I'll Bet on You Walk on the Ocean Tour Dates 12/07/13 "KFOG Concert For Kids" 01/29/14 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom 01/30/14 Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater 01/31/14 Salt Lake City, UT Depot 02/01/14 Stateline, NV Harrah's Lake Tahoe 02/05/14 Bend, OR Tower Theatre 02/06/14 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater 02/07/14 Spokane, WA Bing Crosby Theater 02/08/14 Seattle, WA Showbox 02/13/14 Boise, ID Knitting Factory 02/15/14 Napa, CA Uptown Theatre Napa Read More Toad the Wet Sprocket Toad the Wet Sprocket are in the middle of a tour in support of their Kickstarter-funded album New Constellation, which was released last month (October 15th).…

It’s been pretty good for Monty Python-related news of late. The classic comedy troupe just announced a London reunion (which sold out in 43 seconds, prompting four more added shows) and California alt-rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket just appeared at Minneapolis’ Mill City Nights, ending their 2013 tour with a toe-tapping 90 min. set.

The band, named after a Python “Rock Notes” skit, took fans both backwards and forwards, with generous samplings of both their 90’s-era radio hits, and selections from their latest and first in sixteen years, the Kickstarter-funded New Constellation, self-released on their own Abe’s Records label.

LEE DEWYZE

While fellow American Idol winner Phillip Phillips was just down the street opening for John Mayer, Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze entertained with a 40 min. opening set promoting his latest, Frames (Vanguard Records). New songs like ‘Silver Lining’ and ‘Fight’ were well received, and the audience was mostly receptive to his humble and honest songwriting.

Glen Phillips

“Nice to see you!”, Toad singer, the ageless Glen Phillips remarked just as the Divine Fits intro music faded and the band launched into new song, ‘The Moment’ to start their set. A familiar ‘Good Intentions’ got the mostly thirty-something crowd swaying, Phillips and bassist Dean Dinning harmonizing the chorus as if it were twenty years prior.

“This band wouldn’t be a band without Minneapolis”, Phillips mentioned, then related all the area bands off of the top of his head that he considered an influence, before cheekily asking Dinning if he knew the bassline to ‘When Doves Cry’. The band, rounded out by guitarist Todd Nichols and Randy Guss on drums, was more than ably assisted on stage by Jonathan Kingham playing keyboard, steel guitar, and mandolin.

TTWS’s songs have always blended a California sensibility with echoes of similar Brit and Aussie alt-pop that was also happening during their heyday (i.e. The La’s, Crowded House, etc.) but it’s maybe because they all came from a similar songwriting approach rather than were directly influenced, and the songs from New Constellation fit seamlessly alongside their older back catalogue.

Guitarist Nichols took over lead vocals for several tracks, including ‘Inside’ and ‘Crazy Life’ with deft Kingham organ playing, Nichols’ voice somewhat deeper and slightly rougher than Phillips, but no less melodic.

Phillips asked the crowd to sing along in three part melody (balcony, floor, and front) prefacing ‘All I Want’ and marveled at Minnesotans’ ability to dress for “10 degrees outside and 80 degrees inside”- “you have mad skills…or you’re standing on piles of coats!”, which prompted a collective laugh.

Somehow appropriate (though may have been more suitable during ‘Fall Down’), the band paused ‘Dam Would Break’ mid-song as he noticed a girl collapsing in the middle of the floor, only to pick it up again quickly as the boyfriend embarrassingly hustled his companion away briskly. Phillips playfully strummed the beginnings of The Replacements’ ‘Unsatisfied’ before giving up and instead going into the much-more familiar ‘Come Back Down’.

‘Nightingale Song’ was a crowd clap-a-long, prodded on by bassist Dinning keeping the collective time on tambourine. “Enough of love”, Phillips declared, “we’ll go back to boys and ladders”, finishing the new ‘Rare Bird’ and going into ‘Is It For Me’ from 1991’s Fear. A spirited ‘Fall Down’, from the band’s other platinum selling album, 1994’s Dulcinea, closed the main set with an energetic finish.

Setlist with Guitar Changes

The encore began with hit ‘Something’s Always Wrong’ followed by the new ‘I’ll Bet on You’ and ended with ‘Walk on the Ocean’, embellished by Kingham’s mandolin and whose choruses seemed to be sung in a lower key, but was no less entertaining.

Like a comfortable blanket or familiar book, Toad the Wet Sprocket returns to form, like they never left us as the 1990’s ended, less dark in theme now and more assured and relaxed in concert than before. For some in the audience, it was re-capturing the soundtrack of their glory years; for others, a welcome revisiting of the past with new beginnings and songs to make future memories with.

As the crowd filtered out to the outro music of Python’s ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’, what’s ahead for Toad the Wet Sprocket is only on the bright side once again.

Toad the Wet Sprocket at Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (11/23/13)

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ toadthewetsprocket.com