W♥M (Archive)

Mekaal Hasan Band at the Cedar, Minneapolis (26 Aug 2015)

poster Setlist Sanwal Chaap Tilak Sayon Bandeya Chu Kunum Ghunghat Dilamoar Asthqui Andholan Para Para Nami Danum Ranjha Ya Ali Mahi Read More Mekaal Hasan Guitarist Mekaal Hasan is bringing his Indo-Pakistani band Mekaal Hasan Band to the Cedar Cultural Center next Wednesday, August 26th. If you like world music, you definitely need ....

India/Pakistan band Mekaal Hasan Band (Mekaal Hasan on guitars, Mohammad Ahsan Papu on flutes, Ibrahim "best looking drummer in Pakistan" Akram on drums, Amir Azhar on bass, and Sharmistha Chatterjee on lead vocals) recently made a rare appearance at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis last night.

What is unique about Mekaal Hasan Band is that they have members from Pakistan and India, and they play something called sufi rock (a fusion of rock music with Pakistani classical music). Their songs are sung in either Farsi or Punjabi.

As described by band leader Mekaal Hasan, they have released three albums, with their early materials were too "dense and cerebral". What he is referring to is the more jazz rock style on "Bandeya", with emphasis later in the song with some really heavy bass.

Their later songs, particularly on their latest Andholan and untitled upcoming record, their music is more up-tempo and more "groovy" as Hasan puts it.

Setlist

As previously described, the Pakistani style really shines through with various flutes by Mohammad Ahsan Papu and Sharmistha Chatterjee's traditional Pakistani singing style. However, the guitar-driven and drumming puts the music in a different direction... sometime sounding like something you would hear on a Metallica song, but with crazy Bollywood vocals. It's trippy and psychedelic - especially when the band played their epic set closer "Ya Ali" medley into "Mahi" with flickering color-changing lights at the end.

Mekaal Hasan Band's Lux Style Awards-nominated album Andholan is out now.

Remaining tour dates:

Aug 30 - New York, NY - Joe's Pub
Sep 5 - Los Angeles, CA -The Markaz

Mekaal Hasan Band at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (26 Aug 2015)

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

Minneapolis: August 26 to August 31, 2015

Read More Mekaal Hasan When they told pioneering guitarist Mekaal Hasan, the first Pakistani to attend Berklee, in jazz harmony class that you shouldn’t add certain notes to certain modes, he immediately ....

We are closing out the rest of August 2015 with some of these shows, events, concerts in the Minneapolis/St Paul area.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

MEKAAL HASAN BAND
at Cedar Cultural Center
Wednesday, 08/26/2015, 7pm ($20)
thecedar.org

Guitarist Mekaal Hasan is bringing his Indo-Pakistani band Mekaal Hasan Band to the Cedar Cultural Center next Wednesday, August 26th. If you like world music, you definitely need to check out the band on their first ever North American tour (which started at SXSW 2015).

Band members: Mekaal Hasan - Guitars, Composition, Mohammad Ahsan Papu - Flute, Gino Banks - Drums, Sheldon D'Silva - Bass, and Sharmistha Chatterjee - Lead Vocals.

Upcoming tour dates:

Aug 21 - Bloomington, IN - Player's Pub
Aug 26 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
Aug 30 - New York, NY - Joe's Pub
Sep 5 - Los Angeles, CA -The Markaz

Read More Minnesota State Fair The Minnesota State Fair is the largest state fair in the United States, based on average daily attendance. With this year's attendance as the highest it's ever been (new record of 252,092 people on August 30th, 2014) … Def Leppard “You wanted the best, you got the best!”, so is the classic stage intro for Kiss, who come to town alongside fellow hard rock legends, Def Leppard. At least two of the best anyway, as Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons .…

MINNESOTA STATE FAIR
at Minnesota Fair Grounds
08/27/2015 - 09/07/2015 ($12 to $67)
mnstatefair.org

Despite my protests, we end up going to the Minnesota State Fair every year. This is the "Great Minnesota Get-together", where everyone goes to enjoy eating something on a stick. I think it can get really expensive, so I recommend buying a coupon book and splitting it with some of your friends. Your food options will be somewhat limited, but at least you save a couple of bucks.

Already legendary hard rock band Def Leppard sold out their MN State Fair appearance.... but not to worry, I know the band will be back in town soon.

Also, I don't think there's been a replacement for the Meghan Trainor yet, she had to cancel her remaining tour because of a throat surgery.

NOTE: In order to see the Grandstand concerts, you'll have to pay the MN State Fair's entrance fee in addition to the Grandstand prices.

Grandstand shows:

• Aug. 27: Def Leppard with Styx and Tesla
• Aug. 28: Keith Urban with Kelsea Ballerini
• Aug. 29: Carrie Underwood with Native Run
• Aug. 30: Alan Jackson with Brandy Clark
• Aug. 31: The Turtles with Flo & Eddie
• Sept. 1: Meghan Trainor (canceled)
• Sept. 2: Pattie LaBelle with the Commodores
• Sept. 3: Lynyrd Skynyrd with Collective Soul
• Sept. 4: A Prairie Home Companion
• Sept. 5: The Avett Brothers
• Sept. 6: Amateur Talent Contest
• Sept. 7: Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson with Sturgill Simpson

If you're a cheapskate like me, the Fair does offer some great free shows. We usually attend the Leinie Lodge Bandshell shows:

Aug. 27 - 28: Gaelic Storm
Aug. 29 - 30: Terri Clark
Aug. 31 - Sept. 1: Andy Grammer
Sept. 2 - 3: Lou Gramm "The Voice of Foreigner"
Sept. 4 - 5: Reel Big Fish
Sept. 6 - 7: Home Free

Read More X For the uninitiated, or for nostalgists such as myself, this compilation serves as either a great introduction or a great recap of one of the finest careers ever in the punk/pop genre. In case you don't already know, X were a …

X
at Mill City Nights
Saturday, 08/29/2015, 8pm ($20)
millcitynights.com

The original Los Angeles punk band (and impossible to Google) X will be in town on August 29th. I'm not entirely sure if their guitarist and X co-founder Billy Zoom will be joining them on this tour, as he is undergoing some bladder cancer treatment, thanks to the $50k plus donation and T-Shirt campaign of "Support Billy Zoom – Nice guy, punk legend". If anything, I'm sure you can pick up the Billy Zoom shirts at their upcoming show to show support.

Dead Rock West to open the show.

Tour dates:

08/28/15 Milwaukee, WI Juneau Park
08/29/15 Minneapolis, MN Mill City Nights
08/30/15 Des Moines, IA Wooly's
09/01/15 St. Charles, MO Bottleneck Blues Bar
09/02/15 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's Duck Room
09/04/15 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues
09/05/15 Birmingham, AL Saturn
09/06/15 Nashville, TN City Winery Nashville
09/08/15 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre
09/09/15 Atlanta, GA Terminal West
09/11/15 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
09/12/15 Hopscotch Music Festival
09/19/15 Del Mar, CA Kaaboo

Read More Chelsea Wolfe So starting sharply at 7:30pm was Chelsea Wolfe. Wolfe's band played in complete darkness for about half a minute before Wolfe made her grand entrance.…

CHELSEA WOLFE
at Triple Rock Social Club
Monday, 08/31/2015, 8pm ($14)
triplerocksocialclub.com

We previously caught Chelsea Wolfe at Roy Wilkins in 2014 (with Queens of the Stone Age), and at Fitzgerald Theater in 2014 (with Eels)... so we're pretty familiar with her work.

Wolfe's currently headlining a tour in support of her new album Abyss, which came out August 7th on Sargent House.

Denver's Wovenhand (aka David Eugene Edwards) also on the bill.

US tour dates:

08/27/15 Las Vegas, NV Backstage Bar
08/28/15 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
08/29/15 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
08/31/15 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
09/01/15 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
09/02/15 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop
09/03/15 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
09/04/15 Montreal, QC Théâtre Fairmount
09/05/15 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
09/09/15 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall
09/10/15 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
09/11/15 Washington, DC U Street Music Hall
09/12/15 Hopscotch Music Festival
09/14/15 Atlanta, GA Aisle 5
09/15/15 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
09/17/15 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
09/18/15 Houston, TX Rudyard's
09/19/15 Austin, TX The Mohawk
09/20/15 Dallas, TX The Kessler Theater
09/22/15 El Paso, TX Tricky Falls
09/23/15 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
09/24/15 Phoenix, AZ Valley Bar
09/25/15 Los Angeles, CA Regent Theater
09/26/15 San Francisco, CA Regency Ballroom
09/28/15 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
09/29/15 Seattle, WA Neumos
09/30/15 Vancouver, BC The Rickshaw Theatre
10/02/15 Bellingham, WA The Shakedown

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