W♥M (Archive)

Minneapolis: July 11 to July 13, 2019

Basilica Block Party 2019 Read More Basilica Block Party We like the annual Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis, so we always make sure they get the spotlight whenever we do these previews. They always bring in some really good bands .... Dawes The three-hour evening was opened by Los Angeles-based Dawes, who considers Minneapolis one of their strongest markets, in a solid hour-long set of their own. … Chvrches Chvrches’ third album Love is Dead reached the Billboard Top Rock and Alternative charts at #1 and #11 overall. ... Metric I've seen Metric twice (four times if you count Emily Haines solo or Broken Social Scene), so you know I love this little Canadian band. Their Rock the Garden's set was very similar to their …

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from July 11 to July 13, 2019.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

BASILICA BLOCK PARTY
Basilica St. Mary
Fri 07/12/2019 (5pm/$70)
Sat 07/13/2019 (5pm/$70)
basilicablockparty.org

The 25th Annual Basilica Block Party is taking place this July 12-13. As usual, the Minneapolis music festival is bringing in some of the national musical acts to the Twin Cities.

Kacey Musgraves and Dawes to be the highlight on Friday, while Jason Mraz and Hanson to take Saturday.

Personally speaking though, we like the medium stage, particularly Semisonic and The Jayhawks (for Friday) and Chvrches and Metric (for Saturday).

The last time we saw Chvrches, we noted, “Martin Doherty summed it up on stage, ‘It’s nice to be back. Time and time again, you keep selling out every time we come here. Thank you for that.’”

Schedule:

FRIDAY Great Clips Stage Kacey Musgraves Dawes Anderson East Ruston Kelly PreferredOne Stage Semisonic The Jayhawks Yam Haus Star Tribune Stage Kiss The Tiger Annie Mack McNasty Brass Band

SATURDAY Great Clips Stage Jason Mraz Hanson Johnnyswim Lissie PreferredOne Stage Chvrches Metric Flora Cash Star Tribune Stage Static Panic The Bad Man Michael Shynes

Other shows in the area:

This is the Kit 2019 Tour Iration at First Ave The Struts at the Palace Chase Atlantic 2019 Tour Lakefront Music Fest 2019 Read More This Is The Kit On this tour, This Is the Kit (Kate Stables) is joined by bassist Jesse Vernon and drummer Jamie Whitby-Coles. She started off with a solo song ‘Easy on the Thieves’, then as a trio, then back to solo with ‘All Written out in Numbers’. … The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". …

THIS IS THE KIT
+ Nelson Devereaux
Turf Club
Thu 07/11/2019 (7pm/$16)
turfclub.net

Kate Stables (aka This Is The Kit) returns to the Turf Club this July 11th. We last saw her in Oct 2017 and said, “On this tour, This Is the Kit (Kate Stables) is joined by bassist Jesse Vernon and drummer Jamie Whitby-Coles. She started off with a solo song ‘Easy on the Thieves’, then as a trio, then back to solo with ‘All Written out in Numbers’. Stables often tuned between songs, making for awkward unfinished stories and comments. She played acoustic guitar, but it seemed like she’s most comfortable when she’s plucking on her banjo.”

Nelson Devereaux and the Style Band to open.

Tour Dates

07/09/2019 Drake Hotel Toronto, ON
07/10/2019 Constellation Chicago, IL
07/11/2019 Turf Club Saint Paul, MN
07/16/2019 Moroccan Lounge Los Angeles, CA
07/18/2019 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
08/10/2019 Clwb Ifor Bach Cardiff,
08/11/2019 Boileroom Guildford

IRATION
+ Pepper, Katastro, Fortunate Youth
First Avenue
Sat 07/13/2019 (6pm/$27)
first-avenue.com

Reggae-influenced alternative rock band Iration will be headlining First Avenue as part of their “Live From Paradise!” tour.

Show up early to check out California-based band Pepper, who we previously mentioned played with Less Than Jake in Feb 2017.

Tour dates:

July 11 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
July 12 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
July 13 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
July 14 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
July 17 Utica, NY @ Saranac Brewery
July 18 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
July 19 New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17
July 20 Boston, MA @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
July 21 Baltimore, MD @ Mecu Pavilion
July 25 North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
July 26 Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
July 27 St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amph
July 28 Cocoa, FL @ Cocoa Beach Riverfront Park
July 30 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
August 2 Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheater
August 3 Del Mar, CA @ Del Mar Summers**
August 7 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades+
August 8 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades+
August 9 Fresno, CA @ Woodward Park Rotary+
August 15 Spokane, WA @ The Knitting Factory+
August 16 Missoula, MT @ Big Sky Brewing Amph
August 17 Boise, ID @ Botanical Gardens Outlaw Field
August 18 Jacksonville, OR @ Britt Pavilion
August 21 Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Park Amph
August 23 Stateline, NV@ Montbleu Amphitheater
August 24 Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Beach~
August 25 Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
September 14 Glen Ellen, CA @ Sonoma Harvest Festival**

** indicates non-"Live From Paradise!" tour dates
+ indicates Pepper not on the lineup
~ indicates Fortunate Youth not on the lineup

THE STRUTS
+ The Glorious Sons
Palace Theatre
Sat 07/13/2019 (6:30pm/$29.50)
palacestpaul.com

Rock band The Struts is back! The UK group released YOUNG&DANGEROUS last year on Interscope Records.

Tour dates:

July 5 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades
July 8 Portland, OR Roseland Theater*
July 9 Seattle, WA Showbox*
July 10 Missoula, MT The Wilma*
July 13 Saint Paul, MN Palace Theatre*
July 15 Des Moines, IA Water Works Park*
July 16 Indianapolis, IN Old National Centre*
July 17 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works*
July 19 Detroit, MI The Fillmore*
July 20 Grand Rapids, MI 20 Monroe Live*
July 21 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE*
July 25 Buffalo, NY TBA*
July 26 Utica, NY Saranac Brewery*
July 27 New York, NY Pier 17*
July 28 Mount Pocono, PA Mount Airy Casino
July 30 Boston, MA House of Blues*
August 4 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino
August 6 Dewey Beach, DE Bottle & Cork*
August 7 Washington, DC 930 Club*
September 21 Asbury Park, NJ Sea Hear Now Festival

~Des Rocs supports
*The Glorious Sons support

CHASE ATLANTIC
Varsity Theater
Sat 07/13/2019 (6pm/$18)
varsitytheater.com

Emerging alt-pop act Chase Atlantic is currently on a massive tour in support of their sophomore album Phases (BMG/MDDN).

The last time the Australian trio (Mitchel Cave, Clinton Cave, and Christian Anthony) were in town was with Lights in March 2018.

Tour dates:

7/05 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
7/06 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
7/08 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
7/09 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
7/11 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
7/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
7/15 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
7/16 – Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe
7/18 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
7/19 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
7/20 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
7/22 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
7/23 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
7/25 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore

LAKEFRONT MUSIC FEST
Lakefront Park
Fri 07/12/2019 (6pm/$45)
Sat 07/13/2019 (6pm/$45)
lakefrontmusicfest.com

The 10th annual Lakefront Music Fest is taking place this July 12-13th.

FRIDAY Steve Miller Band Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives

SATURDAY Brad Paisley Riley Green Chris Lane

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

Minneapolis: May 14 to May 15, 2018

The Struts at First Ave Poster Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". …

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from May 14 to May 15, 2018.

Read more: Minneapolis Music Guide.

THE STRUTS
+ The Glorious Sons, Spirit Animal
First Avenue
Tue 05/15/2018 (7pm/$25)
first-avenue.com

U.K. band The Struts is bringing their fun, rock show to First Avenue once again.

This time, they’re bringing The Glorious Sons and Spirit Animal to the historic venue.

2018 Tour Dates

05/12/2018 Pointfest
05/14/2018 Majestic Theatre Madison, WI
05/15/2018 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
05/17/2018 The Truman Kansas City, MO
05/18/2018 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
05/20/2018 Hangout Beach, Music & Arts Fest.
05/22/2018 The Showbox Seattle, WA
05/23/2018 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
05/25/2018 BottleRock Napa Valley
05/29/2018 The Roxy Theatre West Hollywood, CA
05/30/2018 The Roxy Theatre West Hollywood, CA
05/31/2018 The Roxy Theatre West Hollywood, CA
06/01/2018 The Roxy Theatre West Hollywood, CA
06/03/2018 Governors Ball Music Festival
06/09/2018 Download Festival
06/12/2018 Bergenfest
06/15/2018 Nova Rock Festival
06/17/2018 Download Festival
07/07/2018 Rock Werchter Festival

Haim 2018 Poster Joyner Lucas 2018 Poster Shania Twain 2018 Poster Read More Haim The numbers are in, and as expected, the Haim sisters (Este, Danielle, and Alana) received the #1 spot in the U.K., and an impressive #6 on the Billboard album charts in the U.S., for their debut album Days Are Gone…… Shania Twain Shania Twain on this upcoming "Rock This Country Tour". Shania's tour will hit Target Center in Minneapolis on July 28, where she will perform her extensive catalog of iconic hits in a brand new production. …

Other shows in the area:

HAIM
+ Lizzo
Palace Theatre
Mon 05/14/2018 (7pm/$42.50/Sold Out)
Tue 05/15/2018 (7pm/$42.50/Sold Out)
palacestpaul.com

Having sold out their May 14th appearance at the Palace Theatre in St Paul, the sister act Haim quickly added an additional date (also sold out).

Local Lizzo has been opening on their national tour, she took advantage of her homecoming show by booking a headlining show at the Ice House at 11:30pm. More details at icehousempls.com.

Tour Dates:

05/14 Palace Theatre Saint Paul, MN*
05/15 Palace Theatre Saint Paul, MN*
05/28 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO**

*Lizzo as support **Lizzo & Maggie Rogers as support

JOYNER LUCAS
The Cabooze
Mon 05/14/2018 (6pm/$20)
cabooze.com

Atlantic Records artist and creative Joyner Lucas will be at the Cabooze on Monday, May 14th.

Tour dates:

05/12/18 Springfield, MO @ The Complex
05/13/18 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
05/14/18 Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze
05/15/18 Iowa City, IA @ Blue Moose Tap House
05/16/18 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
05/18/18 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
05/19/18 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
05/20/18 Reno, NV @ Jub Jubs
05/22/18 Vancouver, CA @ Fortune Sound Club
05/23/18 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
05/25/18 San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
05/26/18 Los Angeles, CA @ El Ray Theatre
05/27/18 Phoenix, AZ @ Monarch Theatre
05/29/18 Dallas, TX @ Trees
05/30/18 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live Studio
05/31/18 New Orleans, LA @ The Willow
06/1/18 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
06/2/18 Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Theatre
06/3/18 Atlanta, GA The Loft @ Center Stage
06/5/18 Washington, DC @Union Stage
06/6/18 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
06/7/18 Boston, MA @House of Blues

SHANIA TWAIN
Xcel Energy Center
Tue 05/15/2018 (6:30pm/$29.95)
xcelenergycenter.com

Global superstar Shania Twain will be stopping by the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul in support of her 2017 Now album. This is Twain’s first tour in three years, so don’t miss out.

Tour dates:

05/12/18 Saskatoon, SK Sasktel Centre
05/13/18 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
05/15/18 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
05/16/18 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford Premier Center
05/18/18 Omaha, NE CenturyLink Center Omaha
05/19/18 Chicago, IL United Center
06/1/18 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
06/2/18 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
06/4/18 Duluth, GA Infinite Energy Center
06/6/18 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
06/7/18 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
06/9/18 Houston, TX Toyota Center
06/10/18 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
06/12/18 North Little Rock, AR Verizon Arena
06/13/18 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
06/15/18 Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena
06/16/18 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
06/25/18 Ottowa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
06/26/18 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
06/28/18 Québec, QC Videotron Centre
07/1/18 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Centre
07/3/18 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
07/4/18 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
07/6/18 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
07/7/18 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
07/11/18 Boston, MA TD Garden
07/12/18 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
07/14/18 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
07/15/18 Washington, DC Capital One Center
07/17/18 Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena
07/18/18 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
07/20/18 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
07/21/18 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
07/24/18 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
07/25/18 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena
07/27/18 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
07/28/18 Salt Lake City, UT Vivint Smart Home Arena
07/30/18 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena
08/1/18 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
08/3/18 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
08/4/18 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena

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

The Struts w/ Made Violent at First Ave, Minneapolis (04 May 2016)

Podcast The Struts Vu and John talked about Made Violent and The Struts.... The Struts The Struts Setlist I Just Know / Roll Up These Times Are Changing Could Have Been Me The Ol' Switcheroo Kiss This Mary Go Round Dirty Sexy Money Let's Make This Happen Tonight Young Stars Put Your Money on Me Only Just a Call Away -- Encore -- Black Swan Purple Rain (Prince cover)   acoustic Where Did She Go Made Violent Setlist Two Tone Hair Inside Out Right Kinda Crazy Touch Mistake You Had it Easy Talk About It Oh Well Wave to Ride On my Own Sunrise Dirty Don’t Wanna Know Wasted Days Tour Dates May 10—Pittsburgh, PA—Altar Bar May 12—Norfolk, VA—Norva May 13—Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees May 15—Jacksonville, FL—Jack Rabbits May 17—Fort Lauderdale, FL— Culture Room May 18—Orlando, FL—The Social May 20—Gulf Shores, AL—Hangout Music Festival May 21—Maryland Heights, MO—KPNT Pointfest May 22—Columbus, OH—Rock on the Range May 28—San Francisco, CA—Opera House May 28—Napa, CA—BottleRock Napa Valley June 5—Mendig, Germany—Rock am Ring June 3—Nurnberg, Germany—Rock im Park June 9— Sweden Rock Festival June 10— Pinkpop Festival June 11—Download Festival June 12—Nova Rock Festival June 16—Madrid, Spain—Mad Cool Festival June 19—Dover, DE—Firefly Music Festival July 2—Rotselaar, Belgium—Rock Werchter July 3—Arras, France—Main Square Festival July 14—Asbury Park, NJ—The Stone Pony* July 20—Reading, PA—Downtown Alive* July 21—Clifton Park, NY—Upstate Concert Hall* July 22—WayHome Music July 23—Cleveland, OH—R&R HOF* July 25—Detroit, MI—St. Andrew’s Hall* July 26—Cincinnati, OH—Bogart’s* July 29—Chicago, IL—Lollapalooza July 31—Montreal, Canada—Osheaga August 1—Portland, ME—Port City Music Hall* August 2—Boston, MA—Royale Nightclub* August 6—Washington, DC—9:30 Club* *supported by Dorothy Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". … Made Violent Made Violent ended up missing their Minneapolis appearance. It is really a shame, because, as we've previously mentioned, this is an excellent band. ...

In the world of Star Wars fandom, May the 4^th has become a playful, informal celebration day  as its name is a play on words for the phrase “May the Force Be with You”.

In terms of Minneapolis rock shows, it was a Day of Force as well; that force delivered by the irresistible glam grooves of quickly rising UK band The Struts.

Made Violent

Buffalo, NY trio Made Violent brought a force of their own to the evening, opening with a generous 45min. salvo of loud, low-fi,  garage/guitar rock of their own.  The three-piece (bassist/singer Joe White, guitarist Rob Romano,  and drummer Justin Acee) roared out of the gate with ‘Two Tone Hair’ which also begins their self-titled EP (on StarTime Intl/Columbia) and then charged into ‘Inside Out’, a quick 2 ½-minute track from the March release as well.

White has always brought a bit of bravado to the(self-acclaimed “world famous”) band, playing several new songs (incl. ‘On My Own’ and ‘Shadow’), even teased Prince’s ‘Raspberry Beret’ while tuning, as well as had White doing his best Liverpudlian accent to mimic Paul McCartney, who was playing just across the street at the same time.  Ending with ‘Wasted Days’, which also ends the EP, Made Violent made the musical statement, on their terms, that they’re just getting started.

The Struts

Derbyshire UK foursome The Struts had some promises to fulfill.

When the band had last played the Mainroom in Sept 2015, singer Luke Spiller was under the weather, resulting only in an eight-song/forty-five min. set, with the pledge that they would return and make things right. The resulting 95 min. arena-worthy, hedonistic throwdown was a night-to-day difference, electric in its energy, and put their previous appearance far back in the rearview mirror.

Spiller and the rest of the band (guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies) echo the heyday of glam and good time rock with their own sound drawn from a mixture of Queen, Rolling Stones, The Sweet, and Slade, and Spiller obviously had picked up a few more Mick Jagger-esque moves, opening for the Stones in front of 80,000 in Paris and elsewhere.

‘Roll Up’ began the night with lyrics “Everybody wants, so get up, get up, get up to get some action” setting the tone, with Spiller conducting the crowd on cue to shout, clap or move, with a mere wave of his hand.

Breakout hit ‘Could Have Been Me’ was again inserted early into the set, the quartet obviously not believing they live and die on one genre-crossing radio hit, to have to save it until the end.

The band’s stage show has become more polished than last fall as well; pacing was near seamless, accompanying lights were more complex (six banks of stacked, arcing lights in front of the large logo backdrop were constantly in motion and sometimes literally blinding); and Spiller’s numerous costume changes during the set even seem more glittered than previous.

The band’s second US single, “Kiss This” from debut full-length Everybody Wants (on Interscope, released domestically w/extra songs after two years as an import) wasn’t saved until the end either, done not even a third of the way in, to rave applause.

Noting their last appearance at the venue after playing the song, Spiller acknowledged this night would be “a hundred times f##king better”. “I promised you a good show and we’re gonna deliver”, Spiller remarked.

‘Dirty Sexy Money’ had an arresting melody hook right out of the AC/DC playbook, ‘Let’s Make This Happen Tonight’ added extra excitement with Spiller working in “Minneapolis” into every chorus and the crowd shouting “Sympathy for the Devil”-sounding howls on cue back to the band, and ‘Put Your Money on Me’ had everyone participating with an “oh yeah” stanza after every line.

Ending the main set with a dedicated-to-Prince ‘Only Just a Call Away’, the encore began quickly after with guitarist Slack introducing the acoustic ‘Black Swan’ as being one of the band’s oldest songs, joined by Spiller in the last of his costume changes with overflowing black hat.

Setlist

Tour personnel had taped lyrics to the front monitor just before the encore, so we assumed a cover song was coming next, but didn’t know which, until Spiller/Slack segued into ‘Purple Rain’, done in the same building which immortalized the song over thirty years ago.

A blistering ‘Where Did She Go’ ended the evening, the crowd’s hands and bodies moving side-to-side and singing along on Spiller’s command, before he then instructed the crowd to take a step back to crouch to the floor, before bursting into a jumping, dancing explosion of joy.

Call it a collective force of nature, call it the force of retro-meets-modern rock n’ roll, or just call it The Struts; on this night, promises were redeemed and their album title was correct- Everybody Wants.

The Struts at First Avenue, Minneapolis (04 May 2016)

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

W♥M254: The Struts

W♥M254: The Struts (12 mins) Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". … Made Violent Made Violent ended up missing their Minneapolis appearance. It is really a shame, because, as we've previously mentioned, this is an excellent band. ...

Vu and John talked about Made Violent and The Struts.

The Struts’ tour dates:

May 6—Kansas City, MO—Middle of the Map
May 8—Concord, NC—Carolina Rebellion
May 9—Johnson City, TN—Capone’s
May 10—Pittsburgh, PA—Altar Bar
May 12—Norfolk, VA—Norva
May 13—Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees
May 15—Jacksonville, FL—Jack Rabbits
May 17—Fort Lauderdale, FL— Culture Room
May 18—Orlando, FL—The Social
May 20—Gulf Shores, AL—Hangout Music Festival
May 21—Maryland Heights, MO—KPNT Pointfest
May 22—Columbus, OH—Rock on the Range
May 28—San Francisco, CA—Opera House
May 28—Napa, CA—BottleRock Napa Valley
June 5—Mendig, Germany—Rock am Ring
June 3—Nurnberg, Germany—Rock im Park
June 9— Sweden Rock Festival
June 10— Pinkpop Festival
June 11—Download Festival
June 12—Nova Rock Festival
June 16—Madrid, Spain—Mad Cool Festival
June 19—Dover, DE—Firefly Music Festival
July 2—Rotselaar, Belgium—Rock Werchter
July 3—Arras, France—Main Square Festival
July 14—Asbury Park, NJ—The Stone Pony*
July 20—Reading, PA—Downtown Alive*
July 21—Clifton Park, NY—Upstate Concert Hall*
July 22—WayHome Music
July 23—Cleveland, OH—R&R HOF*
July 25—Detroit, MI—St. Andrew’s Hall*
July 26—Cincinnati, OH—Bogart’s*
July 29—Chicago, IL—Lollapalooza
July 31—Montreal, Canada—Osheaga
August 1—Portland, ME—Port City Music Hall*
August 2—Boston, MA—Royale Nightclub*
August 6—Washington, DC—9:30 Club*

*supported by Dorothy

Song of the Show: The Struts’ “Where Did She Go?”

--
W♥M Radio is available on iTunes, please subscribe!

Subscription Options
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe via RSS
Add to Google
Add to Yahoo
____
Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com. Recording of this podcast was made possible by Skype, CallGraph, and Audacity.

W♥M253: Comic May-hem (04 May 2016) Vu, John W♥M252: Låpsley (01 May 2016) Vu, John W♥M251: Frightened Rabbit (05 January 2016) Vu, John W♥M250: Purple Rain - A Timeline of Prince's Final Days (23 April 2016) Vu, Langen W♥M249: You Spin Me Round (11 April 2016) Vu, John, Jamie W♥M248: So Hapa Together (15 March 2016) Vu, John

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Minneapolis: May 4 to May 8, 2016

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from May 4 to May 8, 2016.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". … Made Violent Made Violent ended up missing their Minneapolis appearance. It is really a shame, because, as we've previously mentioned, this is an excellent band. ...

THE STRUTS
at First Avenue
Wednesday, 05/04/16, 7:30pm ($16/$18)
first-avenue.com

We’ve been following acclaimed UK rockers The Struts for a while now, and admitted that they weren’t quite ready to head their show at First Avenue in September 2015, because (at the time) the band only wanted to play a few songs for the US market. This included only seven songs (plus one encore), but they managed to fill out an hour. This is because of extended live version... plus singer Luke Spiller had three costume changes, making for a fun, entertaining show.

This time around, the band finally released their debut Everybody Wants and will be adding additional songs on their set. Recently, the band showcased a cover of The Vaccines’ “I Always Knew” and Drake’s “Hotline Bling”, combined with their single “Kiss This”.

Opening up the show will be our favorite Made Violent. We previously caught the trio (singer/bassist Joseph White, guitarist Rob Romano and drummer Justin Acee) in May 2015 and looked forward to their second appearance in October 2015.... but history would have it that their van broke down. When pressed about why they put up with the struggles of constant grinding and touring, Romano said, “We can’t wait to hop in our sh**y van and drive across the country to play for anyone and everyone. Two things really matter to us – making as much good music as we can, and touring as much as we can. We never want to stop doing this.”

Made Violent also finally released some Eps (Made Violent and Wasted Days) last year via Columbia Records/Startime International.

Tour Dates:

April 30—Frisco, TX—Toyota Stadium May 2—Des Moines, IA—Wooly’s May 3—Milwaukee, WI—The Rave III May 4—Minneapolis, MN—First Avenue May 6—Kansas City, MO—Middle of the Map May 8—Concord, NC—Carolina Rebellion May 9—Johnson City, TN—Capone’s May 10—Pittsburgh, PA—Altar Bar May 12—Norfolk, VA—Norva May 13—Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees May 15—Jacksonville, FL—Jack Rabbits May 17—Fort Lauderdale, FL— Culture Room May 18—Orlando, FL—The Social May 20—Gulf Shores, AL—Hangout Music Festival May 21—Maryland Heights, MO—KPNT Pointfest May 22—Columbus, OH—Rock on the Range May 28—San Francisco, CA—Opera House May 28—Napa, CA—BottleRock Napa Valley June 5—Mendig, Germany—Rock am Ring June 3—Nurnberg, Germany—Rock im Park June 9— Sweden Rock Festival

June 10— Pinkpop Festival June 11—Download Festival June 12—Nova Rock Festival June 16—Madrid, Spain—Mad Cool Festival June 19—Dover, DE—Firefly Music Festival July 2—Rotselaar, Belgium—Rock Werchter July 3—Arras, France—Main Square Festival July 14—Asbury Park, NJ—The Stone Pony* July 20—Reading, PA—Downtown Alive* July 21—Clifton Park, NY—Upstate Concert Hall* July 22—WayHome Music July 23—Cleveland, OH—R&R HOF* July 25—Detroit, MI—St. Andrew’s Hall* July 26—Cincinnati, OH—Bogart’s* July 29—Chicago, IL—Lollapalooza July 31—Montreal, Canada—Osheaga August 1—Portland, ME—Port City Music Hall* August 2—Boston, MA—Royale Nightclub* August 6—Washington, DC—9:30 Club* *supported by Dorothy

Read More Silversun Pickups Having spent many times stopping in Minneapolis at smaller venues, like the 7th Street Entry, Silversun Pickups' Brian Aubert was amazed at the massive crowd for Rock the Garden, that he said, "This is a big deal!" … Foals "Are you ready? Because you don't sound f****ing ready!," yelled Foals' singer Yannis Philippakis as he worked the crowd. Foals rocked hard at First Avenue in Minneapolis last night to a group of young British rock music fans. … Joywave BETTY WHO with Joywave, Great Good Fine OK at Fine Line Music Cafe Friday 10/17/14, 8pm $15: finelinemusic.com …

SILVERSUN PICKUPS / FOALS
at Myth
Thursday, 05/05/16, 6:30pm ($27)
mythlive.com

The co-headlining show of Foals and Silversun Pickups will be arriving to the Myth in Maplewood, Minnesota.

Foals recently scored their first #1 Alternative radio single with “Mountain At My Gates”, from their acclaimed fourth album What Went Down... so expect the crowd to go nuts when they play that song live. Find out why Q Magazine gave the band “Best Act in the World” in 2015.

As for Silversun Pickups, they made it on our annual favorite shows of 2015.

Special guest Joywave to open the show.

Tour dates:

04/30/16 KDGE 102.1 EdgeFest
05/01/16 Austin, TX Stubb's Bar-B-Q
05/02/16 Houston, TX Revention Music
05/04/16 Kansas City, MO Arvest Bank
05/05/16 Saint Paul, MN Myth
05/06/16 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom
05/08/16 89X Birthday Bash
05/09/16 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
05/10/16 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's
05/12/16 Charlotte, NC Fillmore Charlotte
05/13/16 Atlanta, GA Center Stage Theater
05/14/16 Shaky Knees Music
05/16/16 North Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
05/17/16 Greensboro, NC Cone Denim
05/18/16 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
05/28/16 St. Louis, MO Ballpark Village
06/04/16 Live 105 BFD
06/06/16 Seattle, WA The Showbox
06/07/16 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal
06/08/16 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre
06/17/16 Radio 104.5 Birthday
06/20/16 Chattanooga, TN Track 29
06/21/16 Knoxville, TN The Mill & Mine
06/22/16 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
06/24/16 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
06/25/16 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
06/26/16 DC101 Kerfuffle
07/22/16 Panorama Festival
07/25/16 Portland, ME State Theatre
07/26/16 South Burlington, VT Higher Ground
07/28/16 Quebec City, QC Imperial Bell
07/31/16 Lollapalooza
08/27/16 Timpanogos Music Festival

Read More Wizard World Minneapolis The second annual Wizard World Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Convention Center just ended on Sunday. Compared to last year, I felt this year more fans were attending the panels... … Buffy So, today's entry is on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although they've used good music soundtracks, such as Echobelly, Curve, and Angie Hart (Frente), I'm going to . … Grimm Grimm season two is the opposite. I don't like how the main character's sidekick can now also see the supernatural characters. Also: why are there more . … Gotham Gotham is an upcoming Fox TV series (due out Sept 22) about the beginnings of Batman, his villains, a young Jim Gordon and the city that hosts them . …

WIZARD WORLD COMIC CON MINNEAPOLIS
at Minneapolis Convention Center
Thursday, 05/05/16, 6pm (FREE)
Friday, 05/06/16, 3pm ($35/$45)
Saturday, 05/07/16, 10am ($45/$55)
Sunday, 05/08/16, 10am ($40/$50)
minneapolis.org

It is pretty much all-Wizard World all weekend! W♥M will be bringing you extensive coverage of the three-day event - plus the traditional kick-off free event at the Mall of America on Thursday.

The Wizard World Comic Con’s “Kick Off the Con” event will take place at the Rotunda at 6pm and will feature Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Barry Bostwick (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and James Marsters (Spike, from Buffy).

Wizard has also published their Minneapolis Programming and here are some events we will try to attend:

FRIDAY, MAY 6TH

5:00 – 5:45pm Prince: The Comics Connection—“Batdance” And Beyond: With Dean Haspiel, Guy Gilchrist, Zak Sally & Alex Lubet (Room M100e)

6:00 – 6:45pm The Creative Mind: Top Artists On Drawing Comics With The Red Hook’s Dean Haspiel, The Books Of Magic’s Peter Gross, Animal Man’s Chaz Truog & Deadpool’s Mikey Babinski (Room 100e)

SATURDAY, MAY 7TH

11:30 – 12:15pm Guy Gilchrist’s Professional Creative Workshop (M100i)

12:00 – 12:45pm Protecting Star City And Oliver Queen With David Ramsey (Room 101)

1:00 – 1:45pm Adventures In Middle Earth With Billy Boyd (Room 101)

1:00 – 1:45pm Blood On The Bayou With Kristen Bauer (M100e)

1:30 – 2:15pm Inside The World Of Independent Comics With Billy Dogma’s Dean Haspiel, Mcad’s Barbara Schulz, Sammy The Mouse’s Zak Sally & Origins Unknown’s Victor Dandridge (Room M00i)

2:00 – 2:45pm Spider-Man: Menace Or Super-Menace? Hosted By J. Jonah Jameson (M100e)

2:30 – 3:15pm From Thumbs To Prints: Creating Your Own Comic Book With Koolasheck (M100i)

3:00 – 3:45pm Storytime Is Over: David Giuntoli, Bitsie Tulloch And Sasha Roiz (Room 101)

4:00 – 4:45pm Rise Of The Penguin: Robin Lord Taylor (Room 101)

4:30 – 5:15pm Security Gaps In Hogwarts (M100b)

5:00 – 5:45pm Intro To Cosplay With Wizard World Cosplay Guest Hannah Eva (M100e)

5:30 – 6:15pm Creating “The Crow” With James O’barr (M100i)

6:30 – 7:00pm Inside The Ring With Wwe® Superstar Paige™ (M100b)

7:30 – 9:00pm Wizard World Costume Contest Sponsored By Bandai Namco (Room 101)

SUNDAY, MAY 8TH

12:00 – 12:45pm Their Time Is Now: Falk Hentschel And Franz Drameh (M100e)

12:30 – 1:15pm Secrets Of Comics Writing Revealed! With Superman’s Dan Jurgens, The Red Hook’s Dean Haspiel, Albert The Alien’s Trevor Mueller & Spider-Man’s Danny Fingeroth (Room M100b)

1:00 – 1:45pm Out For A Bite With James Marsters (M100e)

1:30 – 2:15pm Batman V Superman: Threat Or Menace? With Superman’s Dan Jurgens & Spider-Man’s Danny Fingeroth (Room M100b)

3:00 – 3:45pm Wizard World Kid’s Costume Contest (M100b)

You can pay per day, but you’ll save money by purchasing all three dates at $75.

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

Minneapolis: December 4 to December 6, 2015

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from December 4 to December 6, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More Atmosphere Please note that Clyde Iron Works is located in Duluth, Minnesota. I've never been there before, but I would think this is a smaller than the usual venue that superstar rapper Atmosphere and his usual Rhymesayers … Prof Fashawn, in his brief twenty minutes, brought out both Prof and Brother Ali for separate duets and showcased DJ Fresh who twirled the knobs on a mixer embedded in a giant boombox. … Brother Ali Brother Ali and Syrian-American rapper/activist Omar Offendum will be appearing at Augsburg college on Saturday, March 9, in Minneapolis. ... P.O.S. They only played two songs during the pop up show but for the second song they brought Stef (better known as local rapper and Doomtree member P.O.S.) up to sing about orange juice called "Shake It Well." The song ...

RHYMESAYERS 20
at Target Center
Friday, 12/04/2015, 5pm ($20/$100 VIP)
targetcenter.com

The special Rhymesayers 20 Year Anniversary Concert is taking place this December 4th at the Target Center. Traditionally Rhymesayers Entertainment record label has sold out First Avenue for many, many years now. Moving it a larger capacity like the Target Center made a lot of sense to us.

Expect all the staple artists from Atmoshpere and Brother Ali to recent addition Prof to be there on Friday to represent Rhymesayers.

Performances by (in alphabetical order):

Abstract Rude

Aesop Rock

Atmosphere

Battlecats

BK One

Blueprint

Boom Bap Project

Brother Ali

deM atlaS

Dilated Peoples

DJ Abilities

Evidence

Felt

Freeway, Grayskul

Grieves

Hail Mary Mallon

I Self Devine

Jake One

K-Salaam

Los Nativos

Micranots

Mr. Dibbs

Musab

P.O.S.

Prof

Soul Position

The Uncluded

Toki Wright

All arena seats (including the entire general admission floor) are only $20.00 (plus facility, ticketing fees and taxes) to celebrate twenty years of Rhymesayers.

Limited VIP packages available (with all the goodies) for $100.00 (plus facility, ticketing fees and taxes). VIP includes: premium VIP seating, exclusive Rhymesayers 20 Shirt, VIP bag, Rhymesayers 20 Sticker, limited edition VIP laminate with lanyard,exclusive VIP entrance and special VIP only bars.

Read More Beat Connection Beat Connection opened up the show. We've previously seen the Seattle-based band in 2012, touring in support of their album The Palace Garden, and was rather impressed with their fanbase ...

BEAT CONNECTION
at 7th Street Entry
Saturday, 12/05/2015, 9pm ($12)
first-avenue.com

Seattle's Beat Connection is back on tour in support of their new album Product 3 (out now on ANTI- Records). We first caught the band in 2012 and was blown away at their fanbase. Their last appearance in Minneapolis was with Django Django in August 2015.

Product 3, as described by Stereogum is "cuts a path through electronic pop, rock, hip-hop, and R&B without ever plunging head-on into any one sound."

Special guests Phantoms and Metavari to open.

Tour dates:

11/28 - The Drake - Toronto, ON
12/02 - The Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
12/03 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL
12/04 - The Frequency - Madison, WI
12/05 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN
12/06 - Vega - Lincoln, NE
12/09 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO
12/10 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT
12/11 - Watercolor - Boise, ID
12/12 - The Bartlett - Spokane, WA
12/17 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
12/19 - Fortune - Vancouver, BC

Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". …

AWOLNATION
at Myth
Sunday, 12/06/2015, 5pm ($29.50)
mythlive.com

Awolnation (stylized as AWOLNATION) will be stopping by the Myth in Maplewood this Sunday, December 6th, in support of Run (Red Bull). Before the electronic rock band head out with Fall Out Boy, they're set to do a number of Radio Station tour - including this one, as part of 93X Nutcracker Presents show.

Our favorite The Struts will open up the show. You may remember that they previously booked (and sold out) the 7th Street Entry, prompting the promoters to upgrade their venue to First Avenue.

Tour dates:

12/01/15 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
12/03/15 Fairfax, VA EagleBank Arena
12/04/15 102.9 The Buzz's Swanky Sweater
12/05/15 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
12/06/15 Saint Paul, MN Myth
12/12/15 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas
12/15/15 95X Holiday Whobilation
12/16/15 106.5 The End Presents
12/17/15 105.7 Holiday Spectacular
12/18/15 Night 89X Stole Christmas
01/09/16 Honolulu, HI The Republik
02/26/16 Hollywood, FL Hard Rock Live
03/01/16 North Charleston, SC Coliseum
03/02/16 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena
03/04/16 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
03/05/16 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Resort
03/06/16 Syracuse, NY War Memorial Arena
03/08/16 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
03/09/16 Dayton, OH Wright State University
03/10/16 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
03/12/16 Chicago, IL United Center
03/13/16 Saint Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
03/14/16 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena
03/17/16 Birmingham, AL Legacy Arena
03/18/16 Memphis, TN FedExForum
03/19/16 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
03/20/16 San Antonio, TX Freeman Coliseum
03/22/16 Wichita, KS Intrust Bank Arena
03/23/16 Colorado Springs, CO Broadmoor World
03/25/16 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena
03/26/16 Irvine, CA Irvine Meadows Amph

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

The Struts at Troubadour, West Hollywood (14 October 2015)

Tour Dates 10/17 Woodlands, TX KTBZ-FM Buzzfest 10/19 Atlanta, GA Earl 10/20 Charlottesville, VA Southern 10/21 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel 10/23 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom 10/24 Philadelphia, PA Foundry 10/25 Boston, MA Sinclair 10/26 Buffalo, NY Iron Works 10/28 Nashville, TN High Watt 10/29 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill 10/31 New Orleans, LA Voodoo Music 11/01 Dallas, TX Club Dada 11/02 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ 11/04 Colorado Springs, CO Black Sheep 11/05 Denver, CO Marquis Theatre 11/08 Vancouver, BC Venue 11/09 Seattle, WA Crocodile 11/10 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom 11/11 Reno, NV Knitting Factory 11/13 Scottsdale, AZ Pub Rock 11/14 Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Live 11/27 Toronto, ON Adelaide Hall 11/28 Montreal, QC Fairmount Theatre 11/29 Wilkes-Barre, PA Chandelier Lobby 12/01 Norfolk, VA Norva 12/02 Richmond, VA National 12/06 Maplewood, MN The Myth 12/07 KPNT 105.7 The Point's Ho Ho Show 12/09 How The Edge Stole Christmas Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". …

A band comes along every now and then that has the ability to shock and shake you. There’s just something about them that draws you in and sends you into a transcendental state of blissed-out musical euphoria. Most of the time these said bands are going to be from Britain (hey, you know it’s true). Glam-rock-indie band The Struts, from Derby, England, have been gaining some impressive momentum with their first full-length album Everybody Wants, and now they’re touring the country promoting their US debut EP ‘Have You Heard’. This past Wednesday they took the stage at the Troubadour here in L.A., with native band The Shelters opening. Relevant to the hype of this amazingly dynamic foursome, this particular Struts show sold out hours after tickets went on sale.

The Troubadour is the Mecca for intimate shows and quintessential rock ‘n’ roll vibes. It’s a low-key venue where musicians and industry people go to give a nod and get introduced to outrageous talent- new and old. The Shelters are an upbeat indie rock band from L.A., and their track ‘The Ghost is Gone’ is a nice psychedelic blend of old school rock and droned out 90’s wave. While listening to them from the balcony I glanced behind me and noticed Tom Petty bobbing his head and clapping his hands while the guitarist did a solo. Legends eyeing potential legends, ya dig?

While the stage was being set up for The Struts I ran downstairs to get a good spot on the floor. Looking up I noticed that backstage (which is actually just an upstairs with thin little curtains in plain view of the audience) you could see the band having a little photo shoot and jumping around the room, perhaps getting out any last-minute jitters before the performance. The lights dim and the crowd starts to get amped, and while rainbow-colored lights hit the stage, the theme song from The Neverending Story starts and sends a chill of nostalgia over the room... while also sending a message loud and clear that we’re in for a special and intoxicatingly entertaining treat.

The Struts

The crowd packs in closer to the stage as the theme song ends and the room goes quiet. Finally Adam Slack (guitar), Jed Elliott (bass),  and Gethin Davies (drums) race down the stairs and hop on their instruments. Moments later frontman Luke Spiller rushes the stage donned in an oversized glistening tunic and black shiny pants. These guys have the chemistry of The Beatles with the stage presence of Zeppelin to boot. They go right into ‘Roll Up’, with Luke howling into the mic “Now, whatever I wear, it’s gotta have flare, so you people can stare...Everybody wants, everybody wants, roll up, roll up, roll up for satisfaction.” The whole band is smiling and having the time of their lives, and they leave caution to the smoky haze that fills their set. Their sound may be smart and fundamental enough for massive radio play, but they carry textures of uplifting rock ‘n’ roll tunes that hold true to that raw, uncut kind of feeling. “Los Angeles, can you dance?” Luke inquires to a sea of admiring fans. “Can you sing?” He continues on to conduct a yelling contest from opposite sides of the crowd. The energy is through the roof and Luke is dripping golden glitter. “Glitter in the eyes, I don’t recommend it.”

Next up the band goes into their massive hit ‘Could Have Been Me’. This song is about going after your dreams and never giving up, and it is an instant crowd pleaser. There’s a difference between pretentious egomaniacs who just want attention and the true soul of Rock Gods. Rock Gods have a way of connecting with people, of energizing their audience in a way that turns it into a universal feeling; making it about humanity. The Struts, though a rather young band, seem to have mastered this in that they are immensely generous to their fans. Must be one of the reasons they opened for The Rolling Stones last year in Paris (where their following is HUGE). This band is flawless and seems to have been playing together for much longer than 3 years. Baby-faced Adam is a killer guitar player and shined in his solo on their next song ‘Kiss This’. Again, Luke encouraged the audience to sing along with him, and we gladly complied. “When I say jump, you fucking jump!” This kid is a riot, and I believe he was born to galvanize the music world.

Think David Bowie in The Labyrinth meets Lou Reed meets Freddie Mercury....

After a quick wardrobe change Luke returns wearing a fringed black cape ensemble (this guy’s got incredible style, and is creating his own brand of clothing called Beautifully Strange). Think David Bowie in The Labyrinth meets Lou Reed meets Freddie Mercury. “There’s a thunderstorm outside...and we wanna bring it in here!” He proceeds to get the people on the floor and sing with him “Na Na Na Na ooooo Na Na Na” and the likes of that for about 10 minutes. Talk about up close and personal... it really made me feel like I was back in elementary school at recess with a really rad group of playmates. These guys are making live shows fun again, and if anyone can make the known-to-be-stuffy crowd of Angelinos get on the floor and sing for a while, well, bravo...that’s a grand feet in and of itself.

“When we found out we sold out this legendary venue, our breaths were taken away.” Luke tells the crowd near the end of the show. He’s a mover and a shaker, and the rest of the band seems to recharge his batteries more and more with every song. It was a soaring ball of fire and fun for the entire night, and I truly wanted it to be endless. But alas, all good things must come to an end, but The Struts assured us they would be back soon, and with new material. They ended the night with the catchy rebel tune ‘Put Your Money on Me.’ After the show Adam told me they’d be back in February (Yay). With shows like these, I guess they won’t ever have to look back and say it “Could Have Been Me”. (I’m sorry, I had to.)

The Struts at Troubadour, West Hollywood (14 October 2015)

jess ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Wham! Glam! Thank You, Ma'am!

Read More The Darkness The Darkness first came on the scene with their debut 2003 album, Permission to Land, and quickly gained this reputation for putting on some amazing elaborate live stage shows. There was also a lot of backlashes …

THE DARKNESS
thedarkness.co.uk

British glam rockers The Darkness is back! The band formed in 2000 and by 2006 had called it quit. Of course, they couldn't stay away - by 2012, they had reformed (which we mentioned the reunion tour).

Now The Darkness is back again with a fourth studio album Last of Our Kind.

If you missed them the first time or second time around, you simply have to catch them on this 2015 tour. People forget, but there is a reason why the British band won Best Live Act and Best British Band by Kerrang! and Best Group, Best Rock Group, and Best Album from the BRIT Award.

With this current tour, all the original band members have reunited, except for the drummer... who is Rufus Taylor, the son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

North American Leg of "Blast of Our Kind" – presented by The Noise:

10/11 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
10/13 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
10/14 Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
10/16 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
10/18 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
10/20 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
10/21 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
10/23 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/24 Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
10/25 Silver Spring MD @ The Fillmore
10/27 New York, NY @Irving Plaza
10/28 Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony
10/30 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
10/31 Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
11/01 Boston, MA @ House Of Blues

Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". …

THE STRUTS
thestruts.com

Britain’s rising new glam/rock band The Struts are taking on the US with their current tour promoting  their album Everybody Wants. Their hit single “Could Have Been Me” is currently on the top 5 of Billboard’s Alternative charts, and the self-proclaimed ‘glamorous indie’ band has been racking up Best New Artists awards consistently for the past year. Lead singer Luke Spiller is a sight to behold, strutting around onstage like he was born to be there (hence where their manager thought of their band name). They do a killer cover of Lorde’s Royals, which we hope to hear when we cover their show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles this Wednesday, October 14th.

Tour dates:

10/14 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour
10/17 Woodlands, TX KTBZ-FM Buzzfest
10/19 Atlanta, GA The Earl
10/20 Charlottesville, VA The Southern
10/21 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel
10/23 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
10/24 Philadelphia, PA The Foundry
10/25 Boston, MA The Sinclair
10/26 Buffalo, NY Iron Works
10/28 Nashville, TN The High Watt
10/29 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill-Duck Room
10/31 New Orleans, LA Voodoo Music
11/01 Dallas, TX Club Dada
11/02 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ
11/04 Colorado Springs, CO Black Sheep
11/05 Denver, CO Marquis Theatre
11/08 Vancouver, BC Venue
11/09 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
11/10 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
11/11 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
11/13 Scottsdale, AZ Pub Rock
11/14 Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Live Las Vegas
11/27 Toronto, ON Adelaide Hall
11/28 Montreal, QC Fairmount Theatre
11/29 Wilkes-Barre, PA Chandelier Lobby
12/01 Norfolk, VA Norva
12/02 Richmond, VA The National

Read More Sneaker Pimps I was surprise to see some musicians and bands that I actually like: Sneaker Pimps and Thievery Corporation. The video only shows me applying the Sneaker Pimps on and the highlight …

IAMX
iamxmusic.com

Los Angeles-based glam noir band IAMX will be playing in Minneapolis at the Varsity Theater on Monday, October 19th... of course we will cover the show. You should know we are big fans of Sneaker Pimps, which was created by Liam Howe and Chris Corner. When Kelli Dayton left the band, Corner took over as lead vocalists (which, personally, I felt wasn't the same band anymore). Perhaps he felt the same way, because since then, Corner started his own group called IAMX.

IAMX is part rock, part electronic, part burlesque, but all entertaining. They're known for their on-stage theatrics, so we're pretty excited to see what this upcoming show will be like.

IAMX's latest album Metanoia came out October 2nd via Metropolis Records (the same label who signed KMFDM and recently Skinny Puppy).

Tour dates:

10/12/15 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
10/13/15 Seattle, WA Neumos
10/16/15 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
10/17/15 Denver, CO Marquis Theater
10/19/15 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
10/20/15 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
10/22/15 Detroit, MI Shelter
10/23/15 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
10/24/15 Montreal, QC Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre
10/26/15 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
10/27/15 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
10/28/15 Washington, DC U Street Music Hall
10/30/15 New York, NY Webster Hall
11/05/15 Utrecht, Netherlands Tivoli De Helling
11/09/15 London, United Kingdom Koko

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

The Struts & Highly Suspect at First Ave, Minneapolis (17 Sep 2015)

The Struts Setlist     Intro: Klaus Doldinger's "Bastian's Happy Flight" Roll Up Could Have Been Me Kiss This She Makes Me Feel Let's Make This Happen Tonight Dirty Sexy Money Put Your Money on Me -- Encore -- Where Did She Go outro: Julian Nott's Wallace and Gromit theme Highly Suspect Setlist 23 Guess What Bath Salts Lost Mom Round & Round Vanity Fire in Bedstuy Lydia Claudeland Read More The Struts Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me". … Highly Suspect Fresh off the Catfish and the Bottlemen tour, Brooklyn's Highly Suspect is back in Minneapolis for a little Summer tour. This is their first run after the release of Mister Asylum and they are super …

After completely selling out the smaller 7th Street Entry, The Struts and Highly Suspect show in Minneapolis was quickly upgraded to the much larger-capacity main room.

Highly Suspect

The evening began with a headliner-sized set from Cape Cod, MA band Highly Suspect, playing locally for the third time in as many months (opening for Catfish and the Bottlemen and a sold out headlining set at the Triple Rock came prior), and who have very obviously built a healthy area fan base.

The frenetic trio (Ryan Meyer - drums, vocals; Rich Meyer - bass, vocals; Johnny Stevens – guitar, vocals, synthesizer) not only rocked with their 50 min. set, they rawked, playing in support of their first full-length, Mister Asylum (on 300 Entertainment) and fans responded in kind, especially to ‘Bath Salts’, new single ‘Lydia’, and even the unreleased ‘Fire in Bedstuy’.

Singer Stevens was clearly having fun, calling out all the people in the crowd wearing their t-shirts and with ‘Lydia’ peaking at #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart, plan to hear much more from this diverse hard alternative threesome that can channel the muddiness of a Soundgarden one minute and the crunch of vintage Black Sabbath, the next.

The Struts

Entering on stage to Klaus Doldinger's "Bastian's Happy Flight" from the 1984 film The Neverending Story (which we love... and you can hear 23 cover songs of the theme song here), glam rockers The Struts launched into "Roll Up", singing "Roll up, roll up, roll up for satisfaction/Everybody wants/Every boy needs... To get some action" The lyrics, combined with frontman Luke Spiller's "dancing like a t***", instantly drew heavy comparisons to Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones.

Americans may have only heard of The Struts this year, but the truth is that the band has been around for at least five years now, complete with a debut single ‘I Just Know’ in 2012 and full length album Everybody Wants (Virgin/EMI) in 2014. However, as an introduction to America, they've only officially released one EP, Have You Heard to us and (perhaps smartly) decided to only play those particular songs (all four songs), and throwing in a few more from their debut album. With a total of seven songs (and one encore song), on paper should have only been, at best, a 40-minute set... but somehow the band managed to vamp out their set to nearly an hour. A typical Struts song is stretched from three minutes to about fifteen minutes!

Frontman Luke Spiller, despite undergoing vocal problems, was determined to give us the best show of our lives. Spiller said, "As you can hear, my voice is f**** tonight... Hope you are not disappointed." Shortly after that announcement, he started screaming and singing to ‘Kiss This’. He actually sounded completely fine, and no one would have been the wiser if he hadn't mention anything about his voice.

Setlist

The rest of the show had Spiller undergoing three costume changes, which is always fun to watch. Spiller had the audience in his hands, often directing the crowd to do sing back competitions or sitting down/ready to pounce... and the audience loved it.

Before their last song, Spiller, once again, apologized for his voice, but promised to be "in top form next time" and then that they promised to play "two hours!"

The breakout U.K. band continues their US tour with some additional dates recently added - see listing below:

10/14 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour 10/17 Woodlands, TX KTBZ-FM Buzzfest 10/19 Atlanta, GA The Earl 10/20 Charlottesville, VA The Southern 10/21 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel 10/23 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom 10/24 Philadelphia, PA The Foundry 10/25 Boston, MA The Sinclair 10/26 Buffalo, NY Iron Works 10/28 Nashville, TN The High Watt 10/29 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill-Duck Room 10/31 New Orleans, LA Voodoo Music 11/01 Dallas, TX Club Dada

11/02 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ 11/04 Colorado Springs, CO Black Sheep 11/05 Denver, CO Marquis Theatre 11/08 Vancouver, BC Venue 11/09 Seattle, WA The Crocodile 11/10 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom 11/11 Reno, NV Knitting Factory 11/13 Scottsdale, AZ Pub Rock 11/14 Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Live Las Vegas 11/27 Toronto, ON Adelaide Hall 11/28 Montreal, QC Fairmount Theatre 11/29 Wilkes-Barre, PA Chandelier Lobby 12/01 Norfolk, VA Norva 12/02 Richmond, VA The National

The Struts at First Avenue, Minneapolis (17 September 2015)

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

Minneapolis: September 15 to September 17, 2015

Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from September 15 to September 17, 2015.

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

Read More The Cribs Wakefield's The Cribs (consisting of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman) are big Smiths fan... so much that they recruited Johnny Marr in their group in 2008 ...

THE CRIBS
at Turf Club
Tuesday, 09/15/2015, 7:30pm ($15)
first-avenue.com

We're pretty excited to see brothers band The Cribs back in Minneapolis, the last time we saw them it was in 2012 at 7th Street Entry and 2008 at the Varsity Theater.

This time around, the trio (twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman) will be at the Turf Club in St Paul.

As we already previously mentioned, their latest album is called For All My Sisters and came out earlier this year in North America on Arts & Crafts.

London/Berlin-based, but Norwegian-born musician Farao to open.

Tour dates:

09/10/15 Vancouver, BC The Cobalt
09/11/15 Seattle, WA Barboza
09/12/15 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
09/15/15 Saint Paul, MN Turf Club
09/16/15 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall
09/17/15 Detroit, MI Majestic Cafe
09/18/15 Toronto, ON Adelaide Hall
09/19/15 POP Montréal Int’l Music Festival
09/21/15 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
09/22/15 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
09/23/15 Washington, DC U Street Music Hall
09/25/15 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
09/26/15 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
10/19/15 Newcastle O2 Academy Newcastle
10/20/15 Glasgow Barrowland
10/21/15 Manchester Albert Hall
10/24/15 Sheffield O2 Academy Sheffield
10/25/15 Bristol O2 Academy Bristol
10/26/15 Nottingham Rock City
10/28/15 London Roundhouse
10/29/15 Oxford O2 Academy Oxford
10/30/15 Portsmouth Pyramid Centre

Read More Mutemath The latest band to do the theme song is Mutemath. Sampling the songs on transformersalbum.com, I can't say that I'm too crazy for any of the songs on the new soundtrack. ...

MUTEMATH
at 7th St Entry
Wednesday, 09/16/2015, 7:30pm ($20)
first-avenue.com

Grammy-nominated, alternative rock band Mutemath have sold out 100% of their entire North American tour. Wow, right?

The band will be promoting their new album Vitals and recently debut their single "Monument" on Beats 1 Radio.

Tour officially kicks off September 16th in Minneapolis, Quiet Entertainer to open the show.

Tour dates:

09/12/15 - "106.5 Weenie Roast"
09/13/15 - "95X Big Shindig"
09/16/15 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
09/17/15 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
09/18/15 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
09/19/15 – Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig
09/21/15 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
09/23/15 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
09/24/15 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
09/26/15 – Boston, MA – Great Scott
09/27/15 – Boston, MA – Great Scott
09/29/15 – Washington, DC – U Street
10/01/15 – Nashville, TN – Basement East
10/02/15 – Nashville, TN – Basement East
10/03/15 – Atlanta, GA – Vinyl
10/04/15 – Atlanta, GA - Vinyl
10/06/15 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
10/07/15 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
10/10/15 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
10/11/15 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
10/19/15 – Los Angeles, CA – Club Bahia
10/20/15 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo
10/21/15 – San Francisco, CA – Brick & Mortar
10/23/15 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
10/24/15 – Portland, OR – Star Theater

Read More Highly Suspect Fresh off the Catfish and the Bottlemen tour, Brooklyn's Highly Suspect is back in Minneapolis for a little Summer tour. This is their first run after the release of Mister Asylum and they are super …

THE STRUTS
at First Avenue
Thursday, 09/17/2015, 8pm ($10)
first-avenue.com

Breakout U.K. band The Struts will be stopping by First Avenue this September 17th, in support of their hit Have You Heard EP (Interscope Records), with single "Could Have Been Me".

The single climbed to #7 at Modern Rock and #13 at Active Rock, with over two million plays on Spotify, hitting #1 on their viral chart.

Also by popular demand, The Struts have added more dates and upgraded to bigger venues after announcing their first stateside tour.

The Struts are Luke Spiller (lead vocals), Adam Slack (guitar), Jed Elliott (bass) and Gethin Davies (drums).

New York rockers Highly Suspect to open the show. We previously mentioned that the band was in town as headliner and also as opener for another UK band Catfish and the Bottlemen.

Tour dates:

09/06 Asbury Park, NJ Wonder Bar
09/08 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
09/11 Pittsburgh, PA Smiling Moose
09/12 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom
09/13 Sterling Heights, MI 98X Chill on the Hill
09/15-09/16 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
09/17 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
09/19 Las Vegas, NV iHeartRadio
10/14 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
10/19 Atlanta, GA Earl
10/20 Charlottesville, VA Southern
10/21 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel
10/23 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
10/24 Philadelphia, PA Ortlieb’s Lounge
10/25 Boston, MA e Sinclair
10/26 Buffalo, NY Ironworks
10/28 Nashville, TN High Watt
10/29 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill
10/31 New Orleans, LA Voodoo Music
11/01 Dallas, TX Club Dada
11/02 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ
11/04 Scottsdale, AZ Pub Rock

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