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The Linda Lindas at Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids (12 Aug 2024)

08/12 The Linda Lindas at the Pyramid Scheme Tour Dates 08/15 – St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre ^ 08/16 - Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s 08/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Field $ 08/20 – Kansas City, KS @ Azura Amphitheatre ^ 08/22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Great American Ballpark $ 08/24 – Milwaukee, WI @ American Family Field $ 08/26 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion ^ 08/27 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 08/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Truist Park $ 08/30 – Nashville, TN @ Geodis Park $ 08/31 - Columbus, OH @ Natalie’s Grandview 09/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PNC Park $ 09/03 - Cincinnati, OH @ Beachland Ballroom & Tavern 09/04 – Detroit, MI @ Comerica Park $ 09/07 – Denver, CO @ Coors Field $ 09/10 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amp ^ 09/11 – Arlington, TX @ Globe Life Field $ 09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ SoFi Stadium $ 09/18 – Phoenix, AZ @ Chase Field $ 09/20 – San Francisco, CA @ Oracle Park $ 09/21 - Berkeley, CA @ 924 Gilman 09/23 – Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park $ 09/25 – Portland, OR @ Providence Park $ 09/28 – San Diego, CA @ Petco Park $ $ = w/ Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Rancid ^ = w/ Green Day and Rancid only Read More Linda Lindas I was actually excited to see that The Linda Lindas will open the show. If I were to guess, the band is named after the Japanese film, Linda, Linda, Linda, which I wrote about in May 2007. .…

The Linda Lindas are stopping by Minneapolis this Saturday, August 17, but since we’re not willing to pay (or afford) the $150 asking price to see the all-girls group (alongside Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, and Rancid), we got the next best thing: Jennifer Juniper sent in some photos of the band’s headlining side-gig at the Pyramid Scheme, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. So apparently, between the big stadium shows, the Linda Lindas decided to book smaller venues to give fans the opportunity to see them at an intimate venue.

I will let Jennifer take it from here.

Jennifer writes:

The Linda Lindas with support from The Boreouts. Punkish band of 40 to 50-somethings from Detroit, Michigan. I liked them actually.

The Pyramid Scheme has a 420-person capacity. It was an all-ages show and for some reason there were a lot of parents there with really young kids (like ages 5 to 10), but not many teenagers.

The Linda Lindas at First Avenue, Minneapolis (11 July 2022)

This was their first time headlining in Grand Rapids. They said they have been here before opening for Japanese Breakfast (side note: see Linda Lindas with Japanese Breakfast in Minneapolis.)

This was the first time I have seen The Linda Lindas headline a show, and they only sold it out at the door. I have seen them open for The Breeders and Jawbreaker. Both shows in April of 2022. The band, comprised of Bella (singing, guitar, 19), Eloise (singing, bass, 16), Lucia (singing, guitar, 17) and sister her Mila (drums, singing, 14) have really matured in the last two years, in terms of their playing, stage presence, and between song banter.

The set list was comprised of a combination of songs from their first album “Growing Up” (2022), and “No Obligation” (coming out on Oct. 11, 2024). They played their cover of Talking Heads’ “Found a Job” from the recently released tribute album “Everybody’s Getting Involved” during the set as well. The band played for over 90 minutes and came back for an encore of “Rebel Girl” before leaving the stage (they started their set at 8 p.m. and it was over around 9:45 p.m.).

The set was not without a few problems where their tour manager Bob (from Best Coast) had to come out and fix some plugs, but for a band of teenagers they were amazing! Eloise also knocked down the mic at one point because she was wildly moving around the stage. Bob came out to fix this as well, but it didn’t interrupt the show.

The Linda Lindas’ No Obligation is coming out this October 11, on Epitaph Records. Let’s hope that the group will tour in support of their sophomore album and will headline Minneapolis soon!

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Linda Lindas at the Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids (12 Aug 2024)

jennifer juniper ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sleater-Kinney at Palace Theatre, St Paul (23 Mar 2024)

03/23 Sleater-Kinney with Black Belt Eagle Scout at Palace Theatre Sleater-Kinney Setlist Hell Needlessly Wild Get Up The Center Won't Hold Small Finds No Cities to Love One More Hour Don't Feel Right One Beat Jumpers Hunt You Down Dance Song ‘97 Hurry On Home Six Mistakes Dress Yourself The Fox All Hands on the Bad One A New Wave Modern Girl Untidy Creature -- Encore -- Good Things Say It Like You Mean It Dig Me Out Entertain Tour Dates 03/23/2024 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre 03/25/2024 - Kansas City, MO @ The Truman 03/26/2024 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom 03/28/2024 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern 03/29/2024 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco 03/30/2024 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield 03/31/2024 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield 04/02/2024 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox 04/03/2024 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox 04/04/2024 - Vancouver, BC @ The Vogue 04/05/2024 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom Read More Sleater-Kinney What are you doing on V-Day? If you're a Sleater-Kinney fan, you'll be at this sold out show. According to my bad memories and physical ticket stubs, I've seen Sleater-Kinney at least three times, and have expressed sadness ... Black Belt Eagle Scout Black Belt Eagle Scout (the project led by multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul) will be releasing their sophomore album At the Party With My Brown Friends on August 30th via Saddle Creek. …

Portland’s finest, Sleater-Kinney, just headlined the Palace Theatre, in St Paul, last night. The group is touring in support of their eleventh studio album, Little Rope (Loma Vista).

Sleater-Kinney at Riviera Theatre (21 Mar 2024)

This review is partly in association with our friend, Jennifer Juniper, who sent in her report for Sleater-Kinney’s appearance at the Rivera Theatre, in Chicago, Illinois. As you can see from the photo, singer/guitarist Corin Tucker is wearing what looks like a gold dress.

The band hardly spoke, except singer/bassist Carrie Brownstein mention that the Chicago audience was “the best audience so far.” I am assuming by best, they meant turn out and very interactive. I’m sure it could also mean well behaved.

Each stop on the tour, SK had a different concert poster for the show. Unfortunately, the Chicago posters did not arrive to the venue on time, so fans were offered a signed poster if they ordered that poster on their website, as a concession.

Sleater-Kinney at Palace Theatre (23 Mar 2024)

The SK’s Minnesota poster arrived on time, and were sold for $40, with an optional $5 poster tube to protect the poster. The band also offered all their albums on vinyl. Their latest album, Little Rope was also pre-signed, so it was an attractive option if you hadn’t already purchased the record. We ended up buying SK socks, which we’ve never seen this sort of band merchandise before.

If you’re a Sleater-Kinney fan, this tour was merchandised-packed, so plenty of fans bought something to take home with them. We’re talking from experience, as we are longtime fans and have supported the band since 1998, “from the last decade”, as Corin puts it.

First Avenue (14 Feb 2015)

This was the sixth time we’ve seen the band (previously: Rock the Garden 2022 (11 Jun 2022), First Avenue (14 Feb 2015), First Avenue (15 Jun 2005), First Avenue (08 Oct 2002), and First Avenue (15 Oct 1998))…

It’s good to see the band again, especially because we were all under the impression that the band broke up, following the departure of drummer Janet Weiss in 2019. Given near-death experiences with family members, the band decided to get back together and make music again. “Life is short and can end in a second,” Carrie said on stage.

This is partly the reason why Little Rope was released and why they’re reconnecting with their fanbase on this 2024 tour.

The St Paul show was somewhat special, because we got to hear “Dance Song ‘97” live, but done in Low’s version that appeared on Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album.

Carrie explained, “For the 25th anniversary of Dig Me Out, we didn’t want to look back. We wanted to look forward. So, we got other musicians to play our songs. When we heard Low’s version of ‘Dance Song ‘97’… Low made the song the way it was meant to be heard. It was truly transformative, and we dedicate this song to Alan Sparhawk and, we miss Mimi Parker.”

Truly and unforgettable dedication to Low.

Black Belt Eagle Scout opened the show for Chicago and St Paul… with St Paul, sadly, being BBES’s last stop on the tour. They were incredibly grateful to be part of this tour, and often thanked Sleater-Kinney (SK would later mentioned that BBES was one of their best bands they’ve worked with, a list that included Lizzo).

Black Belt Eagle Scout (07 Apr 2023)

We like Katherine Paul (who performs under the stagename) and have seen her at the Cedar Cultural Center and said, “KP demonstrated with “My Blood Runs Through This Land” that she can play a howling guitar, but many of her songs harbored a contemplative state like “Sčičudᶻ (A Narrow Place)” a song inspired by long walks through cedar forests during the pandemic. With “Salmon Stinta” KP and Puckett created a nice dynamic between their guitars with Puckett playing the calm waters and KP the salmon moving upstream.”

Although the last song was dedicated to indigenous people (and any outsiders, minorities), all her songs have similar themes, such as “My Blood Runs Through This Land”, “Indians Never Die”, and “Sam, a Dream.”

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Sleater-Kinney at Palace Theatre, St Paul (23 Mar 2024)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ bsky.ap

Slowdive at Palace Theatre, St Paul (04 Oct 2023)

10/04 slowdive with Drab Majesty at Palace Theatre Slowdive Setlist shanty Star Roving Catch the Breeze Souvlaki Space Station Crazy for You kisses Sugar for the Pill Slomo Alison When the Sun Hits Golden Hair (Syd Barrett cover) -- Encore -- prayer remembered the slab 40 Days Tour Dates Oct. 6 - Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Oct. 7 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Oct. 9 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom Oct. 10 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo Oct. 12 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Oct. 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether Oct. 15 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether Oct. 16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Oct. 30 - Glasgow, UK @ QMU Oct. 31 - Manchester, UK @ Ritz Nov. 1 - Bristol, UK @ SWX Nov. 3 - London, UK @ Troxy Nov. 5 - Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall Nov. 6 - Dublin, IR @ National Stadium Nov. 25 - Sun. Nov. 26 - Buenos Aires, AR Dec. 4 - Santiago, CL @ Teatro Coliseo Dec. 7 - Asunción, PY @ Primavera Sound Dec. 9 - Sun. Dec. 10 - Bogotá, CO Jan. 16, 2024 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Jan. 17, 2024 - Paris, FR @ La Cigale Jan. 18, 2024 - Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall Jan. 20, 2024 - Hamburg, DE @ Grosse Freiheit 36 Jan. 21, 2024 - Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Jan. 22, 2024 - Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene Jan. 23, 2024 - Stockholm, SE @ Munchenbryggeriet Jan. 25, 2024 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle Jan. 27, 2024 - Warsaw, PL @ Progresja Jan. 28, 2024 - Prague, CZ @ Divaldo Archa Jan. 29, 2024 - Munich, DE @ Muffathalle Feb. 16, 2024 - Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome Feb. 17, 2024 - London, UK @ Eventim Apollo Feb. 18, 2024 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Birmingham Feb. 19, 2024 - Norwich, UK @ LCR UEA Feb. 21, 2024 - Liverpool, UK @ O2 Academy Liverpool Feb. 22, 2024 - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK @ NX Feb. 23, 2024 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom Feb. 24, 2024 - Edinburgh, UK @ Liquid Rooms Feb. 26, 2024 - Cardiff, UK @ Cardiff University Great Hall Feb. 27, 2024 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy Read More Slowdive Shoegaze band Slowdive are currently on a reunion tour, stopping by Minneapolis' Fine Line Music Cafe, after being absent from the city in twenty-two years! .... Drab Majesty “Intergalactic duo” Drab Majesty is headlining the Fine Line Music Café on August 20. Their latest album Modern Mirror is out now. …

British shoegazing band Slowdive headlined the Palace Theatre in St Paul last night (Oct 4).

Riviera Theatre, Chicago (03 Oct 2023) Setlist (03 Oct 2023)

The day before, the band was in Chicago, Illinois, which shoegazing fan Jennifer Juniper happily attended. She sent in the setlist photo, and based on St Paul’s setlist, I believe Slowdive is playing the same set every night. This makes sense, because each song requires a specialized custom video (specially designed for each song), with timing and such, you don’t want to make drastic changes every night.

The fanbase for Slowdive seemed to have gotten younger, which is surprising and refreshing, as their original fans are aging out. Jennifer confirmed it as much, as I stood between a young fan in his twenties and a guy in his 40s, just to paint a picture of the generational makeup of the audience. This is great news, as Slowdive, once almost forgotten, have really made a nice comeback since reforming in 2014.

At the Chicago show, Jennifer mentioned that, “they messed up on The Slab and said they were going to start over but decided against it and went to the last one. Neil [Halstead] said it was a ‘new one’ as the excuse. So we really only got 30 seconds of that song.”

Apparently, the band had to make a fast break make that six plus hour drive to St Paul, so they must have left Chicago as soon as they could, which Jennifer adds, “There were a bunch of people hanging around after the show with aftershow stickers on, but the band must have left pretty early get to Minnesota.”

Based on Jennifer’s description, it sounded like there was little change from Chicago to St Paul. I would add that unlike the Chicago show, Slowdive played the entire “The Slab” song. All the old songs, such as “Alison” had very positive responses from the audience.

The new songs off of the new album Everything Is Alive, such as the “Shanty” song that kicked off their set, sounded good, and it’s something new from this late 80s/early 90s band.

Drab Majestic (Deb Demure and Andrew Clinco) was the support for all the entire 2023 USA tour. They were dressed in suits with wigs and metallic face paints. I thought they sounded really good, mixing in dance beats of Manchester baggy sound, but walking that galactic soundscape of shoegazing music.

Highlight of their set was featuring Rachel Goswell on their track, “Vanity”.

Drab Majestic’s latest mini album, An Object in Motion is out now on Dais Records.

Drab Majesty

Drab Majesty (with Rachel Goswell) Drab Majesty Drab Majesty

Slowdive

Slowdive Slowdive Slowdive

Slowdive at Palace Theatre, St Paul (04 Oct 2023)

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Brian Jonestown Massacre at Elevation, Grand Rapids (28 Sep 2023)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre Setlist #1 Lucky Kitty The Real Fudge Do Rainbows Have Ends? Pish Wait a Minute (2:30 to Be Exact) Your Mind Is My Cafe Don't Let Me Get in Your Way You Think I'm Joking? That Girl Suicide Forgotten Graves The Mother of All F**rs Nightbird Anemone Servo Sailor Maybe Make It Right Read More Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre we nearly at the top of my list of bands for the weekend and quite a fitting choice to end the Friday evening line-up. .…

We were supposed to see psychedelic rockers The Brian Jonestown Massacre tonight, at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis… unfortunately due to illness we can’t make it out.

Originally when our good friend and concert goer, Jennifer Juniper, mentioned she was also seeing BJM, the original idea was to use her photo and comment at her show in Grand Rapids as a bonus section to our Minneapolis review.

Jennifer remembers BJM fondly, because she remembered how great they were back in the old days at Cafe Bleu (a nightclub in California playing lots of indie music).

Unfortunately, none of her phone photos turned out great, because “they did not use a spotlight at all.”

She described the photo as Anton in the hat and Joel on the tambourine. She also mentioned that Anton “got pissy during the show and started on a rant about the crew at the venue. Hopefully he is in a better mood tonight.”

The Brian Jonestown Massacre plays Minneapolis tonight!

Remaining tour dates:

09/30 Minneapolis, Varsity Theater
10/02 Bozeman, The Elm
10/03 Missoula, Top Hat
10/04 Seattle, Neumos
10/05 Vancouver, BC, Vogue Theatre
10/06 Portland, OR, Aladdin Theater
10/07 Bend, Volcanic Theatre
10/09 Santa Cruz, Rio Theatre
10/10 San Francisco, The Warfield
10/12 Pioneertown, Pappy + Harriet's
10/13 Los Angeles, Desert Daze The Bellwether
10/14 San Luis Obisbo, SLO Brew
10/15 San Diego, House of Blues
10/16 Phoenix, The Van Buren
10/18 Salt Lake City, Metro Music Hall
10/20 Fort Collins, Washington's
10/21 Colorado Springs, The Black Sheep
10/23 Denver, Ogden Theatre
10/24 Kansas City, Recordbar
10/25 Oklahoma City, Beer City Music Hall
10/28 Austin, Levitation - The Far Out
10/29 Dallas, Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ
10/30 Houston, The Heights Theater
10/31 News Orleans, Toulouse Theatre
11/01 Atlanta, Variety Playhouse
11/03 Quintaroo, MX, TBD
11/04 CDMX, MX, Hipnosis 2023

The Brian Jonestown Massacre at Elevation, Grand Rapids (28 Sep 2023)

jennifer juniper ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Tegan and Sara go pop!

Please note that the following was originally published on ginforjuniper.wordpress.com.

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Tour Dates 02/19 Beacon Theatre - New York, NY 02/20 Beacon Theatre - New York, NY 02/22 Upstate Concert Hall - Clifton Park, NY 02/23 Peter Clark Hall - Guelph, Canada 02/24 Orpheum Theatre - Madison, WI 02/26 MTS Centre - Winnipeg, Canada 02/28 MacEwan Hall - Calgary, Canada 03/01 MacEwan Hall - Calgary, Canada 03/03 Shaw Conference Centre - Edmonton, Canada 03/04 Conexus Arts Centre Theatre - Regina, Canada 03/06 First Avenue - Minneapolis, Minnesota 03/07 Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, Wisconsin 03/09 LC Pavilion - Columbus, Ohio 03/10 The Pageant - St. Louis, Missouri 03/11 Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, Oklahoma 03/15 Warehouse Live Ballroom - Houston, TX 04/12 Coachella - Indio, CA 04/14 Rialto Theatre - Tucson, Arizona 04/19 Coachella - Indio, CA 04/25 Sydney Opera House - Sydney NSW, Australia 04/27 Groovin' The Moo - Glen Oak NSW, Australia 04/28 Groovin' The Moo - Canberra, Australia 04/30 Tivoli Theatre - Brisbane QLD, Australia 05/02 Palais Theatre - Melbourne, Australia 05/04 Groovin' The Moo - Bendigo VIC, Australia 05/05 Groovin' The Moo - Townsville, Australia 05/07 Thebarton Theatre - Adelaide SA, Australia 05/09 Metro City - Perth, Australia 05/11 Groovin' The Moo - Banbury, Australia 07/06 Donwview Park - Toronto, ON 07/09 Jacobs Pavilion @ Nautica - Cleveland, OH 07/13 CMAC - Rochester, NY 07/16 Meadow Brook - Detroit, MI 07/18 Stage AE - Pittsburgh, PA 07/19 The Mann Center - Philadelphia, PA 07/20 Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD 07/22 Hudson River Park, Pier 26 - New York, NY 08/22 Red Rocks Amphitheatre - Denver, CO 08/23 Salt Air Outside - Salt Lake City, UT 08/27 Lake Tahoe Harvey's - Lake Tahoe, NV 08/28 Idaho Botanical Garden - Boise, ID 08/29 Edgefield - Portland, OR 09/06 The Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley - Berkeley, CA 09/10 Comerica Theatre - Phoenix, AZ 09/12 Gexa Energy Pavilion - Dallas, TX 09/16 Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre - Tuscaloosa, AL 09/18 Mizner Park Amphitheatre - Boca Raton, FL 09/19 UCF Arena - Orlando, FL 09/22 The Woods at Fontanel - Whites Creek, TN 09/24 Family Circle Cup Stadium - Charleston, SC 09/25 Red Hat Amphitheater - Raleigh, NC 09/26 nTelos Wireless Pavilion - Charlottesville, VA Discography [1999] Under Feet Like Ours [2000] This Business of Art [2002] If It Was You [2004] So Jealous [2007] The Con [2009] Sainthood [2013] Heartthrob Read More Tegan and Sara This is actually a true story about Tegan & Sara. About ten years ago, I met this woman and ended up at her house. I saw that she had T&S's debut album, Under Feet Like …

Tegan and Sara was one of those bands that I had heard of for many years but never listened to until I saw them open up for Death Cab for Cutie at the Hollywood Bowl a few years ago. Frankly, I thought those days were behind me. The days when I would go to a show and hear a band I have never heard before and become a fan right there and then, but it happened with Tegan and Sara on that summer night.

So I was excited when I found out that they were going to be playing in LA and bought tickets for the show without even thinking about who would go with me. A friend of mine was going to go, but at the last minute got ill so I went to the show by myself. I had been to Club Nokia once a few years ago when my friend Roberta won tickets to a show. They were some young band whom I had never heard of before and now I don’t even remember their name. In fact I had totally forgotten about the metal detectors until I went into the venue on Friday night (February 1st). Club Nokia has to be one of the only music venues I have ever been in that makes you go through a metal detector. At the Palladium they have a hand wand that they use if needed, but a metal detector I don’t understand, especially for an indie band.

The first good news of the night was the fact that the Staples Center was not in use and I was able to find parking for $5. The second good news of the night was the fact that I was easily able to sell my extra ticket to a nineteen year old girl who will probably remember that show for years. The third good news would have to be that since the general admission floor was already full, I got to go upstairs and sit right behind the VIP section. Clea Duvall (an actress) who I used to see at all the “girl band” shows sat down in the row in front of me and later I noticed Greg Kurstin (the guy who produced their new CD and who is in the band “the Bird and the Bee”) sitting in the same row. Celebrity sightings aside, it was a fantastic show. All the ladies were in the house. I haven’t seen that many women at a show since early Sleater-Kinney and Le Tigre shows. Having a female audience always changes the dynamic of the show. The energy level is different (maybe due to all the estrogen in the room) and I feel safer at these shows. Not that I don’t feel safe at other indie rock shows I go to, but the lack of males in the room makes it feel more communal at these shows. I feel as if I could be on stage or that the music is speaking directly towards me compared to when I watch mixed or all male bands perform.

If there was a female band that exuded sexiness …

My friend John once told me that the reason he likes female bands is because they are not on stage in order to get laid. He thinks their music is more authentic than male rock bands. He might be right. Of course I just think he likes female bands because he might get laid. :o If there was a female band that exuded sexiness, it would be Tegan and Sara. Maybe because their songs are mostly about relationships and their new cd titled “Heartthrob” is no exception. In my mind, they are the most “male” female fronted band around with lyrics like “how come you don’t want me now?” and “all I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me.” Most of the songs on the new cd sound very similar and have a lot of keyboard programming on them. A Greg Kurstin stamp that he places on all the material he produces. I love their last cd “Sainthood” which Chris Walla produced (which is probably why they were playing with Death Cab when I first saw them). “Sainthood” has variation to it, while “Heartthrob” is monotonous. Catchy, but monotonous none the less. Live it works because the songs were mixed up and Tegan and Sara played songs spanning their last four albums on Friday night. But as an album “Heartthrob” is not as strong as their older stuff. The audience seemed to agree with me and cheered harder for their older songs. As a band they decided to take a risk by going with a more pop producer and well the proof is in the pudding. The question is going to be, where do they go from here?

Tegan and Sara at Club Nokia, Los Angeles (02/01/13) photograph by Jennifer Juniper

jennifer juniper ♥ teganandsara.com ♥ ginforjuniper.wordpress.com

God Help The Girl - Musical Film Screening

Please note that this was a rough cut of the film and the following was originally published on ginforjuniper.wordpress.com.

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Stuart Murdoch at United Talent Agency, Beverly Hills (01/30/13) photograph by Jennifer Juniper Discography [2009] Come Monday Night (Single) [2009] God Help the Girl (LP) [2009] Stills (EP) [2009] Funny Little Frog (Single) [2010] Baby You're Blind (Single) Read More God Help the Girl I looked up God Help the Girl and they are filming a new music video this July 2013 and they were looking for someone to allow them to film for three weeks in their "spacious" house. …

God Help The Girl

posted on January 31, 2013

Last night (01/30) I got to do something that makes it worthwhile to live in Los Angeles. I was able to watch a screening of Stuart Murdoch’s film “God Help The Girl” which is something that I helped support on Kickstarter a year ago. Someday I will receive a DVD copy of the film in the mail in exchange for my donation to the film project. I was very excited to see the movie since I have been a big fan of the band (Belle & Sebastian) since 1997 and I have been hearing about the project for the last few years.

First off I show up at United Talent Agency which is where the screening is taking place. Interestingly enough, it is located near where Maverick Records used to be housed in Beverly Hills and a corner of the city I have not been to since I left Maverick in 1998. I felt like I was coming full circle since I am someday soon going to leave LA and Maverick was one of the first places I worked at in this town.

So I sat and waited in the lobby while other fans started trickling in. To say that I can spot other Belle and Sebastian fans is not surprising. There was an English guy reading a Jonathan Lethem book, a couple in which the woman was grading her students’ classwork, and the usual assortment of people with dyed hair staring at their smartphones. The movie was going to start 30 minutes later than we were told and I was wishing I had brought a book to kill time. Instead all I had was my smartphone and a memo pad. I spot Stuart standing across the room with a pregnant American whom I guessed was his wife. Stuart having a kid? He was one of the few people out there who I thought would never have kids. It has always made me feel better knowing that there are other people out there who don’t have kids. It makes me feel less alone in my choices. Well I was feeling pretty alone last night, and this was mostly due to the fact that I did not know any of the people hanging around and I wasn’t too keen on trying to strike up a conversation with anyone new. If it was a show I was waiting around for, well then maybe, but this event felt very relaxed and mellow.

I finally get to sit down in the screening room which had these big gray couches for us to sit on and wait some more. This time I am drawing pictures of the gnomes on my socks because my cell phone would not get any reception. The theatre was about half full and I would say there were less than 100 people in the room.

Stuart introduces the movie and his pregnant wife and I am sitting right behind them. One of my favourite things to do is people watch and listen in on other people’s conversations. I have always felt that it was a way to learn about people and see what they are really like. I have learned most of my social skills from watching others or TV. When I was a child, TV and movies were the way I learned everything about life. It probably also set up unrealistic expectations like the fact that I should be asked out to the homecoming dance when I was high school, and going to the prom is a MUST. But I digress from the point…

Visually it was Stuart’s story of the forming of Belle and Sebastian.

The movie is good. I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew the songs from the “God Help The Girl” cd which came out in 2009 and the general plot line of the story but I didn’t know how the songs would run together. Basically the movie followed the order of the songs from the cd although there were new ones added in. Visually it was Stuart’s story of the forming of Belle and Sebastian. It was not a biography, but the signs were there if you knew where to look. Eve and James are the two facets of Sebastian (Stuart) and Cassie was Belle (Isobel Campbell). The story had already been told in their songs and liner notes years ago, but here it was being acted out down to the scenes of fighting with umbrellas instead of swords from the video of “Is It Wicked Not To Care?” and poses in the style of the cover of the “Legal Man” single.

What really struck me about the film was how young the characters seemed. It really took me back to my years in college and even a trip I took to Scotland to visit my friend in December of 1994. I was able to identify with the characters as being younger versions of myself while also seeing how far I have moved away from it. I felt old in many ways and sad because all I wanted to do was start a band when I was 20 but I didn’t have the nerve, or any talent. These kids in the movie had the self-esteem to do such a thing. I still wonder if it too late for me? Can I still form that band and live out my fantasies from when I was young? Or has being “older and wiser” gotten the better of me? Mind you, I am very glad that I am not 20 years old anymore. Those were hellish days, but the nostalgia and “what could have been” will get me every time.

god help jennifer juniper ♥ godhelpthegirl.com ♥ ginforjuniper.wordpress.com