93 posts tagged “concert”

Girl in a Coma rocked out to the intimate setting of 7th Street Entry last night. For those who aren't from around here, 7th St is just a hole in the wall to its bigger brother First Ave (where incidentally Matisyahu played the same night). I have seen many people who aren't from around Minneapolis get lost trying to find this door-in-the-wall.

Opening up for them was Miss Derringer (myspace), who was very excited to play Minneapolis (it was their first time here). The band is all dressed up in what looks like a cross between military confederates and rockabilly hooligans. Miss Derringer herself, Liz McGrath, is in a black dress that looks like she's just been to a funeral.

They started off their set with "Click Click (Bang Bang)", followed by mostly songs from their forth-coming album, Winter Hill (coming out July 14^th on Triple X Records). My favorite from their set is the go-go-esque "Black Tears", which sounded much better live. I also thought "Death by Desire" was really cute, the interaction between Morgan Slade and McGrath kind of clues you into their relationship (I am pretty sure they're married).

I liked them a lot. I think they have a great stage presence and I wouldn't mind writing more on them in the future.

Girl in a Coma ♥ 7th St Entry, Minneapolis (07/01/09) Girl in a Coma ♥ Tour Poster

As soon as GIAC came on stage, the audience quickly move to the center. The turnout was actually really good for a working Wednesday evening. Most of the audience were women, which I suppose doesn't surprise me as it's an all-girl band (and being on Joan Jett's label probably attributed to appealing to women).

I even overheard that some girls were at the show as a result of seeing them at the Rosedale Best Buy signing that they did earlier that day. That kind of promotion actually works, I suppose those girls just happened to be at the store and liked what they heard.

Anyway, what's interesting was that there was really no soundcheck. As soon as there was power on the mic, Nina Diaz, started guitar playing that distinctive rift from "BB" and started singing - which I think may have caught the soundguy off guard and killed the radio. So off they played with mostly new songs from Trio BC.

For "Say" (from Both Before I'm Gone) they dedicated the song to Miss Derringer. Banters like Nina pointing out that Jenn's single or Jenn said the obvious that Nina and Phanie were sisters, comes off as clumsy - but cute, because you know they have been doing this for a long time. I will bet you that they are three very close friends.

They ended their set with "Ven Cera", which sounded brilliant live.

GIAC are only half-way through their tour, be sure to check them out live if they come through your area. My GIAC discography is now complete as a resulting of stopping by the merch table! If you can't catch them live, you can always get their music via Black Heart Records.

PS: I may be off to see Girl in a Coma (along with a bunch of other artists) at 80/30 Music Festival in Des Moines, this weekend... which means, I may be off the grid - so don't expect to hear much from me after Thursday. I will be live-updating via twatter if that is the case. Also, it's very late as I write this and have misspelled Nina's name as Ninja several times.

It's kind of weird to see The Lonely H playing at bars, especially because, according to their biography, three of the band members are underage. The band's been around since 2000, released three albums (their latest is Concrete Class, released June 6^th on The Control Group), and have played over 200 shows! They stopped in Minneapolis last night to play mostly new songs from the new album at Lee's Liquor Lounge.

I've never been to this venue before, it's basically a bar with a half-wall that divides the stage and drink area. It's deceivingly longer than it is wide, and looks pretty spacious. Also, the atmosphere was pretty relaxed, and the turnout of local patrons and friends and music supporters were surprisingly busy for a work-day Thursday.

I haven't seen Gabe from Four on the Floor (possibly do not have a myspace) since SXSW, and I did not recognize him as he's now 90% beard. It's like an enchanted forest! Haha.

The highlight of the show was their cover of "Beat It". It would turn out to be sort of a Michael Jackson tribute night as each of the three band pay tribute to him. A Night in the Box (myspace) even did a pretty great rendition of "The Way You Make Me Feel" (followed by another cover, Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour").

The Lonely H ♥ Lee's Liquor Lounge, Minneapolis (06/25/09) Setlist ♥ Lee's Liquor Lounge, Minneapolis (06/25/09)

Most of my driving day, I spent listening to Lonely H's Concrete Class to get an idea of what to expect. They sound like a mix of country rock and classic rock.

What I wasn't expecting was how absolutely tall singer Mark Fredson is. He towers over the other band members, Fredson looks kind of awkward leaning down when he plays his Yama"ha".

The band are all in cowboy wear (embroidered button shirts, leather boots, jeans), plus they all have really long hair, making them look like they're in a hard-rock or hard metal band. I also quite like the idea that they have this giant "H" that lights up with them on all their shows. Unfortunately the lights did an epic fail half way into their opening song, "Going out West".

They didn't play some of my favorite songs from the new album, "Girl from Jersey", "Take Care" and "Singer". I suppose it's understandable those songs are pretty mellow (compared to the rest of the album), but they made it up with rock-out version of "Diggin' a Hole" and "Cold Blues". The highlight of the show is probably their cover of Tom Petty's "Anything That's Rock N' Roll".

The Lonely H is playing a ton of dates for 2009, so they'll probably most likely be playing in your town. If not, their music is quite cheap (all albums are priced at $10, some with bonus DVDs).

Detroit's Deastro stopped by 7th Street Entry last night, telling us about the time he grew up in Minneapolis and friendship in his Holy Rollers gang (saving the world and sk8!).

Opening up for them are locals, Telepathos (myspace) and Lazer Forever (myspace). I was excited to check out Telepathos because they listed all the bands I like (Radiohead, MBV, Sonic Youth, The Cure...), and you can hear it in their live set. They lean more towards heavy use of guitars and shoegazing sound, a mix of My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse. I did notice that inbetween their songs, there seems to be long awkward silences. I think it's because the singer/keyboardist have to load up the beats for the next song.

Lazer Forever sounds like classic progressive rock, which is not an insult. They had to change the drum snare on the second song, and played a pretty full set. My two new Californian friends and I were chatting with Noah the drummer earlier and he seems to enjoy his television and movies!

Deastro's Randy Chabot is not what I was expecting, with his Ghost Buster II shirt and uneven cut-out pants and (get this) orange duct taped shoes. Yep, he seems like a pretty cool guy. When he talks between songs, he seems to ramble a stream of conscious.

Deastro Concert Poster, Minneapolis (06/18/09) Deastro at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (06/18/09)

In many ways, the free EPs that I previously mentioned from Deastro is a terrible introduction to the band. That all-instrumental music is basically background music to his real music - which sounds more like intense 80s new wave pop, at least when played live.

After about an hour, their new bassist (I think he was called Andy) exit stage left. Apparently, Minneapolis was his first show and he hadn't learned how to play all the songs. But no one can tell that he messed up, I mean their songs "Parallelogram" and "Toxic Crusaders" sounded alright to me.

The latest news from Deastro is their second single from their forth-coming LP, Moondagger (out on June 23^rd on Ghostly International), is called "Vermillion Plaza".

Metric played to a very packed First Avenue last night. The show was sold out in advance (plus all the reserves at the door were immediately sold out), so let's just say Minneapolis can't get enough of this Canadian band.

Smile Smile - Sad Song 1 comment Sebastien Grainger - By Cover Of Night 1 comment Metric - Gold Guns Girls

Before we get to them, we have two very different bands opening up for Metric. First up was cute boy/girl duo, Smile Smile (official/myspace/twitter). I didn't quite catch what they were saying but Jency Hirunrusme said something like how they were so glad to be in Minneapolis from Kansas. What's wrong with Kansas ? They didn't really specify. They seem like they're a couple, like The Submarines or KaiserCartel.

Note to self: Keep band in mind for another Double Double article.

Saddle Creek's recording artist Sebastien Grainger (official/myspace/twitter) brought the rock, all in that crazy cokacola jumpsuit. At one point Mr Grainger slid across the stage on his knees - he didn't get too far as the performing stage was tiny due to all the other equipment. But I laughed to myself seeing that. As for the music, well best not think too hard (or think at all) when you hear them. They seem like a really fun band, at least the band seems to enjoy themselves.

Note to self: Keep Sebastien in mind for my next Silhouette article.

I've seen Emily Haines live at the Varsity Theater on her solo record, Knives Don't Have Your Back, and between the audience and the venue, it was like night and day. Haines' solo material and live performance is a lot mellower. I don't know if it's the same fans, but last night's audience was mostly younger 18-23 year olds. The audience dance and sung along to every song.

Metric at First Ave, Minneapolis (06/13/09)

When Emily Haines isn't rocking out the keyboard, she's rocking the wireless mic in her disco-y glittery dress. She would play for chunks of five songs and then talk. And when she talks, it's actually long conversations. I did remember hearing her thank Radio K and talking about the Minneapolis' shitty weather. All true.

Perhaps the long talk was meant for the rest of the band gearing up to play the next song (in this case, the first talk-break was before "Gimme Sympathy" and after "Help I'm Alive"). Right after the first encore, "Monster Hospital", she did another long conversation. I didn't catch call the banter, something about music in 2009 or something like that. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, the words were just recited like it was from a poem or something.

PS, Usually I'll just grab the setlist at these shows, but when I asked the guy at the stage, he said to me, "They've gone green, their setlist are on the monitor." Wow, this is a first.

After floating around for quite some time, under the radar, to a certain extent, it's evident that Yves Klein Blue have slowly been rising, gaining momentum, popping up, then hiding again for a little while. Yves Klein Blue, formed from a high school boys shared love of music and named after quite a pleasant blue colour, first mixed by french artist Yves Klein, are a four-piece out of sunny Brisbane.

I recall seeing them in Sydney almost exactly one year ago (see the proof), and even then I was significantly more impressed than I thought i would be. Now, a lot has gone down in the past year. You may know their first single, Polka, which features so predominantly in that advertisement where people are throwing things out of their house into a car.... silly ad, but catchy catchy tune. They've also recently seen jaunts to the US and the UK (you may have seen them in your travels, yes?)

Anyway, the boys debut album Ragged & Ecstatic, captures the youthful vibe that is present at their live shows. It's the feeling of being young and free, having fun, exploring life, it's ups and downs and doing just whatever you bloody well want to. Reminds me specifically of the days, first time out of home, beer money was more important than rent money and work... pfft (not that they were paying me anyway). As an example, the recently released single, Getting Wise, gives out the exact vibe that I have just attempted to describe.

"We're getting wise trying to find our feet"

With respect to the tunes themselves, it's quite impossible to simply slot these boys into a single genre, which is by no means, a bad thing. I can hear many similarities with various styles both old and new, rock, ska, indie, country-style slide guitars... but I hesitate to label them. So I wont.

But does Ragged & Ecstatic meet the expectations of someone who can't go past seeing Yves Klein Blue live? Simply... no. There is a certain energy that is lacking when comparing the album to a live show. There's no intense stares from frontman, Michael Tomlinson, less of a feeling of need to bounce around in a crowd full of people, and no giant glasses of wine (hang on a minute!), but I guess that's the same for many bands have such an excellent stage presence.

However, Ragged & Ecstatic has it's own unique charm. Less of an opportunity to relive live shows, more of an opportunity to sit down an get inside the heads of four young boys (does that sound seedy?), an opportunity to listen to the lyrics and transport back (depending on how old you are) to times when things felt complicated, but you'd not give it up in a million years. And it must be mentioned that there's definitely several opportunities for a little bit of loungeroom dancing.

With that.... if you happen to be anywhere in Australia, you're in luck. There's a plethora of tour dates on the horizon and most importantly, June 26th you can own your very own copy of Ragged & Ecstatic.

JUNE

THU 25TH Bon Amici, Toowoomba

FRI 26TH Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane

(ALL AGES SHOW)

SAT 27TH Sound Lounge, Gold Coast

SUN 28TH Woombye Pub, Sunshine Coast

JULY

WED 1ST ANU Bar, Canberra

THU 2ND The Harp Hotel, Wollongong

FRI 3RD Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

SAT 4TH Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (all ages)

SAT 4TH Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (18+)

WED 8TH Karova Lounge, Ballarat

THU 9TH National Hotel, Geelong

FRI 10TH Northcote Social Club, Melbourne

SAT 11TH Jive Bar, Adelaide

FRI 17TH Norfolk Basement, Fremantle

SAT 18TH Amplifier Bar, Perth

Links
Official website: http://www.yveskleinblue.com/
MySpace: www.myspace.com/yveskleinbluemusic 
Record label: http://www.dew-process.com/




Sally
sally@weheartmusic.com

In terms of concert geography, Houston is screwed. Most bands do the obligatory show in Austin and often stop by Dallas but few deign to swing by polluted, artery-clogged Houston. But when they do stop by, bands often find themselves overwhelmed with enthusiasm, as the musically-deprived audience is simply grateful they are not another Selena cover band. Such was the case with Passion Pit and the Harlem Shakes.

Harlem Shakes at Warehouse, Houston (6/4/09)

The two bands seemed like appropriate tourmates since they had gained steady momentum through blogs, well-received EPs, and incessant shows up and down the east coast. Not to mention they both looked like walking advertisements for the Salvation Army (as most bands do).

The Harlem Shakes provided just the right amount of pep to wake up the somewhat restless crowd. Starting with the gradual building “TFO,” they soon moved on to fan favorites like “Nothing But Change Pt. II” and “Sunlight.” Lead singer, Lexy Benaim, occasionally offered sleepy commentary between songs, but for the most part, stuck strictly to singing. The audience caught on quickly to all the “oohs” and “ahs” in their songs and a haphazard sing-a-long could be deciphered every once in a while. As a self-proclaimed cynic when it comes to opening bands (I’ve suffered through way too many My Bloody Valentine disciples), I was impressed.

Passion Pit took the stage to much acclaim and the occasional fangirl squeal (mostly directed to oh-so-dreamy keyboardist, Ian Hultquist). The first song, “Make Light,” reduced the audience to a sweaty mass of frenzied dancing. Aside from their debut album, Manners, the band played a few songs from their fan-favorite Chunk of Change EP, such as “Better Things” and “I’ve Got Your Number.”

I’ve heard a few people criticize lead singer Michael Angelakos’ voice, (Pitchfork lovingly called it “half-eunuch/half-Jeremy Enigk”), but there were no complaints that night, as the arsenal of synthesizers and keyboards seemed to balance everything out. Highlights of the night included “Little Secrets” and “Moth Wings,” as their infectious hooks allowed for plenty of audience participation. Requests for their runaway hit, “Sleepyhead” were heard throughout the night, and when the band finally acquiesced, the audience went –for lack of a better word—apeshit.

For the encore, the band returned with their single, “The Reeling,” another song featuring a catchy chorus sung by a children’s choir, much to the crowd’s delight. By the end of the night, the band seemed genuinely surprised by the Houston audience’s uninhibited gusto. I suppose they weren’t expecting much from a venue situated between a Chinese restaurant and an empty lot.

NOTE:  This event was organized by Minnesota music blog, Culture Bully.  They have photos of the show here.

Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel’s history reads like a perfect twee memoir:  both are elementary school teachers, both play a handful of instruments (guitar, drums, xylophone, accordion-thing-that-I-am-unable-to-identify, whistling), both dress like gothic country ball guests, both are obviously in love (with each other).  It’s almost too darling to digest.  If this were an episode of Sesame Street, I would say “Tonight’s concert is brought to you by the letter ‘A’ for ADORABLE.” 

I’m getting nauseous with whimsy glee just writing this out. 

KaiserCartel at Cedar Cultural, Minneapolis (05/09/09) ♥ photo by Jon Behm

Saturday’s show at the Cedar was a generation-fest of sorts.  The ambience was chill and the crowd was soft, pleasant, malleable…like a delicious loaf of Wonder Bread (ifyouknowwhatI’msaying*).  Hip, art school wannabes mingled with real-life senior citizens, sweatshirted couples were seated next to teenagers and their parents; the average age was probably mid-20s to early 30s, but the maturity level was at least a decade wiser.  Maybe it was the style of music—a less frenetic brand of folk-pop, tame for children and the elderly—or it could’ve been the venue (the Cedar’s layout is seating room only), or even that the musicians appeared unassuming and also currently clean.  Whatever the reason, KaiserCartel’s gentle-cum-hand clap cheer suited the Cedar’s intimate space. 

Being only minimally in the know, I wasn’t familiar with KaiserCartel’s interesting use of multiple instruments.  The duo may be primarily guitar and percussion, but if their musical bag of tricks is any indication, I’m 99% certain that the goal is amusement as much as it is creative conception (on one song Kaiser pulled out a comically small xylophone and proceeded to play it with an electric drink frother).  Besides being adorable, Kaiser’s vocal chops call to mind the iconic female folk singers of past (a less warbled Joan Baez or Judy Collins), by way of “adult contemporary” mellow rockers Cowboy Junkies—the same rich confidence steeped in pop melodies.  To be honest, it’s a tad strange hearing a Brooklyn band that doesn’t harness the brash fury of cynical youth and is, instead, somewhat old-timey in their adorations.  Live, standout tracks included “Okay” (a semi-sweet duet that touches on imperfect love), “Season Song” (whistling!  In key!), and “Shira,” the latter performed acoustic, stripped down, and amongst the audience (complete with the kind of uncomfortable eye contact that unearths years of repressed campfire memories).

As Vu mentioned in his review of March Forth, KaiserCartel loooove Minnesota.  They opened for local indie looker/Trekkie/Tweeter Jeremy Messersmith, who has a beard, a guitar, an Andy, and a fondness for Minneapolis—“Franklin Ave.,” “Light Rail” (yes, we have a light rail; it only has three destinations).  More about Messersmith later.  Promise.

KaiserCartel is on tour.  Check their Myspace or website for information.  Their debut LP, March Forth, released in June of last year, is available for purchase through their website or iTunes/Amazon/various e-consumerist hubs.

* Although the Cedar boasts an eclectic mixing of genres, like Irish folk and world beats, the clientele generally veers due White.

Love in October is an indie band, formed in Minneapolis, but ultimately moved to Chicago. Todd's previously reviewed their record, and I've seen them live before. This time around, they are now a five-piece band, complete with new extra guitarist, keyboardist and new drummer. What hasn't changed is their Swedish heritage pride, which they proudly display their yellow and blue Swedish flag where ever they play.

Seeing them at both The Minnesota History Museum and at the 400 Bar, is like night and day. While their daytime show was a bit toned-down (hey it's tough to rock out when there's marbled statues and parents and children all around), their 'adult' show was all-out rock-out-loud. They certainly seem more comfortable and in their element in the dimly lit venue.

Love in October Setlist ♥ Minnesota History Museum, St Paul (05/09/09)

MINNESOTA HISTORY MUSEUM
Prior to the start of their daytime show, Erik came on stage to talk about why Sweden exported so many (good) music. They are the third behind the US and England, as far as music production goes. This is a feat, considering the size of Sweden is only the size of California. He goes on to talk about how this was possible due to the Swedish government decided to put .7% into the arts in the seventies. Of course, being a long-time Swedishpop fan, I knew all these facts, however, I don't think the general public knew about the Swedish arts & music program.

After ten minutes, the rest of the band joined Erik on stage and they did the indie rock thing. And yes, I was head-bopping and foot-tapping. Quite embarrassing when drummer Ivan Sosa said, "I want you to enjoy the show - like THAT GUY!" and pointed to me.

They did three songs in Swedish (including the "VI Går Till Stranden" song from their debut LP), which fit in the whole Celebrate the European "Year of Creativity and Innovation" event that was being held that day. The highlight for me was their cover of Weezer's "Undone (The Sweater Song)". Yes, I I added my own dialogue to the song: "Hey did you hear about the party? I think I'm going, but my friends don't want to go. Can I get a ride?"

INTERMISSION
Warp speed to 10:30 pm (yes I did go out to dinner and saw the new Star Trek movie), and I've ditched the 400 Bar to see Kate & Lara as they leave their show at the Cedar Culture Center (this is only practically only a few doors down the road). I wasn't really expecting to see them actually, I had noticed a bunch of people leaving the Cedar so I went over there to see if the show was over (it was). I got first hand report/review from them about the show and we talked a bit about Chalakah and 'you got moted'. Kate has a band called Crush on Kristi, and they're playing June 12th, I think. Oh also, apparently 'beard rocker' bartender from the 400 bar was seen at the Cedar.

Love in October Setlist ♥ 400 Bar, Minneapolis (05/09/09)

400 BAR
Love in October took off their kids gloves, you would almost think they were two different band, based on the morning and night shows. Like I have previously mentioned, they look and felt much more comfortable. Even their playing and movement style was as different as their set list for tonight. Most of the set includes new (untitled) songs.

The highlight of the show was when they asked the original Minneapolis drummer, Travis (?), to come on stage to drum for one of their older songs. He definitely still remember the beats and did a pretty outstanding job.

They seem really excited about a brand new self-titled EP coming out on May 26^th, I am assuming available on CD and definitely it's going to be on vinyl. The cover artwork features a 9 year old Erik, the shirt was recolored to red stripes instead of blue. More details about buying their records and seeing them live are all on the official website.

Ice Palace just held their CD-release party (Wonder Subtly Crushing Us, released on Earthology Records) last night at the lovely Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Helping them celebrate are three local bands: Dark Dark Dark, To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie, and Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps.

Judging from last night's audiences, there was a huge influx of alt-country/americana folky crowd of young people. I am told that this kind of music is massive, especially in the mid-west. It's only too bad that, in my opinion, Ice Palace is more guitar indie rock, and To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie is far too experimental and tribal - which had their own sort of audiences. Still, it all balanced out, I suppose.

Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps Setlist ♥ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/2/09)

Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps (official/myspace): The first time I heard of Caroline Smith was when Brody was raving about her. I think at the time, she didn't really a record or a full band (?), but from the looks of things last night - she seems to be doing quite well so far.

I think the highlight for me was the one acoustic-only song (her upright bassist and percussions took a break), I think on the setlist it's listed as "Gracie", the song after "Clench My Teeth".

To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie (official/myspace): I thought this was the most interesting of all the bands. I think if they had opened up for the Japanese noise band, The Boredoms, they would've fitted right in. Unfortunately the midwestern folky audience didn't know what to do with Bourgeoisie.

The singer looks half-asian or something, she's a small thing. I thought she was exclusively the singer, but she did play a little keyboard and also guitar at some point. The best songs on their setlist was when they had live drumming, but the highlight for me was when the violinist joined them on stage for the third song.

Dark Dark Dark Setlist ♥ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/2/09) Ice Palace Setlist ♥ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/2/09)

Dark Dark Dark (official/myspace): Their name is a bit of a misnomer, they don't seem very dark to me (in fact, Bourgeoisie is a darker band). If their name sounds familiar, that's because we've previously mentioned them a few times, check out Andrew's review.

I was actually kind of excited to see them, their set consists of mostly accordion songs (which sort of made many of their songs to sound Frenchy or even carnival-y). I asked singer Nona about their EP, Love You, Bye, because I wanted to pick it up (since I already had their LP), but she said it was out of print (edit: see tweet below.)

Ice Palace (official/myspace): Clearly, having been touring the country with Cloud Cult have been good to Ice Palace. They were very confident on stage, and everyone had an especially good time rocking out. I will tell you what though: for their first two songs ("Outside The Gates" and "Phonebook Pillow"), they had three guitars, one bass, and drums. Yes, lots of loud clashing layers of guitars, particularly on "Phonebook Pillow".

My favorite songs from the set was the trumpet songs ("Devils Tower", "Thoughts/Facts"). For their finale, they had, I think the drummer from The Good Night Sleeps' Arlen Peiffer joining them on stage to do tambourine.

Please note: This was really last minute, so I didn't have time to prep for a camera. Also, everyone had about a 30-minute set, with the exception of Ice Palace, for obvious reasons. Plus, all the bands had setlists, except for Bourgeoisie - who apparently are rebels... :)