73 posts tagged “minneapolis”

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.

Please visit our website for more information, podcast.weheartmusic.com, subscribe to our show at gcast.com (RSS).

I know these are long overdue. These were recordings from SXSW.

First of all, I'm not very happy with the audio quality, I was recording it using a built-in mic on the recorder. On retrospect, I should have bought along a professional mic and plug it into the input. So apology for the poor audio once again.

THE MAY FIRE
themayfire.com ♥ myspace.com/themayfire

I talked to: Catty, El Pipe, Johnny (missing is Rob, who wandered off).

This audio is pretty poor, you can hear another band doing soundcheck in the background as we quickly got the band to talk about how the name came about and how Johnny Beane joined them, when their original guitarist left.

At of the time, they were looking to write a full length album, since they have released three EPs.

SOLID GOLD
myspace.com/solidgoldband

I talked to: Zach, Matt, and Adam (not sure what happened to their drummer).

This was conducted in an open restaurant (thank god for spellcheck, I can never spell that stupid word), and at one point in the interview, the waiter came and took our orders (we ordered coffee & tea). Also the first question came via text and it was "What's up with those mustaches?".

As I have previously mentioned, these guys are cool and don't really take themselves too seriously.

They will be playing the ever-popular "Rock the Garden" show this year with The Decemberists. Everyone I know is going to this show!

If you notice, the interviews were quick & dirty. There were some questions/answers that I threw out, mostly because they were uninteresting or poor audio.

Next week: two more shows!

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".

Zack Hexum has the “Swine Cold,” a terrible mutant strain of the original “Swine Flu.” He’s dangerous and wants to spread the virus by touching people with his hands.  Don’t be fooled by his boyish good looks—ZACK HEXUM IS A MONSTER.  JK, readers!  ROFLCOPTER!* Hexum is wholly sweet and friendly and a real trooper (he played a full set plus duets with Kevin Steinman, all while battling flu-ish symptoms).  Even though he reminds me of a hot soap opera doctor, Hexum has that big boy voice that is always surprising coming from the mouths of such teeny, tiny human beings (see:  Ben Sollee).  Thursday’s show at the 400 Bar was nice and mellow, a bit beachy (if beach jams were played under low lights in dank clubs); maybe one-part pop soul, two parts college rock, and a splash of Hollister “SoCal.”  While Hexum sang confidently, head thrown back, eyes closed, heart showing—which is just, you know, sigh—I’m not sure that his lyrics had me at “hello” (mumbling musicians make me merry mrustrated).  I’d hoped that “Princess of Darkness” would be a cute-sad ode to Kelly Osbourne, but it seems, instead, to be about a gloomy wallflower type (could still be about KO).  Nevertheless, live versions of “Sun Still Shines” and “How Many Times” were enjoyable and people-pleasing (this was a “yeah, dude!” crowd) and very much the style of music that primetime TV drools over.  Zack Hexum paging Zach Braff:  “Writing any interesting screenplays about depressed twenty-something existentialists lately?”

Instead of breaking to set up more instruments, get more beer, and/or allowing patrons to smoke a motherfucking cigarette, Hexum invited Kevin Steinman on stage for a duet.  Here’s some math that you might not be aware of:  male singer + female singer = adorable/ovaries swelling.  Female singer + female singer = sexy (or, conversely, the Indigo Girls).  Male singer + male singer = asexual/mildly homoerotic**.  Watching Hexum and Steinman sing together was like watching Olympic divers—attractive bodies doing impressive things, but nobody’s getting turned on.  Possible repressed sexual urges aside, Steinman said some nice things about his duet partner—he considers Hexum a musical soulmate and they have a code word for calling each other to the stage (the Norwegian term for ‘meatball’).  Fittingly, they covered songs by iconic bands with great creative relationships, including the Beatles (“If I Fell”) and the Everly Brothers (“All I Have to Do is Dream”).  True to Steinman’s word, the pair sounded lovely; their voices complemented nicely and the harmonies were spot on.  A lot of dorky things happened on that stage (Hexum played a clarinet; Steinman played the glock; too much meatball was thrown around), but I couldn’t help smiling through most of it.

After Hexum exited, Steinman and his drummer (Troy Groenke) carried on.  I really like this combo when it’s not the White Stripes.  If a singer-songwriter isn’t ready to go full band, a positive small progression is to add a drummer to the mix; at the very least, this helps discourage the “open mic” feel of so many solo guitar acts.  I had seen Steinman play a couple months back, opening for Joe January, but in all honesty, had very little recollection of the show.  I did remember, however, that Steinman met his wife through Myspace, a fact that’s completely irrelevant and fascinating to me.  As a lyricist, Steinman writes about the romantic side of life—love, heartache, self journey, love, love, love.  In person his mild-mannered spirit and brooding good looks suit the prose; I have a hard time not imagining him tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, scribbling furiously in his moleskin journal.  While it’s difficult to breach the formulaic barriers of traditional love songs, it helps that Steinman’s M.O. doesn’t follow the route of novelty or tacky pretense; instead, he seems at a comfortable place, one where authenticity is measured by dedication to the craft.  Songs like “Home” and “Love Always Wins” (it doesn’t, but thanks) are not going to blow minds, but the whole product—the melodies, the voice, the man—is just so likeable and likeability always wins.  THEN, it was towards the end of the show and Steinman pulled a little trick from his sleeve, a sort of politically-charged, conversational verse with wit up the yin yang.  “55 Year Occupation Blues, or, Mom and Dad Won’t You Please Come Home” questions the implications of stationing American troops all over the world and speaks of Steinman’s experiences growing up in Germany while his parents taught at special Department of Defense-funded schools.  Where did this come from?  Is there more?  These are the questions I’m left with.  (Watch Steinman perform “55 Year Occupation Blues” in Berlin HERE.)

Two things must be noted:  1). I’m getting nicer in my older age, and 2). You can find more information on both artists at their respective websites and Myspace pages (see below).  Kevin Steinman will be at the 318 Café in Excelsior, MN this Friday, May 15.

* Just learned this.  I think it’s a helicopter that is rolling on the floor laughing or something.

** I’m not insinuating anything on the Internet, folks, but the two musicians did close the show with a Bert and Ernie song.  I think we can all guess what that means.

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.

(Note: no, not still celebrating 4/20, the majority of the article was written and was meant for yesterday's publication. Just pretend today is Wednesday.)

Earth Day
It's April 22nd and everybody knows today is Earth Day, "merry Christmas, happy birthday to whoever’s being born". For some reason, I thought the concept was fairly new (in the 80s), but apparently the hippy-peace-inspired movement’s been around for forty years now.

Last Sunday, I attended the annual Wishes for the Sky on Harriet Island in Saint Paul. Despite the rain, people still turned out for some kite-flying action. All the kites were hand-made, with messages ("wishes") written on them - and you had to return them once you were done flying them. I thought there was supposed to be music, but they might have left due to the rain... the only music seems to be by the wind chimes on these bamboo structures.

To keep with the environmental and music theme, here are two digipaks releases:

Margo Reymundo
margoreymundo.com ♥ myspace.com/margoreymundomusic

The CD presentation is in a cardstock foldout, slipped in a pink tissue-like envelope, with bold letters in the back: "ORGANICA RECORDS". So yeah, it was an attractive package.

As her record label and her trademark brand, "organica" suggests, her music is the opposite of "electronica". With her Ella Fitzgerald-ish sounding vocals and pop-sounding music, she does just that on her album My Heart's Desire.

I think the first thing you'll notice about the record is that Reymundo made this record a very personal album for you. The record is best experienced as a whole, not as random songs. This is done mostly through really short snippets, from the brief 10-second "organica (laughs)" introduction, to the random "strap in", and "still rolling?", to the outro "thank you". These mini-clips will only make sense throughout the album and nowhere else.

Cover lovers, such as myself, will be drawn to her saucy jazzy version of Bill Withers's "Ain't No Sunshine", a flamenco version of Carly Simon's "You Belong to Me" (she managed to sneak in a few Spanish lyrics in the song too), and The Police's "Wrapped Around Your Finger". Of all the covers, I was impressed by the Police song, because although it still maintains an 80s-sounding feel to the song, it still sounds fresh and new with it's slow-winding guitars and Reymundo's woman vocals.

It would be unfair to suggest a cover song, so I would recommend her original "I Saw You". This pop song is all about making someone notice her, except he's too chicken to do anything about it. It's a fun song, perfect for radio.

You can pick up My Heart's Desire at her website. I should point out that her amazon lists this CD as "content/copy-protected CD" - which means one thing to me: you will not be able to play this on your computer or sophisticated car stereo.* So be warned.

[* UPDATE 5/2/09: I am told from an official source that the amazon listing is for a "PROMO CD" and that consumer CD are not copy-protected.  This cleared up my confusion with why amazon flagged this CD as content/copy-protected.]

Eulogies - Two Can Play Eulogies 1 comment Tour Dates 04/26/09 Echo Los Angeles, CA 05/01/09 Bell House Brooklyn, NY 05/02/09 Valentines Albany, NY 05/04/09 Bowery Ballroom NT 05/05/09 Johnny Brenda’s Phila, PA 05/07/09 Black Cat Washington, 05/08/09 Diesel Pittsburgh, PA 05/09/09 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio 05/10/09 Skully’s Columbus, Ohio 05/11/09 Magic Stick Detroit, MI 05/13/09 Lakeshore Theater Chicago 05/14/09 Mojo’s Columbia, Missouri 05/16/09 Hailey’s Denton, Texas 05/17/09 Warehouse Houston, Texas 05/18/09 Parish Austin, Texas 05/21/09 Rhythm Room Phoenix, AZ 05/22/09 Casbah San Diego, CA 05/23/09 Echoplex Los Angeles, CA 05/24/09 Independent SF, CA 05/26/09 Douglas Lounge Portland, OR 05/27/09 Crocodile Cafe Seattle, WA *with the Dears Discography [2007] Eulogies [2009] Here Anonymous

Eulogies
eulogiesmusic.com ♥ myspace.com/eulogiesmusic

The first thing I noticed about Eulogies's sophomore album, Here Anonymous, is that the digipak by Danger Bird Records is absolutely gorgeous. The artwork consists of black and white charcoal-like stencils, with splashes of dirty colors. The center that holds the actual CD is also worth checking out, it's entirely form-fitting with only two tabs to hold in the CD. I may have to scan it to show you how great this is.

So, Eulogies is an indie-rock band from Los Angeles, that seems to be mostly driven by guitarist and singer Peter Walker... who previously existed as a solo artist. I think Walker's vocals is pretty mellow, almost lazy and won't ever reach those high-energized vocals. The closest Walker comes on singing at the top of his voice is "Out of Character", which is easiest the rockiest song on the album. Ironically entitled "out of character", too.

The "tired" sound fits perfectly with the type of music that Eulogies writes, often self-introspective, personal, and a wee bit depressing, I'll have to admit. "How to Be Alone" finds itself teaching you how to do just that, while "Goodbye" is just a real tear-jerker with its depressing lyrics: "so I'll go home alone, everything's fine. I'll have you all in my thoughts tonight". "Goodbye" is the song you secretly listen in your room, while weeping....

Still, my favorite song on the album is actually quite cute and upbeat. It is the duet with Nikki Monninger from Silversun Pickups, called "Two Can Play". This is just a really cute song. You can actually get the song for free if you sign up on their website.

The trivia about "Two Can Play" was that it was previously available on their four-track EP Tempted To Do Nothing (all four songs appeared on Here Anonymous). What made that EP special is that there is a special "VinylDisc" edition. The release combines CD and vinyl together! I've never heard of such a thing, but apparently one side is CD, while the flipside has vinyl grooves. Cool, huh?

Anyway, Eulogies are about to embark on their North American tour with fellow label-mate The Dears, starting in May. You can pick up the album at the show, or if you can't make it, order it from Danger Bird Records.

PS, I just added Eulogies on twitter, which is getting a lot of exposure since Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher came on board. I have noticed a ton of bands on twitter, too.

Final Thoughts
Some may argue that the ultimate environmentally friendly music package should be all-digital, but don't you have to take into account the energy to keep the computer running to read and transfer the files?

Happy 40th Anniversary Earth Day!

Jenn Wasner, singer from Wye Oak* (official/myspace) joked that their touring teamup of Wye Oak and Pomegranates should be called "The full spectrum of human emotions tour" because while Wye Oak brought the "sadness", Pome brought the "happiness".

Opening up for both band was Minneapolis' Bill Caperton (myspace), who, when not playing solo, is part of the band Ela (myspace). He played a pretty long set, surprisingly since it was a Sunday evening and there were two other bands on the bill. I think he might have realized this just ended after one song when he announced that he had two more... saying "I think I'll just leave it at that."

Pomegrantes at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (04/19/09) ♥ photo by vu

Pomegranates (myspace) took the stage and introduced themselves as "Jesus Christ and the Fire Eating Five!" as they set in their energetic music set.

The band name shenanigan continues on as Isaac Karns introduced them again as "Three Ninjas Plus One", and would continued with "as Joey said, we're called the E-Flat Band!". Apparently the last name never fail to get a laugh.

My personal favorite from their set list is "Late Night Television" from their debut album, Everything Is Alive (2008). Anyway, for some reason, the aggressive music doesn't seem to go with the depressing lines: "I want to know where you've been at night. I've been lying awake, I left on the lights. ", but it worked (and it rocked).

I think the highlight of the show was for their last song, they asked Brody to come on stage for their finale song "Southern Ocean" (see video below).

Wye Oak at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (04/19/09) ♥ photo by vu

So embarrassingly enough, I actually have listened (and own) Wye Oak's first album, If Children, I only realized this after I picked up their album again.  Anyway, that would explain why they sounded so familiar to me.

They sounded really good live, with this constant guitar fuzz, and melodic girlie vocals of 'singing waitress' Jenn Wasner. But let's not forget with Andy Stack's contribution with his right arm on the drums, while his left on keyboard thing, while his mouth on blow-y thing.

Wasner said they have a new recorded already recorded, and that it was coming out on July 21^st. A quick check reveals the album is called The Knot. At the moment, you can get If Children via their record label, Merge Records.

As for Pome, you can get their records at Lujo Records - check out the free MP3 downloads!

So, definitely go see the rest of the "the full spectrum of human emotions" tour in a city near you.

* Incidentally, the band's name comes from their homestate Maryland's honorary tree of the same name.

Blame rush hour traffic, but the drive to St Paul took me nearly an hour to get to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. I got there a little late, but was very impressed at the sheer size of the venue. My floor ticket was just great, I never understood those people that pay for the balcony seated tickets, but there were plenty of people up there.

Ra Ra Riot started the show exactly at seven and went off the stage by 7:20pm. What a brief set list.

Cold War Kids came on around 8 and did about forty-five minutes of music. They did their big hit songs ("Hang Me Up To Dry", "Hospital Beds") early in their set, but failed to get the audience to move along. I suspect this has more to do with the youth crowd to be mad Death Cab fans, because when Cold War are in their elements (headlining with their fan base), they perform exceptionally well.

I am speaking from experience because I recently saw them headline and the audience loved and the energy they gave off, fed into Cold War Kids and they sweated and teared through their setlist. Watch the video! Unfortunately, not tonight. Tonight mostly saw the band singing songs and heading right into the next without so much as pauses for applauses.

The last three songs, singer Nathan Willett snuck behind his piano and did three piano-type songs and basically away from center stage view.

Also, whoever was working the lights, they must've really had it in for Cold War Kids.  The lights was either white, yellow-ish, or none at all.  This is in huge contrast to Death Cab, who enjoyed a variety of reds, blues, and smoke machine...  The lighting really made a huge difference, if you ask me.

Anyroad, before we get to Death Cab for Cutie, I have to explain that I've seen the band before in 2001 at the 7th Street Entry for $5. People who live in Minnesota knows that the 7th Street is a tiny venue. We reckon it can only hold about 200 people without choking itself. So that was then, a very nice and smokey and not to mention intimate setting to see Death Cab.

How far they've come! They are now doing 5,000 capacity sized venue. And although it didn't sell out, I would hazard at least 60% of tickets was sold, based on my asian math perception skills (that didn't even make sense, it's 1:30am as I'm writing this). Anyway, floor tickets are the cheapest - at a whopping $49-ish a ticket. The guy next to me said with all the fees involved (this is why I hate ticketmaster), he paid $98 for two tickets online!

For the fans, it was worth every penny... they sang (yes, they all sang along) to every song. HUGE reception to "I Will Possess Your Heart" with its 300-minute epic music intro. This is followed by everyone's favorite acoustic-only song, "I Will Follow You into the Dark", followed by "Cath...", followed by the ba-ba song of "The Sound of Settling". Ben Gibbard had the audience eating out of his hands.

For the encore, they did three songs, I'm sure one of them was brand new from their new EP and the other was "Transatlanticism".

It looks like they're continuing on their very successful, mostly sold-out tour. So even if you wanted to see them, you're probably already out of luck - but of course, if you're a huge fan, you probably have your tickets in advance.

Cold War Kids' latest album is called Loyalty to Loyalty from Downtown Music (get a copy at amazon) and the very popular Death Cab's latest is called Narrow Stairs from Atlantic Records. Not sure what their current relationship is with Barsuk, but Ra Ra Riot is on it and it's still one of my favorite record label :)

PS, no photos for this show, because of the strict anti-camera from the security people.

I like to begin reviews with a clever anecdote to draw in my readers.  It’s fun for everyone, but especially fun for me because I consistently amuse myself.  When Farewell Milwaukee played the Fine Line, I knew singer Ben Lubeck looked really familiar; not in the sense that I had stalked him on Facebook or met him IRL (In Real Life) or even that I’d seen the band perform before (I had).  The reason why he looked familiar is because he is Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.  I kid you not, readers; Ben Lubeck is tall, lanky, shaggy-haired Shags.  The resemblance is uncanny, although I sincerely hope that he doesn’t take offense by this comment (I don’t know why he would since Shaggy drove an amazing green van AND solved mind-boggling mysteries). 

Farewell Milwaukee may not frequent haunted houses searching for ne’er-do-wells and secret treasure maps or whatever, but they do make sprawling roots rock, which is basically the same.  The band was born “Montreal” about five years ago, released one album, briefly split to dwell and deliberate, reappearing in 2008 with a new name and a new direction.  “Farewell Milwaukee” is homage to the boys’ Midwest loyalty (interestingly, I like to call Milwaukee the “Montreal of Wisconsin,” for its diversity of things to do and the fact that there are things to do).  The band is comfortably settled in, going so far as to state that “while most bands are fleeing their homes for the coastal cities of New York and Los Angeles, [they embrace] the role that their Midwestern towns have played in shaping them artistically.”  As artists, their music has a slight twang that could probably be attributed to that indefinable Midwestern panache.  A friend of mine, who lives on the East Coast, is always quick to point out that Minnesota’s music scene is comprised of bands with a distinct, unifying sound; regardless of whether a musician labels himself as “indie rock” versus “Americana” there’s something, some common connector, that appeals to everyone.

Farewell Milwaukee at Fine Line, Minneapolis (03/20/09) ♥ photo by Kate

Farewell Milwaukee has this something in spades.  I’d say that their crowd-draw feature is beautiful, flawless harmonization.  Seriously, these fellas know how to drop a jaw.  There was a moment during the show when all five musicians took the mic, a capella style, and a sort of a collective hush grabbed the audience, as if everyone was unconsciously holding their breath (I’m 99% certain there was at least one person doing the eyes-closed-in-the-groove sway).  This mass stimulation speaks highly of the band’s chemistry, not only on stage, but as technical artists.  At the risk of sounding like an after school special “moral of the week,” I want to point out that even the casual music fan can tell when a band has a positive relationship—they’re either in sync or off balance; no amount of practice can mask ambivalence (obvious, right?). 

It pleases me to emphasize that Shags and the gang sound every bit the handsome gentlemen that they are, even when lying to ladies (“Liar”).  Dressed like average dudes, their tunes are accessible, with a comfortable, familiar base appeal (music like this is timeless; perhaps it’s called “Americana” because there will always be a place for rustic, dirty-pretty rock in American culture, East Coast naysayers be damned).  I think that the climactic quality of “Liar” sticks the most, but “Make ‘Em Smile” is an equally strong track, from its stark opening to Lubeck’s wistful vocals.  Lyrically, the songs don’t deviate much from love, heartbreak and life woes (the holy triptych of songwriting), but sincerity lends itself to unanimity—we can all relate to these themes—and the live presentation is what’s going to solidify the band’s talents.

Farewell Milwaukee is Ben Lubeck (vocals, guitar), Adam Lamoureux (vocals, Hammond, Wurlitzer, piano, Rhodes, mandolin), Aaron Markson (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Brad Fox (drums, percussion), and Kyle Magstadt (bass).  The band has local shows this month, playing April 16 at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis.  For more information on shows, or to stay updated on the release of their first full-length album, “Autumn Rest Easy,” visit their website at www.farewellmilwaukee.com, or Myspace and Facebook.

Paper Route played with Copeland, This Providence, and Brooke Waggoner at Minneapolis' Varsity Theater last night. This is an all-ages show, which means it started early. Wow, like 5 o'clock early.

The turnout was really good, mostly underage kids.... so the three bartenders were really lonely. The young photographers were out in droves as well... capturing every movement made by Copeland. Seriously photographers, take it easy.

Anyway, of course I got there late, caught a bit of Nashville's Brooke Waggoner (official/myspace) on stage with her women band of strings and cellos. Most of the songs toward the end was mostly Waggoner and her keyboard... I did end up downloading her free 2007 EP called Fresh Pair of Eyes if you sign up for her mailing list.

Seattle's This Providence (official/myspace) (formerly known as Sunday Best) did their high energy rock set, I had a feeling I would like them when lead singer Dan Young did Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" song during their brief soundcheck. They did a lot of songs from their new 2009 album Who Are You Now?, such as: "Sure as Hell", "Letdown", "That Girl's a Trick", "Keeping on Without You".

Florida's Copeland (official/myspace) started off their set badly (sorry I'm not familiar with the band enough to tell you what song they started, but it was two keyboard-driven songs). Singer Aaron Marsh started singing the first song again on their second song. He realized this right away and pulled the song to a halt and made it an inside joke about time travel and ABC's "Lost" or something. I think he was really embarrassed about it and claimed that he was "really drunk". (I think he was kidding though).

Paper Route at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (04/11/09)

Like Waggoner, Paper Route are also from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of dueling vocals between J.T. Daly (keyboards) and Andy Smith (guitars). Although this sounds cool, it was kind of hard to hear their vocals for this show - perhaps it was the overpowering guitars and drumming or something.

Although I'm complaining, listening to their latest EP Are We All Forgotten (you can hear the entire EP on their official website ), they are sort of going for that distorted vocals-kind of thing.

Already hailed by Filter, Daytrotter, and Paste, as a band to watch out for, they certainly must be excited to launch their second album Absence on April 28^th. I ran into Greg (I've been running into a lot of local bloggers lately - it's weird because I never recognize anyone), who seems very excited about Absence and complains that no one is talking about the album. Well if you pre-order now you get one downloadable song, "Carousel" and a 7-minute documentary tomorrow (April 13^th). Plus buttons.