5 posts tagged “varsity”
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11/08/09 Aquarium* Fargo, ND
11/09/09 Waiting Room* Omaha, NE 11/11/09 Brick Kansas City, MO 11/29/09 Oxford O2 Academy 3, UK 11/30/09 Relentless Garage London 12/01/09 Thekla Bristol, UK 12/02/09 Wedgewood Portsmouth, UK 12/03/09 Cabaret Voltaire Edinburgh 12/04/09 Bodega Nottingham, UK 12/05/09 Brickyard Carlisle, UK 12/06/09 King Tut’s Wah Wah Glasgow 12/07/09 Ruby Lounge Manchester, UK 12/08/09 Plug Sheffield, UK 12/09/09 Academy 2 Dublin, Ireland 12/10/09 Stiff Kitten Belfast, Ireland 12/12/09 Concorde 2 Brighton, UK 12/13/09 Barfly Cardiff, UK * with Bang Bang Eche Read More |
Opening up for Har Mar Superstar are three very different genre and acts. Starting with Koo Koo Kangeroo (official / myspace), whose music styling is that of hip hop - for toddlers. Their songs are dead simple, like "AOA" (sample lyrics: "aye oh aye oh aye") and "Cheh Cheh Chi" and "LMNOP", but they're catchy and easy to sing along. The highlight of their set was when they threw down a white tarp-like covering and the audience was dancing under it like a party fort.
Wow, Bang Bang Eche (myspace) are young. Someone told me that they're about 18 years old, but they certainly look much younger. Their music is very punk high-energy and reminds me a bit of Arctic Monkeys influenced. My easily favorite song from their set is "Fist Full of Dollars", perhaps a reference to Sergio Leone classic film? They ended their setlist with "Die Hippy Scum". Oh, also, it's worth noting that bassist T'Nealle sported a three keyboard cat moon t-shirt. Adorable.
The odd group on the bill was two-person group, Lookbook (myspace). The band is basically guitarist Grant Cutler, who plays guitars and handles the pre-recordings, with vocalist Maggie Morrison. Their music sounds like 80s pop, not exactly the "body-moving" type of music that you'd think Har Mar's audience would demand. Not really much to say, except I think Maggie looks really cute and I will be talking about them in further detail on my "book"-theme news on Sunday.
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Har Mar Superstar ♥ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/06/09) |
After the first song, he took off his hat. After "DUI", he took off the overall to reveal a Prince "Purple Rain" shirt. He kept taking off articles of clothing as the night went on. From "EZ Pass", to "Girls Only", to "Creative Juices"... the audience was loving it all.
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Har Mar and Melinda Park singing "Powerline"
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The very last song, Har Mar sang an a cappella version of Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday". He would pretend the song ended and everyone would clap... only he would continue to sing the refrain. After the third false ending and after he said "goodnight", he came back and sang some more.
Har Mar's latest album is Dark Touches, available from Dilettante Recordings. Read Andrew's review of the album, pick up a copy at amazon
11/07/2009 04:22:06 ♥ vu (
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♥
harmarsuperstar.com
♥ myspace.com/harmarsuperstar
♥ twitter.com
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05/14/08 First Ave Minneapolis, MN
05/30/08 Upfront & Company Marquette, MI 05/31/08 Upfront & Company Marquette, MI 06/07/08 Fine Line Music Minneapolis, MN 06/14/08 UW Terrace Madison, WI 06/28/08 Triple Rock Minneapolis, MN 07/05/08 Summerfest Milwaukee, WI 07/12/08 St. John Center Rochester, MN |
Just two weeks short of 13 years since I'd first seen Polara, I visited Minneapolis' Varsity Theater to see if they were still the band I remembered so fondly.
Their first opener, Mercurial Rage, performed an entertaining, if not amazing, electro-rock set. Being the fashionably late sort, I actually missed most of it, so it wouldn't be fair to judge them entirely, but I did see some potential there and certainly didn't dislike what I saw. The Faint meets INXS, perhaps. They seemed a bit like a work in progress. I'll definitely have to check them out again down the line.
Thoroughly exploiting my weakness for co-ed punk were the Mood Swings. The Mood Swings are what I would call no-scream girl-punk. Sometimes I forget that female-vocalized punk can still have an edge and an energy without being angry or harsh (Though in all honesty: the good stuff is often both). This narrow-mindedness is no doubt due to stubborn attachment to my Bikini Kill, Babes in Toyland and Muffs collections. But anyway The Mood Swings were lovely. Check out myspace.com/themoodswings and listen to No Limit, my personal favorite. I think you'll find "Lovely" is an apt descriptor).
Polara chose not to play last, instead allowing the Alarmists to take that spot, saying they would be able to more enjoy their release show that way. It had been over two years since their last live show, and I was impressed at how effortlessly they hit the stage running. No sign of rust whatsoever. Lead singer/guitarist Ed Ackerson took to the stage looking - with his disheveled hair and trademark clunky glasses - less like a rock star and more like someone at the IT desk who would help you reset your password. As a whole, the band looked both very natural on stage and very much as if they enjoyed themselves, soaking in the attention with humble professionalism. And why not? There were enough photographers darting back and forth in front of the stage to make me wonder when Posh Spice would make her appearance. It was a good set, actually even better than I remembered them and certainly well worth the hype.
Then, at exactly midnight, it was time for my first glimpse of the Alarmists. I soon became aware that, like Cinderellas in reverse, dozens of 18 to 25-year old women had appeared as if from nowhere to join the ball, flooding forward in order to gaze in rapt attention at the poster-ready boys who took the stage. I thought their set was good, indie, post-punk hard rock - not typically conducive to legions of screaming girls, on the face of it - but as I attempted to peer over the impenetrable wall of Scandinavian female flesh, I could only arrive at one conclusion: these boys must be dreamy hot. The highlight of their set - the highlight for me anyway, and likely also for the male hipsters who had largely by this point retreated to a safe distance - was when they called Ed Ackerson back to the stage in an old(er) meets young(er) set evoking Neil Young with Pearl Jam. Don't roll your eyes at me. The song was Cinnamon Girl, OK? Alright then.
 The Mood Swings ♥ photo by andrew |
 Polara ♥ photo by andrew |
 The Alarmists ♥ photo by andrew |
Links:
myspace.com/polara
thealarmistsband.com
myspace.com/themoodswings
www.susstones.com
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Polara possesses what I consider the classic Twin Cities rock sound - distort guitars and crisp vocals which provide just enough of a radio-friendly pop-rock feel to appeal to the masses while retaining enough artistic originality to placate even the most snobby hipster (that's me). Some call it "noise-pop," others "psychedelic." I call it ear-candy. I call it bliss. I call it Saturday afternoons in spring 1995 spent writing e-mails to local bands begging them to "please play more all-ages shows." I call it vintage Minneapolis.
Polara continues their long-standing relationship with the Susstones label with their first full-length since 2002, "Beekeeping," released today. (Incidentally: it's my opinion that Susstones is the most underrated Twin-cities-based label in business today). This album is simply quintessential Polara. Ed Ackerson, Jennifer Jurgens and Peter Anderson have turned out the kind of quality effort I've come to expect in every offering since their 1995 self-titled debut. With rockers like "E-Flat" and "Out Of Your Hands," Ackerson's agreeably sweet voice balances the guitar-work like the second spoonful of sugar in my deliciously powerful French roast. And like that coffee, it's filled me with a sort of heady euphoria that will have me buzzing around the neighborhood for hours. With 11 tracks coming in at a brisk 39 minutes, this album is a must-buy for any Minneapolis rock fan - or anyone wondering just what the hell I'm going on about all the time.
If you can; check out Polara's album release show at the Varsity Theater this Friday (May 9th). Fellow Susstones acts The Alarmists, The Mood Swings and Mercurial Rage open.
Links:
myspace.com/polara
www.susstones.com
Kathleen Edwards ♥ photo by Vu 
Last Town Chorus ♥ photo by Vu |
I don't think I've ever seen a band change their instruments so many times in a course of a show. Take a look at their setlist for evidence.
Canadian country rocker, Kathleen Edwards, plays to a crowded room at the always elegant Varsity Theater. There's definitely a vibe of some old fans as well as new ones who might've discovered her on the Country Music Television or her recent appearance on David Letterman.
You can feel guitarist and husband Colin Cripps talking to Edwards with his guitar, and overall had some great showmanship banter with their audience of mostly older couples.
My favorite part of the show was when Edwards tells us about how she bought 1,000 tubes to make magnets by hand... and eventually gave up after doing only about 200 (edit: although she plan on creating all 1,000 tube magnets).
Opening up for Edwards was the angelic The Last Town Chorus,
aka Megan Hickey.
On stage, Hickey uses a red box that she calls her "band". It is basically music tracks that she probably recorded (looped perhaps?) as backing music.
The David Bowie cover, "Modern Love", had a little more umph when played live and definitely a song worth listening to, especially after Hickey's long intro to the song.
I also thought her new song, "Loud and Clear" is much better played live. It's a little faster and, I don't know, more exciting, I suppose to see her hitting and pounding and sliding and shredding her lap steel guitar.
If these women are playing in your town, definitely check them out. They both put on a great show.
05/03/2008 02:21:06
vu
my♥posts
kathleenedwards.com
thelasttownchorus.com
| -Lisa wrote: Sat, May 3, 2008 at 11:08 AM |
Megan of The Last Town Chorus opening for Kathleen Edwards at the Music Mill in Indianapolis, IN on April 30, 2008. ♥ photo by -Lisa |
[this is good] I was at their show in Indianapolis on 4/30, but have neglected to review it yet. Freaking amazing.
It was TLTC's first show with the backing tracks, I believe. I think she was nervous about how it was perceived by the audience. Megan was funny and if the crowd didn't fall in love with her music, I'm sure they at least fell in love with her personality. Kathleen and band were brilliant. I also really enjoyed the guitar interaction between Kathleen and Colin. I wished the evening would have lasted longer. I'm jealous that your setlist appears to be a few songs longer than the one I got.
I took some videos.
Kathleen:
6 O'Clock News
Copied Keys
Cheapest Key (in the middle of this one she sings happy birthday to Jim)
TLTC:
Loud and Clear
CarolineI also took some photos and they're here.
This World Fair at the Varsity
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THIS WORLD FAIR - VARSITY THEATER, MINNEAPOLIS 5/26/2007
Since the last time I saw This World Fair, Chris now sport a semi-beard.
Toward the end of the set, they took it down a notch and lit candles and did two songs in acoustic style (no heavy drums). One of the acoustic song was that Disturbia song, "Don't Make Me Wait".
Touring was good for them, and listening to Zach (the guitarist) telling about how they loved playing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Here are some other long-overdue concert reviews:
JET - HOUSE OF BLUES, CHICAGO 5/2/2007
I'm going to assume everybody know about this Australia rock band called Jet, so I'll skip the introduction.
This was a sold-out show. The security was INSANE, they had metal detectors scanning your body for cameras and recording devices, but I managed to sneak in my camera. Which I don't really understand because they let people in with camera-phones :/
They did a cover song, it's an old number, like from the 60s. I couldn't really tell you which song it was - maybe someone can take a look at their setlist and tell me.
The "Are You Gonna be my Girl" song set the audience into a frenzy, obviously.
By the way, I thought the drummer was really impressive. He can really drum, and he also sings on certain songs, this guy is amazing.
The Kooks at the Metro
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THE KOOKS - THE METRO, CHICAGO 5/5/2007
These guy are from Brighton, and they stole their name from a David Bowie song. They've only have one release Inside In/Inside Out (Jan 2006), but they are well loved by their fans.
Nothing
really stood out at this show, the lead singer did some crowd surfing
(which the venue have a strict policy against crowd surfing and stage
diving with their signage as you enter the venue!)
I saw about three other people from Minneapolis (which basically means that the Kooks decided to skip Minneapolis in favor of Chicago.)
vu 
Links: thisworldfair.com | jettheband.com | thekooks.co.uk
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