Let the music play - new Concert Reviews/Experiences

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Tonight at the the Fine Line, Horsegirl. Some very impressive kids (the drummer is still in high school!) from Chicago. They are a terrific new take on bands like Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and old New Zealand bands like the The Clean.

 

Saw Gary Clark Jr at The Hilde outdoor venue in Plymouth last Friday. That man can REALLY play the guitar. I could sit and watch/listen to his guitar playing all day. Had a really cool stage presence as well. Was a fun show.

The opening acts were something called Kiss the Tiger, which we missed. The next performer was Suzanne Santo, who was pretty good! Her guitar players were also really good. After that and before Gary Clark Jr. was a group called the Cold War Kids. From where we were sitting, the vocals and drums were so loud we couldn't even hear the guitars much, so for me they were kinda bleh.

We had never been to the Hilde before. It's a really neat amphitheater with plenty of room for lawn chairs. They REALLY need more beer vendors, the lines were insane. Good collection of food trucks, we had some pierogis and a polish sausage from a Polish vendor (can't recall the name of it) which were quite good. Bacon topping on the pierogis were a great touch.
 

The Lemonheads "It's a Shame About Ray" 30TH Anniversary Tour rolls into 1ST AVE on December 9, 2022.

If that's not enough for ya, Juliana Hatfield is also on the bill!

first-avenue.com

The Lemonheads â First Avenue - First Avenue

On December 9, 2022 at the First Avenue in Minneapolis, The Lemonheads with Juliana Hatfield, Bass Drum of Death and On Being an Angel.
first-avenue.com first-avenue.com
 

Went to the Wild Hearts tour/show last night at Surly. Julian Baker, Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etton.
I was mostly there for Angel Olsen and she did not disappoint. She's great.

I was also impressed with the Surly concert set-up. Never been to a show there before. I have no idea how crowded, or not crowded, it was but that was one easy festival to deal with. From parking, getting in, beer/food, bathrooms...you name it and it was as easy as could be. Plus, the beer was only $7!
 

Wilco - Friday, Aug 19

While I was at 2 shows last year (Pritzkar Pav w/ Sleater-Kinney & Treasure Island w/ Trampled by Turtles), I was extremely eager to see a full set performance for the first time since 2019. On the eve of the Gophers/Hawkeyes game that year, by coincidence they were playing at the Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids. It's not that far of a drive there from the Twin Cities and I really enjoy the venue, about the same size at the Pantages with great acoustics.

Before last week I only had listened to Cruel Country once, I have been waiting for the the hard copies Vinyl/CD to fully enjoy. I broke down in the week leading up to the show, wanting to be somewhat familiar with what I assumed would be the bulk of the set. I wound up listening to it start to finish over a half dozen times. I think it's an awesome piece of work. Maybe my favorite album since Sky Blue Sky. The new stuff is really enjoyable to hear live.

I was not disappointed. Very solid show.

Note to Coolhand, very stirring performance of At Least That's What You Said.
 


Bush/Breaking Benjamin/Alice In Chains at the State Fair Grandstand last night. Quite the marathon concert considering that I would buy tickets to each of those bands individual shows. All three sounded great. Pretty surprising that both BB and AiC played basically extended...headlining length shows. Must have gone for nearly six hours if you consider that the opener 'The L.I.F.E. Project' had about a 40 minute set at 5:30.

Quick thoughts. Maybe Bush never toured for the 2020 album 'The Kingdom'.....because they played six or seven songs off that one. Another four or five of off 'Sixteen Stone'. Didn't play a single song off of any of their other SEVEN albums...which was a little disappointing. Fortunately I liked 'The Kingdom'.....but odd that they hit the bookends and completely ignored the rest of their catalogue. Cool moment when 'Rossdale' during "Flowers on a Grave" jumped down into the pit....then ran through the entire plaza, up through the mezzanine, and to the top of the grandstand while singing and high fiving fans. Had about five security guys running behind to keep up and make sure nobody grabbed him. After the song concluded and he was on his way back to the stage, stopped and gave a hug to a younger fan confined to a wheelchair near the back of the plaza who looked absolutely shellshocked (in a good way). Very cool.

Breaking Benjamin went at an absolutely torrent pace. No hesitation in between songs allowed them to get in what must have been 15-20? Helps that the second guitarist as well as the bassist helped with lead singing a few of the songs. Super talented group. I've always been a huge fan. And they have a ton of really great songs. Only one of the three that I'd seen before.

Alice in Chains much like the others sounded great. No surprise there....with one of the best living guitarists alive in Jerry Cantrell. My mine gripe of the night came because the set time was not well thought out. Me and a buddy took a park and ride to the fairgrounds. Unfortunately those are set to stop running at 11:00....and AiC was only about halfway (if that?) through their set at the time. So to catch our ride....we had to dip out early which was a bummer. Either they don't tack on that opener....or they schedule buses for later than 11....because that was a poorly planned schedule.
 

Saw Echo and the Bunnymen for about the 20th time Tuesday at the Fillmore. My first time there. I liked most of it. The Lounge bar upstairs was cool. The sound was great. Basically the same setup as First Ave just newer and shinier. I thought the upstairs was better sight wise than a lot of other venues. I will still take First Ave everytime though.
Some complaints... You can't leave and come back. Lame. Price for a beer was $13.50 with pretty limited choices and you can't start a tab. Lame.
 

Frink said:
Just got home from the Jason Isbell show at the Armory. Fantastic! Amanda Shires was not playing so it felt very different from the other shows I had seen. Ended the night with an extended version of Never Gonna Change with a massive, lengthy dueling lead guitars.

Also, this was the first show I've seen at The Armory. Very, very impressed.
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I'm guessing Isbell fans are in the know about this, but he's playing 1st Ave on Sept 24. The 400 Unit will not include Amanda (on tour elsewhere).

Presale this morning.
 

Ope3 said:
I'm guessing Isbell fans are in the know about this, but he's playing 1st Ave on Sept 24. The 400 Unit will not include Amanda (on tour elsewhere).

Presale this morning.
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Yes indeed. I'd love to go but I think it's going to be too tough to get a ticket. I did score a free ticket to Pavement on the 29th and picked up tickets to the Dream Syndicate at The Turf in November. Think I saw that Amanda is going to be playing...The Amsterdam?
 



Frink said:
Yes indeed. I'd love to go but I think it's going to be too tough to get a ticket. I did score a free ticket to Pavement on the 29th and picked up tickets to the Dream Syndicate at The Turf in November. Think I saw that Amanda is going to be playing...The Amsterdam?
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I struck out on the presale. Poor phone browser.

Correct on Amanda playing the Amsterdam on Nov 7.
 

Ope3 said:
I'm guessing Isbell fans are in the know about this, but he's playing 1st Ave on Sept 24. The 400 Unit will not include Amanda (on tour elsewhere).

Presale this morning.
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I did not know about that, thanks! You don't happen to have the presale code, do you? ;)
 

JayBobDobbins said:
I did not know about that, thanks! You don't happen to have the presale code, do you? ;)
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Without any inventory, I doubt it will be of any use but it was "STAR2022".
 




Blackberry Smoke is playing at Buck Hill 9/17.
 

Friday, Sept 16 - Pearl Jam in Nashville, TN at Bridgestone Arena.

I should first mention this was my first trip to Music City, and spent Thursday evening on Broadway. Wow. Eye opening. Had no idea what to expect, but for general live music fans it's amazing. 3 blocks or so with bands playing, sometimes on 3 or even 4 levels. All of them terrific, incredible musicians.

I assumed it would be primarily country music, but was wrong. All sorts of various rock...modern, classic, folk, heavy, anything and everything. Early in the night found a room in which several PJ fans had congregated by chance and the band broke into Even Flow and Betterman, followed by some Soundgarden. Smart move to get the tip jar flowing. At the end of the night found some rockers in their late 20s/early 30s who just blistered a Hendrix version of All Along the Watchtower. The lead guitar player, same race as Jimi and also a lefty, was a pro's pro. We settled in there just before midnight and lasted until 1am. The scene was still going strong when we called it a night.

We wondered down there on Friday afternoon for lunch and even by Noon, most of the bars/clubs were already rocking it.

Pearl Jam itself was really good. My first arena show of theirs since 2014 at the Excel. A bit shorter setlist than I have come to expect from the Stadium shows (2.5 hrs as opposed to 3 - 3.5) but lots of quality. They started with a 4 sitdown song acoustic set that began with Nothingman and concluded with Present Tense. That last song was amazing, as it turns into a rager at the end letting the audience know it was go time for the rest of the evening. And so it was.

It was one of the coolest live songs I have ever seen how they worked the crowd into a frenzy. At the 2.35 mark of this video, McCready bolts from his chair and then a few seconds later shows no mercy and boots it across the stage.


I had tickets for this show since January 2020, originally scheduled for 4/2/20. Quite a bit has changed. Got to the hotel just before 1am, caught a 6am flight back to MSP and had plenty of time to take a nap before hitting the Bank for the Gophers/Colorado game. Quite surreal.

Slept 11 hours Saturday night and took a 2 hour nap on Sunday.

All good.
 
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Ope3 said:
Friday, Sept 16 - Pearl Jam in Nashville, TN at Bridgestone Arena.

I should first mention this was my first trip to Music City, and spent Thursday evening on Broadway. Wow. Eye opening. Had know idea what to expect, but for general live music fans it's amazing. 3 blocks or so with bands playing, sometimes on 3 or even 4 levels. All of them terrific, incredible musicians.

I assumed it would be primarily country music, but was wrong. All sorts of various rock...modern, classic, folk, heavy, anything and everything. Early in the night found a room in which several PJ fans had congregated by chance and the band broke into Even Flow and Betterman, followed by some Soundgarden. Smart move to get the tip jar flowing. At the end of the night found some rockers in their late 20s/early 30s who just blistered a Hendrix version of All Along the Watchtower. The lead guitar player, same race as Jimi and also a lefty, was a pro's pro. We settled in there just before midnight and lasted until 1am. The scene was still going strong when we called it a night.

We wondered down there on Friday afternoon for lunch and even by Noon, most of the bars/clubs were already rocking it.

Pearl Jam itself was really good. My first arena show of theirs since 2014 at the Excel. A bit shorter setlist than I have come to expect from the Stadium shows (2.5 hrs as opposed to 3 - 3.5) but lots of quality. They started with a 4 sitdown song acoustic set that began with Nothingman and concluded with Present Tense. That last song was amazing, as it turns into a rager at the end letting the audience know it was go time for the rest of the evening. And so it was.

It was one of the coolest live songs I have ever seen how they worked the crowd into a frenzy. At the 2.35 mark of this video, McCready bolts from his chair and then a few seconds later shows no mercy and boots it across the stage.


I had tickets for this show since January 2020, originally scheduled for 4/2/20. Quite a bit has changed. Got to the hotel just before 1am, caught a 6am flight back to MSP and had plenty of time to take a nap before hitting the Bank for the Gophers/Colorado game. Quite surreal.

Slept 11 hours Saturday night and took a 2 hour nap on Sunday.

All good.
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I love frantic travel 🍺.
Sounded like a blast.
 

tikited said:
I love frantic travel 🍺.
Sounded like a blast.
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Yes, it was.

One thing I wanted to add was the venue, Bridgestone Arena I would rate as the best as far as Arenas go that I have seen shows at. Even though we were near the top of the upper deck, sounded amazing. It's nearly 30 years old, so doesn't have a few of the bell and whistles or newer places (ie open concourses or bars/clubs with a few of the stage) but it was clearly built to stage big time shows.

I would like to go back and check out a Wild game there.
 



Frink said:
Yes indeed. I'd love to go but I think it's going to be too tough to get a ticket. I did score a free ticket to Pavement on the 29th and picked up tickets to the Dream Syndicate at The Turf in November. Think I saw that Amanda is going to be playing...The Amsterdam?
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FYI - The AXS "Premium" Isbell tix have dropped substantially. Only about $20 more than the original face GA price.

I bit the bullet.
 

Ope3 said:
FYI - The AXS "Premium" Isbell tix have dropped substantially. Only about $20 more than the original face GA price.

I bit the bullet.
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Glad you're able to go! Buddy of mine got a pair for he and his wife. she has to go out of town so that ticket is becoming a birthday gift to me. Evens out for the fact that my Pavement ticket fell through.
 

Frink said:
Glad you're able to go! Buddy of mine got a pair for he and his wife. she has to go out of town so that ticket is becoming a birthday gift to me. Evens out for the fact that my Pavement ticket fell through.
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Score on the b-day gift!

While I would like to see Pavement (which is actually tonight), the Isbell show followed up in short order by Dinosaur Jr on Monday, a 3rd show middle of the week feels a little much.
 

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - 1st Ave / 9-24-22

Tough for a show to deliver when their is such high expectations, but I would say this one did. 2+ hours of fantastic songs. If I could choose 10-12 of my favorite songs from his catalog, he pretty much played every one.

If We Were Vampires without Amanda to help out was the only part of the show to me that hit a speed bump. That song however led to 3 all timers to close the main set, 24 Frames > Super 8 > Cover Me Up followed up by a stellar encore. His Drive By Truckers standard Decoration Day was as good as a sendoff as any.

Personally the night got off to a rocky start. I thought I could sandwich some time with friends (not going to the show) that happened to be in town between the Gopher game (who were also in the mood to celebrate that victory) and the show. I thought getting to 1st Ave by 7:45 PM for an 8:30 PM show would be plenty of time to get a decent spot.

Huge miscalculation. My bad. Traffic and parking was slightly tougher with other stuff going on (Twins game). I got to the door at 8 PM, I found a huge line. Finally got in at 8:25 and with no buffer of a warm up band, the place was packed to such an extent that I haven't seen in decades.

Main floor was just wall to wall people, without even an inch of precious real estate. The first 2 songs I actually watched on the in house TV by the upstairs bar/center stage. Sounded ok there, but I wondered to bar on the 7th St side and found a place that sounded better and I could see Isbell's head and the keyboard guy's elbow, but nothing else on the stage.

Sounded great in that area. Fortunately just before Driver 8 (seventh song in), a couple of guys had to succumb to weak bladders I presume, and I was able to stand behind a few shorter women. There I could see the entire stage except for the guitar player on the far left. All good after that, but did not dare leave the area for another beer.

www.startribune.com

Review: Jason Isbell shines bright in his starry-night return to First Avenue

He and the 400 Unit squeezed in Saturday's show last-minute to commemorate their new star on the club's wall.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
 

Dinosaur Jr - 1st Ave / 9-26-22

A day and half later and my ears are still buzzing. While pretty full, nowhere near the madhouse of the Isbell show just 2 days earlier. It felt like old times in my 20s-30s when going to multiple shows in such a short amount of time at 1st Ave was pretty common.

Opened the show with Thumb from Green Mind. Sprinkled in 5 songs, all sounded great, from the new album (Sweep it Into Space) for a show that ran nearly 2 hours. That seems a bit longer than the other 2 I have seen since they reformed.

A mosh pit broke out for Wagon, which featured double drums. Honestly I don't think most of the slam dancers were alive when the song was released. It couldn't have ended any better, as they closed out with their Cure cover Just Like Heaven.

Lou is just as active as ever with his fro like hair flopping all over the place. How he plays that frantically over 2 hours just amazing. No shoes. I think his socks were like those hospital ones with traction on them. He also shared a funny/touching story about running into Greg Norton just this past August at the MOA while in town for a family vacation. Multiple times he name checked the Replacements and Husker Du. Respect.
 

Ope3 said:
Dinosaur Jr - 1st Ave / 9-26-22

A day and half later and my ears are still buzzing. While pretty full, nowhere near the madhouse of the Isbell show just 2 days earlier. It felt like old times in my 20s-30s when going to multiple shows in such a short amount of time at 1st Ave was pretty common.

Opened the show with Thumb from Green Mind. Sprinkled in 5 songs, all sounded great, from the new album (Sweep it Into Space) for a show that ran nearly 2 hours. That seems a bit longer than the other 2 I have seen since they reformed.

A mosh pit broke out for Wagon, which featured double drums. Honestly I don't think most of the slam dancers were alive when the song was released. It couldn't have ended any better, as they closed out with their Cure cover Just Like Heaven.

Lou is just as active as ever with his fro like hair flopping all over the place. How he plays that frantically over 2 hours just amazing. No shoes. I think his socks were like those hospital ones with traction on them. He also shared a funny/touching story about running into Greg Norton just this past August at the MOA while in town for a family vacation. Multiple times he name checked the Replacements and Husker Du. Respect.
Click to expand...

Ope3 said:
Dinosaur Jr - 1st Ave / 9-26-22

A day and half later and my ears are still buzzing. While pretty full, nowhere near the madhouse of the Isbell show just 2 days earlier. It felt like old times in my 20s-30s when going to multiple shows in such a short amount of time at 1st Ave was pretty common.

Opened the show with Thumb from Green Mind. Sprinkled in 5 songs, all sounded great, from the new album (Sweep it Into Space) for a show that ran nearly 2 hours. That seems a bit longer than the other 2 I have seen since they reformed.

A mosh pit broke out for Wagon, which featured double drums. Honestly I don't think most of the slam dancers were alive when the song was released. It couldn't have ended any better, as they closed out with their Cure cover Just Like Heaven.

Lou is just as active as ever with his fro like hair flopping all over the place. How he plays that frantically over 2 hours just amazing. No shoes. I think his socks were like those hospital ones with traction on them. He also shared a funny/touching story about running into Greg Norton just this past August at the MOA while in town for a family vacation. Multiple times he name checked the Replacements and Husker Du. Respect.
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Agree with everything. Great show. One of the better Dinosaur shows in a while imo. My ears were buzzing yesterday big time.

Mosh Pit/Slam Dancing is soooo dumb.
 

tikited said:
Agree with everything. Great show. One of the better Dinosaur shows in a while imo. My ears were buzzing yesterday big time.

Mosh Pit/Slam Dancing is soooo dumb.
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I was always more into crowd surfing. j/k

My brother noticed the stocking feet right away, joked that perhaps it was an homage to Grant Hart.
 


stocker08 said:
Rage Against The Machine concert was delayed again. Was supposed to be this May....almost two years after the original date. No word on when it will be now.
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stocker08 said:
hahaha.....rescheduled for March 2023. I bought these tickets in the fall of 2019.
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tikited said:
They will all need walkers by the time the concert actually happens.
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Bummer. Cancelled. Wound up being worse than even "tikited" imagined. Torn Achilles for Zach de la Rocha.

www.startribune.com

Rage Against the Machine's thrice-postponed Minneapolis concerts are now canceled

Frontman Zack de la Rocha's leg injury forced the cancellations of all their 2023 shows.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
 


stocker08 said:
Delayed three years and ultimately cancelled. Sucks to say the least.
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I wonder why they didn't postpone again, maybe the insurance companies had to say enough is a enough?

I do feel bad for you, and anyone else that held on for this long.
 

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