Photo By Jennifer Gullickson

Bush
With Bloodnstuff
First Avenue, Minneapolis
May 22, 2013

In the mid-90's, most music fans who passionately experienced the rapid rise of the grunge movement firsthand viewed bands like Bush, Stone Temple Pilots and their ilk with skepticism, painting them as illegitimate knockoffs who were just capitalizing on a scene that they would forever be outside of. But there was ultimately no denying their commercial success and legions of fans throughout the world. And now that enough time and distance has passed, and those unsettled adolescent territorial fires have dimmed just a bit, the songs are ultimately what endure, not where you came from or when you broke big.

And Bush clearly have plenty of undeniable anthems that still resonate just as potently with audiences today as much as they did when they dominated U.S. radio and the pop charts nearly 20 years ago. The one-time London quartet, led by the exuberant Gavin Rossdale, delivered all of those hits and more during their entertaining 90-minute set which found the band finally making their First Avenue debut while connecting intimately with their dedicated fans who have stuck by them all of these years.

See Also:
Bloodnstuff release new album

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Photo by Youa Vang

Lissie with Vance Joy
Varsity Theater, Minneapolis
Wednesday, May 22, 2013

When an artist says at the beginning of their show, "We're gonna play a lot of new stuff tonight," there's often a collective groan from the room, but when Lissie told that to the sold-out room at the Varsity, everyone hooted and cheered. The Rock Island native is beautiful but in an unassuming kind of way -- she's the ultimate girl next door. Behind that exterior beats the heart of a rock star; when she straps on her guitar, she comes alive and moves as if this was what she was born to do.

See also:
Lissie on Kid Cudi, personal success, and Minneapolis
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Photo by Youa Vang

Father John Misty with Solid Gold
First Avenue, Minneapolis
Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Father John Misty aka Josh Tillman returned to Minneapolis for the fourth time within a year last night. The singer, who recently celebrated his 32nd birthday and the one-year anniversary of his debut album [as Father John Misty] Fear Fun, seems to love this city. Mr. Misty toured non-stop since last year, sitting mostly on same twelve songs that make up Fear Fun.

So what can you get out of a FJM show that you don't get sitting in your room with the lights down and candles burning? All of the little nuances: humor that is so sarcastic it borders on insulting for the uninitiated, his captivating voice, and, most importantly, his dancing. From the screams of the women in the crowd, you would have thought you were at a male strip club when Tillman brought out his sexy gyrations.

See Also:
Basilica Block Party 2013 lineup
Father John Misty at Fine Line, 10/31/12
Father John Misty on stand-up comedy and his Halloween costume
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Photo By Erik Hess

Foals
With Surfer Blood and Blondfire
First Avenue, Minneapolis
May 20, 2013

There are a few different ways for musicians to approach the dreaded Monday night show, where typically fans and bands alike are still feeling the effects of the weekend and the obligatory drag of the start of the work week. The first is to play like every show is on a Saturday night, and bring enough energy to your songs that the crowd simply gets swept up in it. The second is to go through the motions, get through the set with little more than is required, and save yourself for the big shows on the weekends when everyone is naturally in a party mood.

Those two techniques were on full display at First Avenue on Monday evening, where the Oxford, England, quintet Foals delivered a dynamic and forceful 90-minute set that completely invigorated the crowd, while Palm Beach, Florida's Surfer Blood gave a listless, tepid performance full of flat new songs that didn't come close to packing the same musical punch as those found on their debut.

See Also:
Slideshow: Foals at First Avenue, 5/20/13
Surfer Blood and the Drums at the Varsity Theater, 10/13/10

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Jeff Gage

Todd Rundgren
Varsity Theater, Minneapolis
Monday, May 20, 2013

There were signs hung all around the Varsity Theater on Monday night that, if you gave them a moment's pause, did plenty to set the tone for the evening. "Warning," they said, in big, black, capitalized letters. "There will be strobing lights at this show."

Nowadays, of course, "strobing lights" are all but routine at concerts. So, bothering to actually post a warning about them? Well, that could mean things getting a little weird. And, what do you know, after all these years, Todd Rundgren is just as weird as ever.

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
With Thenewno2
First Avenue, Minneapolis
May 18, 2013

It has been a rather tumultuous couple of years for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. In late 2010, the California trio suffered the shocking passing of Michael Been, legendary frontman of the Call, who died of a heart attack backstage at one of the band's shows. Been was not only the father of BRMC's Robert Levon Been, but he had also been the band's sound engineer for years, providing a welcome and steady sonic influence on the group while on tour.

The songs from BRMC's just-released new album, Specter at the Feast, are justifiably drenched in raw emotion and dignified remembrance of Been and his long musical legacy, and the band's triumphant return to First Avenue on Saturday night appropriately kicked off with a raucous cover of the Call and only got better from there during their generous two-hour, 23-song set, which drew liberally from throughout their entire 13-year career.

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Photo By Anna Gulbrandsen

Art-A-Whirl Night One
With the Blind Shake, Gospel Gossip, Carroll, Kill the Vultures, Jaill, Quiet Corral, and Tramps Like Us
331 Club, Minneapolis
May 17, 2013

The 331 Club emphatically kicked-off the musical portion of 2013's Art-A-Whirl on Friday night, with a diverse line-up that only grew better as the night wore on. Sadly, the fans who gathered for the outdoor portion of the event seemed to be a bit subdued by the unseasonable cool May evening and the chilly winds that blew through the tent-covered parking lot stage, as most concert-goers were indifferent to the acts who played during the early part of the night. But once the festivities moved indoors and packed the small, intimate club, the night caught fire as did the music on offer.

See Also:
Slideshow: Art-A-Whirl 2013: The music, 5/17/13 
Slideshow: Art-A-Whirl 2013: The music, 5/18/13
Gospel Gossip record release at 7th Street Entry, 3/21/13

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Photo by Lindsay Kimball

Rodriguez
Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul
Wednesday, May 15, 2013

This historic week in downtown Saint Paul continued at the Fitzgerald Theater as a sold-out audience paid witness to the first public concert locally from Rodriguez. The now-famous Detroit singer/songwriter finally became a household favorite last year due to the miraculous story told in the Oscar-winning Searching for Sugarman film.

See Also:
Rodriguez: "They made love to my music, but they also made war to my music"

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Photo by Tony Nelson

Of Montreal
With Wild Moccasins
Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis
Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Most bands tour the country stocked up with all of their gear and a collection of merch. Of Montreal also packs as many costumes as a Broadway show.

From the skeleton-faced clowns who joined the band on stage during the first song, "Chrissy Kiss the Corpse," releasing a never-ending string of balloons for the crowd to devour, to the small reptile people in armless red jumpsuits during "Girl Named Hello" who eventually revealed their robust fake breasts into the eager faces of front-stage viewers, the band did not hold back on the theatrics. Oh, and at one point, someone dressed as Hercules battled a skeleton guy before they fired off leaf-blowers full of feathers.

See Also:
Slideshow: Of Montreal at the Cedar Cultural Center, 5/15/13

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Photo by Anna Gulbrandsen

Love is the Law Concert
With the Suburbs, Gay Men's Chorus, Jack Brass Band, P.O.S., Zoo Animal, and Hookers $ Blow
Ecolab Plaza, St. Paul
Tuesday, May 14, 2013

"Life is like a summer's evening," a lyric from the Suburbs' Tuesday performance proved to the second-most memorable statement of the night. After Governor Mark Dayton signed the gay marriage bill into law, the quickly assembled celebration show -- inspired by the Twin Cities band's 1984 hit "Love is the Law" -- was a delightfully warm, mosquito-deprived, and adoration-rich experience in downtown St. Paul.

See Also:
Slideshow: Love is the Law Concert

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