local – Got Any Tunes?

Beach Bunny, Unturned, Why Not @ Fallout Urban Arts Center 08/21/18

Boy howdy, Beach Bunny finally had another MPLS gig before they embark on a west coast tour opening for Remo Drive. Super proud of Lili and the boys, and it was really warming to hear all those people singing along to her songs, brought tears to my eyes! Why Not opened the show with high energy as always even though they had just gotten back from their second tour of the summer only hours before. (They released a new single that night also, listen to it below!) Unturned is a band I’ve heard a lot about but hadn’t seen yet nor had I ever listened to their music, and if you’re thinking, like I was, “wow, Unturned sounds like an emo band name,” you would be correct! Think Retirement Party-ish – lots of fun. Here are some photos!

Why Not

Unturned

Beach Bunny

Last Import @ 7th St Entry 1/25/18

I’ve written this about these ladies before, but Last Import are badass. The coolgirl trio just released their EP, Songs for Adam, and here are some photos from the release party a couple nights ago at the Entry!

Q-Pup’s new album Peaceful Night

This album is unconventional to say the least, but it has all the best qualities of experimental electronic music and bedroom-folk, with a good dose of some heavy distortion. Eighteen short songs spanning a mere 34 minutes may seem like it would be an easy listen, but Q-Pup’s new album Peaceful Night demands the listener’s attention and their emotion.

As I was giving this album a first listen, I noticed five different versions of the same song, scattered throughout, “Peaceful Night.” The whole No. 1-5 variety deal is evocative of Arcade Fire – but when I say different, I mean very different. If it weren’t for the lyrics, you wouldn’t know they were all versions of the same song.

Slower, more intentional songs like “Holiday, Holiday” had me seeing sad, indie movie montages of friends hanging out and loving each other and just being friends. But then “Quiet” jumps in immediately after, disrupting those head-scenes, but not necessarily in a bad way, just in a way that lets you know it’s time to move on.

The album is available tomorrow on Subaquatic Records and is absolutely worth taking the time to listen to intentionally. Whether you need to focus in, or tune out for a little while, let Peaceful Night be the soundtrack.

The Shackletons and friends at Triple Rock Social Club 08/23/17

Colin Campbell and The Shackletons headlined quite the party at Triple Rock Wednesday night and all the kids came out for it. With support from friends’ bands Ping Pong Intermission, Last Import, and Ahem, the audience was dancing all night long. Below are some photos and a notebook dump!? It’s been awhile since I made a list on here!

Random Notebook Dump

They covered Fidlar and I wish Margie was here
The teens have gone wild! (Sink or Swim // Ping Pong Intermission)
Last Import’s drummer is badass
I know their lead singer from somewhere (Hey grrrl, we stood next to each other at Father John Misty 🙂
I like girl bands the most always
indie rock riot grrrl
“They sound like Spongebob together!” – Jack
the safari vest man is lip syncing but doesn’t actually know the lyrics….
Such characters, they have this stage presence thing down pat
I met a new Sophia tonight, she has witch shoes and likes to dance. Miss my own Sophie
Safari vest man still has no idea whats going on, asked me how much my camera cost, and is pissed about everyone moshing…?
majestic headbanger knows all the lyrics
music video for “Minnesota Girls” !

Charlie Parr @ Mill City Museum 08/09/17

Charlie Parr’s sold out show Wednesday night was supposed to take place in the beautiful Ruin Courtyard as part of the Mill City Live program, but the weather didn’t allow for that. Moved to the museum lobby, Parr gave a casual and friendly performance to an eager audience. Mingling with fans between sets and cracking jokes and telling stories about his life and his dog while on stage, Parr effortlessly brought hundreds of different people together making it seem like a much smaller, much more intimate set; it was really quite beautiful. Charlie Parr’s new album, Dog, is due out in September, so be sure to keep an eye and an ear out for that – Below are a few photos from the show!

P.S. Toe-tapping. So. Much. Toe-tapping.

Zophia Dadlez @ Ginko’s 7/29

Rewind to last summer when I spent way too many hours on Rookie Mag in a stuffy office in South Florida. I read this piece (and this one a few months later!) on a road trip for artists; like literally a bunch of teenage artists got in an RV and took a road trip from MPLS to New York and worked on their art work. While this sounded like the road trip of my teenage-art-school-longing dreams, I was super excited to see something on Rookie from my lovely city. I messaged the writer/artist, Zophia Dadlez, gushing about how cool I thought the whole thing was and then we became internet friends.

This past year, having been back in MN, I was able to feature some of Dadlez’s songs (because yes, she does do it all) on Gamma’s monthly playlists. The one thing that for some reason or another we never did was meet in person – until last Saturday.

Dadlez played her first gig ever on Saturday opening for local songbird, Gabby Z. A handful of originals from the 2016 release, ZJD, as well as a handful of covers including some of my favorite artists. Three songs in and I had written down that she reminded me of the Crutchfield sisters (Allison Crutchfield and Waxahatchee), Daughter, and Julien Baker. Sure enough, Dadlez covered tracks from both Waxahatchee and Julien.

It warmed my heart to see the room filled and near silent as Dadlez calmly joked about the sadness of her set and how she was “sick of singing about [her] boyfriend from two years ago.” She closed her set with her most popular track, “Prayer for a Warm November,” as friends in the audience whispered the lyrics to themselves, transfixed on Dadlez’s soft smile to herself.

You can check out more of her music, originals and covers, on her soundcloud! Thanks Zophia, it was so nice to finally meet you!

Rock the Garden 2017 – Photos

Below are some shots from Rock the Garden 2017 – Thank you to The Current and The Walker for having me; I had the time of my life really. Stay tuned for more words about the festival throughout the rest of the week!

Margaret Glaspy: I was lucky enough to see her last fall at Festival Palomino, and I think I enjoyed this performance even more. She is so sweet and her lyrics can really shake ya up.

Car Seat Headrest: Yes, you may have spotted me on the big screen making a fool of myself, this band is incredible. Also I’m not going to comment on the turtleneck because every other journalist already has and I honestly didn’t think much of it.

Maxx: HIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!

Dwynell Roland: He has a Brian Oake tweet printed on his shirt lol – This is funny because my dad made an “Oake for President” shirt back when he was on Rev105 – Long live the revolution!

The crowd just before Benjamin Booker:

BRUISE VIOLET: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THESE GIRLS SO MUCH IT WAS SO AMAZING GETTING TO SEE THEM PLAY ROCK THE GARDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (p.s. happy birthday, Danielle!)

The Revolution: While I’m not the biggest Prince fan considering he was a bit before my time, I still teared up a little when Wendy gave a little speech about how he was watching down on us. ALSO JUSTIN VERNON

Dead Man Winter: Unfortunately no photos of this band, I wanted to keep my barricade spot secured for Bon Iver since they weren’t allowing photo pit access.

BON IVER: I cried like 6 times, I didn’t even take any notes. This was earth shaking and the Moon Lady was watching – I felt her.