Jimmy Gnecco w/ Royston Langdon @ 7th Street Entry 3/7/19

This is I count the 8th time I've seen Jimmy Gnecco live, and only the 2nd Solo. The 1st Solo as a quasi-Headliner in the "Someone to Die For" tour.

The other being when he opened for Greg Laswell which oddly, I believe was the last time I saw him, at The 7th Street Entry as well in 2013? I think it was.

Just Jimmy and April Bauer, no full-band. Jimmy on Acoustic guitar and April played on a number of tunes, adding synths (mellotron patches?).

Royston aka Leeds joined Jimmy for a couple of David Bowie tunes which were fun, although I would have enjoyed Jimmy singing some on Life on Mars?

But it was pretty epic, and the set list and length was not planned.

A lot of crowd interaction and storytelling, some maybe I might try to edit-in that I don't have time right now for.

the New Age Heroine stuff was great, Fly even more stripped down, was still the epic piece that it is. And the title track.

Even Made to Love, which is 1 of the tunes I'm only luke warm about on the record, was quite moving live.


The song on setlist.fm that is "Unknown" I think I know, but am not certain if it's unreleased or a song off 1 of the versions of The Heart (The Bells?)..The Bells is 1 of my favorites and has this cool busy guitar outro, which Jimmy played on the tune that I believe is marked "Unknown."

Anyway, time is not on my side, but yeah, another epic show from Jimmy.

There's some stuff he mentioned about Spectacular Sight and other anecdotes that would be worth sharing soon, hopefully in due time.

Also a shout-out to Rachel and Beth, 2 other Ours fans who remembered me from many shows I attended in the past. Local-Ours fanatics like myself.

Red Colored Stars (Ours song)
Here Is the Light (Ours song)
I'm a Monster (Ours song)
Mystery
Fly
Bleed (Ours song)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie cover) (with Royston Langdon)
Life on Mars? (David Bowie cover) (with Royston Langdon)
(Unknown, The Bells?)
The Heart
Made to Love
Sometimes (Ours song)
Medication (Ours song) (Partial; straight into next song)
Dizzy (Ours song)
I Heard You Singing
Across the Clouds
New Age Heroine
The Worst Things Beautiful (Ours song)
Places (Ours song)

Bent Knee + Bubblemath + Gatherers 7/10/18 @ 7th St Entry

So I should include a review here for this show last night Tuesday the 10th of July at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

1st off: live reviews are done as often as I can, but sometimes they just don't manage to happen like the Chromeo show a few weeks back. Raphael Saadiq perhaps on the 20th among some others may happen hopefully. Maybe movie screenings like Whitney or the Muse one tomorrow night 7/12.

But this was the 2nd Bent Knee show I've seen in basically 1-year (July 24th last year was the other), and while that show was a huge deal for me to finally see Bent Knee, and also cool to see local band Air Lands with them (and have Sarah from Cloud Cult sit-in); this show included Bubblemath of course, 1 of Minnesota proggiest of prog bands.

Great double bill, and Kai especially is a Bent Knee fan, etc he hosted them last year.

So those 2 along with Gatherers from NJ (not Gatherer, RIP, see previous entry), who I'll say, while I don't know if I'll be pursuing their music necessarily, but they seemed to capture the Post-Hardcore energy and sound well. And a few moments the guitar textures had me turn my head. As I told them, I'm sure some new fans will be made between their and Bent Knee's fan bases.

Bubblemath, played 30 minutes and 3 songs. 2 new ones not on either album. "Refused" in particular I enjoyed, namely the last 1/3 or maybe even half of. Which I told Kai, a lot of their music I tend to focus on the sections in the songs/pieces at times. But also, that tune and the 2nd tune "Everything" are both new, and for some reason the mix for them was not as clear as it was for both Bent Knee and even Gatherers I think.

"Routine" is an epic like the other 2, and from Edit Peptide. And I liked maybe even more than at the show I saw in 2017 at The Triplerock Social Club (RIP).

At any case, 3 songs, 30 minutes. Other than mix/sound issues, it was great to see them again and the 2 new songs are for their next album which I guess is planned to be recorded soon = late 2018 or 2019 release? let's hope.

Bent Knee: the set list I have below likely isn't fully accurate. I'm unsure based on some of the songs they played I didn't recognize and the set lists from setlist.fm vary. They didn't play an encore, and the list below has 12 songs, which I'm thinking they didn't play quite that many. Maybe 8-10?

edit: I think it was 9 songs, as I thought they mentioned the drummer who filled in had to learn "9 songs from their set list" or something.

Land Animal, Hands Up, Leak Water for sure.

Anyway, apologies for the slightly guesstimated set list.

Bent Knee were still really fun, energetic live. And their drummer Gavin Wallace-Allsworth had to leave the tour on June 23rd, after an accident in San Francisco where he broke his foot. But thankfully he had surgery, and is recovering well I guess .

The drummer that filled-in, I forget his name. It may have been Gatherers drummer Adam Cichocki? I forget. But I guess he learned their music really fast, and while they do miss Gavin, the drum work was still excellent last night.

But with the new songs being played and speaking to Ben Levin, they have a new record in the works, which doesn't surprise me, but definitely is one to look forward to. They are prolific, but from album they don't seem to lose any quality in their songs, which says a lot. I see Shiny Eyed Babies, Say So and Land Animal all pretty close, and all having many outstanding tracks that have moments I look forward to and love.

2019 new Bent Knee? let's hope.

Also I picked up the Say So double vinyl, which I hope to show on YouTube soon.

And I met a bunch of really cool fans including this guy Pete and 1 of his sons, from Eau Claire, WI. Also a musician named Mage? who takes a ton of inspiration from Bent Knee and is from MN I guess, but is going to College in LA.

Bent Knee
Bone Rage
Time Deer
Leak Water
Hands Up
Garbage Shark
Golden Hour
Terror Bird
Land Animal

1 of these may have been played:
Holy Ghost
Mother's Day
Give Us the Gold
Being Human


Bubblemath
Refused
Everything
Routine

Gatherers
no set list found

Mutemath: 2015 September/October NA Tour

I'm happy Wednesday September 16th, 2015 they are playing in Minneapolis (and only 3 days after The Dear Hunter show at The Triple Rock), but as  this link on First Avenue's page shows, it's NOT IN THE MAINROOM this time, but the 250-capacity venue, The 7th Street Entry.

Yet as the below history shows, they Headlined twice within the last 6 years in the Mainroom. Both of which were very full from my memory. I actually swear I saw them one other time in the Mainroom, but maybe I'm mixing them up with another band (Local Natives perhaps).

-February 18th, 2012 at the First Avenue MAINROOM Minneapolis, MN
-October 17th, 2009 First Avenue MAINROOM Minneapolis, MN

And it doesn't appear the Mainroom has anything confirmed listed on their calendar for September 16th right now, so this show not listed in the Mainroom is a pretty big WTF of today.

-Bad memory by the promoters who run First Avenue now?
-There's something else pending for that date that hasn't been announced yet?

I really wonder if this sells initially on Friday and the coming weeks, if ticket demand will force them to have it moved to a bigger venue (either to The Mainroom or at least somewhere like The Varsity Theater). It should. It was only 3 years ago when they HEADLINED to well over TRIPLE THE 7TH STREET ENTRY'S CAPACITY here, and they have never played a venue as small as The Entry (as 1 site with some venues info. The Fine Line, .even The Loft at Barfly, and the old Ascot Room held more than The 7th Street Entry).

So while I'm happy they are coming back and can't wait to hear Mutemath's new album Vitals this Fall, the fact they got booked to play a venue as small at The 7th Street seems rather baffling.

Facebook Post

A T-Shirt and Message for people going to First Avenue + other venues..

It's not only at First Avenue's Main Room, The Cabooze is definitely another place that comes to mind. The Dakota Jazz Club and even the last show I saw at The Artists Quarter, but recently, First Avenue's Mainroom and the 7th Street Entry seem to attract the most guilty (let's be honest, mindless hipsters who are often just there to "be there" and not for the music itself).

But this t-shirt pretty much says what I'd love to remind those tactless people.



Facebook Link

Also see the line in Devin Townsend's "Earth Day"
"Listen to me! Just shut the fuck up!" 

RIP Benjamin Curtis (School of Seven Bells/Secret Machines)

This I guess doesn't come as an enormous shock as the Facebook post below explains, he had been battling Cancer for quite awhile. But regardless, this is still rather sad.

I can say a few things about Benjamin Curtis. I saw School of Seven Bells play at the 7th Street Entry twice, once with Warpaint on October 13th, 2009. One of the more memorable and surreal concerts I've attended certainly in the last 5 years, if not ever. A show I attended almost entirely to see Warpaint, but I stayed to see SVIIB and frankly was floored by how acid-trippy and surreal their show was. And Benjamin's guitar textures/atmospheres was a HUGE part of that.

They came back the next year, playing at the 7th Street Entry again, on September 19, 2010. And they didn't include the slide visuals, and shortly after Claudia Deheza left the band (I recall later within said tour), but that show was still very memorable (Entry w/ that announcement).

I even recall talking to Benjamin after maybe both of those shows, telling him about my impressions of the shows and how I always wanted to get into the Secret Machines, but never could, but SVIIB were more my thing.

I also recall seeing something on Facebook, a few months back about his cancer. But I am not sure how long he had been battling it. It may have been like Earl Root, where he had it, but never really made it public, but was dealing with it for many years. I hope not though.

edit: from Wikipedia
Curtis announced in late February 2013 that he had been diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma A benefit concert was held in New York in August 2013 and included performances by members of the Strokes and Interpol. Curtis passed away on December 29, 2013 at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in New York.

Very sad, as he was a talented musician and I'm sure he had a lot more music and many other things he could do in the future :-[

RIP.

https://www.facebook.com/schoolofsevenbells/posts/10152124122216063

Dear friends, 

Last night, Dec. 29th 2013, we lost our friend and brother Benjamin Curtis to his fight against cancer.

While we had hoped to delay this announcement until a more suitable time when his friends and family could feel better prepared and settled to greet any correspondences from folks attempting to reach out, unfortunately the news has prematurely leaked. So we felt it would be appropriate to at least offer an official acknowledgement from us, in light of all the fans who loved and supported Benjamin and his music. 

We kindly ask that his immediate family, friends & bandmates' privacy be respected during this time, and that instead, any inquires, well wishes, or notes-of-consolation be sent through School of Seven Bells’ management, where it can be shared with them at the suitable time. They can be sent to a special e-mail address here: sviib@wizkidmanagement.com

If relevant, further information will be made available through the suitable channels in the near future.

We can’t thank all of you who supported him and his music through the years enough. All of you who attended or participated in the various benefits in and around New York City over the past year since his diagnosis, and of course those who contributed and gave generously to help support him throughout that journey. You made it possible for all of us, and for him, to see how truly loved he was and how many lives he had touched through his music by your gestures. We will all miss this incredibly talented and rare person every day, but we are fortunate enough that he shared with us his music, and that is something that we can keep forever.

Foals: Winter/Spring Tour 2013 (with Surfer Blood)

http://www.foals.co.uk/live.htm

02-11 London, England - Rough Trade East
02-28 Dublin, Ireland - The Academy
03-01 Dublin, Ireland - The Academy
03-02 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy
03-04 Liverpool, England - O2 Academy
03-05 Glasgow, England - Barrowland
03-06 Birmingham, England - HMV Institute
03-08 Norwich, England - UEA
03-09 Leeds, England - Leeds Metropolitan University
03-11 Bristol, England - O2 Academy
03-12 Nottingham, England - Rock City
03-13 Portsmouth, England - Pyramid Centre
03-15 Brussels, Belgium - AB
03-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
03-18 Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
03-19 Berlin, Germany - Astra
03-20 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
03-22 Zurich, Switzerland - M4 Music Festival
03-23 Villeurbanne, France - Transbordeur
03-25 Paris, France - Olympia
03-26 Lille, France - Aeronef
03-28 London, England - Royal Albert Hall (two shows) +
04-10 Reno, NV - Knitting Factory #
04-11 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore #
04-12 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-13 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues #
04-18 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre #
04-19 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-20 Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
04-22 Mexico City, Mexico - El Plaza Condesa
04-25 Houston, TX - Fitzgeralds ^*
04-26 Dallas, TX - House of Blues ^*
04-27 Austin, TX - Emo's ^*
04-28 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues ^*
04-30 Atlanta, GA - Goat Farm ^*
05-01 Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre ^*
05-03 New York, NY - Terminal 5 ^*
05-04 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory ^*
05-05 Washington, DC - 930 Club ^*
05-06 Albany, NY - Upstate Concert Hall ^*
05-08 Providence, RI - The Met ^*
05-09 Boston, MA - House of Blues ^*
05-10 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda ^*
05-11 Toronto, Ontario - Koolhaus ^*
05-13 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues ^*
05-14 Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts ^*
05-15 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall ^*
05-17 Indianapolis, IN - Deluxe ^*
05-18 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre ^*
05-19 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall ^*
05-20 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue ^*
05-29 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom ^*
05-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore ^*
05-31 Seattle, WA - Neptune ^*
06-03 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot ^*
06-04 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre *
06-05 Lawrence, KS - Granada ^*
06-07 St. Louis, MO - Pageant ^*
06-09 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls ^*
06-11 Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head ^*
06-12 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel ^*

+ with Efterklang
# with The Neighbourhood
^ with Surfer Blood
* with Blondfire

I nearly saw Foals at the 7th Street Entry back in 2010. There's at least 1 long blog about it, and the fact it was the same evening Menomena was headlining at The Varsity Theater and Janelle Monae was opening for of Montreal in the Mainroom.

I bought a ticket, but had to eat it as the timing didn't work out to see both them and Menomena (with Brent Knopf by the way). I think/hope I made the right choice, even though I have only grown to enjoy Foals more and more, and Total Life Forever since. But, Brent isn't with Menomena anymore, and he may never play with them again. And Janelle, the show was sold out anyway. But I do mean to see her live at some point.

Anyway, Surfer Blood is 1 of the openers, 1 of the 2 acts they played music from at the 89.3 Music Meeting I didn't hate. 

This is another Spring show that adds to maybe the most insanely busy Spring concert schedule I've ever faced. But in fairness, many of the shows are for artists that are sort of Bucket List-acts, and I also wonder how many if any chances I'll have to see again.

September 23rd, 2010 in Minneapolis: Menomena and/or Foals

Menomena and Foals: Equally goofy and both releasing excellent 2010 albums, AND in Minneapolis the very same evening of September 23rd, 2010.



I've waited about 3 years to see Menomena live. They finally booked another show here for September 23rd, and my favorite venue in town, The Varsity Theater. It was October or November 2007 when they last played in Minnesota, at the Varsity in fact. The same evening The Faceless were on the bill with Arsis and the headliner Enslaved at Station 4 in St.Paul. I decided for quantity, over perhaps quality, by skipping Menomena.

So the new Foals album came out earlier this year, and has become a regular-rotation record for me. It's really a breakthrough in a lot of ways. And I certainly would be interested in seeing them live now, more than ever.



They are from England (as opposed to Menomena being from the States), and who knows how often they'll find their way over here. But then again, the same could be said for Menomena. It may depend on how much more touring Menomena does for Mines this Fall or more likely in 2011. How big/much bigger they become and the demand for touring continues. Just on the surface, the odds seem better Menomena would be back sooner. But the same question should be raised about Foals, given they are a bit of a hipster band (one of the rare exceptions where the lemmings and usually low-substance-taste-media, actually promote a band whose music justifies it in some ways. In other ways, I'd argue it gets raped by them).

Perhaps Foals will find their way across the pond, to Minneapolis again in 2011 as well.

I just hate to have to pick.

The details right now for a possible concert jump.

Menomena has 1 opener, Suckers. The doors at The Varsity Theater are 7pm. The music starts at 8pm. If all goes well, Menomena will be starting by 9pm. They'll probably play over an hour. Maybe 90 minutes. The show ends by 10:30pm..maybe 11pm at the latest.

Meanwhile, Foals at The Entry: Entry shows, unless they are all-ages, NEVER start less than 1 hour after the doors. But also Entry shows pretty much every time have 2 or 3 openers. I've been to (sadly) probably 15 or 20 shows there over the last 10 years. I don't recall, save for The Appleseed Cast I think, any shows without not 1 but 2 or more opening bands. If the math works out, 2 bands get added to the bill, and even if the 1st band starts at 8pm, probably the earliest Foals could go on stage would be 10pm, but more likely closer to 11pm. Especially if more than 2 bands open, which would hardly be surprising. Maybe Foals has 1 or 2 national/international openers on their September/October tour, and then The Entry adds at least 1 local opener.

It's possible Foals won't even be starting until 11pm. If that happens, a concert-jump sounds very possible.

However, 1 or 2 other minor beefs that remain with this. The same night, of Montreal w/ Janella Monae are in The Mainroom. I actually would go for seeing of Montreal live sometime, as much as I've been underwhelmed by their studio music. But Monae has become hipster band 101 as well. So the mass of people there, like the Jimmy Gnecco 7th Street Entry/Gayngs-Ball thing back in May, has to happen at the pathetically joining venues the exact same evening.

But at least it's on a Thursday (and not Friday) and there is no Twins game at Target Field that evening thank gawd.

I just hate it when this stuff comes up. I'm a victim in some way of my own taste. But you got 2 of the better indie-prog bands in town the same evening. It reminds me a little of when Kaddisfly were in town the same night Mew headlined at The Fine Line, the Fall of 2006. I managed to see both, but it wasn't easy.





This wouldn't be such a big deal to me, perhaps, except for the fact Mines and Total Life Forever are both in my top 5 on my 2010 Album Index. And the fact Foals may not be back for many years given they are from England and the cost of touring overseas isn't always simple.

And I can't see myself eating the Menomena ticket. I already purchased it, and I've waited far too long too see them live. Even if I am able to pull off seeing both of these shows that night, part of me may be a bit down about lost time trying to chat with the guys in Menomena as well. Although I got to chat a bit with Brent Knopf last Fall when he was in town with Ramona Falls (ironically, at the Entry), I'd still love to say hello, and maybe have him sign my new disc. That may be possible beforehand. But also meeting Danny Seim and Justin Harris (of Menomena) would be a big deal to me. Danny was actually there with Ramona as well, as the drummer, but I had no idea until after the show, and I wasn't able to talk to him.

But that may be possible still, beforehand, or for a few minutes after wards, depending on how loaded up the bill at the Entry gets (and maybe I'll trying calling over to The Entry to find out the more specific times of the bands, the day/afternoon/early evening that day, since of course the bill's times and schedule are never known until the day/afternoon or evening of the show. But at least I would assume Foals is last since they are headlining).

but beyond all of these shenanigans, I still think if a promoter had any clue, these 2 bands should have ended up on the same bill. Now of course the finances of that wouldn't benefit each band as much I'd guess. And I may be 1 of the, if not the only person who will/would-want-to see both of these bands (some of their fans may be at the of Montreal show w/ Janelle Monae instead anyway), but I still say a bill together would make sense and benefit each band in terms of exposure no matter.

The indie-prog fan is in town, but like most fans in this town, they stay in the woods until the night of the show.

Why should I have to choose between these two?