Tuesday 10/2
Dream Wife Entry – TICKETS
This ain’t your average house party. Dream Wife invite you to jump into the mosh pit. London based musicians Alice, Bella, and Icelandic singer Rakel formed at art school in Brighton where the project began as a performance art piece. Dream Wife make music embracing their love for edgy pop. Oozing girl power the music juxtaposes simple pop hooks, cutting riffs and screamy dreamy vocals. The world of Dream Wife is brought to life with; roaring live shows, an empowering attitude embracing the strength of femininity, and collaborations with vibrant creatives of the London scene.
Wednesday 10/3
The Presets at the Turf Club – TICKETS
The Presets took shape in 2003 when Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes first met at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. They were quickly recognized for their ability to fuse elements of dance music with an energy more akin to rock’n’roll. After signing with Modular Recordings, the band released two EPs and an album Beams (2005).
In 2008 The Presets released the chart topping Apocalypso, selling in excess of Triple Platinum sales in Australia and featuring four hit singles, including the classic ‘My People’. Setting new standards for dance music in Australia, The Presets went on to win 5 ARIA awards (and 2 ARIA Artisan Awards) including Album of the Year, as well as the J Award and FBI SMAC Award for Album of The Year. Kim and Julian also shared the coveted Songwriter of The Year Award at the 2009 APRA Awards.
Eleanor Friedberger at The Cedar – TICKETS
First known as one half of the brother-sister duo The Fiery Furnaces, Eleanor Friedberger headed out on her own in summer 2010. Her fall play at The Cedar has her touring in support of her new newest solo album Rebound.
On Rebound, Eleanor Friedberger has created a subtle world that is a little fizzier, a little synthier- more cinematic, more meditative- than her previous three albums. In the wake of 2016’s jarring political shift, Friedberger felt a need to be even more self-reliant, right down to the album artwork, in which she painted a backdrop and styled herself as an attempt to look like an amped up Lizzy Mercier Descloux.
In contrast to the sonic serenity of 2016’s New View, which she arranged and recorded with her touring band, Rebound was recorded mostly on her own and with the producer Clemens Knieper. Programmed drums, a Juno synthesizer, and muted rhythm guitars dominate the landscape where influences range from Stereolab and Suicide to Lena Platonos and Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Thursday 10/4
Tiny Deaths EP Release at the Icehouse – TICKETS
tiny deaths is the Minneapolis, MN and Brooklyn, NY based dream-pop duo consisting of vocalist Claire de Lune and producer Grant Cutler. Their first full length album “Elegies” was released February 2017 and caught the attention of numerous press outlets including The Guardian (“Top of the playlist” for their feature on Minneapolis), Stereogum (“The Gardener” song premiere), Bust Magazine (“Wrong” video premiere), Bitch Media (“Ever” video premiere), Earmilk (video premiere), Minneapolis City Pages (‘Best EP of 2016’), and more. Their follow up full length LP, “Magic,” via Handwritten Records is set for release on September 21st.
Cutler and de Lune’s styles are like yin and yang: Cutler coming from a background in heavily experimental electronica and ambient music and mixed media art installations, and de Lune’s resume filled with RnB. Together, Cutler’s booming bass and lush soundscapes and de Lune’s rich, soulful vocals unite to form a wholly alive and fresh take on a moody, dreamy, ethereal sound bringing to mind bands like Phantogram, Beach House, and Purity Ring.
Friday 10/5
Ben Rector at the State Theatre – TICKETS
You know magic when you see it, touch it, or hear it. You’ll instantly recognize the sensation on Ben Rector’s appropriately titled seventh full-length offering, Magic. The Oklahoma-born and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist uncovers that feeling within 13 anthems equally rooted in whimsical nostalgia and excitement for the future. His ceaseless touring and prolific output paid off in a big way on the 2015 breakout Brand New. Not only did it bow at #9 on the Billboard Top 200, but it yielded a massive hit in the form of the title track “Brand New.” Clocking 41 million-plus streams on Spotify, the single organically landed over 40 film and television placements, including a trailer for The Edge of Seventeen, a TV spot for Disney’s Moana, syncs in a Weight Watchers campaign starring Oprah and MLB World Series and Olympics primetime spots. At radio, it went Top 5 Hot AC and AC and Top 30 pop. Along the way, Ben has independently accumulated consumption numbers of more than 495,000 albums and 5,300,000 tracks, becoming one of the top earning artists on TuneCore, the world’s leading digital music aggregator.
Good Night, Gold Dust EP Release at the Icehouse – TICKETS
Good Night Gold Dust’s 2016 debut studio EP shined a light on the Mankato-based indie-electronic quartet and found the band counted among the most exciting new acts in Minnesota, gaining praise from UK blog Clash Magazine, YVYNYL, and MPR’s 89.3 The Current, among other outlets. GNGD has also shared stages with national and international acts such as The Rural Alberta Advantage, Gordi, HÆLOS, and Middle Kids. Their sophomore studio EP It Could Have Been You (produced by Brett Bullion) is a moving collection of songs both meditative and urgent that explores ideas of isolation, loss, and recovery. Featuring dual lead vocalists Laura Schultz and Colin Scharf, GNGD’s dynamic live performance transforms the dreamscapes of their recordings into a powerful cinematic reality.
Now Now and St. Lucia at Music Hall Minneapolis – TICKETS
St. Lucia is back with their third LP Hyperion, out September 21st. Their new single “Walking Away” is out now. The band has appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Good Morning America and Late Night With Seth Meyers, performed at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza, Governors Ball Outside Lands, and Bonnaroo, and provided official remixes for artists ranging from Lady Gaga to Passion Pit to Foster The People. As Jason Bentley from KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic put it, “This should be the biggest band in the world right now.”
Now Now is a very cool pop band with Minneapolis roots. The title of Now, Now’s first new album in half a decade begs the obvious question… Saved from what? They certainly didn’t seem like a band that needed saving after the release of their 2012 LP Threads. When the world last heard from Now, Now, they had made their late night TV debut with Jimmy Fallon, and landed tours and shows with bands including Fun. and Bob Mould, among others. For better or worse, the usual path for any band that seems like they’re on the cusp of a break through is to strike while the iron is hot. That is, to hurry back to the studio to work with a proven producer known for having a hand in a few big records. Bands and artists that find themselves in this situation are compelled to “go big, or go home,” and in Now, Now’s case they did just that, they went home.
It might not have been planned that way, but that’s where they ended up– back in Minneapolis without a clear sense of how to move forward. Despite any success or acclamation earned up to that point, self-doubt set in, and a crippling writers block entrenched itself further. Weeks became months, and months dissolved into years, all while the band’s modest but fervent fanbase were left to speculate on social media as to what was behind the silence. At a particularly low point relates KC, “I felt like I was pursuing the wrong dream, that maybe something else would reveal itself to me.”
Soccer Mommy at the Entry – TICKETS
“I don’t want to be your fucking dog,” sings Soccer Mommy’s Sophie Allison on “Your Dog,” a highlight from her new album Clean. Over knotty, distorted guitars and churning bass, Allison is equal turns confrontational and vulnerable. “I want a love that lets me breathe/I’ve been choking on your leash.” It’s a mission statement, a reclamation of power, a rewriting of all indie rock’s rules. Soccer Mommy is the project of twenty-year-old Sophie Allison, a Nashville native. She cut her teeth in her local DIY scene, going to shows and hanging out with other musicians, though she kept her own songwriting secret. “I’ve played music since I was six,” says Allison, “and I always wrote songs just for myself. I did it for fun, posting songs on Tumblr, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”
All that changed the summer before Allison left for college. She bought a Tascam digital recorder and began to experiment with production, pushing the quality and craft of her songs to new heights. A buzz began to grow around her Bandcamp recordings, leading to live shows and eventually a record deal, with 2017’s critically acclaimed bedroom-recorded compilation Collection. “I realized that I could do this full-time,” says Allison. “It was either quit school now and do it, or stop growing as an artist. It was now or never.”
Blue Oktober at First Avenue – TICKETS
BLUE OCTOBER is the Texas-based band known for its shimmering melodies and heart-string pulling lyrics, boasting a powerful line-up of players and one of the most emotionally charged and magnetic front men in music today. Blue October is Jeremy Furstenfeld (drums), Matt Noveskey (bass), Ryan Delahoussaye (violin and piano) and Justin Furstenfeld (guitar and vocals).
Blue October has charted TEN Top 40 Hot AC and Alternative singles over EIGHT albums with songs like “Into The Ocean,” “Hate Me,” “Home” “Calling You,” “Dirt Room,” “Say It,” “The Chills”, “Bleed Out”, “Fear” and “I Want It” from albums such as 2009’s Billboard Top 200 #13 debut ‘Approaching Normal,’ 2011’s Billboard #8 debut ‘Any Man In America,’ the Platinum-selling ‘Foiled’, Billboard’s #13 debut ‘Sway.
Sunday 10/7
Ukefest at the Hook & Ladder – TICKETS
What started as a theme night of Twin Cities musicians who just happened to all play ukulele, has become an annual event.
UkeFest – One Big Night, One Little Instrument is a variety showcase of an eclectic lineup of Uke players and also a fundraiser for Arc Minnesota.
Come early for the open mic and stay all night to hear acts such as instrumental phenom and Kala Ukulele Brand Ambassador ‘Marlowe’, Song-A-Day Youtube Star Zachary Scot Johnson, local legend John Munson, Ukester Brown, and many more.
All lovingly curated by Ukulele Songbird Katy Vernon and for the first time ever, co-hosted by internationally known Chicago artist Matt Griffo.
All proceeds benefit Arc Minnesota and the great work they do for families such as Katy’s that have loved ones with disabilities.
6pm – Open Mic Hosted by Annette and the “Minneapolis Ukulele Army” group
6:50pm – Alison Cromie, Ukester Brown, Zachary Scot Johnson, & John Munson
8pm – Tori Evans, Joe duo, Marlowe
9pm – Jake Rowan, Matt Griffo, Katy Vernon
SG Lewis at the Entry – TICKETS
Three years since first emerging as Britain’s emotive dance music maker-in-chief, SG Lewis is back with a new record and a renewed sense of purpose. After two EPs, 2015’s Shivers and 2016’s Yours, a period that saw him crafting hits for rising artists Dave (100Ms) and Ray BLK (Chill Out), the Reading-born producer-cum-songwriter-cum-DJ returns with a three part ode to club music: Dusk, Dark, Dawn.
“Everything I do stems club culture,” he says of the concept. “Dusk, Dark, Dawn is about taking the intentions of that music – all those feelings and experiences, those amazing emotions I had from the age of 17 to 19 – and placing them outside of the context of the club. Those memories of being a young person and having my mind blown by this thing I never knew existed.”
It was back in 2015 when SG, real name Sam, first began posting his initial steps into music online, amassing a considerable Soundcloud with a sound that combined a duel love of singer-songwriters, such as Bon Iver, with the production value of more underground club-oriented styles. “I remember seeing a documentary about The Neptunes and thinking that’s what I want to do for a living. I just want to be in the studio and make songs.” (The story would later come full circle when a suitably impressed Pharrell would drop debut single Warm on Beats 1 dubbing him “a white boy with soul.”)
