Wednesday 9/26

Frankie Cosmos at the Fine Line – TICKETS

Frankie Cosmos has taken several different shapes since their first full band album, Zentropy, erupted in New York’s DIY music scene in 2014. For Vessel the band’s line up comprises of multi-instrumentalists David Maine, Lauren Martin, Luke Pyenson, and Kline, who each contributed their own musical sensibilities to help shape the sound of the new record. In between tours supporting their last album, Next Thing, Kline brought new songs to the band’s rehearsals, and together the members collectively participated in turning them into full band arrangements. As a result, the album’s staggering 18 tracks implement a range of instrumentations and recording methods unheard of on the albums preceding it, while still maintaining the succinctly sincere nature of Kline’s songwriting.

The album’s opening track, “Caramelize,” serves as the thematic overture for Vessel, alluding to topics like dependency, growth, and love which reoccur throughout the record. The song strings together a scope of musical motifs and showcases the intense dynamics in both Kline’s lyrics and the band’s performance that continue on the tracks that follow. Although many of the scenarios and personalities written about on Vessel are familiar territory for Frankie Cosmos, what’s really changed on the new record is Kline’s nuanced point of view and her desire to constantly question the latent meaning of her experiences.

Thursday 9/27

SYML at the Entry – TICKETS

Brian Fennell is a student of simplicity. As SYML (pronounced “simmel”), which translates to “simple” in Welsh, Fennell writes emotive ambient pop songs that capture the ethos of his musical persona. With delicate piano, swells of strings and Fennell’s sterling vocals, the songs that comprise his debut EPs Hurt for Me and In My Body, out January 2018, embody the relinquishing of all emotions, a cathartic release laid bare. “The name meaning simple was the cornerstone of what I wanted in these songs,” Fennell says. “Keep it simple because you can’t hide behind things as well when it is stripped back and when it is naked and raw.”

 

The project’s origins stem from a pair of songs Fennell had written years prior, borne out of the resulting introspection from navigating a healthy and supportive relationship with his now-wife. Over a heaving string orchestration and harrowing piano on “Where’s My Love,” Fennell looks outward at a romantic partner and wishing for their emotional wellness for the sake of the relationship; on “The War,” a stark track with thundering percussion, a battle is waged between the boy and adult man living inside himself. Fennell shared these tracks with a friend who helped land “Where’s My Love” in an episode the MTV drama Teen Wolf in 2016, thus thrusting Fennell into the spotlight. So he wrote more songs, self-recording and producing in his home just outside of Seattle.

Posters for Parks at Lakes and Legends Brewing  – EVENT INFO

Posters for Parks will launch its third annual show on Thursday, September 27, The one night, pop-up gallery features limited edition posters inspired by Minneapolis parks and created by local artists and designers.

50% of all sales will be donated to People for Parks; 50% will go to the artists. The show is a FREE and family-friendly event. Check out previous shows HERE

It may not be a concert, but it certainly is cool AND it is a show 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVHLFgYlJGc

Marcus King Band at the Amsterdam – TICKETS

Photo by David McClister

King is a Blue Ridge Mountain boy, born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. A fourth-generation musician, he traces his lineage back to his fiddle-playing great-grandfather, while his grandfather was a fiddler and guitarist. His dad is Marvin King, is a singer/guitarist who has toured nationally since the ‘70’s with various artists as well as his own group, Marvin King and Blue Revival.

“One of music’s next great guitarists” (Washington Post), the 22-year-old King has been writing songs, performing onstage for half his lifetime and fronting his own groups for nearly a decade. Since he was a teenager, he’s been trading licks with famous fans and mentors Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks whenever their paths have crossed. This fall, he prepares to release a new project that unveils his rapidly maturing artistic vision – more info coming soon.

Saturday 9/29

Island at the Entry – TICKETS

“Making music that feels natural,” smile London four-piece I S L A N D as one. “That’s the most important thing in the world to us.” No surprise then that this is a band whose history is characterized by old friendships, close bonds and almost telepathic mutual understanding; their music a combination of influences ranging from trad-folk to high-octane punk rock and encompassing everything in-between; their rapid rise through the underground of the organic, fan-led sort that most bands can only look over at with envious eyes.

Forming as teenagers when frontman Rollo Doherty’s acoustic bedroom project was treated to the boisterous backing of guitarist Jack Raeder, bassist James Wolfe and drummer Toby Richards in a dingy windowless practice room where they began to painstakingly shape a sound which combined darkly twisting instrumental with a sweetly melodic song-writing nous that belied their age. The quartet released their debut EP Girl in late 2015 and it shimmering refrains turned heads almost immediately. First single ‘Stargazer’ exploding onto Spotify’s much-coveted New Music Friday playlist and drawing attention for fans both domestically and internationally – to date the song has over 2 million plays on Spotify alone.

At the same time, the band’s live show, fearsomely tight and effervescently energetic through years of playing together week in, week out since their youth, sky-rocketed in popularity. Over the course of little more than a year, they sold out Dalston’s 150 capacity Victoria, Hackney’s 350 capacity Oslo, King’s Crosses 800 capacity Scala and headlined Charing Cross’s iconic Heaven, not to mention shows at The Great Escape, London Calling and Reeperbahn. All this achieved while unsigned and maintaining a fastidiously DIY ethic. Now, with the help of New York label Frenchkiss, the band are gearing up to release their hotly anticipated debut album, due in early 2018 and entitled Feels Like Air. It is resolutely a record which encapsulates everything the quartet have perfected thus far, whilst extending their dynamic range and reach further than ever.

Honey Island Swamp Band at Hook & Ladder – TICKETS

Named after a very real swamp that lies near the border of Louisiana and Mississippi, Honey Island Swamp Band is aptly named, with a rootsy sound that incorporates the best of both states. The group’s music is a swampy mix of blues, soul, country, R&B, and the rhythms of the group’s hometown, New Orleans. The band didn’t come together in New Orleans, though, but formed instead in San Francisco, where Aaron Wilkinson (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Chris Mule (guitar, vocals), Sam Price (bass, vocals), and Garland Paul (drums, vocals) were all evacuees from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. 

The band relocated back to New Orleans in 2007, adding Trevor Brooks on the Hammond B-3 organ and other keyboards in 2010. Honey Island Swamp Band’s music has been described as “Bayou Americana,” with timeless songs drawing from a variety of influences in the world of roots music, including the likes of Lowell George & Little Feat, The Band, Taj Mahal, Gram Parsons, Jerry Garcia, Johnny Cash, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and New Orleans’ own Earl King and Dr. John.

Jeremy Zucker at the Varsity – TICKETS

Photo Credit Meredith Truax

Jeremy Zucker is a 22 year old rising singer, songwriter and producer who’s eclectic sound blends indie electronica with pop, R&B and hip hop undertones. He recently released his latest EP, glisten, in May, which features his lead singles, “all the kids are depressed” (24M Spotify streams) and “better off” with Chelsea Cutler (12M Spotify streams). The New York Times hailed Zucker’s music as “icy, minimal but tuneful electronic pop,” and he recently announced his first-ever headlining tour in North America this fall, which is quickly selling out. glisten follows his 2017 EP idle and breakout track, “Talk Is Overrated (feat. blackbear),” with over 23M Spotify streams to date.

The “all the kids are depressed” video was directed by Drew Kirsch and shot in Denver, CO. For the video, Jeremy put out a casting call on Twitter asking people in the Denver area who struggle with depression and anxiety to submit their stories. He received hundreds of messages from all around the world, and the video tells the stories of teens and 20-somethings battling depression and anxiety because of struggles with issues like their sexuality, domestic violence, homelessness, racism and more. The video is Jeremy’s love letter to his fans letting them know they are not alone.