“We weren’t always this perfect,” said Tegan Quin, dryly, onstage last night at the Fitzgerald Theater. “We weren’t always LGBTQ international icons.” There were a lot of layers to the quip. It got a laugh because although it could read as sarcastic, Tegan and her sister/bandmate Sara Quin have in fact been called “icons” by […]
There were few empty seats at the Xcel Energy Center last night. The arena was packed full of millennials sporting the Northern uniform of warm-toned flannels and denim, eager to see Wisconsin’s Bon Iver. The band’s frontman, Justin Vernon, looked a bit more casual, wearing headphones and a bandana tied tightly around his forehead. In […]
Let’s get this out of the way first: there’s one mention of Minnesota in the new Judy Garland biopic, and it’s not very positive. In fact, it’s essentially a threat. In a scene set around the time Judy Garland was shooting The Wizard of Oz, movie mogul Louis B. Mayer (Richard Cordery) is reminding the young […]
The classic-album tour is, at bottom, a slightly cynical exercise. A band (or whomever) goes out, recreates their best-known or -loved LP or CD (depending on era) in the order released, throws in some greatest hits for the encore; commemorative T-shirts and tote bags do brisk business. No one is challenged, and everyone goes home […]
The Who landed at Xcel Energy Center on Friday night, continuing the St. Paul venue’s recent monthly streak of hosting legendary British rockers – following ELO in July and Queen in August. For this tour, dubbed Moving On, the Who enlisted the musical forces of a 48-piece orchestra. So, naturally, suites from the band’s rock […]
St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center has had the privilege this summer of hosting two of England’s storied rock bands in sold-out shows — both of them Rock and Roll Hall of Famers whose popularity has been re-energized by recent Hollywood blockbusters, and both led by septuagenarians. Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra starship landed in late […]
Almost every single seat in the Xcel Energy Center was filled Thursday night while the Electric Light Orchestra’s iconic spaceship hovered on screens above the stage, the audience awaiting the British rock band that’s been rolling since the ’70s. The crowd rose from their seats to applaud the shadows gliding on stage, accompanied by a […]
David Crosby strokes his beard and reminisces about the beginning of the Byrds. “After we started to get good with it,” he says, “Dylan showed up.” His interviewer, Jakob Dylan, says dryly, “You’ll have to be more specific.” Among the many things we learn in the new documentary Echo in the Canyon, one of them is […]
“This is a really bad idea,” said Stephen King, “especially considering that the band that first had a hit with this song came from Minnesota. Anyone remember the Trashmen?” Some of us remembered the Trashmen playing “Surfin’ Bird” on that very stage in First Avenue’s Mainroom. King dropped his guitar and stepped forward for that […]
My Brightest Diamond has released five albums and played hundreds of shows, but each one is a novel experience. Two of their only constants: Shara Nova’s classically trained voice and her bent toward artsy surprise. In Nov. 2018, she released the My Brightest Diamond album A Million and One, a more electronic, dancey project than […]
