Concert Announcements And Updates - June 14, 2013, Part 2 of 2

Here's the second half of the latest metal concert news for the Twin Cities area, covering July and August. See Part 1 for the updates for June.

Buckcherry returns to the area for a show on Wednesday, July 3 with Girl On Fire at the Vetter Stone Amphitheater in Mankato.

Cantharone has another show lined up at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis with Hate Beast on Thursday, July 4.

Long-running punk band Meat Puppets will play four shows in Minnesota to promote their 14th album, Rat Farm, released on Megaforce earlier this year. They play two shows on Saturday, July 13 – an early 5:00 show at the St. John’s Block Party in Rochester, followed by an 8:30 show at the Twin Cites Roots, Rock and Deep Blues Festival in Minneapolis at Patrick’s Cabaret. The next night, Sunday, July 14 has them at Tycoons in Duluth with Actual Wolf and Enemy Planes.

The day after performing with Sevendust in Rochester, Otherwise has their own headlining show on Sunday, July 14 at Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park with special guests Throw The Fight and The Soft Light.

KEN Mode and Virginia doom band Inter Arma play the Turf Club in St. Paul on Thursday, July 18.

Ambassador Gun hooks up with Philadelphia’s Sadgiqacea, Hivelords, and Poney for a show at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis on Friday, July 19.

The Meat Puppets’ fourth Minnesota show happens at the What’s Up Lounge in Mankato on Friday, July 19.

Comical metal band Psychostick returns, this time to Pov’s 65 in Spring Lake Park on Friday, July 19 with Outside The Murder and Strate-Jak-It.

Sweden's female-fronted power metal sensations Amaranthe play the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Tuesday, July 23 with support from Kobra And The Lotus.

Although they long ago abandoned their early punk roots, Minneapolis’s own Soul Asylum tops the Skyline Music Festival with Big Head Todd And The Monsters, Matthew Sweet, and Gear Daddies to Target Field in Minneapolis on Friday, July 26.

A huge lineup of local bands have organized the Metal For Life event at Neisen’s in Savage on Saturday, July 27—all proceeds will be donated to the Shriners Hospital for Children. Slated to participate are Cantharone, Piranha, Gryzor, Matrekis, Clobberboot, Eldergaad, Dark Mirror, Tomorrow Brings New Blood, Chaostrophe, Deretla, Monogon, and Malice (MN). This event is all ages are starts early at 10:00 am.

Locals Nuisance also play on Saturday, July 27 at the Cabooze in Minneapolis with Slow Spokes, Aeous, We Be Lions, and Up Rock.

Florida instrumentalists Set And Setting play the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 31. Their debut album Equanimity was released last week through Forcefield and Science of Silence.

Minneapolis-based heavy instrumentalist masters Zebulon Pike rock the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Friday, August 2 with Vulgaari, Relentless, and Ashen.

Down in Mankato at the Vetter Stone Amphitheater you can catch rock band Everclear at the Mankato Ribfest on Friday, August 2.

Loverboy plays the Mankato Ribfest at Vetter Stone Amphitheater on Saturday, August 3.

The Monday, August 5 Vampire Weekend show at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis is SOLD OUT.

The Big Night Out Tour with hard rock bands Fuel, Hoobastank, Lit, and Alien Ant Farm comes to Myth in St. Paul on Wednesday, August 7.

The Vetter Stone Amphitheater in Mankato has a big night of 80s metal with Ratt, Sebastian Bach, Dokken, and Lita Ford on Thursday, August 15.

Fresh off their recent show in St. Paul, Bobaflex hits Mankato at Buster’s on Wednesday, August 7 with Royal Bliss.

Grand RockTember Music Festival Announced - September 14

An impressive lineup of 80s metal bands is geared up for the Grand RockTember Music Festival on Saturday, September 14 at the Grand Casino Amphitheater in Hinckley. Acts confirmed so far are Winger, L.A. Guns, Firehouse, Warrant, Dokken, Lita Ford, and Skid Row, with more bands to be announced! Plan on spending the day there, as show time is 2:00 pm. Ticket information has yet to be released, but tickets go on sale June 20.

From The Vault - ARMORED SAINT

This is the first of some Anthrax-themed vault postings here (more coming on Anthrax and S.O.D.) since Anthrax is coming to town very soon (and Red Lamb just played here on March 24 - show review coming soon). Armored Saint singer John Bush fronted Anthrax through arguably the band’s most creative and critically acclaimed period. I was fortunate enough to catch Armored Saint twice in the late 80s, then again during 2000.

My favorite show was on Memorial Day, May 26, 1986 at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand in Des Moines as part of the Iowa Jam, an annual Memorial Day festival (sadly long defunct now). Check out this monster lineup: the bill was topped by Aerosmith (supporting Done With Mirrors), Ted Nugent (out for Little Miss Dangerous), Dokken (promoting Under Lock And Key), Metallica (with Cliff Burton on the Master Of Puppets tour), and Armored Saint (supporting Delirious Nomad). Armored Saint was on first at 11 am and fired up the crowd with an inspired 35–40 minute set of songs from the first two albums. I’ll post the audio of this show later, so I’ll save additional comments for then. As you might expect, Metallica stunned an unsuspecting crowd, while the remaining bands all put on great shows.

I must’ve gotten lucky because the next time I saw Armored Saint was on the Raising Fear supporting Grim Reaper (supporting Rock You To Hell) with Helloween (touring for Keeper Of The Seven Keys - Part I) on October 17, 1987 at The Rimco Center in Rock Island, Illinois. This was an MTV Headbanger's Ball-sponsored tour. Helloween was amazing as they closed their opening set with “Halloween” and “How Many Tears”. Armored Saint a set similar to what I heard at the Iowa Jam the year before with the addition of some new songs like “Chemical Euphoria” and “Raising Fear”. Grim Reaper got upstaged by the openers, but they still put on a great show playing the title tracks from their three albums amongst other songs.

Click on any of the pictures to see more photos of Armored Saint live in 2000 (14).

Finally, the show from which the pictures are from was May 28, 2000 at Brick By Brick in San Diego during promotion for the Revelation album. This was a rapid, packed crowd eager to hear Armored Saint after an absence of many years while John Bush was in Anthrax. The main attraction for me was finally being able to hear songs performed from Symbol Of Salvation, standouts such as “Reign Of Fire”, “Dropping Like Flies” and “Tribal Dance”. With no security barricade it was difficult getting great pictures at the packed club, and it should be evident from them that everyone, both band and crowd, was having a fun night.

Anthrax performs Thursday, April 4 at First Avenue in Minneapolis with support from Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste, and Holy Grail.

In Concert This Week - June 29, 2012

It’s kind of a slow week for metal shows, but here’s what’s going on around The Cities.

If you didn’t get your fix of 80s metal at the Jack Russell’s Great White, Faster Pussycat, BulletBoys, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Lillian Axe show last week, head to Station 4 in St. Paul tonight, Friday, June 29 for Dokken, Hoodlum Johnny, The Grand Machine, and Next To Nothing. Other notable shows tonight include Heart and Joan Jett And The Blackhearts at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, and Empires, The Lighthouse And The Whaler, and Black Church Service at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

Gritty rockers Black Cobra and Gaza team up with local instrumental heroes Zebulon Pike on Sunday, July 1 at the Turf Club in St. Paul.

Lastly, local punk stalwarts Dillinger Four return to the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis for July 4 show this Wednesday with Frozen Teens, Brain Tumors, Turkish Techno, and Victory. Dillinger Four’s show usually sell out so get your tickets in advance while you can.

Weekly Concert Update and Announcements

Now that things have settled back to some semblance of normalcy post-Google suspension (more about the reason for this to come, haha), here's some shows of note coming up during the next week as well a crush of recent announcements. I'll be out of town this next week, and it's always frustrating when some killer shows happen during these times (arg!).


Yes vocalist Jon Anderson hits the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis tonight, Friday, June 1 for an evening that promises many Yes classics as only he can sing them.


Bret Michaels tours much more frequently as a solo act than with Poison these days, and he's back again with locals Scarlet Haze this Saturday, June 2 at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina.


The much-ballyhooed The Queen Extravaganza also plays Saturday, June 2 at The Brick in Minneapolis. This is the official Queen tribute tour, and it features Jeff Scott Soto as one of the vocalists. Jeff has sung with numerous bands, including Journey. I've seen him sing with Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force, Soul Sirkus, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra—check out some of his Queen audition videos to see how awesome a singer he is.


Roger Waters returns to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Sunday, June 3 to play The Wall in its entirety. I'm really bummed because I had to sell my tickets to this. This is probably the most elaborate production you'll ever see. I caught this tour on the previous run about 2 years ago, and it's a spectacle worth every dollar. Tickets were still available last time I checked.


Power metal fans will not want to miss Italy's Rhapsody Of Fire with locals Hollowstone on Wednesday, June 6 at Station 4 in St. Paul. This is the first US tour for these over the top fantasy buffs. This is the Fabio Lione-fronted version of the band with original guitarist Alex Staropoli on board. I'd rather see the (other original guitarist) Luca Turilli's version, now back to original moniker Rhapsody, but this show should not disappoint.

On to the recently announced shows:


The reunited Spineshank will be coming to Station 4 in St. Paul on June 20 with support from The Agonist, 9 Electric, and Mureau for a 16+ show.


A big night of 80's metal hits Neisen's in Savage on June 22 with Jack Russell's Great White, Faster Pussycat, Pretty Boy Floyd, BulletBoys, and Lillian Axe. Look for Lillian Axe to steal the show.


Metal legends Dokken also added a St. Paul date at Station 4 on June 29. This 21+ show also features support bands Hoodlum Johnny, The Grand Machine, and Next To Nothing. This show will probably sell out in advance.

Sludge/stoner rock band Black Cobra will crush the Turf Club in St. Paul with Gaza on July 1.


Venerable rockers Sevendust return to town on July 19 at First Avenue in Minneapolis.


Hair metal joke band Steel Panther will play The Brick in Minneapolis on July 27. My unpublished review of their first album Feel The Steel rated a big fat 0 (really, it's not funny when you grew up listening to the Mentors), but nevertheless this show will be a riot. Ralph Saenz is the most entertaining frontman you'll see—I've seen him countless times with guitarist Russ Parrish (ex-Fight) in Atomic Punks. Legend has it that Ralph jumped a heckler mid-song in the Twin Cities while he briefly fronted L.A. Guns. 


The death/extreme metal package tour dubbed The Slaughter Survivors Tour lands at Station 4 in St. Paul on July 29. Featuring Pathology, Enfold Darkness, Fallujah, Fit For An Autopsy, and Aegaeon, this one will be brutal.

Rock radio staple Theory Of A Deadman comes to The Brick in Minneapolis on July 29 with Aranda and Charm City Devils in tow. Tickets for this 18+ show go on sale today at 10:00 am.


Powerglove returns as support to MC Chris on August 9 at the Varsity Theatre in Minneapolis.


Long-running punk stalwarts Strung Out should pack in the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on August 12 with Handguns and The Darlings.


Legendary but underrated guitarist Pat Travers will play the Gaslight Bar in Ellsworth, Wisconsin on September 8.


Progressive rock icons Kansas return, this time to Myth in St. Paul on September 24 with the criminally overlooked King's X. This is an 18+ show, and tickets go on sale June 15 at 10:00 am.


Lastly, looking far into the future, the Heathen Crusade 4 tour will be coming to Station 4 in St. Paul on March 9, 2013. Mark this one down Viking metal fans - Einherjer will be headlining a bill rounded out with Ashaena, Vanir, Hammer Horde, Trelleborg, Bolero, and Rochester's Minos. More bands will be announced.

Skid Row And Dokken Return To Town

Skid Row and Dokken were both in town recently, and now they are coming back again in June to The Bierstube in Oakdale. Skid Row plays there Friday, June 18, and Dokken will be there the next night, Saturday, June 19. Ticketmaster has a special package deal for tickets to both shows for only $25 that is only available by presale from May 3-7 on the Ticketmaster website. The password you need for this presale offer is ROCK.

Click here to see some old Skid Row concert memorabilia and my thoughts on a couple shows I saw on the Slave To The Grind and Subhuman Race tours.