Concert Announcements and Updates

This summer's lineup of shows continues to heat up! Here's the latest events that have been added to the Concert Calendar (right sidebar).


Local punk legends Dillinger Four reunite again this year for a show at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 4 with Frozen Teens, Brain Tumors, Turkish Techno, and Victory. Their last show earlier this year sold out in advance, so get your tickets now.


Experimental hardcore masters from St. Paul The Crinn are back with Mortality Crisis, A Boy And His Dog, and Nerves for a Minneapolis show at the Triple Rock Social Club on Saturday, July 7. The Crinn's last album, Dreaming Saturn, was released by Nuclear Blast; hopefully some new material will be showcased.


Pop rockers Hoobastank return on Thursday, July 12 at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Tickets for this 18+ show go on sale today, Friday, June 8 at 10:00 am.


According to the Mystic Lake website, the July 15 Kid Rock show is now sold out.


Punk-hardcore band The Dopamines arrive at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Sunday, July 15 with Lipstick Homicide, The Slow Death, and The Manix.


God Forbid just announced a tour with Battlecross that brings them to Station 4 in St. Paul with Devilsex, Climactic, Reaping Asmodia, Deretia, and Purified on Wednesday, July 18.


The revamped lineup of In This Moment is already out on the road in advance of the new album Blood that will be released in August, and Saturday, July 21 brings them to St. Paul at Station 4.


Another sold out show - tickets are gone for Steel Panther on Friday, July 27 at The Brick in Minneapolis. Let's hope this gets moved to a larger room such as Myth.


Punk-ska pioneers The Mighty Mighty Bosstones invade the First Avenue Mainroom on Saturday, August 11. Tickets go on sale today, Friday, June 8 at 12:00 noon.

Classic rock legends The Guess Who play Minneapolis at Epic (of all places) on Saturday, August 18. No ticket information is yet available.


Eyes Set To Kill rolls into Station 4 in St. Paul with My Ticket Home, and Awaken The Empire on Sunday, August 19.

The next night, Monday, August 20, is one of brutal underground death metal at Station 4 in St. Paul with Abolishment Of Flesh, Skinned, Sadistic Passage, What Lies Within, and Fetus Heist.

Canadian technical/power metal band Into Eternity returns to Station 4 in St. Paul with local openers Cold Colours, Climactic, and Northsky on Friday, August 24.

70's rockers/80's balladeers REO Speedwagon bring their show to the Mystic Lake Showroom in Prior Lake on Friday, August 31. Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 16 at 10:00 am.


Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould plays at First Avenue on Saturday, September 15. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sugar's debut album Copper Blue, Bob's band will play this album in its entirety, along with another set of new solo material and Hüsker Dü classics. From what I can gather, Bob has always been reluctant to play his previous bands' material, so this should be a special night. Tickets go on sale today, Friday, June 8 at 12:00 noon.


Surely this will sell out - Katatonia and the Devin Townsend Project co-headline a tour with special guests Paradise Lost and Stolen Babies that arrives in St. Paul at Station 4 on Sunday, September 16.

Leave it to the Melvins to book a tour that hits all 50 states plus the District of Columbia in 51 days! The road warriors hit Grumpy's in Minneapolis on Wednesday, September 19. It's not clear which Grumpy's location will host this show, so more information will be forthcoming.


Reactivated industrial/noise icons the Swans play the Fine Line in Minneapolis with Xiu Xiu on Friday, September 21.


Great news for classic and progressive rock fans - Kansas brings their upcoming tour with none other than King's X to Myth in St. Paul on Saturday, September 22.


Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai comes to The Brick in Minneapolis on Wednesday, September 26. No ticket information is available at this time.


Lagwagon, pop-punk heavyweights who never got their mainstream due, hit the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Thursday, October 4 with Dead To Me. This should sell out!


It doesn't get much heavier than this bill - Morbid Angel, Dark Funeral, and Grave bring their dark arts to Station 4 in St. Paul on Friday, October 5.


Lastly (whew!), Dutch symphonic metal maestros Epica return to Station 4 in St. Paul on Monday, November 5 with Alestorm, Insomnium, System Divide, and Destiny Potato.

Pick your shows and start making plans!

Epica/Threat Signal/Blackguard/Gracepoint/Echoterra Concert Review With Photos And Video

Epica, Threat Signal, Blackguard, Gracepoint, Echoterra

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Station 4, St. Paul, MN

Tonight was the debut live performance of Echoterra, the new band featuring members of Avian and Pyramaze and new vocalist Melissa Ferlaak (ex-Visions Of Atlantis). Despite the early start time, Station 4 was already packed to near-capacity when Echoterra took the stage with “Manifest Eternity”. The band made the most of their time and managed to get through most of their album, The Law Of One. “A Tear Of Her Heart” and “In Your Eyes” went over especially well with the crowd. Bassist Brian Hollenbeck took over the vocals for “Say, Try, Lie, Die” and surprised everyone with his great voice. The experience of the band members showed as everyone looked at ease in front of a crowd for the first time and sound-wise things sounded great. Hopefully tonight was just the beginning of Echoterra playing locally on a regular basis.

Click picture for more photos of Echoterra (14).

Click to watch Echoterra play "In Your Eyes".

Locals Gracepoint were up next with a short set of their technical, groove-laden thrash metal. The band’s musicianship is solid but the band’s weak point is the vocalist, whose aggressive approach doesn’t seem to fit the style of the band at times. Nevertheless, Gracepoint puts on a decent show and they remain a decent opening band for big shows like this.

Click picture for more photos of Gracepoint (5).

Problems with setting up Blackguard’s keyboards delayed the start of their set, but once they took the stage the club erupted into pandemonium. Blackguard is one of the most energetic live bands and their explosive stage presence whipped the crowd into a frenzy. This was first hearing Blackguard, so without any preconceived expectations I was blown away. The band was tight, and made a huge impressive with songs like “This Round’s On Me” and “In Time”. Not enough bands play new songs live, so it was cool that Blackguard played “Farewell”, a song written for their next album. Blackguard is potent live force, and it’s easy to see why they have so many excellent already booked for 2010.

Click picture for more photos of Blackguard (10).

Click to watch Blackguard play "Farewell".

It would be difficult for most bands to follow performance like that just given by Blackguard, and Threat Signal followed with an impressive show of their own. They didn’t elicit quite the same crowd response, and it was a shame that Threat Signal’s set was limited to 35 minutes. “Afterlife” and “Through My Eyes” from the outstanding Vigilance album opened the show, and three tracks from Under Reprisal (“A New Beginning”, Counterbalance”, and “Rational Eyes”) were interspersed into the set. Another new song, “The Beginning Of The End”, was especially well-received. By the time Threat Signal was done I was left wanting more, so hopefully a headlining tour is in the works.

Click picture for more photos of Threat Signal (10).

Click to watch Threat Signal play "Severed".

Click to watch Threat Signal play "Rational Eyes".

The last time Epica played Station 4 two and a half years ago, singer Simone Simons spent the day at the hospital being treated for a bacterial leg infection and took the stage on crutches and sang while seated on a stool. Back in full health, she and Epica were greeted by a near-sellout crowd that was hungry to hear songs their latest masterpiece, Design Your Universe. The first half of the set primarily featured songs from Design Your Universe, opening with “Resign To Surrender” and continuing with “Unleashed”, “Martyr Of The Free World”. “Sensorium” and “The Imperial March” (featured on The Classical Conspiracy) rounded out the early part of the show. Oliver Palotal from Kamelot took over keyboards for this tour, and a brief piano solo from him led into a stunning version of the ballad “Tides Of Time”. More of the Epica catalog was represented in the second half of the show, with songs from The Divine Conspiracy (“Sancta Terra”, “Menace Of Vanity”, and “The Obsessive Devotion”), Consign To Oblivion (“Quietus” and “Consign To Oblivion”), and The Phantom Agony (“Seif Al Din” and “Cry For The Moon”) all being played. The epic “Design Your Universe” and “Cry For The Moon” were both big highlights of the show, and guitarist Mark Jansen got fired up for the fast, heavy parts of these songs. The whole band sounded amazing tonight, and they clearly were having fun on stage. This was a long night of quality metal, so everyone left exhausted and satisfied. Epica is one of the best symphonic metal bands around, so don’t miss them during their yet-to-be-announced North American tour in November.

 Click picture for more photos of Epica (20).

 

Click to watch Epica play "Tides Of Time".

New Concert, Album Reviews On The Way!

A slew of new concert and albums reviews will be posted by the end of the week. Look for concert reviews, pictures, and video from the recent Arch Enemy/Exodus/Arsis and Epica/Threat Signal/Blackguard/Gracepoint/Echoterra shows and album reviews from Alice In Chains, Karnivool, Kreator, Eluveitie, Overkill, Priestess, and Scar Symmetry.

Epica Keyboardist For North American Tour

Coen Janssen, keyboardist for Epica, has released a statement on his Myspace blog explaining that he will not be joining the band on their North American tour which began last night to focus on commitments related to planning his wedding in April. His replacement for this tour is Oliver Palotai, keyboardist for Kamelot.

Epica will be performing at Station 4 in St. Paul on Saturday, February 6. Support will come from Threat Signal, Blackguard, Echoterra, Gracepoint, and Dread Veil.

Epica Album Review

Epica – Design Your Universe

Nuclear Blast, 2009

9/10

Holland’s Epica have released their best work to date with a magical, varied sound that amazes me with each listen. Their last album, 2007’s The Divine Conspiracy, was a bit of let down from prior records, and I was worried that the band would continue in a more pop-oriented direction. Design Your Universe seems to combine all of Epica’s signature sounds into a well-written, focused effort. Everything you would expect from this symphonic metal outfit is here – seamless incorporation of an orchestra, operatic choir vocals, and epic song structures. Following a short opening instrumental, “Resign To Surrender (A New Age Dawns Part IV)” makes a statement that Epica hasn’t lost any of their aggressive fire as guitarist Mark Jansen takes over most of the song with his death metal vocals. Simone Simons steps back into the spotlight with her beautiful, soprano voice featured in “Unleashed”. Most of the songs are mid-tempo, with fast guitars and strings interwoven with soaring melodic choruses. A great example of this formula is “Our Destiny”, a song that really takes off when the chorus explodes into a massive vocal performance by Simone. The absolute highlight of the album is “Tides Of Time”, a ballad that begins with nothing but piano and orchestral accompaniment to Simone’s soft voice that builds toward a grand climax in the final two minutes that makes your hair stand on end by the time the guitar solo begins. Other stand out tracks are “Deconstruct”, “Martyr Of The Free Word”, and the title track. Design Your Universe is the ultimate statement of Epica’s vision, executed nearly flawless. My only complaint is the length of the album – at 79 minutes this is a bit much and the album seems to never want to end (the 13:35 minute “Kingdom Of Heaven” doesn’t help in this regard). The production and entire performance is perfect, and an ideal balance between the bands, Simone’s vocals, and the orchestra is found. Design Your Universe is the definitive work to date from Epica, and their creative spark continues to burn strongly. This is undoubtedly one of the best symphonic metal albums of all time.

Epica will be appearing at Station 4 in St. Paul on Saturday, February 6. Support will come from Threat Signal, Blackguard, Echoterra, Gracepoint, and Dread Veil.

Upcoming Shows in 2010!

SwordLord Productions posted a message its Twitter page cryptically revealing some shows planned for 2010, with the hint to "unscramble for a sneak peak! RIMLAP RAFE, ROTREAK, ACEPI, ONSTAA CARCATI". This translates to Primal Fear, Kreator, Epica, and Sonata Arctica - looks like some great shows will be announced soon!

Threat Signal Replaces Daath on Epica Tour

Nuclear Blast recording artist Threat Signal will replace Daath as main support to Epica on the Dutch symphonic metal band's tour early next year. No official explanation for why Daath has been replaced has been issued. Threat Signal's sophomore album, Vigilance, was released last month, and this will be the band's first tour in support of this release.


Epica will be performing at Station 4 in St. Paul on Saturday, February 6. Support will come from Threat Signal, Blackguard, Gracepoint, and Dread Veil. Note: Posted below is the original, uncorrected flyer.