Weekly Concert Update - June 2, 2014

Now that the Twin Cities area Concert Calendar (bottom of the page) has been extensively updated, I'll be doing regular, weekly updates on Fridays as I have in the past. Here's all the latest good stuff!

Local punk heroes Dillinger Four have revealed the details on their annual Fourth of July shows at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis. The first show on Friday, July 4 will feature support from Masked Intruder, The Brokedowns, Canadian Rifle, Direct Hit!, The Priceduifkes, and Lutheran Heat. The second show on Saturday, July 5 is a heavier bill with Night Birds, Neighborhood Brats, Vulgaari, War/Plague, and Architects Death Spiral. These are usually the only shows Dillinger Four plays all year, and they always sell out in advance. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketfly (July 4, July 5), and both shows are 18+ and are $15 in advance.

Slough Feg, out on the road support their new Metal Blade album Digital Resistance, storms into the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Friday, July 11 with Bible Of The Devil, United Teachers of Music, and Nightosaur. This 18+ show is only $10 in advance, and tickets are available through Ticketfly.

80s hair metal act Faster Pussycat returns to the area on Friday, August 1 for a show in Fridley at G.B. Leighton’s Pickle Park with support from Metal Witch and Harsh Reality.

Another 80s band returns for a show at G.B. Leighton’s Pickle Park in Fridley when Bulletboys roll into town with Wayward Boyz Klub and The Goodbars.

Japanese metal experimentalists Boris, play with The Atlas Moth, and Subrosa on Tuesday, August 12 at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis. Tickets for this 18+ are $15 in advance and available now through etix.

Blues-based rock band Black Stone Cherry is back again, this time for a concert in Minneapolis at Mill City Nights with support from Kyng. Get tickets now for only $9.37 through AXS; this is an 18+ show.

Everyone’s favorite alternative funk rock band, Primus, will make an appearance at Myth in St. Paul on Friday, September 12. This is an all ages event; tickets are $42 through AXS.

If you don’t mind a little drive, ZZ Top plays the Grand Casino Hinckley Events & Convention Center on Friday, October 10. No ticket information is currently available other than they go on sale on Sunday, August 10.

Tonight - FASTER PUSSYCAT in St. Paul

You can catch late 80s/early 90s glam band Faster Pussycat tonight at Station 4 in St. Paul. The band had their biggest success with 1989's Wake Me When It's Over, driven by the hit single "House Of Pain". This is a 21+ show that begins at 7:00, and it will be $15 at the door. Be sure to get there early to support the local bands opening the show - Rockfist, The Regenerators, and Mommy Sez No.

In Concert This Week - April 4, 2013

Incredibly, there’s at least one show every single night this next week so there’s no excuse to not get out to something of interest.

Tomorrow, Friday, April 5, Screaming Mechanical Brain tops a local bill with A Boy And His Dog, The Number Seven, The Disaster Radius, and Trip System at the Forest Lake Teen Center in Forest Lake. This is an all ages show that gets underway early at 4:00. I reviewed the latest Screaming Mechanical Brain album The Policy Of Unilateral Hate here (9/10). Tonight also has American Youth and Burn Fetish playing at The Garage in Burnsville for an all ages show.

Noisy metal crew Today Is The Day brings their mayhem to the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis with support from Black Tusk, KEN Mode, and Fight Amp on Saturday, April 6.

On Sunday, April 7 metalcore/punk band A Day To Remember performs at Myth in St. Paul with Of Mice & Men and Issues. That same night Bon Jovi plays at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Sevendust and a reformed Coal Chamber play Mill City Nights in Minneapolis with Lacuna Coil and Candlelight Red on Monday, April 8. This is also a night of brutal death metal at Station 4 in St. Paul with Suffocation, Exhumed, Jungle Rot, Rings Of Saturn, and Adimiron.

Tuesday, April 9 is an evening of innovative metalcore with Within The Ruins and The Contortionist co-headlining a bill with I Declare War, Reflections, and City And The Sea at Station 4 in St. Paul. Read the review of the latest album from The Contortionist, Intrinsic here (10/10).

The mighty Clutch returns on Wednesday, April 10 for a show at First Avenue in Minneapolis with Orange Goblin, Lionize, and Scorpion Child. Local stoner/sludge band Witchden plays Cause Spirits & Soundbar in Minneapolis with Gar and Morality Crisis the same night. For those up north, The Contortionist, Within The Ruins, I Declare War, Reflections, and City And The Sea play at Clyde Iron Works in Duluth.

To cap off the week, 80s metal band Faster Pussycat plays Station 4 in St. Paul with local support from Rockfist, The Regenerators, and Mommy Sez No on Thursday, April 11.

In Concert This Week - June 22

This is a crazy week for concerts, so pick and choose wisely!

There’s four shows going on tonight, Friday, June 22. My pick is the quality 80s revival roadshow headlined by Jack Russell’s Great White, also featuring Faster Pussycat, BulletBoys, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Lillian Axe. Lillian Axe starts the show early at 7:00, so get there early! If radio-friendly hard rock is your thing, Collective Soul plays at The Brick in Minneapolis. Local band Severah has a show at G.B. Leighton’s Pickle Park in Fridley, and Station 4 in St. Paul is hosting 15 sick death metal bands (headlined by Face Of Oblivion).

Lillian Axe live at Primetime in Burnsville in 2009. Click the photo to see more pictures from this show (12).

This weekend brings the first annual River’s Edge Music Festival to Harriet Island in St. Paul. Local media have been slobbering over this for a while, but unless you’re a major Tool fan this is a steaming pile of crap. Tool headlines the first day, Saturday, June 23, in what is being billed as their only North American show this year. Coheed and Cambria is midway down the bill, but there’s nothing else of even remote interest to metal fans. It gets worse on Sunday, June 24, despite the appearance of Pusifer, with the Dave Matthews Band headlining.

There’s also a couple worthwhile local shows on Saturday. Throw The Fight continues their assault of area clubs this month with show at Dean’s Tavern in St. Paul. Meanwhile, Screaming Mechanical Brain, Gabriel And The Apocalypse, Dead Horse Trauma, Dead Bundy And The Neat Neat Neats, and Reaping Asmodia team up for a show at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.

On Sunday, June 24 Korn invades Myth in St. Paul in support of their controversial new album, The Path Of Totality, with support from Sluggo and J Devil. That same night, the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis is hosting Valient Thorr, Holy Grail, Royal Thunder, and The Kickass.

Locals Saints Hesitation, Dark Cell, Ambrotos, Apothecary, Sinful Angel, and Paradise Falls perform Monday, June 25 at Station 4 in St. Paul.

An unusual bill of Volbeat, Hellyeah, and Iced Earth lands at Myth in St. Paul on Tuesday, June 26.

Finishing off the week are progressive metal legends Dream Theater with Crimson ProjeKct at the State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis.