Concert Announcements - June 27, 2014

The returning A Taste of Minnesota festival has been moved to the Carver County Fairgrounds in Waconia due to Harriet island in St. Paul being completely flooded from recent heavy rains in the metro area. Waconia is located about 30 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Bands of interest this year are Soul Asylum on Thursday, July 3, and Halestorm, Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer, Gypsy, and Crow on Saturday, July 5.

San Francisco doom band Castle will play Memory Lanes in Minneapolis on Monday, July 7.

Rock band Fuel has added a stop at Clyde Iron Works in Duluth to their tour itinerary with support from Royal Bliss on Wednesday, July 9. Tickets are on sale now through Twin Ports Nightlife.

Death/metalcore bands Suffokate, Abiotic, Aegaeon, and As They Sleep play The Garage in Burnsville on Thursday, July 10. Additional local support will come from Reaping Asmodeia, Roads Of Glass, So Long Orion, Death Punch, Axiom, and Bring Out Your Dead. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketfly.

A cool mix of local and Midwest metal bands are lined for Bummerfest at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul on Friday, July 18. Topping the bill is Ambassador Gun, and House Of Atreus, Cold Colours, Noble Beast, Nuklear Frost, Vukari, Seidr, Krawg, and Ire Wolves are also slated to play. Tickets are available now through Ticketfly.

Punk legends Black Flag return the area on Sunday, July 20 at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul with support from Greg Ginn & The Royal We and Cinema Cinema. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketfly. A review of Black Flag's June 15 show in Minneapolis will be posted soon!

Buckcherry has added a date in Rochester at the Wicked Moose on Tuesday, August 12 with support from Pop Evil. Tickets are on sale now through Tempo Tickets.

Minneapolis hard rock band Throw The Fight are calling it quits, and have announced their final show will be Saturday, August 23 at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. The band’s farewell announcement, posted on their Facebook page, reads in part, “After 11 years of being a band, we have decided to move in another direction and focus on different areas of our lives (family, other careers, etc.). We can look back on our years as Throw The Fight knowing that we have accomplished everything we set out to do and had a hell of a good time doing it!” Opening the show will be Emergent, Fifth Hour, and The Missing Letters. Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 28; see the Fine Line event page for up to date ticket information.

Long-running UK punk band Buzzcocks come to Minneapolis on Thursday, September 11 for a show at the Varsity Theater. No support band has been announced yet, and tickets go on sale today, Friday, June 27 at 10:00 am through Ticketfly.

HALESTORM EP Review

Halestorm – ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP

Atlantic, 2013

4/10

This is an entirely disposable release that has little worth for all but the most devout Halestorm fans. As the title suggests, this EP contains six cover songs, so I won’t spend a lot of time thinking about creative ways to bash this. “Dissident Aggressor” opens the EP on a decent note, but Slayer’s version crushes both this and the original by Judas Priest. I’m glad I didn’t know who Daft Punk was until I googled it, but “Get Lucky” is the only other decent song here. “Shoot To Thrill” is downright weak; the guitars and drums lack punch, and the effort sounds phoned in. Pat Benatar’s “Hell Is For Children” is the song I was most looking forward to on the EP, however, there’s none of the emotion found on the original. Things only get worse with Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman” and “1996” by Marilyn Manson. Generally I’ve found covers releases to be pretty lame—Garage Days Re-Revisited and Attack Of The Killers B’s are the only great ones that spring to mind. If you’re a Halestorm fan you may want to check this out, but don’t expect anything great.

Halestorm performs tonight, Friday, December 13 at Myth in St. Paul with support from Stars In Stereo and Redlight King.

Concert Announcements - October 8, 2013

There wasn't much to report in the way of new concerts last week, but a few things of note have since been announced, so here's a short post with all of the latest.

First, the Halestorm concert at Myth in St. Paul on Friday, December 13 and Eric Burdon & The Animals at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina on Friday, February 28 that I reported on two weeks ago (here and here) are now both confirmed. Tickets for Halestorm with Pop Evil and Redlight King go on sale this Friday, October 11, but you can get radio presale tickets right now through etix (93X is sponsoring the show). Eric Burdon tickets go on sale this Saturday, October 12 at 10 am through the Medina Entertainment Center - Eric's show earlier this year was nearly sold out, so get your tickets early.

Industrial rock band Filter returns to the area for a show at Pov's 65 in Spring Lake Park on Saturday, November 2 with support from Fight Or Flight (featuring Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren), We As Human, and Wayward Boyz Klub. Advance tickets are on sale now through Vitalculture.

Rock band Wicked Wisdom plays Pov's 65 in Spring Lake Park on Tuesday, November 12 with Better Left Unsaid and B! Get advance tickets through Vitalculture.

Embarking on their first North American tour in their history dating back to the mid-70s, Italian progressive rock band Goblin hits the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Saturday, November 30. Opening the show is the mysterious, ambient Relapse recording artist Zombi. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketfly.

Lastly, locals Cold Colours have lined up another show in Minneapolis at Club Underground on Friday, January 31.

HALESTORM in St. Paul December 13

Apparently rock radio darlings Halestorm are scheduled to play Myth in St. Paul on Friday, December 13. Pollstar is the source for this, although note that neither the Myth or Halestorm websites can confirm this. I've added this to the concert calendar, but be advised that this may change. Support should come from Stars In Stereo and Redlight King.

Tonight - GODSMACK in St. Paul, GREEN JELLY in Mankato, First Day of Rockfest and Moonjam Jam

Today kicks off an early start to a big concert weekend! First, Godsmack has scheduled a headlining show between some festival dates tonight at Myth in St. Paul with support from Saint Caine. Tickets are still available for $42 at the door - doors are at 6:30 and it's an all ages show.

Comic metal band Green Jellÿ tonight makes the first of two area appearances at the What's Up Lounge in Mankato. This is a 21+ show that starts around 10:00, and it's $10 at the door.

Obey the Cowgod!! Green Jellÿ performing January 31, 2000 in San Diego.

The annual four-day Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin starts at 3:30 today with a lineup of Three Days Grace, Seether, Halestorm, All That Remains, and Aranda. Tickets and camping passes are still available at the gate, with prices varying according to the number of days and type of ticket.

Further North in Walker, Minnesota, the Moondance Jam main stage starts today at 3:00 with Mötley Crüe, Cheap Trick, Buckcherry, Shooting Star, and the mighty Cain. As with Rock Fest, all tickets and camping passes are available at the gate.

Moondance Jam Kicks Off Tonight

Now in its 22nd year, Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota kicks off this year's festivities tonight, Wednesday, July 17 with the "Pre Jam Party" featuring cover band Hairball, The Fabulous Armadillos, and Transit Authority. Moondance Jam has always focused on classic rock bands, and I've always appreciated how they always seem to book some fantastic, lesser-known bands from the 70s, and all bands get long sets (there's two hours scheduled between every band). This year is no exception with the inclusion of Minneapolis' cult legends Cain, Shooting Star, and Sweet. I'd love see to most of the bands playing, but this style of festival show has several things that I hate: (1) it's an outdoor show, (2) the location is far from civilization, and (3) I don't want to camp or stay in a crappy motel. In addition to the main stage bands listed below, there are four side stages that feature additional acts. If you're a classic rock fan and you have three or four days to commit, Moondance Jam is well worth your time.

Click on the photo to see more pictures of Cain performing at their first reunion show on September 17, 2010 at their induction into the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame (27).

Moondance Jam Main Stage Schedule:

Thursday, July 18
3:00 Cain
5:00 Shooting Star
7:00 Buckcherry
9:00 Cheap Trick
11:00 Mötley Crue

Friday, July 19
3:00 Sweet
5:00 Johnny Rivers
7:00 Blue Öyster Cult
9:00 Bachman & Turner
11:00 Slash

Saturday, July 20
3:00 The Atomic Punks
5:00 Head East
7:00 Halestorm
9:00 Theory Of A Deadman
11:00 The Offspring

Concert Announcements - December 2012 and Beyond

This post now brings the concert calendar fully up to date. The end of the year usually brings a slow down to bands touring, but there's still many great shows coming.

Halestorm brings a night a radio-friendly rock to First Avenue in Minneapolis on Tuesday, December 4 with support from In This Moment and Eve To Adam.

The September 14 NOFX show at The Cabooze in Minneapolis has been rescheduled, now with two shows. The first is an 18+ show on Tuesday, December 4, while the second show on Wednesday, December 5 is all ages. There’s no word on support bands for either show at this time.

On Thursday, December 6, the McNally Smith College of Music (MSCM) presents a night of metal at Station 4 in St. Paul with Terrordactyles, MSCM Humphries Magee Ensemble, Cantharone, MSCM Metal Ensemble, and Rustpocket.

Stoner heavyweights High On Fire light up the Turf Club in St. Paul with Goatwhore and Lo-Pan on Saturday, December 8. It’s a small venue, so expect this show to sell out.

Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie brings Finland’s Wintersun and Germany’s Varg to Station 4 in St. Paul on Sunday, December 9.

On Saturday, December 15 St. Cloud-based rock band For All Those Sleeping (whose new album, Outspoken, hit #95 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart) headlines Station 4 in St. Paul with Close To Home, The Browning, My Ticket Home, and Buried In Verona.

Veil Of Maya and The Acacia Strain co-headline a bill with support from Upon A Burning Body, Volumes, Twitching Tongues, Reaping Asmodeia, and Counter Measure on Sunday, December 16 at Station 4 in St. Paul.

If you’re up north, Veil Of Maya, Upon A Burning Body, and Volumes play an all ages show at Clyde Iron Works in Duluth on Monday, December 17.

Looking ahead, German metal queen Doro makes her long-awaited return to Station 4 in St. Paul on Valentine’s Day, Thursday, February 14 with support from Sister Sin.

Nashville Pussy rolls into the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on Wednesday, February 20.