Broken Records/US Royalty/Dragon Power Up! at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (02/27/11)
Download Free download of “A Darkness Rises Up” at promo.4ad.com. Tour Dates
03/02/11 Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA*
03/03/11 Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR* 03/05/11 Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, CA * 03/06/11 Satellite Club, Los Angeles, CA* 04/02/11 The Caves, Edinburgh 04/23/11 Whiting Bay Hall, Isle Of Arran * with US Royalty |
Officially, I am not going out of my Winter hibernation until March, but I reckon February 27th was close enough to near-Spring that I could trek out. Newsflash: it’s still really, really cold here in Minneapolis.
My first show for 2011 is for US Royalty at the Triple Rock Social Club, in Minneapolis. They’re here in support of Broken Records, who looks great on paper: they’re praised by the music press (NME, Guardian, The Times, etc), they supported The National in July 2010, and, of course, they’re Scottish – and you know how we like the Scotts here.
Since this is the Triple Rock, we’re present with three bands, the warm-up act was local Dragons Power Up!, whose name sound like they were inspired by the video game Double Dragon. Despite the silly name, their music doesn’t sound video-gamey at all, but standard indie prog rock. For some reason, I thought the music on the third song sound a little too much like the rhythm to a Strokes song, “Alone, Together”. They were kind enough to give their CD for free, which I did pick up so I can properly name their songs for review. If you were wondering, their set ended with “Ballahol”, a song about something about broken teeth.
Next up, US Royalty, a band that is fairly recent, having formed in 2008 in Washington, DC. They seem a little naive in terms of the distance between Chicago and Minneapolis (hint: Minnesota doesn’t make you pay tolls to use their freeway), as they’ve never been through here before. It was a cold night, but the siblings John and Paul Thornley (vocals and guitars, respectively) did not complain once.
I was surprise to hear a bit of a bluesy rock feel to some of their songs, it’s a contrast to Broken Records (but we’ll get to them later), and they seem pretty comfortable on stage, dancing on stage when John isn’t playing guitar.
Most of their songs were from their debut album, Mirrors, which you can stream online at usroyalty.bandcamp.com. The only exception was their cover of a Stevie Nicks song, “Wild Heart”.
They did end their set on a strong note, with “Equestrian”, as they brought the audience closer to the stage, sort of an avalanche coming down from the mountains. I have to admit, that song sounds great live.
Broken Records was another big band, having six members, and fortunately, the stage is now a little less cluttered from the previous band’s equipments, so there’s enough room for everybody (unlike the poor underused extra percussionist from US Royalty). The band realized that it was a Sunday (and a late show to boot) and they know that there were a few fans who decided to braved it out, so they start promptly at around 10:30, ending with no encores.
Most of the songs seems to be from their new album, Let Me Come Home, which I’m unfamiliar with. Songs seems to have a lot of energy, with some slower songs when some of the band members would leave the stage to let Jamie Sutherland sing alone. Easily my favorite song from the set was “A Promise”, from their debut album, Until the Earth Begins to Part (they also did “Wolves” from this album, which Sutherland admit that he can no longer do those high notes).
The final song was “Home”, which they dedicated to those having to drive a long way to get home. By their sincere dedication, I would guess they all miss Edinburgh very much.
My first show for 2011 is for US Royalty at the Triple Rock Social Club, in Minneapolis. They’re here in support of Broken Records, who looks great on paper: they’re praised by the music press (NME, Guardian, The Times, etc), they supported The National in July 2010, and, of course, they’re Scottish – and you know how we like the Scotts here.
Since this is the Triple Rock, we’re present with three bands, the warm-up act was local Dragons Power Up!, whose name sound like they were inspired by the video game Double Dragon. Despite the silly name, their music doesn’t sound video-gamey at all, but standard indie prog rock. For some reason, I thought the music on the third song sound a little too much like the rhythm to a Strokes song, “Alone, Together”. They were kind enough to give their CD for free, which I did pick up so I can properly name their songs for review. If you were wondering, their set ended with “Ballahol”, a song about something about broken teeth.
Next up, US Royalty, a band that is fairly recent, having formed in 2008 in Washington, DC. They seem a little naive in terms of the distance between Chicago and Minneapolis (hint: Minnesota doesn’t make you pay tolls to use their freeway), as they’ve never been through here before. It was a cold night, but the siblings John and Paul Thornley (vocals and guitars, respectively) did not complain once.
I was surprise to hear a bit of a bluesy rock feel to some of their songs, it’s a contrast to Broken Records (but we’ll get to them later), and they seem pretty comfortable on stage, dancing on stage when John isn’t playing guitar.
Most of their songs were from their debut album, Mirrors, which you can stream online at usroyalty.bandcamp.com. The only exception was their cover of a Stevie Nicks song, “Wild Heart”.
They did end their set on a strong note, with “Equestrian”, as they brought the audience closer to the stage, sort of an avalanche coming down from the mountains. I have to admit, that song sounds great live.
Broken Records was another big band, having six members, and fortunately, the stage is now a little less cluttered from the previous band’s equipments, so there’s enough room for everybody (unlike the poor underused extra percussionist from US Royalty). The band realized that it was a Sunday (and a late show to boot) and they know that there were a few fans who decided to braved it out, so they start promptly at around 10:30, ending with no encores.
Most of the songs seems to be from their new album, Let Me Come Home, which I’m unfamiliar with. Songs seems to have a lot of energy, with some slower songs when some of the band members would leave the stage to let Jamie Sutherland sing alone. Easily my favorite song from the set was “A Promise”, from their debut album, Until the Earth Begins to Part (they also did “Wolves” from this album, which Sutherland admit that he can no longer do those high notes).
The final song was “Home”, which they dedicated to those having to drive a long way to get home. By their sincere dedication, I would guess they all miss Edinburgh very much.
US ROYALTY at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (02/27/11)
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BROKEN RECORDS at Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis (02/27/11)
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