Brody and Vu highlight some shows from our epic “ROCKTOBER” coverage. Between everyone here at W♥M, we’ve covered over 40 shows, I attended 26 of those shows.

Before we get to Rocktober, let’s take a look at the news:

Congratulations goes to Alt-J who took home the Barclaycard Mercury Prize ‘Album of the Year’ award for their debut album An Awesome Wave. They were my leading pick for this year’s winner, I’m glad I was proven right. This was based on seeing three Mercury Prize nominees (Alt-J, Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka) within a span of a week. The hype was good; all three shows were sold out, or very close to selling out.

One of the judges Simon Frith commented on why they picked the album, “Alt-J’s ‘An Awesome Wave’ combines unexpected shards of sound with mesmerising rhythms, compelling melodies and intriguing songs. A tantalising and delightful album.”

Morrissey was forced to postponed appearances in 2012 due to his mother’s hospitalization. Steven Patrick Morrissey dropped everything and flew back to England to see his mother.

No words yet on reschedules, but rumors has it that the dates are now for January 2013 and any old tickets will be honored for the 2013 rescheduled dates.

Speaking of cancellations and postpone dates, Green Day announced that all 2012 dates are now canceled. Tickets for these shows will be refunded at point of purchase. In addition, 2013 dates are to be rescheduled. This is a difficult time for Green Day, with Billie Joe’s health is a concern.

In Rocktober, Brody and I look over some of the highlights and low points of their shows.

LIVE SHOWS WE COVERED IN OCTOBER

10/01 Hospitality at 400 Bar
10/03 Psychic Twin at 7th Street, Minneapolis
10/03 Amanda Palmer at First Ave, Minneapolis
10/05 Dark Dark Dark at Cedar, Minneapolis
10/06 Gossip at Fine Line Cafe, Minneapolis
10/07 Norah Jones at Orpheum, Minneapolis
10/08 Bombay Bicycle Club at HoB, New Orleans
10/10 Beth Orton at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis
10/10 Corin Tucker at Cafe Du Nord, S. Francisco
10/11 Hunter Valentine at 400 Bar, Minneapolis
10/13 Gold Fields at Nether Bar, Minneapolis
10/13 Laura Marling at Parish, New Orleans
10/14 Laura Marling at Soul Kitchen, Mobile
10/16 Lumineers at House of Blues, New Orleans
10/16 Lord Huron at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis
10/17 La Sera at One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans
10/18 Alyssa Graham at 400 Bar, Minneapolis
10/19 xx at First Avenue, Minneapolis
10/19 Widowspeak at 7th Street, Minneapolis

10/19 Beats Antiques at Howlin’ Wolf, New Orleans
10/20 Smashing Pumpkins at Roy Wilkins, St Paul
10/20 Peelander-Z at Turf Club, St Paul
10/20 Adam Ant at the Grove of Anaheim
10/21 San Cisco at Turf Club, St Paul
10/23 San Cisco at Echo, Los Angeles
10/23 Austitron: Austoberfest Part 4
10/23 Lennon & Maisy: Come Together
10/25 A Fine Frenzy at Mill City, Minneapolis
10/25 Hey Rosetta! at 7th Street, Minneapolis
10/26 The Script at Orpheum Theater, Minneapolis
10/26 Savoir Adore at 7th Street, Minneapolis
10/27 Envy Corps at Fine Line Cafe, Minneapolis
10/27 Diamond Rings at 7th Street, Minneapolis
10/27 Peter Murphy: Miracula Halloween
10/28 Afghan Whigs at Varsity, Minneapolis
10/30 Cat Power at Mill City, Minneapolis
10/31 La Sera at Fine Line, Minneapolis
10/31 The Dig at 400 Bar, Minneapolis
10/31 Peter Murphy: Halloween Ball 2012

Brody thinks it’s the perfect month after the UK Festivals to tour the US. I blame CMJ.

The Lumineers at their sold out show at the House of Blues, New Orleans, is Brody’s best show in Rocktober. Brody thinks the “new, young, hip, folk, fresh” sound is what it is all about, appealing to Midwesterns and Southerners.

Laura Marling double shows was also a highlight.

Also, I wonder why the xx are all the rage? Their sold out show at First Avenue was… underwhelming. Still very glad I made it out to see the band.

Of all the shows, the most memorable was my love for the new Norah Jones, going away from the old jazz pop contemporary to a more hip Norah Jones. Even in row Z, I can tell Norah Jones is quite the looker.

Band and song of the show is The Garlands. I first discovered them as The Happy Birthdays. The strange thing is that I accidentally met Roger Gunnarsson via youtube (purely by accident).

Gunnarsson told me that his new band was called The Garlands.

As it turns out, The Garlands are back, with a forthcoming self-titled album on November 27th from Shelflife.

The album is on limited edition vinyl, CD, and digital formats. 100 copies of the vinyl will be purple, exclusively as a Shelflife mail order.

Bonus: La Sera dressed as Morrissey & Marr, Peter Murphy’s $500 concert, The Stone Roses reunion tour, and the Generationals’ hometown gig for November 3rd at Tipitina’s will benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy.

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com