Fitz and the Tantrums at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (6/16+17, 2013) Live Review
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Setlist
06/19/13 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar
06/20/13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall 06/22/13 Washington, DC Verizon Center 06/23/13 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live! 06/24/13 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center 06/26/13 Boston, MA TD Garden 06/27/13 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena 06/28/13 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club 06/29/13 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center 06/30/13 New York, NY Irving Plaza Powered 07/02/13 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center 07/03/13 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake 07/04/13 Montreal, QC Club Soda 07/05/13 Toronto Urban Roots Festival 07/06/13 RBC Bluesfest 07/08/13 Millvale, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre 07/09/13 Columbus, OH Lifestyle Communities 07/11/13 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s 07/12/13 Dallas, TX House Of Blues 07/13/13 Austin, TX Stubb’s Bar-B-Q 07/27/13 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern 07/28/13 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre 07/30/13 Sacramento, CA Ace Of Spades 08/02/13 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center 08/03/13 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand 08/04/13 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom 08/06/13 Ventura, CA Majestic Ventura Theatre 08/08/13 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom 08/09/13 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo 08/10/13 Squamish Music Festival 08/17/13 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena 08/18/13 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center 08/19/13 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life 08/21/13 Charlotte, NC Time Warner 08/22/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena 08/25/13 Pensacola, FL Vinyl Music Hall 08/27/13 Orlando, FL Amway Center 08/28/13 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Times Forum 08/30/13 Miami, FL AmericanAirlines Arena 09/01/13 Budweiser Made In America 09/05/13 Las Vegas, NV The Pool 09/07/13 LouFest 09/20/13 91X X-Fest Read More
Fitz and The Tantrums was described to me as one of the best live shows you can ever hope to see. If you didn’t know, this neo-soul Los Angeles band’s debut album, Pickin’ Up the Pieces, reached #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers ….…
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Varsity Theater marquee
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After successfully building an audience with a house-rocking appearance on a frigid night at Bunkers in 2011 (coupled with an in-store at Electric Fetus and promo appearance at Kieran’s Pub), then followed by two consecutive annual Basilica Block Party appearances, the Varsity shows sold out far quicker than any other tour appearances, proving the Twin Cities have embraced their retro-soul/synth dance-pop with both arms.
While the group came across this time as more professional than spontaneous, starting with their opener, ‘Keepin’ Our Eyes Out’, frontman Michael Fitzpatrick and vocalist Noelle Scaggs still managed to charm from the beginning and led the numerous crowd participation parts and call and response. Despite the new album climbing the charts, the audience seemed to still respond more to the previous album’s songs as ‘Breakin’ the Chains of Love’, ‘Dear Mr. President’, and ‘L.O.V.’ drew great reactions.
Scaggs played hypewoman and kept the party mood sustained, especially during her “favorite song that we do”, a cover of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’. Fitzpatrick also commented on the wild swings in temperature we have locally, remembering the sub-zero night at Bunkers, noticing the sun was still bright outside, and recalling how the weather went from sunny, to cold and rainy in minutes on a brief pre-soundcheck walk. New songs were more charged live, especially the stirring ‘6 AM’ and the lead single/title track of their latest, ‘More Than Just a Dream’ (Elektra Records); played as a stretched out version, featuring sharp vocal interplay between Scaggs and Fitzpatrick.
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The Tantrums
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Musically, the sound was tight, anchored by James King (saxophone, flute, trumpet, harmonica) and ably complemented by Joseph Karnes (bass), Jeremy Ruzumna (keys) and John Wicks (drums/percussion), though the sound mix came across as a little flat, from my right floor position.
The encore of the 80 min. set began with their biggest hit, ‘Moneygrabber’ and as he’s done previous, Fitzgerald directed the crowd mid-song, to get ‘as low as you go’, slowing the tempo with everyone crouching before they exploded into a sweaty, dancing mass of humanity for the song’s finish. And in that moment, everything Fitz and the Tantrums came to Minneapolis/St. Paul to do, was achieved.
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Fitz and the Tantrums at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (06/16/13) |