Minneapolis Music Guide: May 18 – May 24, 2014

Art-A-Whirl… yeah, it’s a dumb name, but what can you do?



It’s that time of the year again, the NEMAA (Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association) is putting together their annual Art-A-Whirl show. The event is free and open to the public and takes place May 16 to May 18 at various places throughout the Northeast Minneapolis area.



Event schedule:

Some highlights:

Comic Convention Wars continue in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.



Just two weekends after the first-ever Wizard Minneapolis Comic Con, the 26th Annual MCBA SpringCon Comic Book Celebration takes place this Saturday and Sunday at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds inside the Grandstand. Hours are 10AM to 5PM both days with tickets only available at the door, and a savings if non-perishable food item(s) are brought to donate.



The friendly and longtime show (which was scheduled well in advance of Wizard’s date) is more comic book than “pop culture” oriented (i.e. no wrestlers attending) and features 100,000 square feet of dealer space and some 250 different local and national comic book creators, along with dealers from all over the United States, free panel discussions/programs, costume contests, and an art auction.



Notable comic book creator guests include Dan Jurgens, Adam Hughes, Bill Willingham, Pablo Marcos, Carlos D’Anda, Ale Garza, and many more.



Factoids! Things You Should Know:

Blood Red Shoes are a UK rock duo (Steven Ansell & Laura-Mary Carter), currently touring the U.S. in support of their new self-titled album, out now via Jazzlife/[PIAS] America. The record is available in standard and deluxe version.



Opening up for the Minneapolis date are Radkey and BNLX.



Tour dates:

Mercury Music Prize and Brit Award winning band Elbow has embarked on a brief U.S. Tour, in support of their sixth and latest album, The Take Off and Landing of Everything (Concord Records).

Recorded in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios as well as their own, the album sounds intimate while being expansive and can be viewed both as a complete and cohesive work, as well as a series of dynamic separate songs, such as single, “New York Morning”.

The band has grown in stature, especially in Europe and their native UK; playing the 2012 Olympics, stadiums, and headlining larger festivals, so the U.S. tour booked in mostly smaller clubs and theaters, is a rare opportunity to see the band more up close and intimate.

Former singer-songwriter for Denver band, The Czars, John Grant opens this series of shows, in support of his full-length Pale Green Ghosts (Bella Union Records), which was described by UNCUT as “a masterpiece”, which NME brazenly called “audacious stuff from one talented mother*#ker”, and local radio station The Current said was “a smart, thrillingly original album”. Believe the hype as Grant is a don’t-miss opening act.

Most dates have sold out; though mysteriously, the Minneapolis show in First Avenue’s Mainroom has not yet done so, so find your tickets while there’s still the chance.



Tour dates:

05/16 – New York, NY – Webster Hall 05/17 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall 05/19 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues 05/20 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue

05/23 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom 05/24 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom 05/25 – Quincy, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival 05/27 – Oakland, CA – The Fox Theatre 05/28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern

Loosen up those neck muscles because there will be head banging and hair flailing as Black Label Society continues its Revolver Golden Gods Tour, with openers Down and Devil You Know, including a stop at The Myth nightclub, just outside Minneapolis, next week.

BLS, led by enigmatic frontman and former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde is on the road in support of the recently released Catacombs of the Black Vatican (E1 Music), their ninth album which features single, “My Dying Time”. Wylde’s formidable guitar prowess and larger-than-life personality always make his shows entertaining and the new album is a solid addition to his canon of work.

Down IV – Part II Down Records

With an equally larger-than-life presence, New Orleans band Down, led by ex-Pantera singer Philip Anselmo is along for the ride, in promotion of the just-released, numerically titled EP, Down IV- Part II (on Down Records). With a collective resume encompassing not only Pantera, but Corrosion of Conformity and Eyehategod, this is a seasoned band that threatens to blow the roof off the venue and/or take your head off from all the neck-jerking that will ensue.

Los Angeles-based grove metalcore band Devil You Know is also on the bill; a super group of sorts featuring drummer John Sankey (Devolved, Divine Heresy, Fear Factory), guitarist Francesco Artusato (All Shall Perish, Hiss of Atrocities) and singer Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage, Blood Has Been Shed) in support of their debut, The Beauty of Destruction (Nuclear Blast Records).

Black Label Society US Tour Dates:

May 16 Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus, OH May 17 Piere’s Fort Wayne, IN May 19 The District Sioux Falls, SD May 20 House of Blues Chicago, IL May 21 Myth St Paul, MN May 23 Verizon Theater Grand Prairie, TX May 24 AT&T Center San Antonio, TX May 25 Rocklahoma Pryor, OK May 27 House of Blues New Orleans, LA

May 28 House of Blues Houston, TX May 30 Rockfest Omaha, NE May 31 Liberty Memorial Kansas City, MO Jun 01 Ogden Theater Denver, CO Jun 02 The Complex – Rockwell Salt Lake City, UT Jun 04 Marquee Theater Tempe, AZ Jun 05 Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas, NV Jun 06 Regency Ballroom San Francisco, CA Jun 07 Fonda Theater Los Angeles, CA

Metronomy, the Mercury Music Prize-nominated four-piece, are currently touring in America for their new album Love Letters.



NME noted the band for standing out: “Metronomy is effortlessly unconcerned and it’s why they’re different. They’re a hard-working little boat from a seaside town going on a journey through an ocean of fakers, copycats, and naysayers. Insular yet inviting, experimental yet poppy, intense no previous, retro yet current, lovelorn and sexed……With every album, (Mount)’s created a distinct and vivid sonic world all of its own, set adrift from pop culture and prevailing trends.”



AMP (Australian Music Prize) winner Cloud Control is set to open up their Minneapolis show.



Tour dates:

Warehouse Eyes is having a debut Carvings EP release party at the Turf Club in St Paul.



Details of the event:

I am really excited for the Faint, who is currently on tour for their new album Doom Abuse, out now on SQE Music.



Recently, the electrodance group recently released their video for “Your Stranger”, which you should check out on YouTube now.



Tour dates: