Widowspeak, with Clearance and Madeline Kenney, at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (15 September 2017)
Widowspeak’s Expect the Best tour just came to Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry last night (September 15th).
- Perennials
- Dog
- In the Pines
- Girls
- Stoned
- When I Tried
- Narrows
- The Dream
- The Swamps
- Harsh Realm
- All Yours
- Fly on the Wall
Seattle born and Oakland based multi-instrumentalist Madeline Kenney started the show, a little later than advertised. Since starting later, Kenney (with help from a drummer and bassist) only played a shorten set.
Using vocal loops and tricks, Kenney started her set with ‘Don’t Forget // There’s Room’, and mostly stuck to playing her latest release Night Night At The First Landing (Company Records), with the lone exception of a song from last year’s Signals EP.
Trying to gracefully remove her Seattle-style plaid shirt, Kenney only drew more attention to it by announcing she was going to take off her top. Although it’s been a long drive from Oakland (and getting lost in Iowa), the band seemed like they are enjoying their time on the road.
They ended their 30-minute with ‘Uncommon’, ‘Give Up // On Anything’ and ‘Witching Hour’.
Also, it’s worth noting is that Kenney actually isn’t part of the Widowspeak tour, this was just a one-off show for them.
The band that is joining Widowspeak on tour is Chicago’s Clearance… their first night of the 2017 Widowspeak/Clearance tour. They only have a debut LP Rapid Rewards (Tall Pat Records/Unsatisfied Records), but they are working on the difficult sophomore album.
They are self-described as lo-fi/rock, and they sound a bit like Pavement on recording. However, when you see them live, they sound like they were influenced by British psychedelic rock… as evident by their The Soft Boys cover of ‘Queen of Eyes’.
Closing out the show was Brooklyn’s Widowspeak , who is currently on tour in support of their recently released album Expect the Best (Captured Tracks).
Originally, the band formed in 2010 with Molly Hamilton and Michael Stasiak, but after extensive touring for their self-titled debut album, Stasiak left the band before 2012’s album Almanac.
Widowspeak describe its band as a duo between Hamilton and guitarist Robert Earl Thomas, but for their live shows, they’ve also added bassist Willy Muse and drummer James Jano to their lineup.
The last time the band was in town, it was in 2012 (however, we did cover them a few years ago at Georgia Theatre), so the band was really happy to be back in the city.
Hamilton said she couldn’t remember the city’s nickname, “Was it The Bigapplelous?” The audience yelled back, “It’s Minni-appleous.” Just for clarification, it’s “Twin Cities” for Minneapolis and St Paul (the other city across the Mississippi river).
With Expect the Best, the duo solidify their dreampop/shoegazing sound that they are known for. Take for example, their third single from the new album ‘The Dream’ (played midset), is almost dreamlike with chilling vocals from Hamilton, drowned by several layers of guitars.
Widowspeak’s remaining tour dates:
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09/17 – Des Moines, IA – Des Moines Social Club
09/19 – Denver, CO – Hi Dive 09/20 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge 09/21 – Boise, ID – Neurolux 09/22 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios 09/23 – Seattle, WA – Barboza 09/24 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret 09/26 – San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall 09/27 – Visalia, CA – The Cellar Door 09/28 – Los Angeles, CA – Pico Union Project 09/29 – San Diego, CA – Space Bar 09/30 – Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge 10/01 – Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf 10/03 – Austin, TX – Sidewinder 10/04 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa 10/05 – Birmingham, AL – Syndicate Lounge 10/06 – Nashville, TN – The High Watt 10/07 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade 10/08 – Asheville, NC – The Mothlight |
10/09 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
10/10 – Washington, DC – DC9 10/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot and Saddle 10/12 – Kingston, NY – BSP Kingston 10/13 – New York, NY – Rough Trade NYC 11/14 – Amsterdam, NL – Sugarfactory 11/15 – Utrecht, NL -Db’s 11/17 – Birmingham, UK -Actress & Bishop 11/18 – Glasgow, UK -Nice n Sleazy 11/20 – London, UK – Oslo 11/21 – Brighton, UK -The Hope 11/23 – Rotterdam, NL – Rotown 11/26 – Berlin, DE -Volksbühne 11/27 – Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang 11/28 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega 11/29 – Stockholm, SWE -Obaren 11/30 – Oslo, NO – Revolver 12/01 – Gothenburg, SWE -Oceanen 12/02 – Lund, SWE -Mejeriet |
