Angel Olsen at First Avenue, Minneapolis (02 October 2017)
- Never Be Mine
- Hi-Five
- Shut Up Kiss Me
- Give It Up
- Not Gonna Kill You
- Heart Shaped Face
- Acrobat
- Sister
- Those Were the Days
- Special
- Woman
— Encore —
- Sweet Dreams
- Windows
Tour Dates
10/05 — Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
10/07 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/14 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/18 — San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
10/20 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/21 — Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
10/22 — Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center
10/23 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
11/18 — Mexico City, DF @ Corona Capital
11/28 — Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater
11/29 — New York, NY @ Town Hall
11/30 — New York, NY @ Town Hall
12/01 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
12/02 — Portland, ME @ State Theatre
12/04 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues
12/05 — Montreal, QC @ Rialto Theatre
12/06 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
12/07 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
12/08 — Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
12/09 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
12/10 — Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
12/12 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
12/13 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
12/14 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
12/16 — Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
North Carolina’s Mount Moriah served as a fine opening act, their easy-going yet soulful country tunes warming up a crowd wet from rain and weary from reading the news. Lead singer/guitarist Heather McEntire, guitarist Jenks Miller and bassist Casey Toll played songs from their most recent album 2016’s Learn How to Dance (like “Little Bear”) as well as 2013’s Miracle Temple. They also delivered a fantastic and timely cover of Nina Simone’s righteous “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free.”
Now, let me state the obvious: Angel Olsen has a voice that makes knees weak, blind men see and dreams come true. Hyperbole aside, it truly is a stunning thing, both vulnerable and sensual, reminding me of great vocalists like Brenda Lee or Patsy Cline. With her trembling wail on the set opener “Never Be Mine” and the charged frustration of “Shut Up and Kiss Me”, Olsen dug into her chest and presented the packed First Avenue club with her heart. Enraptured, fans responded by respectfully keeping quiet before each song and then letting loose a mad wave of adulation at a song’s end.
More songs from My Woman scorched up the set: “Give It Up”, the incendiary “Not Gonna Kill You”, the 7-plus minute “Sister” complete with a noise-y swirling outro jam. Older tracks like “Hi-Five” from Burn and especially “Acrobat” from Half were fleshed out properly by Olsen’s gray-suited five-piece band. Aiding Olsen with each jaw-dropping crescendo was Mount Moriah’s McEntire, expertly harmonizing on each song as well as providing keys.
Following the audio orgasm that was “Woman”, Olsen and her band departed briefly leaving fans to sort out their bliss before they returned to the stage. After a bristling take on “Sweet Dreams”, Olsen grinned at the crowd and said, “I’m in love with you and I wanna have your child!” Maybe it was the music, melodies gauzy with desire and doused in reverb, or maybe it was the achingly honest lyrics or maybe, just maybe, Prince, the father of modern baby-making music, was there in spirit… but there were feelings. So many feelings. They filled the room, carried by that brilliant voice. Every single person at First Avenue was experiencing something overwhelming thanks to Angel Olsen. As she sings in “Not Gonna Kill You”: however painful let it break down all of me/’Til I am nothing else but the feeling.
