The Fratellis at First Avenue, Minneapolis (10 May 2018)

Opening up the show was Brighton’s rock duo Blood Red Shoes (guitarist Laura-Mary Carter and drummer Steven Ansell). Although I’m not a big fan of the band’s name, it has meaning to the Carter & Ansell. Apparently, it came from an story about how Ginger Rogers danced so much for a musical, that her white shoes turned red with blood.

After “Black Distractions”, the two mentioned fondly the time they headlined the 7th Street Entry (in May 2014). Local group BNLX (Ed & Ashley), who opened up for Blood Red Shoes in 2014, were happy to attend the Thursday night’s show to show support.

The band had a great boy-girl/back-and-forth sound that I absolutely love (particularly on their song “Light it Up” with its anthemic “Light. It. Up.” chorus). Sometime the band can get really heavy rock, it’s hard to believe that these songs were written by the same band.

Their catchy songs actually converted some newfound fans, and certainly would mean that the band will be back in town in the near future.

As for Glasgow’s The Fratellis (guitarist/singer John Lawler, bassist Barry Wallace, and drummer Gordon McRory) came on stage to Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld Overture”. Although not everybody knew the song, they certain recognize it as a popular French can-can instrumental.

The group haven’t been here in three years (since Sep 2015), so there were a lot of eager old, as well as new fans, finally seeing the rock-friendly group again.

As expected, The Fratellis played a lot of songs from their fifth album In Your Own Sweet Time. The record came about after an exhausting tour for their 10th anniversary of their debut album Costello Music, and they were eager to get back in the recording studios with producer Tony Hoffer (who happened to also produce their debut record) in 2017. Probably needing a much-need rest, the band decided to push the new record to March 2018, and aptly named it In Your Own Sweet Time… because they were going to release it when they were ready.

Of course, the fans all came to sing to their favorite hit singles “Whistle for the Choir” and “Chelsea Dagger” (which they always save for last).

Remaining tour dates: