Double Exposure Tour, feat. Chromatics, Desire, and In Mirrors, at First Avenue, Minneapolis (30 May 2019)
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Chromatics at First Avenue Chromatics Setlist
06/04/2019 – The Palace – Calgary, AB
06/06/2019 – Vogue Theater – Vancouver, BC 06/07/2019 – Showbox – Seattle, WA 06/08/2019 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR 06/09/2019 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR 06/11/2019 – Mezzanine – San Francisco, CA 06/12/2019 – Mezzanine – San Francisco, CA 10/04/2019 – Copenhagen- The Grey Hall 10/05/2019 – Stockholm – Berns 10/07/2019 – Oslo – Rockefeller Music Hall 10/09/2019 – Berlin – Astra Kulturhaus 10/11/2019 – Vilnius – Art Factory Loft 10/12/2019 – Warsaw – Praga Centrum 10/14/2019 – Vienna – Arena 10/16/2019 – Prague – MeetFactory & 10/17/2019 – Munich – Muffathalle 10/19/2019 – Cologne – Carlswerk Victoria 10/22/2019 – Dublin – Vicar Street 10/23/2019 – Manchester – Albert Hall 10/24/2019 – Glasgow – SWG3 10/26/2019 – Bristol – Anson Rooms 10/27/2019 – London – The Roundhouse 10/29/2019 – Antwerp – Trix 10/30/2019 – Amsterdam – Paradiso
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Portland’s Chromatics is back in town on a rare tour. The last time they were at First Avenue, it was with Hot Chip in July 2012… so it’s been a good seven years since they played here.
All three bands listed on this Double Exposure tour had Johnny Jewel in them… so the man was basically playing three hours a night. He had so much dedication, and I think is really the mastermind behind this whole tour.
Starting the show was Vancouver’s In Mirrors (Jesse Taylor with Johnny Jewel). The duo played in near-darkness for their entire set, with some video images shown in the background. The darkness did help with the feeling of isolation, which was a real focus on their debut LP Escape from Berlin.
Closing out the set, Taylor asked the audience, “do you want a fast or slow one?” I’m not sure what the crowd said in response, but the answer was In Mirrors playing a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” (assuming they said “slow”).
Next up was Montreal’s Desire, featuring frontwoman Megan Louise, with Johnny Jewel on synthesizers, and Aja (from Heaven) on additional synth (she took place for Nat Walker, who is normally in the band). The group is probably the most pop of the three bands, as evident by their stand-out pop-ish song “Mirroir Mirroir”, telephone-prop for “Don’t Call”, and their Italo Disco cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”. That was such a great cover, that it was hard to follow that up with their closing song, “Under Your Spell.” However, it’s still a good choice, because it’s probably their best-known song. The song was featured in the underrated and amazing Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive soundtrack (we mentioned the soundtrack in 2011).
Finally, Chromatics closed out the show. Before we talk about the show, I wanted to mention that I really love the overall theme and re-invention of the band. I’m talking about the eerie-movie visuals from Johnny Jewel (mixed by video artist Danny Perez from Antibirth and Panda Bear), the neon-lights at their merchandise table, and atmospheric lighting. It’s really cool, and I’ve never seen so many fans buying merchandise at a show. That’s because the prices are so affordable, it’s like they made those neon lights with the prices ten years ago.
The other thing I wanted to address is their long hiatus from the music scene. In 2014, the band announced Dear Tommy… but the record never came out because Johnny Jewel, a perfectionist, destroyed all copies of the album after a near-death experience. According to legends, Jewel re-recorded the entire album, but as of this writing, the record has yet to see the light of day. Some singles, like “Just Like You” and “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around” came out before the record was scrapped… so you got a glimpse of what the record sounded like.
Anyway, currently, at least for this tour, Chromatics features Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller, Matt Miller (replacing Nat Walker), and Johnny Jewel. The show is really special to brothers Adam & Matt, who told us that they grew up in Minneapolis. So when they were young, and going to concerts, “First Avenue was this place that was a doorway to a different reality.” They were very grateful to be on stage, closing their speech with “Thank you, thanks a lot.”
Since being absent from touring in so long (Chromatics’ last live show was five years ago), they did the right thing by playing some of the fans’ favorite songs… playing everything from “Kill for Love” to “Blue Girl” (with Adam Miller on lead vocals), and their cover of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” (which closed out their set).
For the encore, Ruth came back solo to play a stripped down (and slowed) version of Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. The cover has been quite popular recently (with Lykke Li, Brown Shoe, Young Turks, AWOLNATION, Ten Fe, and Soccer Mommy from our previous coverages).
All three bands listed on this Double Exposure tour had Johnny Jewel in them… so the man was basically playing three hours a night. He had so much dedication, and I think is really the mastermind behind this whole tour.
Starting the show was Vancouver’s In Mirrors (Jesse Taylor with Johnny Jewel). The duo played in near-darkness for their entire set, with some video images shown in the background. The darkness did help with the feeling of isolation, which was a real focus on their debut LP Escape from Berlin.
Closing out the set, Taylor asked the audience, “do you want a fast or slow one?” I’m not sure what the crowd said in response, but the answer was In Mirrors playing a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia” (assuming they said “slow”).
Next up was Montreal’s Desire, featuring frontwoman Megan Louise, with Johnny Jewel on synthesizers, and Aja (from Heaven) on additional synth (she took place for Nat Walker, who is normally in the band). The group is probably the most pop of the three bands, as evident by their stand-out pop-ish song “Mirroir Mirroir”, telephone-prop for “Don’t Call”, and their Italo Disco cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”. That was such a great cover, that it was hard to follow that up with their closing song, “Under Your Spell.” However, it’s still a good choice, because it’s probably their best-known song. The song was featured in the underrated and amazing Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive soundtrack (we mentioned the soundtrack in 2011).
Finally, Chromatics closed out the show. Before we talk about the show, I wanted to mention that I really love the overall theme and re-invention of the band. I’m talking about the eerie-movie visuals from Johnny Jewel (mixed by video artist Danny Perez from Antibirth and Panda Bear), the neon-lights at their merchandise table, and atmospheric lighting. It’s really cool, and I’ve never seen so many fans buying merchandise at a show. That’s because the prices are so affordable, it’s like they made those neon lights with the prices ten years ago.
The other thing I wanted to address is their long hiatus from the music scene. In 2014, the band announced Dear Tommy… but the record never came out because Johnny Jewel, a perfectionist, destroyed all copies of the album after a near-death experience. According to legends, Jewel re-recorded the entire album, but as of this writing, the record has yet to see the light of day. Some singles, like “Just Like You” and “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around” came out before the record was scrapped… so you got a glimpse of what the record sounded like.
Anyway, currently, at least for this tour, Chromatics features Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller, Matt Miller (replacing Nat Walker), and Johnny Jewel. The show is really special to brothers Adam & Matt, who told us that they grew up in Minneapolis. So when they were young, and going to concerts, “First Avenue was this place that was a doorway to a different reality.” They were very grateful to be on stage, closing their speech with “Thank you, thanks a lot.”
Since being absent from touring in so long (Chromatics’ last live show was five years ago), they did the right thing by playing some of the fans’ favorite songs… playing everything from “Kill for Love” to “Blue Girl” (with Adam Miller on lead vocals), and their cover of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” (which closed out their set).
For the encore, Ruth came back solo to play a stripped down (and slowed) version of Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. The cover has been quite popular recently (with Lykke Li, Brown Shoe, Young Turks, AWOLNATION, Ten Fe, and Soccer Mommy from our previous coverages).
The rest of the band joined Ruth to close out the encore with their recent hit “Shadow” (which was used in Twin Peaks Season 3) and a cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”.
If you are on the fence about seeing Chromatics, you should do it… especially if you enjoy the work of Johnny Jewel (who had his finger in every aspect of the show). Also, who knows when the band will get together for another tour, so take this opportunity to see the band, at what I considered, is their finest hour.
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Chromatics at First Avenue, Minneapolis (30 May 2019) |