Black Pistol Fire at Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (27 Jul 2021)

Turnout for the Black Pistol Fire at the Fine Line Music Café on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, was incredibly packed! This is great news, as traditionally, if the Fine Line was half empty, it would feel incredibly empty, simply because of its layout. So it was really nice to see a filled dancefloor and full balcony of guests.



It’s been over a year since we last saw Wire at Fine Line, before the pandemic shut down the city. While the venue remain unchanged, it would seem that First Avenue (the owner) has installed metal detectors at all their locations. The dectors are only large enough for one person, meaning if someone wishes to exit, you have to wait until they go through before sending someone to enter.



Local band Products (Alex on guitar, Jo on vocals, Konner on drums, and Jack on bass) played a quick 30-min set, mostly containing songs from their album Pink Puma. The band recently released a single, “(On Top) A Y’all Tower Of You” yesterday (July 26).



I have previously commented on generic band names, that it’s impossible for you find them online… so, personally speaking, I don’t like their name. Of course, as punk as they are, they’ll never change their name.

Look Alive Summer 2021 Tour

Austin duo Black Pistol Fire is seemingly very grateful to be back touring, especially because their “Look Alive” Summer 2021 tour is going so well… having sold out a few venues, including Emo’s in Austin. I don’t think the Fine Line show was sold out, but it sure felt like it, seeing as how packed the venue was. Still, it’s probably still a much better experience than their upcoming Lollapalooza appearance(s).



We first saw the band in Dec 2017 and wrote, “The duo (Kevin McKeown-guitar/lead vocals and Eric Owen- drums) had been getting great word-of-mouth regarding their live performances and proved it again this night, working themselves and the restless, head-bobbing crowd into a near-immediate lather with their blend of dirty garage blues rock starting with their incendiary opener, ‘Lost Cause’.”

Black Pistol Fire’s started off with a couple of new songs from Look Alive, starting with “Look Alive” (with its catchy chorus “Chasing white lines in my Psycho 69”) and “Pick Your Poison”. This was followed by a fan-favorite “Suffocation Blues”, from their debut self-titled album.



With the exceptions of a few tracks, the majority of the second half of their set were taken from their new album. No surprising, considering this was the Look Alive tour. My favorite of the new songs was actually “Always on My Mind”, which does start off slow, but it has a nice buildup and I like its pace.



My favorite of the set was “Speak of the Devil”, which had guitarist Kevin McKeown doing all sorts of face-acting as he played guitars. At times, it felt as if the guitar itself was singing lyrics only Mckeown understands.



It’s good to have live music back in the city, and Black Pistol Fire would agree. Their new album, Look Alive, is available now via Black Hill Records.