The Church and Afghan Whigs at First Avenue, Minneapolis (30 June 2024)

 

 

The co-headlining The Church and The Afghan Whigs show just stopped by Minneapolis on Sunday night, smack in the middle of the Twin Cities Pride celebration.

Both bands are fans of each other, with the Whigs’ Greg Dulli mentioning what an incredible band the Church is when he first discovered them when he was 18. He then bought their album The Unguarded Moment and became a big fan of the group.

The incredible Ed Harcourt opened the show, spending most of the time behind his piano.

Photos courtesy of Amber and Quynh

>>>
06/30/2024 Sunday
The Church and The Afghan Whigs
with Ed Harcourt
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

What an incredible lineup: a double billing of The Church and The Afghan Whigs tour… plus the incredible Ed Harcourt as opener on all dates, except for Brooklyn, where Throwing Muses’ Kristin Hersh to open.

For Church fans, they are offering a limited number of VIP packages for this tour, which includes entry ticket, early venue access, and invitations to the band’s soundtrack, a special meet & greet with the band, exclusive merch items, and watching a portion of the show itself from the side of the stage (where available).

We saw The Church in March 2023 and noted, “When The Church came on stage to an introduction background music, they were greeted with a huge applause. The band proceeded to playing a two plus hour set. This band didn’t need a warm-up band, because they had 18 albums worth of music to choose from. I first heard of the band on Dave Kendall’s 120 Minutes on MTV. He was a Church fan and played “Ripple”, which had become my favorite Church song. By that time, in 1992, the band was already an “old” band.”

Talking about the co-headlining tour, Afghan Whigs’ frontman Greg Dulli talked about how he became a fan of the Church: “I was an 18-year-old college freshman lying in bed listening to WVXU late one night when I heard a song that I described later as sounding like David Bowie fronting The Byrds. Thankfully they back announced The Unguarded Moment by The Church and I was on my way to buying my first import. Soon after I bought two more after learning of The Blurred Crusade and Seance. It was official. I loved The Church. Three years later, the four kids who were about to become The Afghan Whigs played One Day by The Church in John Curley’s living room and we were off and running…”

We saw Afghan Whigs in Sep 2022 and noted, “Before The Afghan Whigs took the stage, their tour manager came on stage to asked us to not use flash photography. He added if you don’t know how to turn off the flash on your phone, you should call your grandchildren to ask for help. He then asked if anyone in the audience need earplugs, because “We’re about to see the f**** Afghan Whigs!” Drumming up excitement from the restless crowd.”

Tour Dates: