08/04/2024 Sunday
Faye Webster
with Benét
at Palace Theatre
first-avenue.com

Can you believe how popular Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Faye Webster have gotten since the last time we saw her? It’s unbelievable! She’s selling out the Palace Theatre in St Paul, coming up on August 4th.

We first saw Webster in Mar 2019 and wrote, “21-year-old Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, Faye Webster, touring in support of her forthcoming album Atlanta Millionaires Club (due out May 24 on Secretly Canadian). I had to mention the album early, because Webster actually never mentioned the album during her entire tour so far. “I’m so bad at my job!” she realized. Webster stopped using setlists for her brief 30-min set, “People would steal our setlist every night, so we just stop using them.” The result is that her set may slightly change night, after night, depending if she wants to tune her guitar or not.”

Benét to open.

Tour Dates:

7/22 – Browns Island – Richmond, VA ~
7/24 – The Anthem – Washington, DC ~
7/26 – The Dell Music Center – Philadelphia, PA ~
7/27 – The Stage at Suffolk Downs – Boston, MA ~
7/29 – Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA ~
7/30 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Royal Oak, MI ~
8/1 – Lollapalooza – Chicago, IL
8/4 – Palace Theater – St. Paul, MN ^
9/8 – The Refinery – Charleston, SC
9/9 – Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
9/13 – Fox Theatre – Atlanta, GA
9/17 – JJ’s Live – Fayetteville, AR
9/19 – Moody Ampitheater – Austin, TX
9/21 – The Lowbrow Palace – El Paso, TX
9/22 – Arizona Financial Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
9/25 – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
9/26 – Madonna Inn – San Luis Obispo, CA
9/27 – The Greek Theatre Berkeley – Berkeley, CA
9/29 – McMenamin’s Edgefield Amphitheatre – Porland, OR
9/30 – Orpheum Theatre – Vancouver, BC
10/1 – Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA
10/3 – The Union – Salt Lake City, UT
10/4 – The Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO
^ w/ Benét
~ w/ Julie

08/06/2024 Tuesday
Mt. Joy
at Surly Brewing Festival Field
first-avenue.com

The Philadelphia and Los Angeles based band Mt. Joy is back on tour.

They recently released a self-funded song “Highway Queen” via the band’s own Bloom Field Records in collaboration with Neon Gold Records (Matt Maeson, HAIM, Charli XCX, et. al). Frontman Matt Quinn talks about the song, “The song is about being in love with someone you see a bit of yourself in. My wife is from Brazil but left home when she was 15 to chase a dream and had success that has kept her away from home and moved her all over the world ever since. Living away from home corrals your demons in a specific way, you feel like the only way to out run them is to keep moving, and it makes being home torturous. It’s something I personally struggle with so I know it when I see it in someone else, especially someone I love. Now we share a home together and I hope this song can represent a reminder that we have each other to work through it all and hopefully the rest of our lives to figure it out at whatever pace we need.”

We last saw Mt. Joy in Oct 2017 and wrote, “Los Angeles by way of Philadelphia alt-folk-rockers Mt. Joy opened the evening with a forty-five minute set of new songs that properly introduced the new band, and gave these many won-over fans a chance to hear the tracks, soon to appear on their upcoming debut. Matt Quinn (vocals/guitar) and Sam Cooper (guitar) met in high school and started performing songs together over a dozen years ago, reuniting in LA to record four songs last year in their producer’s living room (joined later on by Michael Byrnes-bass, Sotiris Eliopoulos-drums, and Terrance Mack-keys to form a five-piece live act). Influenced by many classic ‘70’s jam acts, the whistling ‘Cardinal’ lyrically reminds to take the time to notice the everyday beauty around us, ‘Uke Song’ was played with “tiny guitar” as Quinn called it, and the uplifting and set-closing ‘Sheep’ actually had the most socially-biting lyrics, inspired by the Freddie Grey unrest- “When there is blood on the streets of Baltimore, people getting ready for a long war, maybe I was born in the wrong skin but those sheep are rolling in the mud again.””

Mt. Joy on tour:

7.04 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest – BMO Pavilion
7.05 – Marshfield, MA @ Levitate Music and Arts Festival
7.06 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Blues Fest
7.08 – Quebec City, QC @ Festival D’ete
7.09 – Montreal, QC @ MTelus
7.10 – Toronto, ON @ Budstage
7.12 – Winnipeg, MB @ Winnipeg Folk Fest
7.14 – Whitefish, MT @ Under the Big Sky Festival
7.18 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park (w/ Noah Kahan)
7.19 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park (w/ Noah Kahan)
7.20 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
8.04 – Saint Charles, IA @ Hinterland Music Festival
8.06 – Minneapolis, MN @ Surly Brewing Festival Field
8.08 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
8.09 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
8.10 – Dillon, CO @ Dillon Amphitheatre
8.13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Granary Live
8.15 – Boise, ID @ Outlaw Field @ Idaho Botanical Gardens
8.16 – Portland, OR @ Pioneer Courthouse Square
8.17 – Vancouver, BC @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird
8.19 – Palmer, AK @ Alaska State Fair
8.21 – Carnation, WA @ Remlinger Farms
8.23 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Holmes
8.25 – Los Angeles, CA @ KCRW Music Series Hollywood Bowl
9.13 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center
9.15 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
9.17 – Charleston, SC @ Firefly Distillery
9.18 – Cary, NC @ Koka Booth
9.20 – Philadelphia, PA @ TD Pavilion at The Mann
9.21 – Richmond, VA @ Iron Blossom
9.22 – Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond
9.24 – Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater
9.26 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
9.28 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
9.29 – Ocean City, MD @ Ocean’ Calling
10.01 – Rochester, NY @ Gordon Field House
10.03 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed (Outdoors)
10.04 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed (Outdoors)
10.05 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed (Outdoors)

08/06/2024 Tuesday
Cults
with BNNY
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

It’s good to see Multi-platinum breakout duo Cults (Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion) back on tour, in support of To the Ghosts.

Did I ever tell you we once went to Canada to see Cults play in Jun 2011? We said, “Cults is a favorite among the bloggers, as apparent by the million photographers. Their self-titled album came out a week, or so earlier, on Lily Allen’s record label, In The Name Of, and I guess people are in love with it. They were pretty catchy, even threw in an F word after the lyrics “I can’t be the way you want” (from “Never Saw the Point”). The one thing I will say is that singer Madeline Follin only has one mode of dancing. While not a terrible thing, it’s not a whole lot of stage presence. Look for them on tour on the West Coast in July and some festivals in August.”

Opening will be BNNY, who we previously saw in Aug 2022 and wrote, “Opening the show was Chicago quartet Bnny, who started with just a quiet solo song from lead singer Jess Viscius. Shortly after that song ended, the rest of her band, which includes her twin sister Alexa Viscius, and Tim Makowski and Matt Pelkey, joined Jess on stage. Laughing she said, “That was the most rock ‘n roll thing I’ve ever done.” The band (and debut record Everything) was created to honor and process the death of Jess’ partner. So many of their songs are somewhat depressing and emotional. Their latest single, “I’m Just Fine”, is about “the sensation of time moving slowly when you are missing someone. It’s about attempting to deny that you are heartbroken in order to protect yourself.””

Tour dates: