Twenty-one years after their last Minnesota show, Grandaddy returned to First Avenue to perform The Sophtware Slump in full. Note-perfect and emotionally heavy, the set traced millennial dread and fragile hope before loosening into celebratory encores—including birthday cake for guitarist Jim Fairchild. Vermont’s Greg Freeman opened with a beautifully restrained set.
Here is what is going on this week in Minneapolis/St Paul, ending on October 12, 2025: • elbow at First Avenue (Oct 7, 2025) • Grandaddy at First Avenue (Oct 8, 2025) • Southern Resident Killer Whales at Padraigs Brewing (Oct 10, 2025) • Bob Mould at Icehouse (Oct 10, 2025) • Goon at 7th St Entry (Oct 12, 2025)
So why not go back to 2000? A musical time trip might be a balm to dealing with the horrors of the present. Grandaddy, the Modesto-born band who gained traction in the late ‘90s—is happy to oblige me. Touring in support of the 25th anniversary of their 2000 album, The Sophtware Slump, frontman and songwriter Jason Lytle, a skateboarder-turned-musician, offers a nostalgia-tinged complementary American precursor to the creepy, hi-fi fears on Radiohead’s 1997 album OK Computer.
Rocktober! Here are some shows in Minneapolis/St Paul on October 8, 2025: • Far Caspian at 7th St Entry (Oct 8, 2025) • Grandaddy at First Avenue (Oct 8, 2025) • [Cancelled] Emily Nenni at Turf Club (Oct 8, 2025)
It’s time for one of those “I feel old” moments: American indie stalwarts Grandaddy are touring in celebration of the 25th anniversary of their seminal second album, The Sophtware Slump. That album was a mini-masterpiece of its time, suffused with dreamy, disenchanted early aughts melodies, gauzy guitar and keyboard flourishes, and the echoing vocals of frontman Jason Lyttle. It’s their first North American tour since 2004, and it features Pedro the Lion as support on the West Coast dates and Greg Freeman on the East Coast and Midwest. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself staring wistfully into your beer in the dark.
Continuing with our Road to Rocktober series, we are spotlight some upcoming October dates.
• Grandaddy at First Avenue (Oct 8, 2025)
• Miki Berenyi Trio at Turf Club (Oct 18, 2025)
• Phantogram at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall (Oct 20, 2025)
We are excited to hear that Grandaddy will return to touring in 2025. It is advertised as their first tour in 20 years (the band had to cancel their USA tour when Kevin Garcia unexpectedly died of a heart attack at the age of 41).
In a compact set that packed a heartfelt wallop, L.A. band Earlimart wanted to serenade a love lost too soon. “It feels like Elliott’s spirit is here,” said singer Aaron Espinoza. He was talking about the late Elliott Smith, the soft-spoken singer-songwriter, friend, and muse who, according to Espinoza, used to “weird” the band out by standing front and center at their L.A. gigs back in the early aughts. Smith, who died in 2003, inspired the sound of Earlimart’s most well-known album, Treble and Tremble, released in 2004. That album conjured Smith in its whispered, resonant lyrics and mellowed-out vibes, the sound of soft-spoken indie rock shows that filled Spaceland and other intimate venues around Echo Park and Silverlake, where I’d see them play regularly back in the day.
Bruce Hampton was listed as “the Granddaddy of the Jam Scene”... and speaking of Grandaddy, Grandaddy’s bassist and co-founder Kevin Garcia, died at the age 41 to a stroke.
Read More Family of the Year 80's band Frankie Goes to Hollywood once sang about...
I used to joke that Grandaddy was from my hometown, even though Modesto isn't anywhere near Fresno or Sacramento (I used to live in both cities).
Foma is an indiepop group from San Francisco by the way of Albuquerque, and last Tuesday saw their latest release, Inverness EP. I don't really know much about them, but based on the "recommendations" on CD Baby, they seem to think they sound like Modesto's Grandaddy. Based on their latest EP, they seem to me like sounding like Ben & Jason or even a mellowier Lucksmiths (and that's not a bad comparison considering how we all love the Luckies here).
Here's one called Grandaddy, who are from the nowheresville town of Modesto, California. I used to live around this area, so I was quite excited to see these 'local boys done good'. I'm sure you've all remember the big buzz around them back in late '99.