Rocktober wrap-up

oy, what a month. actually, more like a month and a half. I've stopped attempting to take pictures a concerts because I'm never sure if cameras are going to be banned, plus Rhiannon's camera takes much better pictures anyway. So I'll bum hers and others taken by journalists.

Wednesday, September 22: Arcade Fire at Roy Wilkins. I wish I had seen AF before they were big. I'd like to see them up-close. Far away was pretty impressive too; they filled up the entire stage with a 8-member band and very impressive set pieces and background images.
Photo album from City Pages Gimme Noise

Thursday, September 23: Of Montreal and Janelle Monae. We were prepared this time. OM's Kevin Barnes enjoys a unique stage presence. It's always a spectacle. Rhi's photos.


Saturday, October 16: Sufjan Stevens at the Orpheum. Oh Suf. how i love thee. I also loved the opinions of this show. This was my favorite show of the month.
(Photo from TC Daily Planet: Suf gets in touch with his Impossible Soul. what's so bad about a 23-minute song anyway??)
Review from City Pages Gimme Noise (the first comment is mine)
Review from Star Trib (Riemenschneider didn't like it, what a surprise)
Review from TC Daily Planet

Thursday, October 21: Rock of Ages at the Orpheum: this musical features a ton of 80s music. I've had a lot of the songs stuck in my head since then. It was a pretty good show. Rhi and Amanda B are in love with Constantine now.
Review from TC Daily Planet
Review from Star Tribune


Friday, October 22: Phantogram at Fine Line. night out with the girls! First it was dinner at Thom Pham's new Wondrous Azian with my sis, rhi, and karyn. Krista and Margot met up with us later. The show was pretty good, although the band had a lot of things working against them: Any serious TC concert-goer hates the Fine Line. the layout sucks (the bar is too close to the main floor; to get from backstage to the stage you have to walk across the path to the bathroom; the door to the smoking patio is right by the stage) and they cram way too many people in there. and then the people won't shut up, and don't respect anyone's personal space. I concluded I hadn't seen a show there since Cold War Kids in October 2008, and I didn't miss it. (at that show, the crowd had no respect for the opener, AA Bondy, who I admit was probably a mismatch to open for CWK, but the crowd could have at least stopped talking when he was singing!) Another strike against the Fine Line: the bartender who provided Karyn with a Whiskey and grapefruit instead whiskey and ginger ale. But back to the show. It was okay. as expected for a band with only one album.
Calendar article from City Pages

Saturday, October 23: LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip at Roy Wilkins. All the indie hipsters were a twitter over this one, the biggest dance party in town. Rhi and I were very happy to have balcony seats though (this being one of the reasons). She left a few songs before it ended; i went home after the last song (i was very tired). but the musicians themselves make the trip across down for a DJ set at First Ave during Too Much Love. That would have been so cool to have been at the dance night, and then one of the most famous DJs/musicians in the country/western world shows up. and i just gotta say, if you saw James Murphy walking down the street, you would not guess he's a musician in any sense of the word. He looks more like an IT guy/engineer.
Review from TC Daily Planet
Star Trib Artcetera write up (even Riemenschneider enjoyed it!)
Photo album from City Pages Gimme Noise
James' Theft of the Dial on the Current (I haven't listened to it)
Hot Chip's In Studio at the Current (listening to it now; I love them live, saw them at First Ave in 2008)

Wednesday, October 27: I couldn't miss Stars at First Ave, so I went by myself. the crowd seemed rather mature and subdued, which normally I would love, but I felt like they weren't giving the band any energy. Still, I liked hearing my favorite songs live. and the bubbles.

(photo from TC Daily Planet)

Review from TC Daily Planet
Review from Star Trib's Artcetera Blog

Friday, October 29: Mumford and Sons at First Ave. I think i'm alone amongst my group in finding the opener King Charles to be amusing; I like a little weird. second opener Cadillac Sky played their strings to the fullest in a perfectly short set. Then Mumford played their hits, with some technical difficulties; i enjoy a show that isn't a duplication of every other show on the tour. we got to hear a very quiet acoustic cover with some of the members of Cadillac Sky, and all musicians performing that night came together for the encore.
Photo album from City Pages
Review from TC Daily Planet
In-studio at the Current from May that Rhi and I went to (and we were very happy to, since their show at the Varsity unexpectedly sold out)

#6. Concerts

This was a big concert weekend! I'm just going to get right to the pictures.

Saturday: Minnesota Orchestra: Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty (and some other Russian stuff)

I don't have any pics of the orchestra, of course, because the old people would have gotten grumpy and thrown us out. So here's me and Jen drinking at intermission.
Amaretto Hot chocolate, delicious!

Red wine, not as delicious compared to that hot chocolate. we were all tarted up to try to find old rich husbands, but i don't think it's meant to be.

To regain my indie street cred, i had to do something drastic. fortunately, Rhi decided i was most worthy of her extra ticket to Sufjan Stevens (indie God, in our opinion).

Sunday: Sufjan at the 400 Bar

(she took these pics.)

Did I mention we were in the SECOND ROW?!? i could see his individual eyelashes. they are lushious.

Keyboardin'. I loved how they shared instruments...like Suf would play his electric and keyboards in a song; in the same song, the trumpeter would also play keyboard. in another song, the bassist would hand the bass to another guy, and the bassist would play electric, and Suf would play acoustic or banjo. not really any room on that stage for extra instruments!

"We are the handclaps!" if Suf tells you to clap, you clap. you also sing when he says sing, but shut up when HE's singing.

This is my favorite...
Nothing foreign about that body...

(more photos from someone standing next to us)

After the show, Rhi bought a vinyl copy of "Come on, Feel the Illinoise!" and managed to nail him down for his autograph and a picture. you can find that on her Facebook album, "I love Famous People."
So yeah, this show was definitely in my top 5 of all time (rhi's top 10, but she's been to more shows) due to the fact that we were so close; it was so quiet in there; and it's SUFJAN. COME ON. he played a lot of new songs, and usually i hate when bands play songs i don't know, but it was really, really cool because we just watched and listened and were amazed. he was singing a lot of them from lyrics on a music stand, that's how new they were. (or maybe it's more a matter of his songs are REALLY long and it's impossible to remember all those words!) It's hard to pick a favorite Sufjan song, but he did play some of the more popular ones: Casimir Pulaski Day (definitely one of my favorites, although a very sad song); Jacksonville (the most upbeat song of the night); and Chicago to end (a softer version than the original, although the Avalanche album has 4 versions).

And Then...

Monday: Kings of Leon and White Lies

At pretty much the polar opposite in terms of venues: the Target Center! at least Rhi got us some awesome seats (left side, row A).
I took these pics. First, here's White Lies, a band from London that i enjoy.


how color-coordinated. They played for about 45 minutes, including their hits, "Death" and "To Lose My Life," which always gets stuck in my head ("let's go home together....and die at the same time").

Then, the biggest thing to come out of Tennessee since Dolly Parton, KoL!


The set was really cool. Check out YouTube for my vids!!! ...all of "Sex on Fire," people! now i can relive it FOREVER. (Strib review and setlist)