MFR

REVIEW: Cass McCombs Band at 7th Street Entry 2/1

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:03:34 -0600

“It’s like Pink Floyd and Elliot Smith had a love child.”

When a buddy of mine expressed his thoughts about the set from Cass McCombs Band last Wednesday night, I wondered if it was possible to write a show review in 11 words. It may not be the most informative sentence, it may be a very bold sentence, but it successfully summarizes the emotion that took the stage that night.

Frank Fairfield, ladies and gentleman. That guy is an enigma. Los Angeles’ best kept secret by way of a saloon in 1910. Fairfield opened the night in a single chair accompanied by his fiddle, banjo, and acoustic guitar, and to him the audience was not present. The near-full Entry crowd that was earnestly awaiting Cass McCombs but incredibly caught off guard by the opening act did not exist. No, the audience was composed of children at his feet near a warm fire at a campsite. He was stompin’ his foot along songs like “Rye Whiskey” and “Li’l Liza Jane” to tell stories of his travels.

The audience reacted appropriately too. It was quiet. People almost appeared to be ignoring the man on stage, but it was foolish to believe that anyone could take their eyes off of this guy. Quite the contrary, as Fairfield finished each ditty the crowd praised him at a volume worthy of a larger venue. Cass McCombs fans were converted.

Cass McCombs took the stage looking well-traveled and eager to get lost in the music. He began the near 85-minute set with “Love Thine Enemy” from the most recent LP, Humor Risk. The emotion and nonchalant stage presence was incredibly intriguing, leaving listeners quieted and hungry for more. McCombs and his band transformed the stage into their own galaxy, creating a rare connection with the audience that appeared to be built on respect.

The set was structured in a very tasteful way. As a musician with an impressive six-and-a-half albums to date, McCombs worked in a nice variety of tracks mainly stemming from Humor Risk, WIT’S END, and Catacombs. From the rad groove “Harmona” to the subdued style of “My Sister, My Spouse,” McCombs maintained momentum throughout the entire night regardless of how heavy the lyrical message at hand. The band appeared most at ease during “Robin Egg Blue,” which brought a light-hearted feel to the evening as if it were a great secret they were not allowed to share. Highlights of the set were definitely the psychedelic uproar on keys at the end of “Dreams Come True Girl” and the mashing of guitars (pedal steel, acoustic, electric, and bass, oh my!) during “When The Bible Was Wrote.”

The show carried strong elements of film noir. Suspicion, anti-heroes, ambiguity, life, and the femme fatale characteristic ever apparent in McCombs’ lyrics. There were high points, low points, conflict, climax, but not necessarily a resolution. This was most evident in the big finale; the crowd was treated to a progressive rendition of “County Line” (WIT’S END). By requesting the lights be lowered and showing no hurry to leave the stage, McCombs broke a barrier between performer and fan leaving us with a multicolored listening experience.

Laura Yurich
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
7th Street Entry

MP3: Here We Go Magic - "Make Up Your Mind"

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:19:34 -0600

The new LP from Here We Go Magic, A Different Ship, will be out on 5/8 via Secretly Canadian.

CONTEST: Win Tickets To See Heartless Bastards This Friday

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:33:06 -0600

Heartless Bastards are sweeping through town this Friday to play the First Avenue Mainroom. MFR is jazzed, so we are giving away a pair of tickets to the show! All you have to do to enter is email laura@minneapolisfuckingrocks.com with the title of your favorite Heartless Bastards tune. Good luck!

VIDEO: The Shins - "September"

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:15:06 -0600

Source: Gorilla Vs. Bear

VIDEO: The Best Love Is Free Live - The Cypher

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:33:00 -0600

[MFR Presents]

It’s here! The final installment of The Best Love Is Free live performance videos is a cypher with Toki Wright, Mally, St Paul Slim, CeeWHY, Lizzo, Botzy, Wize Guyz, Phillip Morris, and Sean Anonymous. Brilliant beats brought to you by Carnage.

The Best Love Is Free 3 is this weekend! There are not very many tickets left. You have been warned. (deets)

Saturday, February 11, 2012
The Fine Line Music Cafe

VIDEO: Bon Iver On SNL

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:29:41 -0600

TONIGHT: Rogue Valley At 7th Street Entry

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:43:49 -0600

[MFR Presents]

The day has come! Tonight MFR presents Rogue Valley with friends The Farewell Circuit and Is/Is at 7th Street Entry. It is the final show of RV’s two-week tour, so come join us for a better-than-football hometown finale. Spread the word folks!

Sunday, February 5, 2012
7pm // 18+ // $12
First Avenue & 7th Street Entry

VIDEO: Miike Snow - "Paddling Out"

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:11 -0600

VIDEO: M.I.A. - "Bad Girls"

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:55:36 -0600

MP3: Observer Drift - "Warm Waves"

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:50:51 -0600

[LOCAL]

Warm Waves by Observer Drift

Observer Drift was just featured by the City Pages and is storming the scene with his nostalgic-meets-youthful-pop sound.

CONTEST: Win Tickets To See Rogue Valley This Sunday

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:52:00 -0600

[MFR Presents]

We are in the final countdown for the welcome-back-from-tour hoorah for Rogue Valley! This Sunday they will pull into their glorious hometown of Minneapolis to perform for all their friends alongside The Farewell Circuit and Is/Is (details here). We are so stoked over at MFR headquarters that we rustled up a pair of tickets to give to you!

All you have to do to enter is “like” this post via that lovely little like button conveniently located below! A winner will be chosen by noon tomorrow. Happy clicking!

Sunday, February 5, 2012
7pm // 18+
7th Street Entry

VIDEO: M. Ward - "The First Time I Ran Away"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:09:53 -0600

TONIGHT: Cass McCombs At 7th Street Entry

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:32:32 -0600

Radio K presents Cass McCombs tonight at the 7th Street Entry with guest Frank Fairfield. McCombs is currently on an extensive tour throughout the US, Canada, and Europe in support of his second full-length release of 2011, Humor Risk. His first LP of 2011, WIT’S END, was released last April. McCombs now tallies in with an impressive six-and-a-half releases to date.

February 1, 2012
8pm // 18+ // $10
7th Street Entry

TRAILER: Game Of Thrones Season 2: Shadow

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:36:59 -0600

VIDEO: Mirel Wagner - "No Death"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:34:15 -0600

VIDEO: Girls' Generation - "The Boys"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:07:15 -0600

INTERVIEW: Rogue Valley

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:03:34 -0600

[MFR Presents]

Minneapolis darlings Rogue Valley are out on a two week tour scheduled to end with a hometown party this Sunday, February 5 at the 7th Street Entry! Sharing the stage to welcome them back are friends and local faves The Farewell Circuit and Is/Is. I recently spoke with Chris Koza of Rogue Valley about recent accomplishments and tour; you can read the interview below.

By releasing the 4 seasons albums you have accomplished something admirable to a lot of creative people. When you went into it was it something you truly believed was possible, or did you surprise yourself a bit?

I knew that it was possible, but I wasn’t aware or certain of the various challenges that would come up. I knew it would be expensive, a time crunch, and it would take a lot of sleepless nights, but thinking about that stuff beforehand is not real until it is actually there.

With all of the work that you put into this project, how did you come to the decision to distribute via a pay-what-you-want model?

We didn’t do it at first. The first one was “pay this or pay more” we had some friends that were doing pay-what-you-want and some it worked for and some it did not. I think that music is only a living thing if people are listening to it. I’m not a police officer, I’m not a copyright infringement person, and I’m not a martyr. I think that if you find someone that cares about it that they will be the support; that is something we’re looking for right now. Exposing our music.

Can we look forward to unique approaches like this to your music in the future?

I like doing it because it makes it easy for people to recognize. 4 albums? 4 seasons? An album for each season? That’s cool. Having a story that is easy to grasp on to is also super helpful. It’s also interesting for us creatively because we have some broad strokes that we can hone in for our creative purposes. The drawback sometimes is that people will see that and not actually know the music— it becomes more of a talking point than a listening experience.

Rogue Valley has been touring quite a bit. How were your first time experiences playing in big music cities like Chicago and New York City?

We’re fortunate to have friends in NYC, so that show went really well. It was at The Living Room on the Lower East Side and the sound is great. Chicago was tough. Now we’re in the process of meeting some bands to hook up with and do show trades with there. We’ll keep hitting it; there are a lot of good rooms in that city. I am a little surprised at how many tolls it takes to get there though.

What was your take on the music scene in these cities in comparison with Minneapolis?

I feel like Chicago has a really strong local music scene. NYC has a lot of music come from out of town, really any songwriter or band. Chicago has a lot of local and neighborhood pride so in that sense it reminds me of Minneapolis.

Rogue Valley is finishing this tour in Minneapolis— is a welcome home a bigger reward to Rogue Valley than a kick-off, or is that coincidence?

You never know how the shows are going to go on tour, at least we don’t. We will have good shows and really trying shows where we have to remember why we play music. To have a show in our hometown at the end— it is something to look forward to rather than look back on. Otherwise you’ll say to yourself “remember that show back in Minneapolis, why didn’t we stay there.” We want to have our ‘tour show’ in Minneapolis, where we found that sweet spot as a band. Playing live to get there instead of rehearsing is totally different.

If you went on a dream tour - who would you tour with?

Ray LaMontagne, Fleet Foxes of course, My Morning Jacket, Megafaun, Sharon Van Etten.

Just for kicks, what was the last thing you listened to?

This morning I listened to Ashes & Fire by Ryan Adams, which is okay. I was watching some YouTube videos last week, and saw a video of Elton John and Ryan Adams singing “Tiny Dancer.” I wasn’t a huge fan of that song before but when they do it together I like it more. I also listen to Bon Iver every couple days.

**Catch up on recent happenings with the Rogue Valley tour diaries over at City Pages/Gimme Noise.

Interview by Laura Yurich
February 5, 2012
7pm // 18+
7th Street Entry

VIDEO: Country Mice - "Morning Son"

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:49:45 -0600

CONTEST: Win Tickets To See Scars On 45 This Thursday

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:06:00 -0600

Minneapolis plays host to Scars On 45 this Thursday with guest Anya Marina. MFR is giving away a pair of tickets to the show so listen up:

Tweet “Scars On 45 know #MinneapolisFuckingRocks” by 5pm tomorrow to enter. See you Thursday!

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February 2, 2012
7pm // 18+
Varsity Theater

VIDEO: Feist - "The Bad In Each Other"

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:58:06 -0600