MUSIC REVIEW | Billy Joel at the Target Center

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There is something wonderfully refreshing in seeing a performer on stage who is completely at ease with himself, his band, and his surroundings. A performer who is simultaneously at ease with himself but ultimately controlled and professional, who knows when to play and when to reel it in for the big moments. And that was definitely Billy Joel on May 16 at the Target Center. There were moments in between songs where Billy Joel just did not seem to care, but in a good way. His talk was loose, his demeanor friendly and playful, and his banter sharp. Continue Reading

MUSIC REVIEW | Rush rocks hard at the Xcel Center

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It wouldn’t take a detective of Holmesian skill to immediately notice upon entrance to Xcel that Rush draws a die-hard crowd. Even ignoring overhearing a gentleman letting a total stranger know that he has been to “every Rush show since I was 14, and I’m 52 now,” it was clear by the sheer amount of Rush merch that the majority of those in attendance were rocking that this was really not anyone’s first rodeo. These folks knew exactly what they were into. Any by God, were they ready. Aside from the upper level, who can be forgiven for not standing because that can be quite a vertigo-inducing situation, there was not a fan in attendance who wasn’t on their feet from the time that curtain rose to the time that show finished. Continue Reading

MUSIC PHOTOS | All Time Low at Myth

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A mostly younger crowd packed the Myth Live Event Center in Maplewood, Minnesota Monday, May 11 and let it be known they are huge fans of pop, punk, rock band All Time Low. Bandmates Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Rian Dawson and Zack Merrick recognized their fans enthusiasm immediately and rewarded their supporters with a first-rate performance. This group has the ability to elevate the quality of their songs for the live experience and always bring a lot of fun to the stage. The Future Hearts Tour in support of their sixth studio album with the same name also included a solid cast of supporting acts including Issues, Tonight Alive and State Champs. ©2015 Patrick Dunn Continue Reading

MUSIC REVIEW | Mary Chapin Carpenter sings her stories at State Theatre

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Mary Chapin Carpenter, the five-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter with a 13-album catalog, returned to Minneapolis to play sans mosquitoes (her last Minnesota performance was at the MN Zoo Amphitheatre) at the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s State Theatre on May 2. It was an acoustic performance featuring her long-time friends and extraordinary musicians, John Carroll on keyboards and John Doyle on guitars and bouzouki. Chastity Brown, a relative newcomer to singer-songwriter fame, opened with a 30-minute set featuring, among others, “Solely,” “Colorado,” and “When We Get There.” Ms. Brown sings with an old soul’s expertise and resonance. She has guts and she’s not afraid to show that. Her performance was acoustic—impassioned and spirited—interspersed with charming personal points of reference to how she made her way to Minnesota from Tennessee. Continue Reading

Not Ready to Die

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The creative life of young Iranian-born Swedish pop singer, Laleh Pourkarim is revealed in candid interviews with Laleh, people who’ve worked with her and performance footage in “Not Ready to Die.” Born in underground Iran, she and her parents who opposed the Islamic regime in Tehran, fled to other cities in Russia and Germany before settling in Sweden when she was 12. A consummate musician, she learned to play guitar as a teen, and later taught herself percussion and saxophone while attending music school in Gothenburg. At age 12, she lost her father, watching him drown while trying to save a woman. Death has often been a theme in her music, there is sadness and yet positivity in her music such as her renowned single, “Some Die Young.”
While working on her self-titled debut, Laleh found she couldn’t concentrate with other producers and writers around, so she requested of Warner Sweden she have her own studio. They agreed, sending an entire studio to her home piece by piece. Continue Reading

Jourdan Myers: Sweetest Torch Singer at Bryant Lake Bowl

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Jourdan Myers is the sweetest torch singer you’re ever going to hear. Her voice has the range of torch singer – from the almost-raspy, long-held soprano high notes to deeper mezzo-soprano. There’s a backdrop of blues in her music, a hint of country and lot of soulful popular diva potential. But again much sweeter. She has a hint of the speakeasy flapper look about her and I think that combined with the intimate and hidden feel of the back room of the Bryant Lake Bowl just made me think torch singer. Continue Reading

Joe Bonamassa Two Nights at the Orpheum

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Have you noticed lately that most mainstream music we’re being fed is severely guitar solo deficient? Music fans in Minneapolis had an exceptional opportunity to supplement their listening diet at the Orpheum Theater April 24th with a heavy dose of Vitamin JB. Fortunately there is no limit to the amount of Joe Bonamassa guitar mastery one can consume, which is why I expect many of the same faces will be back to the Orpheum Theater again Saturday night April 25th as demand warrented a second performance. No doubt Bonamassa is an outstanding natural guitar talent, which got him noticed at the young age of 12 opening for BB King. Unfortunately, it takes a lot more than that for any musician to gain worldwide recognition, particularly in a niche genre like the Blues. Continue Reading

The Beatles are back!

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Four teenage boys of Oslo, Norway – Kim, Gunnar, Ola and Zeb – are friends “just like the Beatles.” It’s Beatlemania era – the four lads hear the Beatles and form a band. Yet they don’t have instruments or a place to play.This enchanting coming-of-age Norwegian film Beatles is adapted from Norway’s bestselling 1984 coming-of-age novel, Beatles, by Lars Saabye Christiansen, set between 1965 and 1974. Beatles follows the adventures of this band of friends in their mid-teens, poignantly depicting their growing pains, joys and insecurities, as they discover their identities in the mid-60s, a time of social and political turmoil.Kim Karlsen puts Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band on the turntable, as the boys view the album art in awe. The needle drops, while narrator Kim observes, “It was like when God said, ‘Let there be light.” The friends listen in enrapt wonder and their lives are changed, they forget all other stuff boys like, for music. Beatles warmly and humorously depicts the wonders of discovering music as a teen.The teens form a band, The Snafus (Situation Normal All Fucked Up)  – each taking on a Beatles persona. Continue Reading