Judas Priest at Myth Nightclub on 8/2/08

By: Sean Sauder
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Judas Priest - Promo Photo from judaspriest.com Legendary British heavy metal pioneers, Judas Priest, tore up the stage at Myth on Saturday night. The band performed at the nightclub in Maplewood on a day off from the Metal Masters Tour, which also features Heaven and Hell, Testament and Motorhead. That tour is not coming to the ...

Testament at Epic on 7/31/08

By: Sean Sauder
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Testament - Photo from testamentlegions.com Bay area thrashers, Testament, made a highly anticipated stop at Epic in Minneapolis on an off day from the Metal Masters Tour, which also features Heaven And Hell (can’t we just call them Black Sabbath?), Judas Priest and Motorhead. That tour is not coming to the Twin Cities, but with the exception of Heaven And Hell (who played here ...

The Go! Team at First Avenue on 7/30/08

By: Amber Schadewald
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After their live performance Wednesday night, it’s incredibly obvious why The Go! Team incorporates such bold punctuation in their name—they are wickedly fun!!! (Take note of the triple exclamation). Loud and jumpy, happy and busy, the British dance band kept things alive during their 14-song set, setting the bar nearly unreachable for headliner CSS.   Combining hip-hop vocals, ‘70s jams, horns, heavy percussion and cut...

Yeasayer at Urban Outfitters on 7/30/08

By: Carl Atiya Swanson
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Yeasayer - Photo by Steve Cohen There is a sort of winking complicity involved in such corporate/rock marriages as the Yaris FreeYrRadio shows. It’s not on the scale of betrayal of Woodstock ’99 (unless you have a world view plagued by moral absolutism) but there is a discomfort that, well, just about everyone is aware. Yeasayer gets a pay-day, The Current gets to promote ...

Jimmy Eat World at First Avenue on 7/7/08

By: Will McClain
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Jimmy Eat World - Photo from Purevolume.com When Jimmy Eat World took the stage at First Avenue Monday night, it was to a different crowd than the ones they played for in their formative years of the early ‘90s—a dramatically different one, even, than they met when the national scene began to show them love in the early days of this millennium.   Musically, the pop-punk purveyors ran lean and ...

The Dodos at Triple Rock Social Club on 7/7/08

By: Carl Atiya Swanson
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The Dodos - Photo by Stacy Schwartz It seems almost pointless to add to the snowball of glowing reviews for The Dodos. The San Francisco duo’s Visiter release garnered an 8.5 rating from Pitchfork and an avalanche of good press has followed their herculean 2008 touring schedule. It would be pointless if they weren’t working so hard, and if they weren’t so goddamn goo...

Drive-By Truckers at First Avenue on 7/3/08

By: Will McClain
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Drive-By Truckers - Photo by Alexa Jones The Drive-By Truckers want you to know they’re not just some Southern-rock novelty act. With album titles like Southern Rock Opera and The Dirty South—not to mention their moniker—the Truckers had much to prove to the uninitiated when they ambled into town Wednesday in support of their latest effort, Brighter Than Creation&rsqu...

Merle Haggard at Mystic Lake Casino on 7/1/08

By: Jen Paulson
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Merle Haggard - Photo courtesy of Myspace.com A stint in the slammer, a pardon from then Governor of California Ronald Reagan—those lines alone could start a good country song. But Merle Haggard lived it. The country legend played Mystic Lake Casino on Tuesday night, and I had been getting overly excited about it since the moment I saw it announcing itself on a giant billboard i...

Hayden with Haley Bonar at Cedar Cultural Center on 6/27/08

By: Bob Longmore
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Hayden - Photo courtesy of myspace.com/hayden One lonely winter, unemployed, spending my days and nights in a cramped basement apartment without much light (literally and metaphorically), I discovered Hayden. The Canadian lo-fi wonder can spin the dourest tales about love and loneliness, as well as wring feeling out of abstract stories like being chased by a bear (“Killbear”), the perils of choking (...

Rock The Garden at Walker Art Center on 6/21/08

By: Jon Behm
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  The Rock the Garden festival at the Walker Sculpture Garden last Saturday had all the trappings of a disaster waiting to happen: Huge lines to get in, huge lines for beer tickets, huge lines for beer, huge lines for the bathroom, etc. etc.  Somehow the Walker and Current sponsored concert defied logic and pulled it off though, making the whole experience less a drag and more the quintessential summer concert experience then circumstances would imply.     ...