The Minneapolis-based hip-hop duo Atmosphere capped off their fall tour with a Twin Cities double-header — one night at First Avenue and one night at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul over Thanksgiving weekend. With a new sound system in First Avenue’s main room and an extremely enthusiastic hometown crowd, rapper Slug and producer Ant rejuvenated the sold-out venue throughout their 90-minute set. Friday night’s setlist highlighted Atmosphere’s essential early work such as “God Loves Ugly” and “Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP’s” along with select cuts from the group’s latest studio album, “So Many O ..read more

Over the past few years, acclaimed experimental rapper Danny Brown has been teasing an album marking his 40th birthday, as he did in 2011 with his album “XXX” after he turned 30. On Friday, Brown delivered on his promise and released “Quaranta” (Italian for 40), featuring a seemingly dreary portrait of Brown on the cover, suggesting a more mellow body of work. While “XXX” is defined by its chaotic, borderline-industrial production and frantic rapping from Brown, “Quaranta” is the opposite side of the coin sonically, for the most part. Brown uses his signature nasally rapping voice for much of ..read more

The average concert ticket price in 2019 was $96.17, a $17.84 increase from the average price in 2011, according to a study conducted by Pollstar and posted on Statista. The number seems relatively reasonable after seeing the prices for Beyonce and Taylor Swift tickets this past year. While concert prices are constantly increasing, it does not prevent some people from seeing who they want to see. They have learned to prioritize who they want to see or adjust how much they are willing to pay. Jaden Watkins, a third-year University of Minnesota student, said her most expensive concert was seeing ..read more

The Beatles released “Now and Then” on Nov. 2, a song that used artificial intelligence (AI) to clean up a John Lennon vocal sample from 1980 to create a new full-length song. The music video used AI-generated likenesses of how the four Beatles looked in the 1960s. “Creative musicians have been using various forms of generative music for decades (Brian Eno for example),” director of the School of Music at the University of Minnesota, Patrick Warfield, said in an email to The Minnesota Daily. “The possibilities are endless, but artists are creative and find new and surprising ways of using new ..read more

Spoiling their Twin Cities fans by returning to Minnesota a year and a half after their show at Target Center in 2022, Tool kept up their reputation as one of the most formidable forces in arena rock during their St. Paul concert on Oct. 31. With the same exact band line-up since 1995, Maynard James Keenan (singer), Adam Jones (guitar), Danny Carey (drums) and Justin Chancellor (bass) sounded as strong as ever over the course of their two-hour performance at Xcel Energy Center on Halloween night. Dominating most of their set were songs from their latest studio album, 2019’s “Fear Inoculum.” Th ..read more

Set behind a backdrop of a statue depicting Faye Webster as an ancient God-like figure, the Atlanta-based singer-songwriter and her band took the stage at First Avenue’s main room to an enthusiastic crowd. Despite not having released a studio album in over two years, Webster’s fans showed a level of excitement that was not present at her last show in Minnesota in 2022. Webster opened with “But Not Kiss,” a single released last summer ahead of what is expected to be another studio album. Webster started the song quietly singing and delicately strumming her guitar onstage. Then the sold-out crow ..read more

Virginia’s Basement is gaining popularity in the Twin Cities music scene with its self-proclaimed “emo trash” sound. The band, comprised of Santana “Santi” Vigil (guitar and vocals), Kyle Zendejas (drums) and Nen G Ramirez (keyboard) cites inspiration from 1980s punk and emo bands such as Fugazi and Rites of Spring. The band’s debut album, “BUBBY.” was recorded in their friend Bruce Riler’s Sonny Recording Studio in Faribault, Minnesota. “He really knew how to give us that Midwest sound and give us grit to sound good on tape,” Vigil said. Their songwriting process typically begins with Vigil w ..read more

Troye Sivan is no stranger to the exploration of love, identity and human connection in his songs but his latest album, “Something to Give Each Other,” is a significant step forward. The Australian pop sensation experiments with vibrant and modern sounds all while maintaining his signature songwriting. Troye Sivan fans love his authenticity; it’s what he’s known for. Ever since his days on YouTube, Sivan has connected with his audience, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community.  In an interview with Another Man, he emphasizes the importance of different LGBTQ perspectives in pop cultu ..read more

In the weeks leading up to the release of her memoir “The Woman in Me” on Tuesday, Britney Spears has returned to the tabloid spotlight, yet it is almost as if the pop genius never left the public consciousness.  Amid all the tabloid clickbait, it is important to remember what truly makes her great: her music and her performances. Naturally, being a woman in the industry, Spears was overlooked by misogynist music critics for years, but the reality is she has proved to be the greatest living artist in the pop genre today, a true generational icon.  Despite not performing live in nearl ..read more

The everlasting British rock icons, The Rolling Stones, released “Hackney Diamonds” Friday — their first collection of original material released since 2005. Despite staying strong as a live act for seven decades, their new album has some striking instances of the band showing their age in the studio, and not in a good way. After an 18-year-long gap where The Rolling Stones were “lazy” when it came to new original songs, the band decided to pump out a full studio album around last Christmas, their first since the death of long-time drummer Charlie Watts. While there are 12 tracks on “Hackney D ..read more