Erik Thompson

Alternative energy: Tipping at windmills

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Black Francis, Breeders shows announced

Two members of the Pixies will hit the Twin Cities this summer.

Gimme Shelter raises more than $6,000 for Haiti

We are so grateful for everyone's support.

The Besnard Lakes lay waste to the Entry

Photo by Erik Thompson​Midway through the Besnard Lakes' thrilling set in the Entry last night, the band joked that "you're all just here because Yeasayer sold out" -- which might have been true for some people in the audience, but I knew plenty of others like me that left Yeasayer's mediocre set ... More >>

Quiet Please with Low, Kate Nash, and more

Photo by Erik Thompson​Midway through the Besnard Lakes' thrilling set in the Entry last night, the band joked that "you're all just here because Yeasayer sold out" -- which might have been true for some people in the audience, but I knew plenty of others like me that left Yeasayer's mediocre set ... More >>

Sage Francis, the Fleshtones, and more

Photo by Erik Thompson​Midway through the Besnard Lakes' thrilling set in the Entry last night, the band joked that "you're all just here because Yeasayer sold out" -- which might have been true for some people in the audience, but I knew plenty of others like me that left Yeasayer's mediocre set ... More >>

Elite Gymnastics, Whitesand/Badlands featured in this week's City Pages

Photo by Nick VlcekElite Gymnastics celebrate their newfound success at McDonald's​We've got a packed music section for you in this week's City Pages. Here's a preview of all the articles you'll find in today's print edition.Elite Gymnastics ride the chillwaveBy Jonathan GarrettThe local electro d ... More >>

The Faint at First Avenue, 07/21/10

Photos by Tony Nelson​The FaintJuly 21, 2010First AvenueWith everything that the Faint brought with them on stage Wednesday night at First Avenue, it's possible that the crowd would've been entertained even if the band never played a note. There were seven aliens/mannequins strategically placed ... More >>

Lou Barlow and the Missingmen at the 400 Bar, 8/25/10

Photos by Erik Thompson​Lou Barlow and the Missingmen400 BarAugust 25, 2010Lou Barlow brought his merry band of Missingmen (guitarist Tom Watson and drummer Raul Morales) with him to the 400 Bar Wednesday night, delivering a loose, engaging set that spanned Barlow's prolific career. It was nice to ... More >>

Dark Dark Dark, Roma di Luna featured in this week's City Pages

Photo by Ben Stannard​This Saturday, two separate and ever-evolving bands with two entirely separate interpretations of indie folk will come together for a dual CD-release show at First Avenue. In honor of this huge show, we sat down with members of both Dark Dark Dark and Roma di Luna to talk abo ... More >>

Doomtree Blowout, Tricky, Dark Dark Dark, and more

Photo by Ben Stannard​This Saturday, two separate and ever-evolving bands with two entirely separate interpretations of indie folk will come together for a dual CD-release show at First Avenue. In honor of this huge show, we sat down with members of both Dark Dark Dark and Roma di Luna to talk abo ... More >>

Best National Albums of 2010

​As 2010 winds to a close, many of us here at Gimme Noise have been hard at work drafting up as many lists as humanly possible. Rather than create on unified list of the national albums that we loved this year, we thought it more appropriate to post each of our individual picks for the best albums ... More >>

Grant Cutler & the Gorgeous Lords, the Bad Plus, and more

​As 2010 winds to a close, many of us here at Gimme Noise have been hard at work drafting up as many lists as humanly possible. Rather than create on unified list of the national albums that we loved this year, we thought it more appropriate to post each of our individual picks for the best albums ... More >>

Wu Tang Clan, Dearling Physique, and more

​As 2010 winds to a close, many of us here at Gimme Noise have been hard at work drafting up as many lists as humanly possible. Rather than create on unified list of the national albums that we loved this year, we thought it more appropriate to post each of our individual picks for the best albums ... More >>

Lauryn Hill, S. Carey, the Concretes, and more

​As 2010 winds to a close, many of us here at Gimme Noise have been hard at work drafting up as many lists as humanly possible. Rather than create on unified list of the national albums that we loved this year, we thought it more appropriate to post each of our individual picks for the best albums ... More >>

Weekend Checklist: Dave King, Tesla, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Snoop, the Current's birthday party, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

The Jayhawks, Best New Bands, Lyrics Born, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Zoo Animal, Dillinger Four, and Lyle Lovett

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Best Coast, Gang of Four, Boz Scaggs

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Crystal Castles, Cold War Kids, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Stnnng, MEN, the Constellations, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Volcano Choir, Amos Lee, the Dodos, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Subhumans, Jeff Beck, House of Pain, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Pixies, TV on the Radio, Rusko, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Eddie Vedder, the Black Keys, the Monkees, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Critics' Picks: Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Kid Cudi, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

DJ Shadow, Fleet Foxes, the Suburbs, and more

​This weekend, like so many other weekends, is chock-full of fun, musical things for you to spend your time doing in tandem with other people who had the same idea.And we're here to help, with our humble suggestions on musical things happening this weekend.

Top 10 concert photos of the summer so far

It's been a rainy start to our summer so far, but that hasn't stopped Twin Cities fans from busting out their ponchos and going outdoors to take in live music. Between Rock the Garden, Soundset, the Warped Tour, and shows at the Minnesota Zoo's amphitheater, concertgoers have had plenty of chances t ... More >>

Dolly Parton, Handsome Furs, Journey, and more

It's been a rainy start to our summer so far, but that hasn't stopped Twin Cities fans from busting out their ponchos and going outdoors to take in live music. Between Rock the Garden, Soundset, the Warped Tour, and shows at the Minnesota Zoo's amphitheater, concertgoers have had plenty of chances t ... More >>

Top 10 concert photos of August 2011

It's been another big month for concert photography on the Gimme Noise blog and in City Pages -- so big, in fact, that one of our photographer's photos of the Flaming Lips ended up on the cover of the paper last week (well done, Erik Hess!). See that photo and nine other favorites from the month bel ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Blink 182, Psychedelic Furs, and more

It's been another big month for concert photography on the Gimme Noise blog and in City Pages -- so big, in fact, that one of our photographer's photos of the Flaming Lips ended up on the cover of the paper last week (well done, Erik Hess!). See that photo and nine other favorites from the month bel ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Foo Fighters, Lindsey Buckingham, Braids, and more

It's been another big month for concert photography on the Gimme Noise blog and in City Pages -- so big, in fact, that one of our photographer's photos of the Flaming Lips ended up on the cover of the paper last week (well done, Erik Hess!). See that photo and nine other favorites from the month bel ... More >>

Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps, Dark Dark Dark, and Dead Man Winter at First Avenue, 9/16/11

Photo by Ben Clark​Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps, Dark Dark Dark, and Dead Man WinterSeptember 16, 2011First AvenueThere was a lot to celebrate at First Avenue on Friday night. Not only were both Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps and Dead Man Winter celebrating the release ... More >>

The Rapture, Girls, James Blake, and more

Photo by Ben Clark​Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps, Dark Dark Dark, and Dead Man WinterSeptember 16, 2011First AvenueThere was a lot to celebrate at First Avenue on Friday night. Not only were both Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps and Dead Man Winter celebrating the release ... More >>

Rocktober opening weekend concert roundup

They don't call it Rocktober for nothin'. Fall has always been a popular time for touring musicians to hit the road, and it's making for some busy nights at venues across the Twin Cities. Nearly every night, concertgoers are faced with some tough choices -- like tonight, when Astronautalis performs ... More >>

Picked to Click 2011: The ballots

​​As is the yearly tradition, we're publishing the ballots of all 115 of our Picked to Click voters for your perusal. Check out all of this year's contributors below, and thanks to all the writers, photographers, label owners, club bookers, DJs, and local music experts for weighing in on th ... More >>

Wu-Tang Clan coming back to Epic January 7

Photo by Tony Nelson​Almost exactly a year after the killa bees descended on Epic last winter, the Wu-Tang Clan plan a return to Minneapolis on January 7 this year.  It takes brave souls to rap in the dead of winter in this town, but the New York crew is no stranger to snow -- or the warm sup ... More >>

Critics' Picks: The Kooks, Tribute to the Replacements, Drinksgiving, and more

Photo by Tony Nelson​Almost exactly a year after the killa bees descended on Epic last winter, the Wu-Tang Clan plan a return to Minneapolis on January 7 this year.  It takes brave souls to rap in the dead of winter in this town, but the New York crew is no stranger to snow -- or the warm sup ... More >>

Minnesota's Best Albums of 2011

Low, Doomtree, Brute Heart top best local releases

Critics' Picks: Vampire Hands, Alexander O'Neal, Twilight Hours, and more

Low, Doomtree, Brute Heart top best local releases

Critics' Picks: Mark Mallman in 3-D, the New Standards, and more

Low, Doomtree, Brute Heart top best local releases

Critics' Picks: Buffalo Moon, Birthday Suits, and more

Low, Doomtree, Brute Heart top best local releases

A fond farewell, and changes ahead for Gimme Noise

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​Today marks my last day at the helm of this blog, and the end of a journey that I began with City Pages nearly four years ago. Naturally, I have quite a few thoughts about closing this chapter, and you can read all about the history of Gimme Noise and my thoughts on the pas ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Charlie Parr, Friends Like These, Dom, and more

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​Today marks my last day at the helm of this blog, and the end of a journey that I began with City Pages nearly four years ago. Naturally, I have quite a few thoughts about closing this chapter, and you can read all about the history of Gimme Noise and my thoughts on the pas ... More >>

Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards, Father You See Queen, and more

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​Today marks my last day at the helm of this blog, and the end of a journey that I began with City Pages nearly four years ago. Naturally, I have quite a few thoughts about closing this chapter, and you can read all about the history of Gimme Noise and my thoughts on the pas ... More >>

Critics' Picks: The Supersuckers, Los Campesinos!, and more

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​Today marks my last day at the helm of this blog, and the end of a journey that I began with City Pages nearly four years ago. Naturally, I have quite a few thoughts about closing this chapter, and you can read all about the history of Gimme Noise and my thoughts on the pas ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Jeff Magnum, Lenny Kravitz, and more

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​Today marks my last day at the helm of this blog, and the end of a journey that I began with City Pages nearly four years ago. Naturally, I have quite a few thoughts about closing this chapter, and you can read all about the history of Gimme Noise and my thoughts on the pas ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Starkey, the Darkness, the Best Love Is Free, and more

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​Today marks my last day at the helm of this blog, and the end of a journey that I began with City Pages nearly four years ago. Naturally, I have quite a few thoughts about closing this chapter, and you can read all about the history of Gimme Noise and my thoughts on the pas ... More >>