Two amazing tours that will be a pain in the ass to get to this Summer

by | Jan 12, 2016 | MUSIC

Oh man, it’s summer-tour announcement season and get ready to be disappointed by how far we’re gonna have to travel to see some of our favorite national bands.


Oh man, it’s summer-tour announcement season and get ready to be disappointed by how far we’re gonna have to travel to see some of our favorite national bands.

First up is Tame Impala whose new album Currents topped more best of 2015 charts than you could possibly imagine.

Don’t believe me? Listen below:

Since 2007 the Australian-born project of Kevin Parker has become a kind of psychedelic Willie Wonka leading drug fueled teens through a musical chocolate factory at every gig they play.

Yea, it’s freaking incredible. And the good news is they are hitting the road this summer with dates all around North America… and the closest one to us is at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 6/16.

The last time I went to Merriweather for a show it took my friend and I about 6 hours to get from RVA to our seats, so if you plan to make it, leave early! That show (Animal Collective a few years back) also happened on a Friday so perhaps this Thursday night-gig wont be so brutal.

To sweeten the pot, the French electronic music band M83 (led by Anthony Gonzalez) will open for Tame Impala, so you’re gonna get two international acts in one night. It’s been a few years since M83 have dropped anything, but with a new tour and rumors of a new release, you’re sure to get some new jams this time around.

Check out their hit video/song “Reunion” below:

Tickets go on sale this Friday, no price points have been released yet.

For those willing to go a bit further for a slightly more interesting setting, Tame Imapala is playing two shows in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on 6/14 and 6/15. If you got friends in the city, maybe now’s the time to set that shit up.

Up next on the “Oh god, I need to see this show but how the hell can I rationalize the trip” list is Florence and the Machine feature Grimes.

Yea, just soak that up for a second.

Florence should need no introduction, but for those uninformed she managed to top charts with her 2015 release How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. Her insanely epic track “What makes a man” similarly topped charts and became a kind of anthem for a lot of people… maybe just me?… probably other people too. Don’t believe me? Check out the NSFW video below:

English-born Florence Welch leads up the outstanding project which bares her name. She manages to mix melodrama and rock in a hyper-modern masterpiece loved by hipsters and moms and top 40 radio alike.

To contrast her more traditional sound, she’ll have Canadian alt-alt-performer Grimes who dropped Art Angles to similar acclaim late last year. Check out the first single from that release, “Flesh without Blood:”

As I wrote back in November, Art Angles has enough meat in it to qualify for best albums of 2015. Her mix of weirdness and pop was exactly what I needed during this past mild Fall season.

But sadly this match up wont come any closer than Tame Impala, with these two leading ladies are playing in the heart of Brooklyn at the Barclays Center on 6/14.

So if you can snag tickets to both Florence/Grimes on 6/14 and Tame Impala on 6/15 you’ll have yourself a pretty incredible week in NYC.

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner is the former editor of GayRVA and RVAMag from 2013 - 2017. He’s now the Richmond Bureau Chief for Radio IQ, a state-wide NPR outlet based in Roanoke. You can reach him at BradKutnerNPR@gmail.com




more in music

Phish Announces Two-Night Richmond Run at Allianz Amphitheater

Phish is bringing its legendary live show back to Richmond for the first time in more than three decades. The Vermont jam band has announced an eight-show October tour that includes a two-night stop at Allianz Amphitheater on October 6 and 7. Richmond is one of just...

Photos | Djo & Pond at Allianz Amphitheater

Djo, the musical project of actor and musician Joe Keery, made his Richmond debut at Allianz Amphitheater on Friday night, drawing a packed crowd for one of the summer's most anticipated indie shows. Best known to many as Steve Harrington from Stranger Things, Keery...

Dispatch from the Lewis Ginter Picket Line

An on-the-ground account of the strike that prompted Jesse Welles and Graham Nash to cancel their Richmond performances. Tensions escalated as Jesse Welles called off his performance at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden yesterday amid an ongoing union fight for higher...

In Plan 9 We Trust

This weekend, Plan 9 Music marks 45 years in Richmond with a party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Over the past four and a half decades, the Richmond institution weathered some of the most turbulent periods in music history. It closed stores, sold its warehouse and...

RVA Pro Wrestling is on a Tear Right Now

Last year, Dogwood Dell was packed out. The hillside was full, the crowd was loud and RVA Pro Wrestling put on one hell of a show. It wasn't just wrestling. It was entertainment built for a Richmond audience, mixing big personalities, over-the-top antics and...

Photos | The Strokes at Allianz Amphitheatre

The Strokes are the most important rock band of the 21st century. In 2001, they changed the dial from grunge to garage, and singlehandedly sent every record label on a scavenger hunt for their sauce. If you weren’t around back then you might think I’m exaggerating....