Experimental indie rockers Menomena began their fall tour in Boise, Idaho on Friday, October 26. The trio, whose ever-changing live dynamics are not to be missed, will add banjo-tinged indie rockers Illinois to the tour starting on Halloween.
The three-week tour hits the East Coast and the Midwest. Its poster art (shown left) was designed by friend Tyler Stout, who rendered the threesome as the characters from morbid ’80s comedy Beetlejuice.
Menomena members Brent Knopf, Justin Harris, and Danny Seim play with an array of instruments while recording and performing. A typical show will have Knopf playing keyboards, electric guitar, and glockenspiel while generating a variety of MIDI samples on his laptop.
Harris usually plays electric guitar, baritone guitar, electric bass, Moog Taurus foot synthesizer, and baritone and alto saxophone. Seim plays drums along with other percussive instruments, and all three members provide vocal harmonies while lead vocals alternate on various songs.
ALARM featured Menomena in its 25th issue, explaining that it’s “no surprise that men with such palpable talent somehow manage to make it all work.”
Menomena signed with Barsuk Records in 2006, and made their debut on the label in early 2007 with full-length album Friend and Foe. Independent record label FILMguerrero, based in their hometown of Portland, helped distribute their first full-length, I Am the Fun Blame Monster!, which the band self-produced in late 2004.
Tour Dates:
10/26 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10/27 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
10/28 – Boulder, CO @ the Fox Theater
10/30 – St. Louis, MO @ Billiken Club
10/31 – Nashville, TN @ the Exit/In
11/1 – Asheville, NC @ the Orange Peel
11/2 – Tallahassee, FL @ the Club Downunder
11/3 – Orlando, FL @ the Social
11/4 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack RabbitÂ’s
11/6 – Washington, D.C. @ the Black Cat
11/7 – Philadelphia, PA @ the First Unitarian Church
11/9 – Boston, MA @ the Paradise
11/10 – New York City, NY @ Webster Hall
11/12 – Montreal, Quebec @ La Sala Rossa
11/13 – Toronto, Ontario @ the Mod Club
11/14 – Ann Arbor, MI @ the Blind Pig
11/15 – Chicago, IL @ the Metro
11/16 – Grinell, IA @ Grinnell College
11/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ the Varsity Theater
*Illinois supports 10/31 – 11/17
Menomena: www.menomena.com
Barsuk Records: www.barsuk.com
FILMguerrero: www.filmg.com
Tyler Stout: www.tstout.com