Train, Avett Brothers will headline Basilica Block Party

Article by: JON BREAM , Star Tribune
Updated: April 21, 2012 - 12:00 AM

Fitz & the Tantrums and hot newcomers the Head and the Heart and the Lumineers also will play the July 6-7 fest.

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FILE - Basilica Block Party

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One hitmaking band, Train, and one hip band with an overdue album, the Avett Brothers, will headline the 18th annual Basilica Block Party July 6-7.

Still chugging along on the impetus of the 2010 smash "Hey, Soul Sister" and the new "Drive By" from this week's album "California 37," Train will return to the fundraiser outside the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis on Friday, July 6. Also on the main stage that night will be the Head and the Heart, the Seattle harmonizers behind the 2011 hit "Lost in My Mind," and singer-songwirter Mat Kearney, known for "Ships in the Night."

The Avett Brothers, who blend bluegrass, punk and pop into an intoxicating mix, will come back to the block party on Saturday, July 7. The North Carolina ensemble was well-received at the event in 2010, and fans are awaiting the arrival this year of a long-promised Rick Rubin-produced album.

Appearing before them on the main stage will be Fitz & the Tantrums, the retro-cool Los Angeles soul band that was a hit at the party last year, and, probably the hippest booking of the weekend, the Lumineers, a Denver acoustic folk-pop group that suggests early Bob Dylan fronting a coed Mumford & Sons.

Put together by Cities 97 radio and Minneapolis promoter Sue McLean, the block party has raised more than $4 million for the restoration of the 98-year-old Basilica.

Held outdoors on the Basilica grounds, the party has three stages, with one focusing on local acts, including A. Wolf & her Claws, Farewell Milwaukee and Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles. The secondary stage in front of the Basilica will feature jam-band rock faves and block party returnees O.A.R., Sacramento rockers Cake, London groovy pop duo Graffiti6 and Las Vegas rockers Imagine Dragons.

Tickets cost $70 for a two-day pass or $40 for one night through June 25. Thereafter, the prices are $80 and $45. VIP tickets, which include bleacher seating for the main stage, cost $250. Starting May 5, tickets will be available at Ticketmaster outlets, 1-800-745-3000, www.basilicablockparty.org or Barrio restaurants (which has no service fee). Members of Cities 97's Frequent Listeners Club can buy tickets on May 3.

Follow Bream on Twitter: @jonbream