A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
Fiona C. Quick of Minneapolis:
1 Pet Shop Boys/New Order Unity Tour. After two postponements, the long-awaited tour finally comes to Minneapolis on Sunday at the Armory. PSB's "Hotspot" (2020) has some great dance numbers reminiscent of their old stuff but with a maturity behind the lyrics reflecting their age. "Happy People" in particular hits.
2 Pharoah Sanders. The jazz saxophone legend died at age 81. His 2021 album "Promises" is a masterpiece. Play "Movement 1" for an experience you can't unlive.
3 Queen Elizabeth II. As a dual citizen, with a Welsh mum, I found it difficult seeing the death of Her Majesty. As a punk at heart, I have mixed emotions on the role of the monarchy in the U.K. so as I listen to "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols, and, because I love my mum, I also watched Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Tom Jones perform at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 Brandi Carlile, "In the Canyon Haze." Playing on a picturesque Los Angeles mountain broadcast live to IMAX theaters, she and her acoustic band Laurel Canyon-ized songs from her latest album, "In These Silent Days," putting the emphasis on vocals and harmonies. Her wife Catherine harmonized on a tune and relayed questions from fans via rotary phone. For a bonus: an acoustic "Space Oddity" and an electric "Woodstock." A very special evening. (It will be screened again on Sunday.)
2 Marcus King Band, Palace Theatre. He showed no sense of pacing — using three opening acts (only Neal Francis, a modern-day Steve Winwood, impressed) and starting in overdrive for the first hour of his own 135-minute set and then shifting into low gear for the next half hour. However, King, 26, is prodigiously talented. A soulful vocalist, a generous bandleader (every player got solo spots) and, most importantly, a skillful guitarist who can play lightning fast and stirringly slow.
