No Section

Pick Six: Praise for Norah Jones, Flogging Molly, U2, more

Pick Six is a half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view.

June 8, 2017 at 10:33PM

Jerry Anderson of St. Paul:

1 Norah Jones, Northrop. She blessed us with her songs in the acoustically perfect auditorium. She has a good repertoire of hits.

2 Flogging Molly, the Palace. The band was in a high-energy form, promoting the new album "Life Is Good."

3 Hurray for the Riff Raff, the Fine Line. The band put on an entertaining show supporting its new album, "Navigator," which could be the album of the year.

Contribute: popmusic@startribune.com.

Jon Bream of the Star Tribune:

1 U2, Chicago's Soldier Field. The entire "Joshua Tree" album sounded purposeful, potent and contemporary. The encore of "One," "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation" was positively uplifting, and the new tune, "The Little Things That Give You Away," was quite encouraging.

2 Rodrigo y Gabriela, First Avenue. What marvels they are on acoustic guitar, she with her ferocious percussive rhythms and he with his fast and intricate leads. Loved "Stairway to Heaven" and their take on "Take Five."

3 James Corden does "Mary Poppins" on a London street corner. At semaphores, Corden as Poppins, Ben Kingsley as Bert and an ensemble performed quickie scenes from the musical to the bemusement of drivers stopped at the light. Silly but bloody hilarious.