New York based art punks Blonde Redhead are heading on tour to celebrate their first new album in nearly a decade. Sit Down For Dinner is due on September 29th via section1 Records and the band are warming up for the tour with intimate gigs in London, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right. Check out the dreamy lead single “Snowman” along with photos from the show at Baby’s on Wednesday, June 14th.
Blonde Redhead’s catalog dates back to the mid 90s when the post-punk and shoegaze scene was thriving in New York City. The band, consisting of vocalist Kazu Makino and twin bothers Simone and Amedeo Pace, released nine records to their name with the last one, Barragán, coming back in 2014. After a mostly quiet hiatus with some scattered shows, the trio is back at it with a new LP and lengthy headlining tour. The band just played intimate warm up shows in LA and NYC, with the next one at The Lexington in London in July. The full tour kicks off in October with a North American run followed by a leg in Europe. Head over to the band’s website for the full itinerary.
The excitement was palpable at Baby’s on Wednesday night. All the fans who made it out to the show knew they were in for a treat to see the legendary band in such an intimate setting. Housing only a couple hundred people, the venue quickly packed in tight. After the opening bands finished up, Kazu, Amedeo, and Simone took to the stage to meticulously set up their gear. The audience began to buzz with anticipation, and the trio was well aware of it. At one point, Simone asked a fan in the front to plug in his pedal board to an outlet he couldn’t reach, much to the fan’s delight.
Blonde Redhead leaned heavily into the more recent parts of their catalog, opening the show with “Falling Man” from 2004’s Misery is a Butterfly followed by the slinky darkwave of “Here Sometimes” from 2010’s Penny Sparkle. The trio played a few unrecognized songs off the upcoming record Sit Down For Dinner including two labeled “Sit Down For Dinner 1 & 2” on the handwritten setlist. The main set ended with lead single “Snowman” followed by an encore featuring “Silently” and “23.”
The trio breezed through the short but immensely captivating setlist with an effortless grace you would expect from a band playing together for 30 years. At one point, Kazu felt there was some feedback coming from her set-up, asking the crowd if they were hearing what she was. Someone yelled from the darkness “we don’t hear it, you all sound amazing!” The statement brought big smiles to the band, who continued to unleash their infectious art punk.
Aside from the warm up show next month in London, the band is opening for Phantogram on August 31st in Utah. Kazu, Simone, and Amedeo then take a short break before kicking off the tour in October in San Francisco. Blonde Redhead return to New York on November 10th for a show at Brooklyn Steel. Tickets are still available HERE and make sure to check out Sit Down For Dinner this September.
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