Andrew WK – First Avenue – Minneapolis MN – September 20th 2017

If your only impression of Andrew W.K. is based on his most familiar picture; the bloody nose “I Get Wet” album cover, you should know there’s more to this artist than meets the eye. He is in fact a songwriter, singer/multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, motivational speaker and music producer. His “The Party Never Dies Tour 2017” has brought him back on stage with a full band for the first time in 5 years, which has created excitement among his fanbase. This outing fortunately included a Minnesota stop at First Avenue 10/18 that attracted a sizeable crowd of enthusiastic followers.

The party escalated from 0 to 10 quickly as Andrew W.K. kicked off his 19 song set with “Music is Worth Living For”. He was of course dressed in the usual white jeans / white t-shirt combo and wasted no time getting the crowd riled up. The entire performance was upbeat and high energy keeping him very busy fronting the band with vocals, pounding out intense solo’s on keyboards and a throwing in a little guitar work for good measure.

The light show complimented the performance and the audio mix was very good and consistent throughout as we can always count on from First Avenue. There was no mistaking the shows primary focus with the word “Party” sprinkled throughout numerous song titles including one of his biggest hits and set closer “Party Hard”. Local Rock legend, Mark Mallman, provided a solid opening set that succeeded in getting the crowd fired up and in the desired party focused mindset. In all, this was a quality show with an exceptional level of both entertainment and fun that delivered on crowd expectation.

Song List:
Music is Worth Living For
Take it Off
Ready to Die
Totally Stupid
She is Beautiful
Tear It Up
You Will Remember Tonight
The Moving Room
Party Till You Puke
Never Let Down
We Want Fun
I Love NYC (Minnesota)
I Get Wet
It’s Time to Party
Girls Own Love
Pushing Drugs
Party Party Party
Encore:
Don’t Stop Living in the Red
Party Hard

Review and photos by Patrick Dunn