The Magnetic Fields have been in the Pacific Northwest all week performing for sold-out crowds in Portland and Seattle. Seattle Weekly called the first Seattle show "a night filled with uncommonly brilliant artistry." The band heads next to the Bay Area for two Noise Pop festival shows in Oakland and San Francisco, a DJ set from Stephin Merritt at Amoeba, and a sneak preview of the documentary on the band, Strange Powers.
The Magnetic Fields have been in the Pacific Northwest all week, performing music from their latest Nonesuch release, Realism, and from deep in the Stephin Merritt songbook for sold-out crowds in multi-night stints at Portland's Aladdin Theater and Town Hall Seattle. The band next heads south to California for two sold-out shows in the Bay Area as part of the Noise Pop festival—Saturday at the Fox Theater in Oakland and Monday at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre—followed by another sold-out set, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in L.A. on Tuesday. And in the midst of all that, Stephin Merritt will be DJing and signing albums at Amoeba in San Francisco Sunday afternoon at 2 PM.
The band's participation in the Noise Pop festival led naturally to the inclusion of the new film Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields in the festival's events. The documentary feature, which follows the band over the course of a decade, will be given a sneak preview Sunday night at Mezzanine in San Francisco. The world premiere of the film will take place at the SXSW Film Festival, which runs from March 12 through 20 in Austin, Texas. For more on the film and to watch the trailer, visit strangepowersfilm.com.
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Shortly before the Seattle shows, Merritt spoke with Seattle Weekly, whose Nick Feldman said of the new album, "Populated by a diverse array of characters that match the album's stylistic eclecticism, the songwriting on Realism is impressively brief and sharp." After seeing the band in action at Town Hall, Feldman exclaimed, "it was a night filled with uncommonly brilliant artistry." For the concert review at photos, visit seattleweekly.com.
Merritt also spoke with The Stranger's Chris Estey for an extensive Q&A, and following the first night at Town Hall, Cienna Madrid reviewed the show for the Stranger's Line Out blog, saying the ambiance of the hall "provided the perfect backdrop for Stephin Merritt's wrenching lyrics and sweet melodies, which weave themselves together with the odd grace of a clubfoot ballet." Madrid calls the performance "impressive," and admits: "Being forced to sit still and listen to Merritt's lyrics always gives me a renewed appreciation of his immense talent." Read more at thestranger.com.
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