Dorothea Paas opened for this show at First Avenue, and she was the perfect calm
before the storm. The singer-songwriter talked about her experiences on tour, especially in
Minneapolis, and what each song meant to her personally. Her vocals reminded me most of
Linda Perhacs, as they were very delicate, but her instrumentation was mostly electric and she
incorporated more experimental methods of songwriting, like completely distorting her voice
against a beautiful, droning keyboard melody.

Stereolab’s set was punctual yet extensive, as their set list brought their performance
length under two hours, but they performed a satisfying balance of groove and noise. I didn’t
necessarily expect to find myself dancing at this show, but starting the show with “Aerial
Troubles” ensured the tone was set. It felt like the band captured lightning in a bottle with how
they brought an irresistible urge to dance with every song. The biggest culprits of this were
“Aerial Troubles”, “Peng! 33”, “Miss Modular”, “Cybele’s Reverie”, and “Immortal Hands”.
Laetitia Sadier even complimented the crowd on their dancing skills right after watching them
go to town during “Miss Modular”.

However, they also proved they’re still able to bring the noise to their songs a la
Transient Random Noise Bursts… as their performances of “Melodie Is a Wound” and
“Electrified Teenybop!” both featured extended instrumental outros laced with dissonance,
distortion, and that infusion of droning, krautrock-esque synthesizers that defined their earlier
work.

“Cybele’s Reverie” was originally going to be their last song, but after the crowd clapped
and cheered for many consecutive minutes, the band came back on stage to perform an encore
consisting of “The Way Will Be Opening” and “Immortal Hands”, dedicating the former to
recently-passed Conrad Sverkerson, a longtime First Avenue employee and the Stage Manager
since 1990.