English alternative rock duo Blood Red Shoes are coming to Prague as part of their European Tour 2014. The Brighton-based band, composed of Laura-Mary Carter on guitar and Steven Ansell on drums, have been rocking since late 2004. They took their name from a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire musical, in which Ginger Rogers practiced so much for her role that she turned her white dancing shoes red with blood. Blood Red Shoes are now touring with 24 shows in 10 European countries to promote their new self-titled album that was released in March 2014.
Blood Red Shoes is the duo's fourth album and it features 12 tracks, including the last single "An Animal." The release of the album was preceded by the Online Deals single "A Perfect Mess." The song was made available on Dec. 1, 2013 on the band's website after 10 QR codes were found by fans in different cities across the world.
Blood Red Shoes was produced and recorded by the duo alone during six months in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, with no sound engineers, A&R people or producers. "It came out as our rawest, heaviest, sexiest and most confident sounding record so far," Steve Ansell told the media when the album was announced.
Barry Nicolson in music magazine NME said that the album is "probably the duo's most satisfying effort to date." He added that however the duo is best at playing live and the album doesn't quite capture the tooth-and-claw ferocity of that experience.
Jon Clark in the music webzine Drowned in Sound agreed about the album. "Blood Red Shoes is a confident, swaggering, riff-heavy barrage that is no longer the work of a band with something to prove: it's the work of a band who have proved it already."
According to published set lists, the concert will feature about 18 songs, mainly from the new album but also featuring prominent singles from the previous three works including, typically, "Say Something, Say Anything," "I Wish I Was Someone Better," "This Is Not For You" and "Light It Up."
The European dates of the tour will be supported by The Wytches, an English three-piece surf-psych band based in Brighton. After 11 concerts in the United Kingdom in May, Blood Red Shoes will move to North America for the second leg of their 2014 tour, featuring 20 shows in Canada and the States, before heading back to Europe to take part in two music festivals in Germany and Spain.
Tampa Bay Rays: A-. As the old phrase goes, "that's so Rays". And sure enough, the Rays had a tremendous winter once again. First and foremost, they did *not* trade ace David Price, refusing to sell low on their best asset. The club revamped their bullpen by signing closer Grant Balfour, acquiring The Heath Bell Experience, picking up Brad Boxberger in a trade, and bringing back a hopefully healthy Juan Carlos Oviedo. The Rays also added some pitching depth in former Nationals prospect Nate Karns (in exchange for third catcher Jose Lobaton and a pair of other prospects), and solidified their catching depth by re-signing Jose Molina and acquiring Ryan Hanigan in the Bell trade. Tampa Bay also re-signed David DeJesus and James Loney, while bringing in Logan Forsythe as part of the return from San Diego along with Boxberger. It's amazing what Tampa Bay does year after year on such a shoestring budget.
Texas Rangers: A-. During a winter where the AL West went crazy, the Rangers had to follow suit. They let Nelson Cruz walk, and replaced him with Shin-Soo Choo. Texas dealt long-time second baseman Ian Kinsler to the Tigers for Prince Fielder, upgrading their offense and allowing stud prospect Jurickson Profar to move into the lineup as well. The Rangers also bought low on a few players, bringing in Tommy Hanson, J.P. Arencibia, and Michael Choice to fill lesser roles on the team. Out of all of the AL West squads, the Rangers may have improved the most out of all of them, and are once again in a great position to contend.
Toronto Blue Jays: F. After last winter's blockbuster trade that went poof, the Blue Jays pretty much stood pat this winter. Their only major acquisition was Dioner Navarro, who will be replacing J.P. Arencibia behind the dish. Aside from that...it's a lot of the same stuff in Toronto. The Blue Jays didn't bother replacing the injury-prone Josh Johnson in the rotation, instead opting to roll with an endless parade of injury-prone starters past R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle. The Blue Jays are counting on health to improve on their 74 wins from last year, but considering how much work the other AL East teams put into improving their teams this winter, Toronto might be left in the dust.
Washington Nationals: A. We close with the Nationals, who took a preseason favorite team from 2013 and turned it into...an even better preseason favorite team. They replaced Dan Haren in the rotation with Doug Fister, a superior, cheaper pitcher. They return their entire starting offense from a year ago, though Anthony Rendon will be up and starting at second base for the entire year. They added three complimentary pieces at reasonable prices as well - Jose Lobaton, Nate McLouth, and Jerry Blevins. All Washington has to do is stay healthy, and they should coast to the playoffs.
