Artists to Fall for this October

Check out which artists are coming to Des Moines for the spookiest month of the year.

Vocalist and cellist of the Ballroom Thieves, photo courtesy of Matthew Lomano

While Des Moines has underground venues for every day of the week, the Wells Fargo Arena is bringing in headlining artists this fall, like Fall Out Boy and Machine Gun Kelly on Saturday, October 6. MGK is notorious for his louder than life, rebellious rock-punk-rap sound and has been making noise in the music world recently after he went after rapper, Eminem. With a new album out, MGK and Fall Out Boy are sure to be a lively combination.

If you’re looking for something to curb your rave craving, Black Tiger Sex Machine is making its way to Wooly’s Thursday, October 11. The Canadian electronic trio known for their post-rock sound and heavy visuals will be taking the stage with Subtronics and Lektrique to debut their new album, New Worlds, which came out in March.

Cane Hill makes a grungy, heavy metal appearance at Vaudeville Mews on Monday, October 15. Their sophomore album, Too Far Gone, held the number 1 spot on Billboard Heatseekers chart and is on their headlining tour that starts on September 25. Their past venues have included Van’s Warped Tour, a supporting artist for Of Mice and Men’s tour last February and performed at the New Orleans WWE Women’s champion match in April.

Ari Staprans Leff, more popularly known as Lauv by the indie-pop world will be stopping by Wooly’s on Sunday, October 21. The San Francisco native will be closing out his national tour that began this January. Last year, Leff released a single called “Question” that featured rapper, Travis Mills and co-wrote “No Promises” for pop-star Demi Lovato. Catch him before his ticket prices skyrocket as this artist moves up the charts.

Stop back at Wooly’s a couple days later to see an intimate performance by Chief Keef on Tuesday, October 23. The Chicago native, born Keith Farrelle Cozart saw his come-up in the late 2010’s when his single “I Don’t Like” was remixed by Kanye West and saw Billboard’s Top 10 for a brief moment. Keef is known for his energetic and lively rap performances, often bringing his political views and rambunctious personality to the stage.

The Ballroom Thieves bring a little Americana-folk rock to Gas Lamp on Grand on Thursday, October 25. Similar to the sounds of The Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons, The Ballroom Thieves have made a point to add their name to the all stars of folk rock. In 2017, they collaborated with Ryan Hadlock, producer of The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile and Vance Joy, and held a hefty percentage of the songs added to Spotify’s resident ‘Favorite Coffeehouse’ playlist. This helped catapult their 2017 single, “Bees” to 10 million streams on Spotify.

Keep an eye out for November’s line up toward the end of the month, and what new and underground artists are visiting Des Moines - and who’s headlining the Wells Fargo Arena in the coming months.

xoxo,

s

Samantha Miller (@samantharachelmiller) is a freelance writer from Chicago. She prides herself on her occasional wit, her keen eye for design and her undying love for iced almond milk lattes.

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