Win Tickets ($68): Neal Francis – Return to Zero Tour w/ Color Green @ Revolution Hall | Psychedelic, Rock, Indie

We are giving away a pair of tickets to Neal Francis @ Revolution Hall on May 16. To win, comment below on this post why you’d like to attend. Winner will be drawn and emailed May 12.

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From our sponsors:
Neal Francis w/ Color Green
May 16, 2025
7pm doors, 8pm show | $34.77 | All Ages
Purchase Tickets: etix.com

Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St #203, Portland, OR 97214

The latest album from Neal Francis, Return To Zero, emerged from the kind of visionary fever dream that only the most masterful and inventive artists are capable of bringing to life. Amid a grueling tour schedule that found him playing nearly 400 shows from 2021 to 2024, the Chicago-based singer/songwriter/pianist immersed himself in creating a beautifully strange entangling of timeless rock & roll and ’70s-era dance music, merging supremely heavy guitar riffs with lush and pulsating grooves—all constructed sans digital programming, in keeping with his devotion to all things analog. Worlds away from the glitzy fantasia of archetypal disco, Return To Zero inhabits a far moodier atmosphere and ultimately makes for the most thrilling manifestation of Francis’ peerless musicality yet.

Equal parts heady and hedonistic, pensive and euphoric, Francis’ third studio LP echoes both his deep-rooted psych-rock sensibilities and a lifelong affinity for classic funk. “I’ve always been intrigued by music that toes the line between funk and rock,” notes Francis. “In the past I’ve asked myself things like, ‘What would it sound like if Thin Lizzy cut a disco record?’ It’s something I’ve been fascinated with for a very long time, so I finally decided to really go for it.”

Like all of his studio work so far (including his 2022 EP Sentimental Garbage), Return To Zero finds Francis co-producing alongside his frequent collaborator Sergio Rios and recording live with members of his touring band (drummer Collin O’Brien, bassist Mike Starr, guitarist Kellen Boersma), elegantly showcasing his prodigious talent and dazzling originality as a keyboard player. Mainly created at Rios’ L.A. studio, the album’s grandiose yet warmly inviting sound also took shape from his close collaboration with composer/conductor Dom Frigo (who aided Francis by transcribing the LP’s symphonic string sections), Say She She (a Brooklyn-based psychedelic-soul trio who adorn a number of songs with their beguiling backing vocals), and a stacked lineup of co-writers that includes Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman and Wild Belle co-founder Elliot Bergman.