Girl at the Rock Shows

To say that 2023 has started off in an amazing way would be an understatement. I am only three shows in for the year and, with a goal of 300, I have a long ways to go but I think I’ll go ahead and call it– one of the bands that I saw on Thursday night will end up in my top sets of the year. There, I said it. Now read on to find out who it is and why!

The Thursday night show at The 7th Street Entry in downtown Minneapolis kicked off with Whispered The Rabbit. This was their first time performing in the legendary room and holy cow did they make it count! The two words that instantly came to mind as this highly talented band jumped into their set were “journey” and “whimsy”. Okay, I’ve used whimsical before and I feel like it’s a fairly self-explanatory adjective so I feel like that doesn’t need much explanation but what do I mean by “journey”? Basically, Whispered The Rabbit’s music feels like the soundtrack for a journey. It’s explorative and emotive in a way I had never experienced before. With no lyrics, I was shocked by the way the band was able to emit so much energy, power, and emotion with just their playing.

Being someone who loves something a little different, I was obviously struck by violinist Faith Eskola. I know a violin isn’t a super strange instrument or anything but the way Faith performed was absolutely captivating. The amount of passion and love that they put into every note was not lost on me or the rest of the packed audience and although the entire band was great and all members had a place and time to shine, it was all eyes on Faith throughout their quick opening set.

Whispered the Rabbit’s set left me completely stunned, floored, shocked– enter any word like that here. Although just the first band of the three band line-up and only the fourth band I have seen so far this year, I truly think it’s safe to say that this band will be in my top lists of this year. It was just so good. Like good enough that my words will not do it justice. It was perfect, interesting, powerful– it was just absolutely amazing and was a hell of the way to kick off my night.

I was still reeling from Whispered the Rabbit’s set as Larry Wish took the stage. As the emcee for the night said, after seeing Larry Wish live, your life becomes life before Larry Wish and then after Larry Wish. I didn’t quite know what that meant but as I saw Larry Wish take the stage with a red mask (which was taken off to reveal his face painted completely white), colonial period coat, and white Beethoven looking wig, I started to feel what that meant. I honestly have no words for what happened throughout Larry Wish’s set and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. My notes that I took throughout his set consisted of words and phrases like “What in the actual f&$^” and “confused”. I’ll give him this, he had me thinking.

Musically, Larry Wish’s sound did nothing for me. It was a it hip-hop inspired and very electronic. At one point he performed a rendition of “The Wheel on the Bus” which flowed into a Korn song– I’m not kidding. I’m not fully convinced that he was even playing anything as one of the two keyboards he had on stage was flipped upside down throughout the set but that didn’t seem to be the point of his set. My boyfriend put it perfectly when he called it “performance art”. Sure, musically Larry Wish did nothing for me but his show had me completely captivated just because it was a bit kooky and full of moments that I didn’t want to miss. As Larry wrapped up his set by shouting from his position of laying on the stage, I was left scratching my head trying to figure out what had just happened.

I thoroughly believe that everyone had gotten more than money’s worth by the time Larry Wish’s set was done but we still had headlining act Floodwater Angel. I had the honor of catching Floodwater Angel last April when they opened for Fuzz and I remember loving every second of it. Their sound was the sound of controlled chaos and the amount of energy and passion that they laid out on the stage that night left me wanting so much more so I was excited for the chance to see them again and celebrate the release of their new album ‘Dungeon Crawler’.

I don’t remember that April show super vividly but I felt that their set on Thursday night was completely different than what I vaguely remember. Although I still got a sense of controlled chaos with the restraint that all of their members showed throughout the set, I felt like the music leaned a bit more indie-pop thank the funky psychedelic rock I had experienced the first time. That’s not at all a bad thing and the band still had a very perfect presentation of their sound.

Being that the last time I saw Floodwater Angel was as an opening act, I think I underestimated their local fanbase. The Entry was packed as they played through their set on Thursday and the banter between the audience and band members was amazing. Even when it wasn’t spoken, there was a true connection that could be felt throughout the room. Floodwater Angel may be just another amazing local band to me but to some of the kids in the audience, it felt like they were watching the biggest rock stars ever created. Although the entire night was amazing and Floodwater Angel’s set was a perfect celebration for their new album, I think that feeling the audience was my favorite moment of the night.

Line Up:

Whispered The Rabbit

Larry Wish

Floodwater Angel

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 19

Crowd Surfers- None Spotted

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability- 4 out of 10

Sausage-Fest Meter- 3 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Randomly Shirtless Men – 0

Passed Out Kids- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – None Spotted

How Irritated I Was With The Audience – 0 out of 10

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Whispered the Rabbit – 0

Larry Wish – 0

Floodwater Angel – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score- 8 out of 10

Show on Deck — G. Love / Donavon Frankenreiter / Nat Myers

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