Girl at the Rock Shows

I was super intrigued by the bluegrass scene after spending my Thursday night with Kitchen Dweller and Armchair Boogie. Although the music wasn’t something I would listen to on a normal basis, I loved the feeling I got from being lost in the crowd at the show so I was beyond excited when I had another show in the same scene on Saturday night.

Humbird was the first act to take the First Avenue mainstage on Saturday night. Hailing from right here in Minneapolis, I was instantly struck by the beauty pumping through the speakers during Humbird’s quick opening set. The sounds were soft which would make sense as Humbird is a duo of vocals, guitar, bass, and various other sounds done electronically by the bassist. Although the sound was soft and the stage was fairly bare, there was a sense of power that I could not shake from this band. Siri Undlin, the vocalist had such a stunning voice. It was soft and sweet but there were certain things that she could do with her voice that had me stuck in the palm of her hand. Beyond that, there seemed to be a sense of slight snark behind some of their songs– most notably, “Cornfields and Roadkill”. I mean, it was a gorgeous and stunning song but just look at that song title. That says it all and is what really hooked me into this duo.

Saturday night’s show was billed as a local show so I was a bit surprised when Them Coulee Boys took the stage and announced they were from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Although Eau Claire isn’t far by any means, I instantly started making snarky comments in my head about how this really wasn’t a local show. That’s when Them Coulee Boys started playing and, instantly, I decided, on behalf of all of the Twin Cities, we would go ahead and claim them as ours.

Them Coulee Boys’ sound is very bluegrass but, as I learned on Thursday night, with a twist as they have a drummer behind them (which is not the standard for bluegrass). Their sound, although full of life and robust, also had this undeniable sense of chill behind it all. It was honestly the type of music I would listen to on a Sunday morning when trying to get things done while also trying to keep my anxiety in check and that it made it perfect for Saturday night when I felt I had overdone it by committing to three concerts in just one day.

With five full-length albums out there, Them Coulee Boys is far from a new band and you could feel that tried and true professionalism on stage as they performed. That was to be expected since, again, they are not a new band. What I didn’t expect was the admiration that they showed towards the venue and the crowd. One of the members took a moment after just a couple of tracks to address the crowd. He explained that the importance of playing on this stage was not lost on them and although they have played the iconic venue a couple of times, it would never become lost on them and they could not thank their fans enough for getting them to this point. A lot of bands say this when they play there but something about the way Them Coulee Boys said it with so much heart had me falling head over heels for this band and their genuine passion for their music, their fans, and everything else.

Call it roots, call it bluegrass, call it Americana– whatever you want to call it, local band Pert Near Sandstone has been killing it and have been putting the Twin Cities scene on the map for years. Although I was new to this band when walking into First Avenue having never seen them before or taken the time to dig into their material, I knew the importance of this band due to seeing their name all over the place and having various friends who straight-up worship this band. I was excited to finally see what all the hype was about. Honestly, I figured I would walk away with one of those, “yeah, it was good but it wasn’t for me” kind of thoughts in my head but I walked away with so much more than that.

As I mentioned, Pert Near’s sound is a bit unclassifiable. Although it checks a lot of boxes for a lot of different genres, I feel like they don’t fit perfectly into just one box and that was just the tip of the iceberg as far as where my love started for this group. I got little hints of everything from rock to a more standard four-on-the-floor style throughout their lengthy set that lasted deep into the night. Whether you picked up on the heavy bluegrass influence or the more subtle feelings and styles that I was getting, Pert Near’s sound made you want to dance. Even if you didn’t know how to dance to music like this, you wanted to dance and, by George, by the end of the night, that’s exactly what you were doing.

I know we still have almost a full month left for this year so it’s a bit too soon for me to be calling my “best of” list but I think I’ll go ahead and say that the drummer of this band will take the trophy for best drummer of the year. Why am I so sure of this? There was no drumset. Instead of drums (which would be a no-no for the elitist bluegrass scene), Pert Near utilizes a clogger. That’s right. Instead of drumsticks, all of the percussion sounds were made by a human clogging on a piece of wood situated on a small riser at the back of the stage. The entire band was great, don’t get me wrong, but my eyes were glued to the clogger throughout the set.

As if the clogger wasn’t enough to have me sold on this band that was so out of my normal wheelhouse, the band played their song “Twenty Cups of Coffee” fairly early on in their set. To say I related to this song on an extremely deep level would not be an understatement. It was a fun song but one that made their music, which honestly felt a bit foreign to me throughout the set, relatable. All of their songs were great, don’t get me wrong, but “Twenty Cups of Coffee” just spoke to my soul and was a stand-out track in a lengthy set full of amazing music.

I still don’t think that bluegrass or Americana music will make its way onto the daily playlist of my life but nights like Saturday night at First Avenue have me slightly rethinking that. I had so much fun watching the bands and the crowd as they danced their way into the night.

Line Up:

Humbird

Them Coulee Boys

Pert Near Sandstone

Venue: First Avenue

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 1 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- 0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

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)-

Humbird – 0

Them Coulee Boys– 0

Pert Near Sandstone – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score –8 out of 10

Show on Deck — LowDown Brass Band / Porky’s Groove Machine

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