Girl at the Rock Shows

I was honestly looking forward to a very chill Sunday night. My weekend was insane from my sister-in-law’s birthday on Friday night to pulling multiple shows on Saturday. I was just ready for a night with some personal space, a couple of drinks, and some good music. I got two of those things on Sunday but personal space was nothing something easily found at The Turf Club on Sunday. Maybe I was being naive as I had never heard of Heartless Bastards prior to the show and, in my mind, I kind of know what’s going on in the scene. The fact that Sunday night’s show was completely sold out had me floored and, at first, a little annoyed but, as the night went on, the music helped me forget about that exhaustion creeping up in my soul and the fact that, yet again, I was just a face in a sea of people.

Laney Jones and the Spirits took the stage promptly at 8 PM. Laney’s introduction to the crowd felt shy and coy. She prepared the audience by saying that she was going to play some soul music and hoped that everyone was ready for it. As much as I thought I was ready for it, I wasn’t. As soon as Laney Jones and the Spirits started playing, my head raced for the clouds. There as something so chill and so charming about Laney’s voice and the instrumentation behind her only enhanced that. Sure, I got a hint of soul music from the overall tone of the set but I feel like calling her a soul artist just doesn’t do her (or her band) justice. It was a rockin’ set with indie-pop undertones and this feeling of singer-songwriter perfection that could not be ignored. It didn’t matter if you were picking up on the more subtle indie-pop undertones of her set or the more obvious rock n’ roll feeling, there was a smile on your face as you watched Laney Jones and the Spirits perform.

About half way through the set, Laney took some time to chat with the audience. That shy and timid vibe that had come off of her at the beginning of the set was replaced with a sense of depth and caring. She explained that she writes mantra type songs. You know, the kind that remind you to treat yourself as you would treat your pet. This was such a simple phrase and comparison but something that really struck me. Laney is right, we all need to take better care of ourselves. We could all improve on something and be a bit kinder to ourselves and sometimes it just takes a beautiful soul like Laney to remind you of this and really drive that thought home.

My friend that I had conned into going to this show with me and I were clearly the only ones who didn’t know what was about to happen next. The crowd may have been an older demographic than what I’m used to it but that didn’t stop a sense of excitement take over the room as Laney Jones and the Spirit left the stage to make way for Heartless Bastards. Honestly, I was at this show purely because of the name, Heartless Bastards. It’s a brash name and comes full of angst but, as I mentioned, I knew nothing about this group beyond the fact that I liked their name. The excitement that swirled around me had me thrilled to see what this band was all about.

The band took to the stage to the Price is Right theme song which only added to the excitement and anticipation in the air. As they took the stage, I expected a very explosive introduction just due to the energy that this simple intro gave me but, instead, the band quickly fell into their lovely indie-pop-rock song “Revolution”. The audience, who had been full of excited chatter, quickly fell into silence and all eyes moved from conversations to the stage almost instantly. It was truly remarkable to me how easily this band commanded the packed and sold-out audience without even trying but, as their set went on, I understood why it didn’t take much.

Although Heartless Bastard’s sound honestly isn’t anything new, it came with such a sense of perfection and maturity that it was hard not to fall head over heels for this band and become completely stuck in their web of notes. Now that read up on this band, that feeling of perfection and maturity should not have been a surprise. Heartless Bastards have been doing their thing since 2003. The group originally started as a recording project of vocalist Erika Wennerstrom but has been morphing and evolving since then. I loved that you could feel that evolution throughout the set. There were some songs that hit as slow and somber whereas others that hit as party anthems (or at least as close as a band like this can get to that vibe). It was almost as if, while listening to their set, you could see different parts of Erika’s life happen. Honestly, this is a phenomena that happens a lot at shows but there was just something a bit more raw and genuine about the feeling throughout Heartless Bastards’ set.

I can’t tell you what songs the band played outside of the ones they introduced to the audience but I can tell you that each song was inevitable someone’s favorite in the audience. The packed and excited crowd was attentive to say the least with roars of applause happening between tracks but quickly fading into nothing as the band would hop into their next track. I loved how I could scan the audience throughout the night and see someone explaining to whoever they were there with that this next song was their favorite or, “That last song was all I wanted to hear!” Sure, I couldn’t relate to these people and definitely felt a bit like an outside but that love and passion for the music that was coming out of the speakers is the reason I do this night after night and I quickly felt comfortable in the foreign audience and instantly fell in love with the night and music in general.

Line Up:

Laney Jones and the Spirit

Heartless Bastards

Venue: Turf Club

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 53

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Dance-ability- 2 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)-

Laney Jones and the Spirit – 0

Heartless Bastards– 0

Celebrity Sightings – Ann of Mostly MN Music; Speakeazie

Overall Score – 8 out of 10

Show on Deck — August Burns Reds / Brand of Sacrifice / Spite / Crystal Lake

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