Girl at the Rock Shows

I was nervous as I walked up to Cloudland on Wednesday night. I felt a bit dusty as this was my first show in a couple of days due to the holiday and the annual reset I try to do around the first of the year. On top of that, this was a brand new venue to me. Hell, it’s a fairly new venue to the cities in general. Unfortunately, I am a creature of habit and I like places I know and spots where I have, well, “spots”. I was walking into Cloudland completely blind other than some tips a fellow photographer gave me and to say it had me on edge would be an understatement. I parked my car on one of the residential streets nearby and just sat there. Did I really want to do this? Could I pull it together enough to get in the door? Was my anxiety going to get the best of me? I pulled on my big girl pants, turned off my car, hit the lock button about a million times as a nervous tick of sorts, and begrudgingly walked up to the unassuming Cloudland door.

I mean it when I say “unassuming”. There’s really not much signage at this place and it sits comfortably in a small strip mall next to a vintage shop. Honestly, I had been scoping it out as I walked up but, had I not noticed other people walking in, I probably would have walked right by the entrance door. You’re not here to hear about the door or the building that Cloudland sits in, I know that, but I’m trying to set the scene for you. As I walked in, I was instantly in shock. I knew this place was cozy based on what I had heard from other people and some of the pictures I had seen but cozy doesn’t start to describe it. This tiny and narrow venue is super small and it took me a second to realize I was about to see the one and only Laura Jane Grace in this ridiculously intimate space. The staff was beyond kind as I got myself checked in but I was feeling out of my element so I only walked about another ten feet before planting myself in front of the stage. Although I knew this was going to be a sold-out show and the doors had been open for a couple of minutes, the crowd had yet to really show up so I was in a great position to witness the magic that was opening act Betty Won’t.

A five-piece band from right here in south Minneapolis, I was instantly hooked by vocalist Margo and her absolutely stunning voice. I’m not trying to be dramatic or creepy but if Margo could sing me to sleep every night, I wouldn’t be mad about it. Don’t take that to mean that Betty Won’t’s set was sleepy– because it was far from it. It was a set full of country-tinted bluesy rock songs that made you want to sway to the beat while also giving you a sense of energy to take on whatever else the night was going to bring. The highlight of Betty Won’t’s set for me was one of the final tracks the group played. Although I didn’t catch all of the words, the song seemed to be about being stuck in a car with a creep. Towards the end of the track, the band seemed to almost re-enact this car ride with lyrics being almost shouted between Margo and Eliot on lead guitar. It was a bit cheesy as Margo pretended to “drive” their car while shouting at Eliot in perfect rhythm but it was a super cute moment that stood out to me as something that I wasn’t quite expecting from this group. Whether you liked the quirkiness of this single moment during Betty Won’t’s set or fell in love with the heartfelt tracks from this band, Betty Won’t was the perfect way to kick off Wednesday night’s epic show.

The crowd was quickly growing as the second act, Mya Byrne, took the stage. The opened spots scattered throughout the audience were flying like hotcakes and it added that cozy vibe that I had been expecting from the night. Although I was alone as my friends had opted for a spot further into the venue and I had opted to stay up front to snag some photos, I didn’t feel like it. Any anxiety I had been feeling was quickly pushed away and I stood there ready and excited for whatever Mya Byrne had to contribute to the night.
Mya was joined on stage by Jamilah on guitar and Swan on drums, Mya didn’t waste any time jumping into a set that bridge the gap between country, Americana, and punk in such a flawless way. Mya has such an infectious aura around her and it was very easy to get lost in it. Although the group was all business, there was something beautifully quirky about the way Mya and the other two amazing band members interacted with themselves and the audience. At times it was almost “silly” as the band seemed to have a slight laughing fit between tracks due to some banter that had just happened with the audience. It was moments like that that had me stuck in the palm of Mya Byrne’s hand throughout their set and it made me an instant fan of this group. Wednesday night was their first time in Minneapolis but, based on how much the crowd seemed to love them, it hopefully won’t be their last.

This is when things started to get a bit dicey for me. The formerly comfortable venue had quickly turned into a sardine can of humans. Although I don’t mind close contact at all, the mix of that with the fact that I was in a new space had me feeling the pressure and, as the stage was changed over for the headlining act, I had no choice but to step outside just to take a quick breather. I knew what this meant– I had lost my prime spot for photos which, as a photographer, is the worst thing you can do but I had to get out before I had a full-blown panic attack. As I stood outside taking in the cold air, I tried to talk myself through my next move. I could go in, follow the stream of people, and just get what I got as far as photos go or I could wait outside until the very last minute, go in, and hope to find somewhere just inside the door which would be right next to the stage. I went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth (okay, you get it) in my mind, waited as long as I could outside before the cold really started to get to me, and went inside. I tried to linger just inside of the door hoping the bouncer and staff wouldn’t make me push into the rest of the audience. I held my breath and then the tap on my shoulder happened. I whipped around expecting someone to tell me I had to move. Instead, it was the uber-nice human who had been working the door all night. They said to just stay where I was and, once Laura Jane Grace took the stage, they would get me in a position to get some shots. To say I was relieved would be an understatement but, more importantly, this made me fall even more in love with Cloudland. The fact that this person was going to help me when they could literally just leave me on my own and not care said so much to me.

Laura Jane Grace took the stage and I took my spot right next to the stage. I watched as LJG pushed her way through the crowd (in a nice way) while holding her guitar up high. This was not part of the show, I know, but seeing such a legend not be afraid to get down and dirty in the crowd (although she may not have had another choice) was a special moment and a heck of a way to kick off her set. If you don’t know Laura Jane Grace, I really urge you to read up on this amazing human. From her solo work to her work in Against Me! and all of the trials and tribulations that she has gone through, LJG is a hero for an entire scene and a generation for good reason. That was the tone of the night as she played through just over an hour of music. From people shouting out classics they wanted to hear to LJG playing songs off of her upcoming album, you felt this sense of admiration throughout the night that just could not be put into words.

As mentioned, LJG played a little bit of everything from her extensive discography. The constant shift from old to new, upbeat to more somber, kept the night feeling fresh but that wasn’t the highlight for me. The highlight was how raw the entire thing felt. From the feeling that Cloudland gives you of just being a super solid DIY venue to the way people were singing as if nobody else was watching or listening to the way that LJG really broke down the wall between the stage and fans by constantly asking what people wanted to hear next, there was just something so informal and honest about the performance. This honestly wasn’t surprising to me as I have seen her do this before but there was just something about her show on Wednesday night that made it the best performance I have seen yet from this amazing musician.

Wednesday night was my first show of the new year and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the year. Laura Jane Grace, Mya Byrne, and Betty Won’t all absolutely killed it and Cloudland instantly became my new favorite venue in the Twin Cities purely due to my experience with their space and staff. Although I can’t tell you the next time I’ll see any of these acts again, I can tell you that Cloudland will become a staple of this blog very soon.

Line Up:

Betty Won’t

Mya Byrne

Laura Jane Grace

Venue: Cloudland Theater

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 32

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability-0 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)-

Betty Won’t – 0

Mya Byrne – 0

Laura Jane Grace – 6

Celebrity Sightings – Chelsea of The Von Tramps

Overall Score – 10 out of 10

Show on Deck — shrimp olympics / Squinny / Time Room / Robot Slide

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