Girl at the Rock Shows

I go through waves as far as what genre I listen to. Some waves last just a few minutes, and others last for months. It can be anything from nu-metal to jazz-rap, but when in a “wave,” I will go down the deepest of rabbit holes. Recently, that rabbit hole has been the twinkly styling of Midwest emo. It’s a genre that I hold near and dear to my heart because it speaks to my nostalgia-seeking soul and speaks volumes to my brain with the heart-on-sleeve lyrics mixed with angsty breakdowns. One of the bands that I’ve really latched onto through my deep dive has been Saturdays At Your Place, so when I saw them on the schedule at 7th Street Entry on Sunday night, I knew I had to drop everything and check it out.

The show started ridiculously early, with opening act Lapdogs hitting their first note right at 6 PM. Lapdogs were the only local on the four-band show, but they showed the touring bands what the Twin Cities scene was about. Stylistically, their sound fell more into an indie-pop-punk vibe, but they brought more than enough energy and personality to the stage to kick the night off right. Sunday night was their first show in quite a while and was my first introduction to this band, so the super short set left me wanting so much more as I felt like I was only really given a taste of the style and sound but, based on the crowd’s response and the way each song was followed up a roar of applause from the sold-out audience, I feel like it’s safe to assume that Sunday won’t be the last time I catch them.

The next band, Liquid Mike, recently got high praise from Rolling Stone, where they were essentially dubbed a band to watch. If you ask me, Rolling Stone doesn’t hold the weight they used to and, in all honesty, is a bit archaic to me, but I think they got this right. From the second that Liquid Mike took the stage to the minute that the band left, there was something super addicting and perfect about the sound and overall performance. Hailing from Marquette, Michigan, Liquid Mike’s sound isn’t anything particularly new, but it’s done exceptionally well. That may seem harsh, but as I stood there, I could have rattled off a million bands that their sound reminded me of. In that same breath, I couldn’t tell you another band that seemed to have the same amount of personality and professionalism on stage in the way that Liquid Mike did.

Everything about Liquid Mike’s set was perfect, but one moment in particular won me over. At one point, the vocalist snagged a harmonica from his pocket and tried to play a part in a track on it. Long story short, it wasn’t going or sounding how he wanted it to, so he quickly threw the harmonica on the ground and kept going without missing a beat. Why did this moment catch me so hard? My Sunday was one of those days where I had a million things to do, but nothing seemed to be going right for me, so I didn’t get anywhere close to getting it all done. That being said, I still pulled myself up by the bootstraps, made it to the show with a friend, and ended up having a great night. Yes, cheesy, but that harmonica being thrown on the ground without the band missing a single beat really spoke to me on a much deeper level than it probably should, yet it was something that really spoke to me.

I felt super excited as the stage was set for Saturdays At Your Place. Don’t get me wrong, I get excited for any band that I get to see live, but something about seeing a band that is currently speaking to you on such a deep level is a thrill, and I love that butterfly feeling you get just before the downbeat hits. I had always pictured in my head what it would be like to see this group live and, if I’m being honest, I expected it to be a bit more of an empty club with people more my age. Sunday night was a super sold-out all-ages show where I was surrounded by kids who were probably young enough to be my own children. It caught me off guard at first, but within just a couple of songs, I didn’t really care who was around me or what they were doing. As far as I was concerned, it was just me and Saturdays At Your Place in that room, and they were performing and singing directly to me.

As mentioned, Saturdays At Your Place is a Midwest emo band. This isn’t a new genre by any means, but it is one that seems to be picking up steam because of bands like Hot Mulligan and PUP. Whether you want to get into the subgenre title or not, all you need to know is that this band rips, and they rip hard. Each line of words is delivered with a sincere amount of emotion, while each line of notes is delivered with a sense of passion and ferocity. At the same time, you get this slight tenderness when it all comes together. The icing on the cake when it comes to their set on Sunday was how the family members of the vocalist (who is apparently from Ballantine, Minnesota– I had no clue) lined the back wall all with their phones out, snapping photos and videos of their superstar relative. There was just something so charming and so real-life about this. Sure, that’s not who I thought I would be standing next to the first time I saw this band, but it just added to the sincerity and honesty that this band brings to every stage and every speaker.

I know I’ve already talked your ear off, but we have one more band to go: Charmer. Charmer last visited the Twin Cities in 2018, and although some of the audience dwindled away after Saturdays At Your Place’s set, many remained and helped carry the vocalist of this final band. Unfortunately, vocalist David Daignault lost his voice, and although he tried his best to continue with the set, some moments were painful to hear. You could hear the strain and struggle in his voice or lack thereof, but I had no fear about the set falling apart because of the way the kids in the front were singing along to every word. From help from the audience to Liquid Mike’s vocalist stepping in for one of the more vocally challenging sets, Charmer still nailed it and made me an instant fan. Seeing such a sense of community through their set in more ways than one was the cherry on top of a fantastic showing of stellar music on Sunday night.

Line Up:

Lapdogs

Liquid Mike

Saturdays at Your Place

Charmer

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat

Average Age of the Crowd: 17

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-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)-

Lapdogs– 0

Liquid Mike– 0

Saturdays At Your Place – 0

Charmer – 0

Celebrity Sightings – Andy of Whiskey Rock N Roll Club MPLS

Overall Score – 8.4 out of 10

Show on Deck — Clue: The Musical

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