Girl at the Rock Shows

Writer’s block is a weird thing. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen to me often but, when it does, it really does and that’s the spot I’m in right now. The show on Friday night wasn’t bad but it was a bit different than my regular show. That may be why I have writer’s block. Or it’s because my mind is trying to mentally prepare for the impending snow storm. Regardless, I have writer’s block and really don’t have a super fun and quirky intro for you right now, so let’s stop beating around the bush and get into what happened at the show on Friday night at The Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.

There’s not much online about the opening act Bruiser Wolf but, with a set like the one he gave a packed Varsity Theater on Friday night, I don’t need the history of this man to provide you with a review. He took the stage promptly at 8 PM and started throwing his flow at the audience. His flow felt a bit more like spoken word rather than rap to me, which is what instantly pulled me into his world. I loved standing there and listening to him tell stories of his life while heavy beats cascaded in the background. Another thing I really loved about Bruiser Wolf was the quirkiness he brought to his performance. It wasn’t super apparent but there was something fun and carefree about his set throughout most of his short time spent on stage.

The only time I wasn’t grinning from ear to ear was when Bruiser Wolf performed a song about his parents who have both passed on from this life. It’s not that the smile completely faded but more the smile was turned to pure empathy. I loved seeing this larger-than-life character get super raw and emotional when performing this song in particular. It was an interesting choice for him to end his set with this somber track rather than an upbeat party song like the audience seemed to be ready for but I liked that plot twist. I may not have all of the right words to describe a rap show (clearly) but I know that Bruiser Wolf’s set impacted me in a way I wasn’t quite expecting and created a perfect way to kick off my Friday night show.

HOOK, or ‘I Love You Hook’ as she referred to herself throughout the set, leaving me a bit confused as to how to address her, was up next and had been lingering on stage well before taking the microphone and taking off with her set. I was a bit surprised. After Bruiser Wolf’s set, the audience turned to a table towards the back of the stage with three humans standing behind it. They were spinning beats and adding some vocals here and there but it felt more like a time killer than anything else– until Hook took the microphone, steps out from behind the table, and really let the audience have it.

The only female on the tour, I was instantly enamored by her edge. She was raw and abrasive with an almost aggressive attitude to the way she attacked the words in her songs but, at the same time, she was bringing a feminine energy that I could not get enough of. It wasn’t your typical pretty girl feminine energy, it was more bad b*#&$ energy. I feel bad putting that in this review as I know how cliche it sounds but it was something that HOOK did so well. You could see she was putting heart and soul into her music whether or not the audience was into it and it made me fall even more in love with this woman. Just in case you were in the audience and weren’t quite feeling what HOOK was putting out there, she wouldn’t let you forget her name with the way she broke down the barrier between stage and audience. Throughout the set she interacted with the excited fans in the front row even if those fans were clearly just there for the headliner. Again, just another thing about this woman that I absolutely adored.

It’s safe to bet that I was the only one inside of the Varsity Theater who didn’t know what would happen next. Although I had heard Danny Brown’s name prior to the show, I knew nothing about this man but it became abundantly clear as the front row shifted to get ready for this man that I have been living under a rock. Born Daniel Dewan Sewell, Danny Brown is not only a rapper but also a songwriter and an actor (he was in the 2018 flick ‘White Boy Rick’). Long story short, Danny Brown is a beast and he showed that signature sense of power and grind on the stage.

Although Danny played through around twenty songs, the set seemed to fly by. Part of this could be attributed to the excitement in the audience. Instead of just being one of those audiences that stands there and takes in all in note by note, the all-ages packed audience on Friday night wasn’t going to miss a single beat and spent the entire night pushing and shoving their way through Danny’s set while turning into a sweaty mess. Although I’ve never entirely understood moshing to rap music, it made sense on Friday night with how hard Danny’s songs were hitting the air in the Varsity Theater. Another reason for the feeling of Danny’s set flying by could be the sheer power he brought to the stage. Danny came off as a hustler in all of the best ways. He didn’t want to sacrifice a second of his set and wanted to ensure the fans got what they paid for. Other than a couple of breaks here and there where he thanked the audience for their support (it was much more heartfelt than just that but you get it), Danny spent his entire time on stage performing and I loved that.

Friday night was not my regular show. I struggle to write about rap and hip-hop just because I feel a bit intimidated by it. I just don’t know the right words or phrases. That being said, I know I loved every second of my Friday night spent at The Varsity Theater.

Line Up:

Bruiser Wolf

HOOK

Danny Brown

Venue: Varsity Theater

Smell-O-Meter- Weed and Sweat

Average Age of the Crowd- 26

Crowd Surfers-0

Mosh-ability- 8 out of 10

Stage Divers- 0

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

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Noticed

Pukers- None Noticed

Idiots Taken Out By Security- 3

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

Bruiser Wolf– o

HOOK– 0

Danny Brown – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score- 8.4 out of 10

Show on Deck- Sleater-Kinney / Black Belt Eagle Scout

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