Girl at the Rock Shows

I had to do a double-take when I saw Saturday night’s show get announced. Could it be real? Are The Casualties and Strung Out really playing the humble and charming Hook & Ladder in south Minneapolis? It couldn’t be real– right? I mean, those are two major players in the punk scene, and The Hook & Ladder is such a small and community-driven venue. I dug into it a little more to find out that it was, in fact, true and let out a little squeal. My coworkers probably thought I had found a mouse or spider in my office due to the sound that came out of me, but I didn’t care. I was beyond pumped, even if that meant I had to bail on my friends who had invited me out to the Nicki Minaj show. I knew where I belonged on Saturday night and, at the end of the night, I couldn’t have asked for a better show.

Kicking things off was Arizona-based The Venomous Pinks. My introduction to this band was last year at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, Nevada. That festival is always a bit of a blur for me just due to the overwhelming amount of music I consume over the festival, but I absolutely remember falling in love with this band, so to see them on a much more intimate stage was a dream come true. Although the sold-out crowd was still trickling in as the trio took the stage, these women did not hold back. They brought energy and angst to the stage with a true DIY-punk spirit behind them. Obviously, the easiest comparison to make here would be something like Bikini Kill or The Distillers, but that would be a cop-out of sorts. All in all, their sound and energy was fierce and these three women did a great job setting the stage for what was to come from the rest of the night.

Following The Venomous Pinks was a personal favorite of mine- The Casualties. This band has been a staple for me since my teenage years. I will never forget the first time I heard their music. It was more raw than anything I had ever heard before, and it was intense. It wasn’t perfect and always had this very “real” quality to it. It was love at first listen, and although I merely dabble in the straight-up punk scene these days, my ears will always perk up whenever I hear anything about The Casualties. I have only seen this band twice in my life, with Saturday night being the third, but each time I see them, they hit just as hard (if not harder) than the last, with their performance at The Hook & Ladder being no different.

The Casualties are legends. There’s no other way to put it. They have been around since 1990, and although they only have two remaining original members, they have always stayed the same. As mentioned, their sound is raw and intense. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to raise your fist and shout, which is exactly what the packed audience was doing on Saturday. The best thing about seeing The Casualties these days is the way that vocalist David Rodriguez seems to take a moment to acknowledge everyone in the audience that he can. Although the audience was a sweaty mess throughout the set, I noticed, on multiple occasions, David locking eyes with someone in the audience, giving them a nod and a charming smile. Again, it’s part of that “realness” that you get with this band that will definitely keep me coming back time and time again. I feel like every time I see them, I almost forget about the legends that are before me and just feel like I’m watching some lifelong friends playing music. It’s something magical that I just can’t quite find the right words for, but I feel like if you’ve ever experienced something like this, you’ll understand what I’m trying to say.

Where were you thirty-five years ago? Personally, I was in the womb. Not kidding. I’ll be 35 in August of this year (whoa, I’m old). The members of Strung Out- the final band to take the stage on Saturday- were starting their conquest as a band. I got to see those thirty-five years of blood, sweat, and tears play out right in front of me on Saturday night and although I was never a huge Strung Out fan (for no particular reason), I couldn’t help but walk away from the show feeling like I had just seen one of my all-time favorite bands.

Strung Out is from California and definitely have a unique sound. Sure, it’s punk rock, but it’s also a little heavy metal, a little prog, and a little bit of everything else. It’s dynamic and exciting, which helped me fall head over heels into their world during their first song on Saturday. I was bummed that I couldn’t be singing along with everyone else around me, but Strung Out’s performance was such an easy one to fall into. There was passion and emotion woven through every note that the band played, but at the same time, there was this zest of energy that, like The Casualties, made you want to raise your fist and get a little sweaty. At the same time, there was something super cool, calm, and collected about this band that caught me a bit off guard but definitely made them stand out. Again, I find myself a bit lost for words on how to expand on this, but as the audience was completely losing their minds, this band stayed calm and made sure that the product they were giving the excited audience was truly flawless.

All of the music was great on Saturday night but it was the feeling of the show that made it as spectacular as it was. Maybe it was the cuteness of this venue (Jason Cruz, vocalist of Strung Out, was sure to make sure everyone knew that The Hook & Ladder is a gem and we need to take care of it), or maybe it was the passion in the audience but something about this show took me back to my teenage years when I started going to shows nightly. I forgot that I was thirty-something and have bills to pay. I forgot that there was a camera hanging from my neck and I had work to do. For the entirety of the show on Saturday night, I felt like I was just at a show– nothing else. I was there with a fire in my heart and passion oozing from my pores. It was unbelievable to me but, at the same time, not surprising. I hope you all can find a show that hits you the way Saturday night hit me.

Line Up:

The Venomous Pinks

The Casualties

Strung Out

Venue: The Hook & Ladder

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat and Beer

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers- 3

Mosh-ability- 11 out of 10

Amount of Alcohol Spilled on Me- $0 (surprisingly)

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out Kids- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security- 0

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

Venomous Pinks – 1

The Casualties– 2

Strung Out – 0

Celebrity Sightings – Will of Plague of Stars

Overall Score- 12 out of 10

Show on Deck- Gustaf / Ganser / MURF

Shameless Self Promotion- 

Join My Patreon Here!

Buy Me a Coffee (Seriously!)