Girl at the Rock Shows

My shows on Sunday and Tuesday night were wild. From fighting against an almost constant wave of stage divers on Sunday to fighting for a little bit of space on Tuesday, I was due for a show where I could kick back and enjoy the night rather than be in constant fear of my camera getting smashed and fighting for personal space. Wednesday night gave me that show just to stand back and take it all in and I couldn’t have been more thrilled about it.

Kicking the night off was the absolutely lovely Haley Heynderickx. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Haley is one of those acts that, although so very calm compared to my normal listening, I will never say no to when given a chance to see live. My first and only other experience with this beautiful songstress was when she opened for Gregory Alan Isakov back in November of 2018. I know that was a long, long time ago, but somehow, as soon as she stepped foot on the First Avenue main stage, I instantly got butterflies. I knew what was about to happen, and I was thrilled with it.

Haley’s music is very chill and is most easily described as singer-songwriter. I wish I could get more into the genre that she plays, but the fact is, there’s no way to put that into words. Her songs are sweet and full of life, but they are also full of personality. I love the way she uses different inflections to help power certain words straight into your soul. There are other words that she lets pass by with her beautiful voice that still hit just as hard. Long story short- every word she said drenched my soul with a sense of comforting warmth and love, making it a brilliant way to kick off the night.

Although Haley is all professional and business when it comes to the music she and the two musicians joining her on stage were giving the quickly growing audience, her personality shined between songs that really had me stuck in the palm of her hand. Although her voice remained as sweet as it was during the actual songs, there was a sense of snark and sarcasm behind some of the banter that had me rolling in laughter. She told the audience that she was trying not to give a back story on every song, so instead, she would introduce just a couple of songs. One was a song about love (or maybe it was about the American military complex), another one was an ode to her mother and grandmother (or perhaps it was about the American military complex)– okay, maybe you had to be there, but this was a comment that popped in and out of her set that got a good laugh out of me and those standing around me. 

Before I move on to the headliner of the packed Wednesday night show, I have to bring up one more comment about Haley’s set. Towards the end of the set, when Haley was tuning, the audience was invited to ask the two bandmates beside her some questions. One of those questions was, “Where can we find you?”. Obviously, the easy answer would be to say online and then rattle off her tags on social media, but instead, Haley, without missing a beat, responded with, “We are right here.” I feel like that really gives you a good idea of just how organically amazing Haley’s set was.

Things moved quickly on Wednesday, and before I knew it, the headlining act was taking the stage in front of a nearly sold-out First Avenue. Belle and Sebastian is a powerhouse of a group and has a very cultlike following. This Scottish group both is and is not a household name. I only say this because I feel like this is one of those groups where everyone knows their name, but not many people really know the music. I honestly couldn’t tell you why that is, but I can tell you that I am one of those people. I walked into their set on Wednesday night, not knowing much of the music, but I knew I wanted to see this band purely because it’s a name I’ve seen time and time again. Here’s your PSA: If you haven’t listened to Belle & Sebastian, change that– right now. I know that I wish I had done some more listening prior to this show so I could be singing along with those around me, but, alas, I did not, and instead, I was lost in a sea of beautiful wonder and admiration.

I would say that Belle & Sebastian’s sound is pop, but it’s also indie-rock, a little jazz-infused at times, and, at others, has an almost classical background to it. It doesn’t matter what intricacies you pick up on in their music; it’s the kind of music that makes you smile and gives you a chance to catch your breath in this chaotic world we all live in. It’s somehow both chill and full of life at the same time. It will make you want to move, but it’s not super obnoxiously dancey. It’s the kind of music that leaves me confused at first because I’m trying to analyze it, but before long, I realize that this music is not supposed to be analyzed; it’s meant to be enjoyed, so that’s exactly what I did, for Belle & Sebastian’s set on Wednesday night.

As I was shooting photos, I couldn’t help but smile as I heard those right up against the barricade loudly singing along to every word. It wasn’t frantic or chaotic; it was just people who loved this music so much and couldn’t contain themselves, so they had to blurt out the words. As someone who frequently finds themselves at shows where passion is shown through sweaty mosh pits and dogpiles of people trying to reach a microphone being hung over the audience by a singer, this was something small about the performance on Wednesday that will surely stick with me. Do you have a band that, when listening to, you just can’t help but sing along to? It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing; when you hear a particular band or song, you just start singing. I feel like that was Wednesday night for a lot of people, and it added that special sauce that I look for in all of the shows I go to.

I adore my chaotic and frantic shows but, every once in awhile, it’s nice to go to a show where it’s just about the music. It’s nice to take a break and just get lost in a different world and that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday night with Belle & Sebastian and Haley Heynderickx.

Line Up:

Haley Heynderickx

Belle & Sebastian

Venue: First Avenue

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 47

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

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 2

Idiots Taken Out By Security – None Spotted

How Rude the Crowd Was To The Opener By Talking Loudly Throughout The Set- 6 out of 10

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

Haley Heynderickx – 1

Belle & Sebastian – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score- 7.3 out of 10

Show on Deck —CSS / Luna Muse

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