Girl at the Rock Shows

I was worried as the rain started to fall on Saturday. Although I love rain, I don’t love it when I have a show planned for outside, and that’s exactly what I had on the docket for the day. Shock! Punk! and Metal Fest! presented by Modist Brewing at Palmer’s was a half-outside, half-inside show, but as the time inched closer to the start time, I realized this would be a fully indoor show. This is all fine and dandy, but if you know Palmer’s on the West Bank of Minneapolis, you know that the stage is nothing more than a small corner of the bar and that the standing space there is limited at best. Regardless, I walked into Palmer’s with my friend by my side, ready for whatever the night would bring.

Kicking things off was Rad Enhancer. Although I know some of the members of this band from my college days (shout out to the Cantharone crew), I have never been able to catch Rad Enhancer before. What a mistake that was. Rad Enhancer hit the audience with their signature blend of blistering trash-infused metal in such a perfect way. With the vocalist standing on the ground in front of the stage (due to lack of space on said stage), it quickly became clear that the move of hosting this show inside rather than outside was going to be one that led to a truly unforgettable night and the way that Rad Enhancer got it started was beyond perfect.

Following Rad Enhancer was the more straight-up rock n’ roll stylings of Fret Rattles. I had seen this band with the same headlining act once and was super excited to see them again. They didn’t let me down. I was again in awe of the sheer amount of energy this older band brought to the stage. Although the space was small, and they didn’t have the same amount of room to do their jumps and air kicks as they did the first time I saw them at The Turf Club, the feeling was the same. They had the entire room nodding their heads to the group’s infectious sounds and had everyone smiling from ear to ear. Although not the most intense band to hit the stage, I thoroughly loved what Fret Rattles added to the night and am already craving another performance from them.

The almighty Impaler was up next. I’ve written about this famed (and original) shock rock band more times than I can count, so I promise to spare you my ramblings about how amazing this band is and how cool it is that I can see them so often, but I will not spare you from gushing about how flawless their performance was on Saturday night. Impaler is a larger-than-life- kind of band with more members than could fit on the tiny corner stage. Instead of compromising their performance because of this, Impaler took it up on themselves to take over the entire “back portion” of the bar. With one member on top of the bar, one behind the bar, and vocalist Bill Lindsey pacing around on the ground between audience members, Impaler made their already interactive and thrilling show more interactive and thrilling.

Honestly, there are no words to describe an Impaler show. It’s intense, it’s chaotic, it’s hilarious, and it’s perfect. Although I’ve seen Impaler more times than I can count, this was the first time my best friend had seen them (I’m not sure how I’ve known this friend for over ten years, and she’s never been dragged to an Impaler show before Saturday night) but I’m so glad that this was her first experience with the band. I wish I could describe the faces that she was making as we watched Bill gnaw at the neck of a head on a stick with blood dripping down his beard or the shock her face reflected as we watched “Dr. Corpse” (aka back-up vocalist Zach Lindsey) drink a beer through a makeshift beer bong complete with a severed head. It was one of those moments that I truly understood just how lucky I was to be able to see this band so often and be on a first-name basis with some of the members. I have seen Impaler a lot, but it will never get old, and seeing them in such an intimate setting on Saturday was indeed a highlight of my life.

This is when the show should have moved inside, but because we were already inside, it wasn’t long before New Rocket Union started treating the audience to their more standard rock n’ roll offerings. Definitely a bit more in line with the music of Fret Rattles than the other bands of the night, New Rocket Union always leaves me impressed with the amount of power and the wall of sound that they bring to the stage, even though they are just a duo. I feel like I say this every time I see New Rocket Union, but I really need to make a better effort to get to their shows. These two men are just so carefree when it comes to their performance in a way but, at the same time, always give a flawless show and Saturday was no exception to that.

Closing out the fantastic night of local metal, punk, and rock music was the almighty VVOLF MASK. I mean, come on, do I need to tell you how cool this band is, or is it just kind of given with the way they spell their name with two V’s instead of a W? All kidding aside, this is a powerful force of a band. Their blend of metal and punk was the perfect way to end an already perfect night. It may have been late, and it may have been a long night of being crammed into a super small bar with a tiny stage, but VVOLF MASK made sure that you went home on Saturday night feeling energized and full of life.

Saturday night’s show could have been a complete wash (quite literally). The bands could have given up in a way giving the audience subpar performances due to the last-minute change of plans and the lack of space, but instead, each of the five bands I saw on Saturday night made the most of it. It truly was a celebration of some of the best Shock! Punk! and Metal! that the Twin Cities has to offer.

Line Up:

Rad Enhancer

Fret Rattles

Impaler

New Rocket Union

VVOLF MASK

Venue: Palmer’s

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat and Beer

Average Age of the Crowd: 41

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability-9 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $5.23

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 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)-

Rad Enhancer – 1

Fret Rattles – 1

Impaler – 13? Maybe?

Celebrity Sightings – Andy of Whiskey Rock N Roll Club MPLS; Sally of Big Salt; Ann of Mostly MN Music

Overall Score- 9.8 out of 10

Show on Deck —Kairos Creature Club / Oyster World / Leslie

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