Girl at the Rock Shows

One of my best friends had her first baby last October. I’m so truly happy for her, but I miss the shenanigans we used to get into all through college and beyond. I hesitated when she texted me asking if I was going to the show on Monday night. The 7th Street Entry show was being headlined by a band I had seen once before and was less than impressed by, but, at the same time, it was an excuse to see her, and who am I to say no to a show? It didn’t take much arm twisting for me to say yet to her, but when Monday night rolled around and I was already feeling the weight of the week, I started to regret my decision. Was it worth it to go to this show I had low expectations for just to see her? Or would I have been better off building the couch that I just got or vacuuming my house for the first time in weeks? Although I was a bit hesitant, I know I made the right decision just being able to spend some time with this friend. I also knew that I would have been an idiot for missing this show when it was all said and done. Long story short, I made the right decision about how to spend my Monday night

Sacramento, California-based singer/ songwriter MVSSIE (pronounced Massie) set the stage for the night with her beautiful and charming opening set. Although the vocalist was clearly losing her voice after this current string of shows (of which Monday night was the last), MVSSIE gave everything she had left to the fairly good-sized-for-a-Monday audience. If her set on Monday night was her not feeling her best, I don’t know that I could handle her at 100%. The vocal power of this woman had me utterly stunned. Although her brand of pop-infused music wasn’t quite my cup of tea, there was no denying her power or the beauty with which she has composed each of the songs she performed during her short opening set. MVSSIE wasn’t alone on stage. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the band backing her, as they fit into the set perfectly. They enhanced her sound and the overall energy of the set so perfectly while allowing MVSSIE to command the stage and hearts of everyone in attendance.

I judged the next band, True North, before they started playing, but I regretted it as soon as they started into the first song of their quick set. This band appears to be super young. I have no facts to back this, but both my friend and I started joking about this band having an average age of seven. Obviously, we were joking, but, really, this band looked super young and I figured that whatever they were about to do wasn’t going to do it for me. I couldn’t have been more wrong. True North’s sound is pure nostalgia with a modern twist. It brought me back to the days of Chiodos and The Sleeping but felt fresh and innovative. The amount of perfection that the band put into each layer of every song truly stunned me, and within the second song, they had me tapping my toes and nodding my head. Sure, some of the elements of this band were a bit generic, as my friend was quick to point out, but they had me hooked with how well they presented those elements and the more creative aspects of their music.

With Monday night being the final night of this tour, there were sure to be some hijinks happening between all of the musicians, and my favorite of those hijinks came during True North’s set. Towards the end of it, one of the crew members started bringing chairs to the stage. It threw the band off for quite some time and had me a bit thrown off as well. What were those chairs doing there? Were they trying to get someone to trip? Were they trying to get an acoustic song out of this band? That’s when two of the three members of the headlining group came out on stage, sat down at the chairs, complete with a makeshift table, and were “waited on” by another crew member. As the crew member offered them his finest can of “Tour Water” (it’s just water that comes in a can and is branded to be like that of Warped Tour), the audience rolled with laughter. After the two headlining act members “cheersed” their water, the “chef” (another crew member wearing a crudely made piece of paper around their head that said “Chef”) came out to check in on them. Okay, now that I’m writing this all out, I realize just how insane it all sounds, but, truly, it was one of those moments of Monday night that was so full of charm and carefree fun, proving that all of these bands have been having the time of their lives on this tour.

When I saw RIVALS back in November of 2023, when they opened for Scene Queen at the Fine Line, I called them “over-produced” and “hollow.” Although I still think that the music of this Los Angeles-based band is a bit too over-produced for my personal liking, I can’t believe that I ever called this band hollow. Maybe it was the way they hit me that first time versus seeing them on Monday, or maybe it was just due to the company I was with; RIVALS’ set hit me on Monday night, and it hit me hard. Each of the thirteen songs that this trio played through came with an absolutely stunning amount of heart. Even when vocalist Kalie Wolfe was giving a high dose of sassy attitude, there was something so honest and real about it. Honestly, Kalie came off as that girl you wish you were friends with and one that you know you would have a good time with.

Although I really enjoyed the moments when Kalie was sassy and had a very empowering aura about her, there’s no denying the beauty that came with some of the more vulnerable moments of the night. One of those moments that really caught me was when she explained the meaning behind “To Dom.” I won’t ruin it, and I feel like just spurting out what this song is about doesn’t do it justice, but it was a moment where I truly do not think there was a dry eye in the audience. I loved how the band got so deep and raw after just having played the song “Man Eater,” which was followed by a long conversation about Kirkland brand things. The way this band is able to bear their hearts on the stage for all to see but then quickly jump into jokes and quips between each other and the audience is something that felt so charming and really highlighted an already amazing night.

I didn’t want to go to the show on Monday night, but my friend did, and I wanted to see my friend. It was kind of weird to have the tables turned on me. Typically, if a friend wants to see me, they have to come to a show, but here I was on the other side of that, and I was just so thankful that Monday night wasn’t the night when karma came crashing down on me for all of the questionable shows that I have dragged this friend to in the past.

Line Up:

MVSSIE

True North

RIVALS

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing

Average Age of the Crowd: 22

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 5 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- 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)-

MVSSIE – 0

True North – 0

RIVALS – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 8.2 out of 10

Show on Deck —Barely Trev / Chase Elliott / rosie / Izek Rose

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