Girl at the Rock Shows

I woke up on Monday morning wondering where my weekend went. It felt like I had just clocked out of my day job, but there I was, with that dreaded 5:15 AM alarm going off. The weekends are never long enough, but, looking back, I definitely packed it in this past weekend. I knew damn well where my weekend went, and that was into six shows in just three days. Yeah, the exhaustion levels I am dealing with this morning are high, but the thrill I got from the weekend and Friday night specifically will keep me going until I get home and take an epically long nap.

There was an excited feeling in the First Avenue Mainroom as I entered. The crowd was still growing by the time the opening act, Ed Harcourt, took the stage, but I loved that everyone in attendance and those just walking in gave this amazing musician their full attention. It was for good reason, too. Ed is a bit of a silent classic in a way. You may not know his name, and you may have never heard his music, but his sound is one of those “instant classic” kinds of sounds. There’s something to chill and calm about it, but it’s also so expertly crafted at the same time. He started his set perched behind a keyboard, but as the opening set moved on, he shifted to many spots across the stage and dabbled between solo and full band songs. The versatility of this man was almost as staggering as his talent, but what really got me was the passion with which he played each note. It didn’t matter what instrument he was playing or if he was singing along to his perfectly composed tracks; he was doing it with an undeniable sense of heart and fire that had me whisked away from the dread that was coming on, knowing that Monday was just a few hours away.

The transition between Ed and the second act, the first co-headliner of the night, The Afghan Whigs, was seamless. This was primarily thanks to the fact that the majority of The Afghan Whigs were already on stage to help Ed perform his final track. Although the transition caught me off guard as I almost missed my chance to get into the photo pit to capture a couple of pictures of this band due to just how seamless that transition was (and the fact that photographers typically only have three songs to get their shots), I loved it and felt like it added a very well-thought-out aspect to the evening.

The vocalist of The Afghan Whigs instantly looked familiar. I’ll be honest: this is not a band I know much about or spend much time with, but the fact that I instantly recognized Greg Dulli told me what I needed to know. There was something about this band that must have stuck with me when I saw them back in 2017, and it didn’t take me long to figure out what it was. This band has been doing their thing since 1986 so it’s no surprise that their sound came off as perfectly level and skillfully composed. I loved the way that their sound came off as super big and boisterous, but, at the same time, it was so well crafted and played with an undeniable attention to detail. Although they definitely aren’t a “new band,” I feel like their fresh sound and engaging performance made them feel like so much more than just another band from the 80s. I may not have grown up with The Afghan Whigs’ on my daily soundtrack, but the older crowd around me clearly did, and every song was followed up by a deafening roar of applause that proved to me that this crowd was here for one reason and one reason only– the music.

About halfway through the set, Greg addressed the crowd and the hundreds of phones he surely saw being held up in the air (I was honestly surprised by the number of phones that were being held up throughout this show as that is typically an element of a younger crowd and a completely different genre, but I digress). He started by saying how he really doesn’t care if you want to film the whole thing and snap pictures all night. He just asked that you make sure not to use your flash as it is distracting to the performers. This is standard talk for a show, but he went on to say something that really stuck with me. “This is happening for the first time, the only time, and the last time.” This small reminder about living in the moment and knowing that every moment you live is one that will not happen again is something that will surely stick with me for a very long time.

As I briefly mentioned, Sunday night at the First Avenue Mainroom was a co-headlining show. The first headliner was The Afghan Whigs, and the second was The Church, closing out the night. This is a band I know nothing about. I honestly had this show on my radar only because my boyfriend had done sound for their last show in town and was left super impressed. He can be a bit of a music snob, so the fact that he came home telling me all about The Church told me that I just had to see them for myself, and I was thankful I didn’t have to wait long for that to happen. I’m also thankful that my boyfriend has good taste. Within the first song, I understood why he had been so thrilled by this band.

Hailing from Australia, The Church is another timeless and classic band that dates back to 1980. They had some hits here and there, but, like vocalist Steve Kilbey joked, they weren’t really “big” hits. More just little baby hits. Hits be damned, this band killed their performance on Sunday night. The sound of The Church is very 80s, but I don’t know how to expand on that. I feel like the music of the 80s had such a distinct dark and almost brooding vibe, which The Church does so well. Although their sound is dark, there is such an undeniable sense of depth that comes with each song from The Church. The way the band balances this darkness and “lightness,” for lack of a better term, had me absolutely floored. It was gorgeous, it was emotional, it was full of life while being very therapeutic at the same time. Much like The Afghan Whigs’ set, I was unable to sing along to the songs (not even their “baby” hit “Under the Milky Way”), but that didn’t stop me from being completely lost in their world.

I don’t know where time went this weekend or how it’s already Monday, but I know that every moment of this show on Sunday night was time well spent. I may not have gotten all of the work and housework done that I wanted to, but the feeling of being at a solid and well-done show is going to keep me going through what is surely to be an insane holiday week.

Line Up:

Ed Harcourt

The Afghan Whigs

The Church

Venue: First Avenue

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing

Average Age of the Crowd: 47

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

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 – 3

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

Ed Harcourt – 0

The Afghan Whigs – 1

The Church – 0

Celebrity Sightings – Ann of Mostly MN Music; Members of Unstable Shapes

Overall Score – 7.6 out of 10

Show on Deck — TBD

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