Girl at the Rock Shows

Monday night was the first taste of fall in the Twin Cities, and it was perfect. I’m a sucker for cold weather (hence why I live in Minnesota) and love it when the season changes from summer to fall because it means winter is just a few weeks away. Honestly, it was the perfect kind of night to stay in with a candle going, the cats on my lap, and a few new albums playing through my house as I reviewed them from the warmth of the couch, but the concert Gods had other plans for me. Typically, Cloudland is not open on Mondays, but they made an exception to host this show, and I, for one, am so dang glad they did.

Kicking the night off was HARD FEELINGS from Duluth, Minnesota. Unfortunately, from what I gathered, the “main vocalist” of this band had lost his voice at the Packers vs. Vikings game over the weekend, which threw a bit of a wrench into their set list for the night, but that didn’t stop this garage-rock band from giving the audience their all. The sound of HARD FEELINGS was a bit gritty and even rough around the edges, but I feel like that was by design, as it gave the group this very raw and honest feeling. When the “main vocalist” (sorry, I suck at names and, although I found a list online, I’m not sure if it’s all that accurate because HARD FEELINGS doesn’t seem to be super active on the internets) was able to muster the voice to sing a song, it came with this unique twang that I so badly wanted more of. The rest of the band did such a great job picking up the slack, and, had I not overheard conversations about the member being sick, I probably would have assumed this was just their normal set, but those glimpses into the “real” HARD FEELINGS, absolutely has me wanting more.

Up next was the scrappy local punk band Visual Learner. Their sound seemed to expand on what HARD FEELINGS had laid out to start the night with an added straight-up punk vibe to their sound. Watching this band was hilarious to me. Honestly, I would have loved their sound to be a bit tighter and cleaner, but had it been that way, I don’t think I would have gotten the same amount of joy watching them as I did on Monday. The four members of this band are clearly friends and jokesters. Towards the end of the set, the bassist was a bit confused about what song was next. The rest of the band seemed confused by their confusion and it wasn’t until after one of the last songs that the bassist realized that their set list was missing a song. After a little fit about the situation, the band kicked back into their set but it was clear that this mistake was irking the bassist. All it took to make up for this mistake was a literal kick in the butt to the vocalist who seemingly wrote the set lists and an apology from them before the set ended as chaotically as it started. Visual Learner is not a clean band by any means, but that adds to their charm. They were truly the perfect addition to this line-up and a great pick-me-up for a Monday night when my energy levels were clearly lacking.

Closing out the perfect (albeit quick) Monday night show was San Antonio, Texas-based Faulty Cognitions. To some people, this band is a bit of a supergroup. It features members of bands like Sacred Games, Shang-A-Lang, Low Culture, Eastern Condors, and Sunjammer– really, the list goes on and on, but the truth is, I wouldn’t be surprised if you have never heard of any of these bands. Where the members of this group came from and where they’ve been doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the sound that they have created together. It’s melodic punk with a little skate-punk edge at times and an almost heart-on-sleeve rawness of bands like Replacements. Their sound is really all over the place when you start to dive into it, but, at face value, it’s just one of those sounds that brings you such a sense of comfort and energy while putting a smile on your face.

I’ll be honest, there weren’t many people at this show. Blame it on the shift in the weather, maybe the fact it was a Monday night, or maybe it was because the two opening acts have very little social media; regardless, there just were not many people at Cloudland on Monday, and that broke my heart. All three bands that performed absolutely poured their hearts and passion on the intimate stage, even with the modest-sized crowd, and that was my all-time favorite part of the night. Sure, it may not be any of these bands’ “big break,” but I think it’s safe to assume that if you had walked into this show blindly (as I did), you left with three new acts on your radar that you are already anxiously awaiting a return performance from.

Line Up:

HARD FEELINGS

Visual Learner

Faulty Cognitions

Venue: Cloudland

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 1 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Spotted

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)-

HARD FEELINGS – 0

Visual Learner – 0

Faulty Cognitions – 0

Celebrity Sightings – Christy Costello

Overall Score – 8 out of 10

Show on Deck — Hanson / Matthew Sweet

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