Girl at the Rock Shows

As they say, winter is coming. Honestly, it makes me so happy as I am absolutely a winter-lover but, at the same time, thinking back to how I never once made it to a pool or even a lake this summer has me bumming a little bit. Thankfully for me, I’ll be in Las Vegas this weekend for a festival, so I’ll get that final taste of summer, but it’s true: winter is coming, and it’s time to break out the coats and beanies when it comes to going to shows. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the memo or was just in denial, so I left the house without a coat or hat. I was shivering as I walked up to Cloudland on Monday night, but those shivers were quickly eased due to the familiar warmth of being at a show at one of my many homes away from home.

I’m not sure how to describe the opening act of the night, Gash, but I can tell you that I liked what they were doing. This band has a subtle energy and intensity to them that is hidden within lines of artistic and creative composition and sounds. There’s nothing typical or predictable about this band, which is what I liked about them. Sure, I would have loved to see the group explode on stage into a thunderous moment of angst, but that never really happened, nor would it have made sense now that I reflect on their set. Maybe I didn’t get hit by a tsunami of intense sounds, but I did get hit by a wave of passion that came through both in this band’s performance and from the sounds that were washing over me. Everything this band did was deliberate, and although, at times, some of the notes didn’t quite make sense to me, at the end of every song, I was left more than satisfied and wanting more. Although not local, Gash isn’t from far away, and I hope that means I will have many more chances to catch this band.

Following Gash was Denver-based American Culture. This group’s sound was a bit more traditional, but don’t mistake that to mean that this group just fell in line as far as the night went. Honestly, that was the most magical part of Monday night’s show at Cloudland– the diversity and, if I’m being honest, the flavor that American Culture struck me a bit harder than the other two bands. Maybe it was my mood; perhaps it was the weather; whatever it was, the tunes that American Culture presented during their short time on stage sang to my soul in a way that I was not expecting a brand-new-to-me band to be capable of.

The sound of American Culture is, like Gash, a bit hard to explain but also a bit more commercial. It’s rock ‘n’ roll at its core, but these waves of everything from DIY punk to psychedelic rock crash into each other throughout their vintage-tinged songs. Although the instrumentation and power of this band was not lost on me, it was the words of their songs that spoke to my heart. I’m not going to give it away (and also wasn’t taking a bunch of notes, so I don’t want to butcher this group’s beautiful way with words), but their songs seemed to revolve around the standard themes of mental health and emotion. That’s not what struck me. What struck me is they used familiar lines of words yet turned them into something stunningly powerful. There was one song where I’m pretty sure the words were something like, “I’m just trying to be better for my friends and my animals.” Maybe I’m way off there, but there was something about those words and that song in particular that just really stuck with me. Long story short, I had walked into American Culture’s set completely blind but left an absolute fan, and I hope this band makes the trek back to the Twin Cities soon.

My introduction to the final band of the night, Oyster World, was earlier this year when I caught them at this very same venue back in June. I have been craving another performance from this band ever since, and although they have played plenty of shows since then, Monday night was the first time I could make it work. I waited in anticipation for the local group to take the stage, wondering if I would get the same feeling that I did the first time I saw them. Honestly, I didn’t think I would. This unclassifiable group had already shown me their cards, and I knew what they were about. There was no way I would be hit with the same shock and awe I had been the first time I saw them. At least, that’s what I thought. How wrong I was.

Like I said the first time I saw Oyster World, the music of this band can not be put into a box. It’s artsy but also post-punk. It’s post-punk, but it’s also garage rock. It’s garage rock, but it’s also post-hardcore. It’s post-hardcore but also noise– see where this is going? Really, the sound of Oyster World is strange, and that’s the best way I can put it, but, at the same time, it’s truly captivating. From the oddly composed tracks to the unique sounds that this band makes with their traditional instruments. This band is the kind of band that has taken all of the rules of music, thrown them out the window, and created something ridiculously catchy and incredible. Sure, there are moments of their set that sound a bit more like slightly-withheld chaos but the way those moments butt up to more infectious moments that get stuck in your head is insane. Oyster World is traveling a thin line between quirky chaos and out-of-control thoughts, but they are doing it so well, and it’s something that will never cease to amaze me.

Line Up:

Gash

American Culture

Oyster World

Venue: Cloudland

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 36

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

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)-

Gash – 0

American Culture – 0

Oyster World – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 8 out of 10

Show on Deck — Benjamin Tod and Lost Dog Street Band / Nolan Taylor

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