Girl at the Rock Shows

Although I am known to go to shows just on a whim, I’ve rarely met people who do the same thing. I had interactions with two people at the 7th Street Entry on Tuesday night who were there just because, why not? I love that and feel like it set the tone for the night. Although I didn’t quite know what I was going to get other than one of the four acts, I was excited and hoped that I had chosen the right way to spend my Tuesday night and that these two other people would maybe get in the habit of just showing up at shows. Spoiler alert: if they experienced what I did on Tuesday night, they will surely just stumble into more shows in the future.

Although from three and a half hours south, opening act Jake Luke calls Minneapolis home and we, as a city, will absolutely allow it. He instantly put the charm on the quickly growing crowd with his pop-leaning hip-hop-drenched tracks. Although I felt that his music was a bit too commercial and overly tracked for my personal preference, there was something dazzling about the short time he spent on stage. Sure, the tracks took away a sense of the genuine-ness, but that distinct Jake Luke charm made up for it in a way, and when you add in his boy-band-worthy dance moves, you were left with an oddly infectious set that was hard not to fall into. The music wasn’t quite my thing, but Jake’s performance was, and I would gladly go see this up-and-coming performer any night of the week.

Ed Sheeran, I mean Broderick Jones, was up next. Hailing from Olathe, Kansas, I felt like Broderick fit perfectly into the Twin Cities scene. His brand of hip-hop had a very Minnesota rap kind of edge to it while being completely fresh and new to me. There were moments of his set that leaned into the R&B side of things, whereas there were others that had a bit more of a bite to them. Harry Styles, I mean Broderick Jones, admitted that his songs were all about women because, at the end of the day, women run the world and I felt like that had me sold on this man as if his music hadn’t done that already. On top of the lyrical content and infectious beats was Broderick’s charm. I loved the fact that he introduced himself as Ed Sheeran and then admitted that he, in fact, was not Ed Sheeran but was actually Harry Styles. It made me laugh almost as hard as when he explained to the crowd that, back home, he is in a Rascal Flatts cover band before he jumped into an oddly perfect cover of a song I recognized but could not name (I assume it was a Rascal Flatts tune). Small moments like that scattered throughout Broderick’s set really shined a light on the personality that will surely take this man to the top.

Barely Trev was up next and was the only name I knew anything about on this bill. This kid caught my attention after I saw him perform at this very same venue in June. Although his sound wasn’t quite my thing, his energy was, and I was so excited to experience it all over again. His set on Tuesday night came with the same amount of charm and chutzpah that made me fall in love with him, but I got a little extra. I loved hearing this Minneapolis musician talk about his time on the road with this tour. He spoke about how when he and his fantastic band were trekking out to South Carolina to link up with this tour, they were stopped at a gas station by a stranger who, intrigued by the giant white van they were traveling in, asked what they were doing. When Barely Trev mentioned they were on tour, this stranger offered him money to sing a song right there, on the spot, in the middle of a gas station parking lot. Although this was surely such a small moment of this little run of dates that Barely Trev has been doing with headlining act MoonLander, I feel that it spoke to the charm of this man and his talent. Instead of just getting the $20 he was promised by this stranger, the stranger ended up throwing $60 his way and, in the world of touring, that’s a giant paycheck that Barely Trev was more than worthy of.

Much like the first time I saw him, the energy of Barely Trev and his band is what kept me captivated throughout their set. As I mentioned, his sound wasn’t quite my thing but it’s fun and enjoyable and highlighted by charming personalities throughout the band. I loved the moment when Barely Trev stepped out of the spotlight and handed it off to his drummer to perform a track. Although he had a co-headlining set length (of about forty-five minutes), he wanted his longtime friend and collaborator to get some of the spotlight. “Trev” (I honestly don’t know if that’s his name or not) hopped off the stage and joined the audience to enjoy a track from the drummer before closing the night off with a super fun sing-a-long cover of “Year 3000” by Busted. Another sparkling moment of the set is when Barely Trev played a new song and invited Broderick Jones up for a verse. Watching these two musicians interact so organically yet create such a cool blend of sounds and styles in this new track was truly the cherry on top of Barely Trev’s already amazing set.

Closing out the Tuesday night show was North Carolina-based MoonLander. Much like the three previous acts of the night, MoonLander’s pop-rap blend was not quite my thing as it leaned a bit more commercial than I tend to go, but it was the personality and vulnerability that MoonLander and his band put in the spotlight that had me sold. There was something about MoonLander’s set that screamed “everything to prove, nothing to lose” to me, and I loved that. I loved the fact that this man was not afraid to get vulnerable and clearly had an emotional time playing through a song written for his brother, who had passed away. This beautiful ode was just one of the many sparkling moments that kept me stuck in MoonLander’s world, even though it felt so foreign to me.

I loved the fact that MoonLander could get so raw at some moments during the set but then turn around and have jokes and crazy stories for days. One of these crazy stories was about how he interacted with Yung Gravy- a Minneapolis boy who hit it big and continues growing in the pop-rap scene. MoonLander talked about getting a billboard just to catch Yung Gravy’s attention and then having to get a Yung Gravy tattoo on his butt, and then… okay, I’m telling it wrong, but it was funny and got the entire audience laughing and made it feel like I was watching a friend, not a highly talented musician who is out on the road, grinding his way to the top.

All in all, Tuesday night was a great show. It definitely wasn’t my normal kind of thing, but I loved the charm that all four acts brought to the stage, and I loved the fact that I was surrounded by people who, like me, were just looking for an enjoyable night of live music.

Line Up:

Jake Luke

Broderick Jones

Barely Trev

MoonLander

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 24

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 1 out of 10

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)-

Jake Luke – 0

Broderick Jones – 0

Barely Trev – 1

MoonLander – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 7.3 out of 10

Show on Deck —Caster Volor / Next Chapter / Hollowstone / Looks That Kill

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