Girl at the Rock Shows

And that’s a wrap on 2024. What a wild year it has been. I know that’s cliche to say but, truly, 250 shows, more bands than I have the time to count right now, and too many memories to list, 2024 was crazy but in an amazing way. I’m sad to see this year go, but I am so glad that I ended it with the show that I did.

Superior Siren opened up the Sunday night show at the iconic First Avenue Mainroom. According to their bio, they are an “eerie-folk project,” and, honestly, that’s the best way to describe this group of musicians. Their folk sound was soft, but it had such a sense of depth and beauty behind it. At times, the siren-like tones of this band cast an eerie shadow over the audience. I loved it, and it was no surprise when the band mentioned that they are from the North Shore of Minnesota because that’s what it sounded like. Isn’t it wild that you can hear a sound and feel a place? Although I haven’t spent much time on the North Shore, I have spent some snowy weekends in Grand Marias and in stunning Two Harbors for a best friend’s wedding. The sounds of Superior Siren took me back to these places with the peaceful bliss that their music brought me.

Out of everything that happened throughout Superior Siren’s opening set on Sunday night, it was the elegant beauty that hit me the hardest. This band didn’t have to fight to catch the audience’s attention because their sound was so stunning. They didn’t have to power over the low roar of chatter coming from the excited audience because they knew that their music would draw people in and silence that chatter. That’s exactly what happened and I loved seeing the crowd get trapped in the world of Superior Siren. It was not a loud show, not even a super fun one to watch, yet there was something about this group of Sirens that absolutely captured your mind, body, and spirit. I thought I had been in the mood for a party-like atmosphere just with how my day and weekend had gone, but I loved the more zen-like feeling that this opening set brought to my day and the way to set the audience up perfectly for what was to come from the headlining act.

To even begin to try and put Colorado-based headliners DeVotchKa into a box of just one genre would be a mistake. This old-souled group dabbles in everything from pop to indie to rock to bluegrass, and they do it with a sense of unforgivable swagger that has made them a band that I often turn to when I don’t know what else to listen to. On top of that, this four-piece has a hell of a live show. It’s one of those live shows that just has to be seen, or that’s what I had heard. Although this band seems to frequent the Twin Cities, Sunday night was the first time I’ve caught them, and it was worth the wait but it also made me so mad that it had taken me so long to catch this group live.

As I mentioned, this band is all over the place when it comes to the style of music they play. One song can bring a party-like atmosphere with a very Eastern-European almost gypsy-like feel with it, but within just minutes, they will switch into a somber dreamlike song that drifts you away and leaves you in a dizzying daze. I love the variety but love the constants that interweave within this variety more. Those constants include talent and attention to detail. Every member of this group pays their respective part with such a sense of perfection. I don’t mean that just by their sound live mirrors that of their recordings, but also the amount of grace with which each member seems to perform. Although some strings of notes may feel like they are flying at you at warp speed, the performers remain calm and make sure that you can hear every note and beat of that particular line of fury loud and clear.

DeVotchKa is the kind of band that has thought of everything. That doesn’t stop at their overwhelming gorgeous cinematic sound, it continues into the performance that they give. As I mentioned, you can see a sense of calm fall over this band as they play, but there’s also an organic chemistry between the players of this group that is impossible to ignore. It’s not the kind of show where the members are joking amongst themselves or with the crowd. Honestly, it’s a pretty serious feeling kind of show, yet you can feel this sense of pure joy radiate from the stage purely from the members truly enjoying what they are doing on that stage. It’s subtle but something that is impossible to ignore and gives this band that extra chutzpah when it comes to their live show that truly makes them stand out as one of the best bands to see live.

Not into the flawless music or that subtle energy and joy that comes off of the stage during a DeVotchKa show? Have no fear, this band had more tricks on Sunday night in the form of two gorgeous dancers. I knew it was coming just because, again, I had just been waiting for my chance to see this band live and had done my research, but it was still absolutely stunning to see two gorgeous dancers take flight on a ring that was hanging from the lighting rig just a few feet into the audience from the stage. Sure, I got a bit nervous as I saw said lighting rig jiggle with the dancer’s movements, but the beauty of these two truly strong and powerful performers helped soothe the anxiety that seeing the shifting lighting rig gave me. Much like the music of DeVotchKa, these two performers had a sense of elegance about them as they twirled and contorted their bodies within this small hoop. Call them aerialists if you want, I would call them artists and their performance added to that of DeVotchKa’s. My only complaint is that they only performed for the encore, but I get it. The amount of strength and energy that it probably took these two dancers to do what they did was immense, and I am just honored that I got to see them do their thing.

Sunday night’s show was not super loud or rambunctious. It was a perfectly curated night of North Shore elegance and intriguing Colorado-bred Eastern European sounds with a sparkle of razzle-dazzle. It was the perfect way to bid adieu to 2024 and welcome 2025.

Line Up:

Superior Siren

DeVotchKa

Venue: First Avenue

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 42

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 0 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)-

Superior Siren – 0

DeVotchKa – 0

Celebrity Sightings – Dustin of By The Thousands

Overall Score – 9 out of 10

Show on Deck —TBD

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