Girl at the Rock Shows

Friday night was a celebration of a lot of things. In no particular order, we were celebrating the third anniversary of one of the bands, a new album release from said band, two birthdays, and an entire demographic that seems to be trying to be disappeared by the current administration. Okay, I got heavy there, but it’s something about Friday night’s show that seemed to overshadow everything else. That shadow wasn’t dark. In fact, it was super bright and dazzling, but it also added a certain pressure on me to write this review. I’m going to be scattered in this post. Not only were there a lot of acts, but there were a lot of emotions that, although subtle at times, really highlighted the night, so please bear with me as I try to get all of my thoughts out there.

ihavenoloveformenlikeyou got the celebration started. Their emotional leaning hardcore song was perfectly curated chaotic angst. There was an aggression to their set, but there was also a stunning show of tenderness behind the chaos. Although they were first up in a super stacked line-up with only a short time on stage, they didn’t hold back and instantly got everyone in attendance ready for a show. That’s a hard thing to do, especially on a Friday night when a million other things were going on, but the way they grabbed your ears and attention within the first song and never let you drift away due to the sheer power and uniqueness of their set was absolutely amazing and made for the perfect kick-off to a lovely night.

Allergen was up next, and this is a band I have been wanting to see for some time. Not only has their name been floating around the local scene lately, but as soon as I walked into The Amsterdam Bar & Hall on Friday and bumped into a friend, we instantly started talking about this band. He asked if I had ever seen them before, and when I said no, his face kind of lit up. This told me everything I needed to know, as I trust this guy’s opinion and musical taste so much. I was about to get my mind blown, and that’s precisely what happened. Like ihavenoloveformenlikeyou, the sound of Allergen dabbles between something painfully angsty and something beautifully tragic. There was a slightly somber undertone to many of the songs they performed on Friday night, but also something so beautifully powerful.

The music took a quick break after Allergen’s set to make room for two local comedians. As you know (if you have read this blog for a bit), writing about comedy is hard because I can’t give up any of the jokes, leaving me very little to focus on other than the room, but, in the case of Friday night, that’s okay. The two comedians who performed – Joe Addict and Corina Lucas- knew their audience so well and did an excellent job catering to the crowd. Sure, it wasn’t music, but the roar of laughter that was quickly replaced by applause after each set was done sure felt like a musical performance. Both comedians showed a sense of charm, dirtiness, hilarity, and personality throughout their sets, and I really loved the diversity that this little “break” in the show brought. I think more local shows should incorporate things like comedy into them because, just like the music scene, we have some freaking talented and very funny people here in the Twin Cities (as proved by both Joe Addict and Corina Lucas).

¿WATCHES? instantly plunged the audience back into the world of local music after the comedy was over. I know I’m starting to feel like a bit of a broken record, but the power of this local duo can not be praised enough. Their sound, like the previous two groups, was slightly chaotic and intense, but it was so perfectly curated that it didn’t turn into sheer panic. The way they set the stage with all of the house lights off and nothing but a flood light hanging from the microphone really gave their set this DIY basement vibe that fit the tone of their sound and the feeling of the night overall so perfectly. It added a sense of intimacy to the set, and for a room as large as Amsterdam’s “hall stage,” it was something that I’d never felt before.

Closing out the Friday night show was Ice Climber. The last time I saw this group was in October of 2023, and, reading back on that post (which can be found HERE!), I clearly didn’t enjoy their set. I must have been crabby or having an off night that night because, when it came to their set on Friday night, I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with every song they played. As mentioned in that previous post, their music is all over the place, but I found it unique, not confusing, on Friday night. This larger-than-life band has a little bit of everything from a saxophone to the sound of almost noise-inspired tones to whatever was happening towards the back of the stage with a table of pedals and things being shoved on the pedals to create weird tones (at least I think? I honestly have no clue what this particular member of the group was doing but I know that it had me intrigued). At the forefront of it all is the super charming and powerful personality of Xochi de la Luna. There was just something about how Xochi commands your attention with a sense of severity, but then their words wrap around you like a hug from a long-lost friend. It’s a weird dynamic but one that I instantly wanted to feel night after night.

Okay, I’ve talked your ear off about all of the fantastic acts that graced the stage on Friday night already, but I’m not done yet and haven’t even gotten to the most important thing about Friday night. Friday’s show was very trans and non-binary-forward. I don’t just mean on the stage; I mean in the audience as well. Watching everyone interact and hug was a beautiful thing, but there was a heaviness behind it all. You could tell people were sick and tired of being stressed out and on edge for doing nothing other than simply being. As mentioned, this current administration is trying to disappear these people, and seeing the weight this has put on this amazing group of people truly broke my heart. It’s something that I will never fully understand, so I won’t expand on this more, but seeing this community come together and celebrate even with the unimaginably hard time they are facing right now was the best part of my Friday night.

Line Up:

ihavenoloveformenlikeyou

Allergen

Joe Addict

Corina Lucas

¿WATCHES?

Ice Climber

Venue: Amsterdam Bar & Hall

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 24

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability- 2 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- 0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

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)-

ihavenoloveformenlikeyou – 0

Allergen – 0

Joe Addict – 0

Corina Lucas – 0

¿WATCHES? – 0

Ice Climber – 1

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 8.9 out of 10

Show on Deck —Careful Gaze / VIN / Baltic To Boardwalk / Mother / Shrive

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