Girl at the Rock Shows

I had a plan for Saturday night. Go to Zhora Darling to catch Careful Gaze and all of the openers, then truck over to Underground Music Cafe to catch the celebration of Cymothoa’s new album, then end at The Turf Club in Saint Paul to catch the tail end of God Bullies. It was a perfect plan, but then the snow hit, and then two bands dropped off of the show at Zhora Darling (which meant the timing would probably change), but then two bands replaced those two dropped acts, and, well, my day was spent trying to research how to be at three places all at the same time. Spoiler alert: I didn’t figure it out and ended up going to only one show. Sure, I was bummed, but the show I did spend my night at was truly amazing, and there was never a point during the night where I regretted my decision.

As mentioned, two bands dropped off of the show on Saturday night at Zhora Darling at the last minute as they were coming from Fargo, and the roads were questionable. Although I would call that course of action questionable since a few of the acts playing on Saturday night did the trek (this same show was in Fargo on Friday night), I get it. As someone who has driven from Minneapolis to Fargo in the middle of a nasty snow storm, it’s not something I would mess around with. I was bummed that I wouldn’t catch Mother or Baltic To Boardwalk but was stoked when two new names hit the line-up to replace them. Before I talk about the two acts, let me just give a massive shout-out to Gabe from Careful Gaze for the quick thinking. One of my alter egos is a booking agent, and I know how frustrating and defeating it is to have bands drop off at the last minute, but Gabe didn’t let it get him down and, instead, made sure the night was a whole night of amazing music.

The first of the two last-minute replacements was Backgrounds. Backgrounds is a fascinating blend of looping, bedroom-pop, and a more intense and booming prog-rock sound. The act is just Jason, who we would see later in VIN’s set and who also plays in a couple of other local acts, including Lung. I watched in awe as Jason created the sounds that took over the room right before my eyes. It would start with nothing but a strum on the guitar, but within sheer seconds, the sound of drums and multiple layers of guitars took over the room at an almost deafening volume. Jason’s time on stage was short, but he definitely caught my attention and the attention of the quickly growing crowd. I’m not sure how much Jason has played out as “Background” at this point, as his socials are pretty light, but it’s an act that I hope to catch again.

I just saw the next band, Dashed, at this same venue a couple of weeks ago. I had shown up at that performance on a whim but instantly knew that Dashed was a band to watch. Luckily for me, they were the other replacement band that stepped in at the last minute to fill Saturday night’s bill, and I was stoked to see them. Although it has only been a couple of weeks since the last time I saw them (18 days, to be exact), I was picking up new vibes and moods in their music. I talked about how the only way to classify this band would be by calling them a rock band, but how that doesn’t explain all of the twisty roads they go down, taking them everywhere from a grunge world to a post-hardcore planet. They really leaned into the latter on Saturday night. I don’t know if I’m already seeing this band evolve or if they were doing this to lean into the sound and vibe of the night, but I know that I loved it, and as someone else on stage mentioned, Dashed is definitely becoming one of my favorite local bands and one that I expect big things from this year.

Brutal noise-rockers SHRIVE were up next. This was the only band outside of Backgrounds that I had never heard of before, and I had no clue what to expect, but as soon as the trio took the stage, I was utterly captivated. Right away, I wanted to make a comparison to The Body. It had that same kind of uber-controlled chaos and deafening intensity, but that comparison is a bit off and I more just have no clue how to explain SHRIVE or who to compare them to. I would probably call SHRIVE’s sound noise rock, but there were definitely elements of everything from metal to prog thrown in there. The trio had an undeniable sense of power behind their performance, but what floored me more than that was how tight this band was. There were complicated rhythms happening behind the drum kit but there was never a hesitation or hiccup when it came to the other two members joining in with that beat. It was amazing to hear but even more amazing to watch, and it quickly turned into one of those sets that was done far too soon for me. I’m not sure where SHRIVE has been all my life, but this was absolutely love at first set for me.

VIN was the second to last band to take the stage, and having seen them before, I knew I was about to get blasted with their distinct and amazing blend of mathy rock guitars and post-hardcore vocals. VIN has always been a solid band to see live, but something about them on Saturday night seemed extra solid. I think it was all in the vocals. Throughout the set, I caught the vocalist literally shaking as he screamed through lines of beautiful and heart-breaking lyrics. Could the shaking have been nerves? I mean, I guess, but this band has been around long enough that I doubt that. I think I was seeing this singer having a physical response to the words he was singing and screaming and that was all I could watch through their entire set. Don’t get me wrong, this band is all-around amazing, and every member brings something to the table regarding their live performance, but there was just something in the air surrounding the vocalist that I could not get over.

Last night was a celebration and funeral of sorts for the final band to take the stage at Zhora Darling on Saturday night. Okay, “funeral” is a bit strong of a word. Careful Gaze is not breaking up. In fact, they promised to still be around town, but unfortunately, Saturday night was their drummer’s last show with the band. The set started off with a wedding-styled toast where Gabe, the vocalist, spoke so highly of drummer Benny. It was touching, it was honest, and, honestly, a little depressive because you could see the hole that Benny would be leaving in this incredible emo-leaning post-hardcore band, but that didn’t stop this group from giving the performance of a lifetime and creating a beautiful send off for a super talented and amazing drummer.

Careful Gaze’s set was full of their signature brand of emotion. I talk about it all the time– how you can feel emotion from a band if they have the right kind of music and the right kind of passion. It doesn’t happen at all shows, but I feel like I consistently leave Careful Gaze sets entirely emotionally drained, and Saturday night was no different. Honestly, I feel like it was a little amplified. Maybe it was the fact that this was Benny’s last show with the band, or perhaps something was going on in the personal lives of the band members, but there was something just a bit more angsty and a bit stronger about their performance on Saturday. That’s not at all a complaint. It made their poignant lyrics hit home a bit harder; their intense drum beats made my heart thump a bit faster and made my love for this band stronger. Long story short, Careful Gaze may have hit a road bump with losing Benny, but the power and strength that they showcased on Saturday night proved that they are too strong for this little bump to stop them. I don’t know what the future will hold for Careful Gaze, but I know that there’s no stopping a band that can affect people as much as they can.

I feel terrible that I didn’t make it to celebrate my buddies in Cymothoa’s album release show. I’m honestly a bit bummed that I didn’t get to cross God Bullies off of my bucket list. That being said, my heart knew damn well where I was supposed to be, and that was at Zhora Darling.

Line Up:

Backgrounds

Dashed

Shrive

VIN

Careful Gaze

Venue: Zhora Darling

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 28

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability- 4 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)-

Backgrounds – 0

Dashed -1

Shrive – 0

VIN – 1

Careful Gaze – 2

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 9.2 out of 10

Show on Deck —070 Shake / Bryant Barnes / Johan Lenox

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