Girl at the Rock Shows

I feel like I go through stints with venues in town. My most recent stint has been at Zhora Darling in Northeast Minneapolis, but before that, was a stint with Cloudland in South Minneapolis. I haven’t been to Cloudland since last November but changed that on Thursday night. My triumphant return to this quaint and super chill venue just felt right, and other than a couple of new photos on the walls, nothing had really changed about this venue. I loved that because, although it had been months, it still felt like a home away from home when I walked in, which set the stage perfectly for the three-band local show I was about to see.

Junior Choir was the first band to take the stage, and I instantly fell head over heels in love with them. Their sound was very much The Forecast meets Motion City Soundtrack (and I’m not just saying that because the bassist had a Motion City Soundtrack hoodie on). It was Straylight Run meets The Junior Varsity (and I’m not just saying that because of the band name). It was pure nostalgia but with a modern post-punk twist. Some moments felt so silky smooth and calming, but others evoked an undeniable sense of emotion out of me. Regardless of whether it was one of the more dreamlike moments of their set or one of the more angst-driven ones, Junior Choir had me stuck in the palm of their hands throughout the set. I don’t know where this band came from or how I haven’t caught them before, but I know that they have my attention now, and I can’t wait for another chance to see this band perform.

Following Junior Choir was Dashed. Yup, that’s right. Dashed– a band that I have now seen three times in just about as many weeks. As Dashed was setting up on the small and intimate stage, I started to freak out a little bit. Was I able to give this band yet another review that says something that I haven’t already said in the previous two posts about them? Was everything I was about to see going to just feel redundant, making my love for this band slightly fade? I know I know– I worry too much. When I saw Dashed on Saturday night at Zhora Darling, I talked about how they had catered their set to fit the heavy-leaning bill. They leaned into the angst in their songs, which gave them an edge that I really liked. Thursday night’s line-up was not heavy, so Dashed seemed to lean more into their surf-rock influence that comes through perfectly loud and clear with their cover of a Los Straitjackets track that I had heard them do the first time I saw them. Sure, I have seen this band three times in just about three weeks, but I feel like every time I see them, they either lean into another one of the various influences that are woven into their sound or they give me just a bit of a different edge, and that’s something that will absolutely keep me coming back for more time and time again.

I never got to see The Drop Dead. It was a band whose name I saw time and time again, but my schedule never aligned with theirs. Maybe all they needed was a name change because, as soon as they changed their name to Peony Park, I was able to catch them perform. Peony Park closed out Thursday night’s show and, like Junior Choir, instantly won me over. Although I had never heard any of their music, something about Peony Park’s sound comforted me in a way that left me almost speechless. It was definitely post-punk, but it was also pop-punk, it was surf-punk, it was garage-rock, and it was a perfect blend of everything that I look for in music. Like the genres I would classify this band as, the range of influences I could rattle off is lengthy and would contain names like The Get Up Kids (and that’s not because of the guitarist’s tattoo), Boysetsfire, and The Lawrence Arms. If you know those bands, they have very little in common, but, at the same time, it gives you a good idea of what this band is all about.

This is a short article, I know. Honestly, it was a short show, and on top of that, I’m feeling a little burnt out from this current concert bender I’m on. This is not a reflection of the power, talent, and passion that I felt radiate from the stage on Thursday night, so don’t take it that way. I know it’s easy to get home from work and just stay hunkered down when it’s this cold outside, but if that’s you, you are missing out on some fantastic local music and shows that, at the end of the day, my words can only describe so much. Bundle up and get out there.

Line Up:

Junior Choir

Dashed

Peony Park

Venue: Cloudland

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 37

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability- 0 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)-

Junior Choir – 0

Dashed – 2

Peony Park – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 8 out of 10

Show on Deck — Malos Pasos / Mayda / Crush Scene / DJ Superbrush427

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