Maybe Everything Around Me Is Too Slow

I get excited about every show I go to because, at the end of the day, I truly just love live music. That being said, I get more excited about some shows. It could be because it’s a band I’ve never seen before or because of the hype around a particular act. In the case of Saturday night’s sold-out show at The Underground Music Venue, it was because the headliner is a band whose music has just been hitting so hard and so perfectly lately. I was ready for the band to take me away from the stress of everyday life and prepared for their poignant words and catchy rhythms to capture my heart and soul.

Getting the night off right was local rockers Mary Jam. Mary Jam has quickly become a favorite of mine in the local scene, and their set on Saturday night proved why. Although it was super short, clocking in at exactly thirty minutes, Mary Jam ripped the stage apart in a way that only they could. Sonically, Mary Jam is very garage-punk but with an almost surf-punk influence that comes through loud and clear throughout their set. Their music makes you want to move around, but, at the same time, watching this trio is almost too captivating to really move to. It’s not that the members are doing anything extraordinary on stage, but, for me, it’s the amount of fun that you see these three members having on stage. The chemistry between them is electric, and I love how that feeling falls off the stage and into the crowd. Even though their final track (their signature cover of Fidlar’s “Cheap Beer”) seemed to be plagued by technical issues, Mary Jam definitely left an impression on the crowd, and I loved that a lot of the conversations I heard as the second band started setting up revolved around this fantastic local band.

It has been years since I’ve seen Tightwire played, but that’s to no fault of my own. This band seemed to be kings of the scene there for a hot minute but then disappeared in what felt like the snap of your fingers. Being able to see them again for the first time on Saturday was amazing, but what was more amazing was that it felt like no time had passed since the last time I saw them. Sure, there were some new members, and now they have to say that they are from multiple states rather than just saying they are from Minneapolis (although that was the final statement the band made before leaving the stage), but Tightwire is still giving the scene some of the best modern pop-punk music with a flare for a more garage-punk attitude and DIY style. Tightwire’s songs are short and fast. They are your typical punk-styled songs but are shared with a very pop-punk styling that makes them easy to bop around to. Beyond their music is the personality of vocalist Tane Graves, who shines brighter than the spotlights overhead. He seemed to celebrate every song the band finished like this stunning achievement. When it came to a three-song burst (which realistically only lasted about three or four minutes), Tane not only congratulated the band for getting through it flawlessly but also congratulated the audience for sticking with them through the burst. Little moments like this highlighted the amount of fun this band has on stage and puts into their music. I guess what I’m trying to say in this long-winded paragraph is that it was nice to see Tightwire again, and I hope this is the beginning of a new chapter of this band’s life where they start playing out more and more.

My introduction to Sincere Engineer was back in August 2018. I found myself at a very random music festival in the suburbs of Chicago called ‘350 Fest’. Although I was there to cross Mest off of my bucket list (okay, don’t crucify me for that one… we can discuss my love for this band further when I see them next month at The Green Room right here in Minneapolis), it was Sincere Engineer that won my heart. My ride with this band has been a bit bumpy. I obsessed over them right after that festival but then forgot about them. Fast forward to modern day and I can’t seem to get enough of this band. I’ve seen them a few times between 2018 and now, but something about the lyrics of this band has been hitting me a bit differently lately, so, as mentioned, I was beyond excited to see them on Saturday night.

As soon as the band started their set, I felt like I was the only one in the room. Okay, that’s not true, but I spent the first couple of songs of Sincere Engineer’s set feeling like vocalist Deanna Belos was singing right to me because her words hit me so hard. Even the first line of the first song she and the band played hit right to my core, “I’m a walking open wound.” Okay, that sounds dark and, honestly, gross, but this song, “Anemia,” goes on to talk about anxiety and being a bit delicate (or at least that’s my interpretation of the track). As the set went on, I got out of my own head and started looking around. Everyone else was singing and screaming along to the sincere words (see what I did there?) coming out of Deanna’s mouth and bopping around to the infectious Midwest emo beats coming from the other band members. I quickly realized that this wasn’t a moment that just I was waiting for; everyone had been waiting for this cathartic moment, and nobody was going to let it pass them up.

I heard every song I could have wanted to from this band throughout their fifteen-song set on Saturday night, but it still wasn’t enough. I don’t think any number of songs would have been enough. That hour and change that I spent with Sincere Engineer and the sea of strangers all having the same cathartic response that I was was the first time this week that I felt I could truly breathe. It was the first time that I didn’t care what anyone around me was doing or if anyone was watching me. It was an hour and some change of pure bliss being soundtracked by a band that seems to have a way with words and recognizes that, although life sucks sometimes, you can always rely on a friend to have your back and, for many of the people in the sold-out audience (myself included) that friend is Sincere Engineer.