Girl at the Rock Shows

There’s a lot to be mad about right now. There’s a lot to protest, a lot to fight, and a lot to say. I promise I won’t make this a completely political post, but it’s impossible to talk about the show choice I made for my Saturday night without bringing it up. Saturday was a day of action. Tens of thousands of people showed up at the state capital in St. Paul to voice their concern and distaste for everything going on right now. Unfortunately, due to poor planning on my part, I wasn’t able to make it down there, but seeing the host of the radio show that I co-host on Saturdays feel so energized and empowered after spending her entire morning at the protests had me feeling like I had really messed up. Thankfully for me, there was a show happening at Cloudland that, although not a protest, had an almost protest quality to it and an undeniable sense of community.

Saturday night’s show at Cloudland was a benefit for RECLAIM. RECLAIM’s mission is to increase access to mental health care for queer and trans youth so they may reclaim their lives from oppression in all its forms. The night featured four local acts that clearly hold RECLAIM’s mission in their heart, and the audience mirrored that. Although not the tens of thousands of people who had gathered downtown earlier in the day, the room was full for a busy Saturday night, and that made my heart so warm. On top of the number of people at this show was the sheer passion and love radiating throughout the room. Being in this space with such amazing people was more than enough to feel like a slight redemption after missing the protests earlier in the day.

drey dk was the first act to take the stage. Their opening set was soft and sweet, but you could feel a sense of fire radiating from every word and note they played. Although this is not a new thing for me to witness, there was something magical about the juxtaposition between the soft edges of the instrumentation and notes against the harsh fire that came through with every word. I love the way that they took their time with their music. There was open space left to breathe as if acknowledging that some of the power that they were producing may be a bit too much to handle if you interpreted it a particular way. Maybe I’m reading into that but, truly, drey dk produced a beautiful set on Saturday night and I instantly knew that, although I had a million choices as to how I could spend my Saturday night, I made the right one.

Following drey dk was Despondent. I loved how this band seemed to take the contrast they drey dk had laid out in their opening set and amplify it a bit. There were sparkles of everything from folk-leaning indie pop to grunge-drenched bubblegum pop throughout Despondent’s time on stage. There was charm oozing from every second that passed as this trio was on stage, which just added that extra little dazzle needed to really hook you into their world. The way this Despondent was able to fit so many different emotions and levels of power into each song was something that I spent their entire set trying to figure out. With such contrast in each song, you would think it would come off as slightly choppy at the least, but instead, it came off as silky smooth, proving this band’s sheer talent.

I’ve now covered Surly Grrly many times, so I promise to spare you my standard gushing over this set, but I will say that this was not a standard set from this local “tear down the patriarchy” band. Unfortunately, their drummer was sick and had to cancel on them last minute. Many bands would have just canceled the entire set, and, truthfully, that would have been warranted, but not Surly Grrly. As they say, the show must go on, so the show went on with vocalist Medbh McNamara behind the drums for the first half and then Eloïse Boigenzahn behind the skins for the second half. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the most smooth that I had heard from this local powerhouse of a band, and it was definitely cute to see Medbh ask the sound tech for help when it came to setting up the hi-hat, but it was classic Surly Grrly in a way. This band is full of hard-working humans. They grind, and they grind, and I feel like, although many other bands would have seen a sick drummer as a sort of wrench thrown at them, this group saw it as an opportunity to grow and even have some fun with it. Sure, this wasn’t my favorite Surly Grrly set when it came to their flawless and classic Riot Grrrl sound but it was my favorite as far as seeing the sheer determination behind this band.

It’s so cool to live in a town full of musical greats. I will never get 100% used to walking around at a show and running into Greg Norton of Husker Du or going to Grumpy’s only to see Paddy Costello from Dillinger Four behind the bar, but the butterflies do start to fade after a while– unless it’s seeing Venus DeMars in concert. Venus is an icon and a legend. She is one of the first openly trans musicians in the DIY punk scene and lives here. More than that, she knows who I am. Okay, that sounds a bit cocky, I know, but the truth is, it is a stunning honor to even just see her live, let alone have a conversation with her. The conversation on Saturday night before her set leaned into heartbreak. Hearing her talk about the struggles of being a trans woman in this world that seems to be trying to disappear her and everyone else like her broke my heart. All I could do was stand there and nod because she was saying things I could agree with, but I would never truly understand. Why am I telling you about this conversation? Because seeing how all of this pain, worry, anxiety, anger, sadness, defeat, and triumph that Venus was talking about in said conversation translated into her headlining set was beyond gorgeous.

Every song from Venus DeMars felt like a political statement of beauty and power- two things she pulls off beautifully. I’ve seen Venus multiple times and have always been struck by both of those elements, but on Saturday, I felt a bit more grit behind it. The words that Venus’ siren-like voice was presented cut like a knife through butter. Not only did they sound insanely amazing (as they always do), but they came with a staggering amount of emotion attached to them. I felt like every beat in the set on Saturday night was a protest of their own. From the words of Venus to the solid and sometimes dizzying bass lines all the way to the intricacies being performed on the drums, every passing beat and note was a defiant and powerful statement.

This country is fucked. Honestly, there’s no other way to put it. Find your community. Find your causes. Find your people and support them. Places like Cloudland, musicians like the four who performed on Saturday night, and organizations like RECLAIM! — they need our support right now and it was just an honor to be part of such a powerful statement of a show.

Line Up:

drey dk

Despondent

Surly Grrly

Venus DeMars

Venue: Cloudland

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 32

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

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)-

drey dk – 0

Despondent – 0

Surly Grrly– 5

Venus DeMars – 3

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score –8.5 out of 10

Show on Deck — Skerryvore

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