Girl at the Rock Shows

Kendrick Lamar and SZA at US Bank Stadium. Bob Mould at The Palace Theatre. Dashed at Cloudland. Heart to Gold at 3rd Lair. Social Animals at Zhora Darling. Max Muscato at Underground Music Venue + Cafe. Maiden King at PILLLAR Forum. I could keep on going about all of the shows happening throughout the Twin Cities on Saturday night and how bummed I was to miss them all, but I know, in my heart of hearts, that The Turf Club with Ben Nichols and Rick Steff of Lucero was the only place I was meant to be.

The room was already packed when opening act Colin Campbell took the stage. Colin is the frontman of local band The Shackletons, a group that has been putting the “Minnesota Sound” on the map with their various tours and shows alongside legends like Lucero and Frank Turner. Seeing Colin Campbell solo was a rare and truly special treat that I hope to experience more. Not only were we treated to familiar songs from The Shackletons, but we were also treated to a sense of vulnerability from this always upbeat and fun frontman. Sure, the songs didn’t have the same chutzpah as they may have had with the full band, but the sound of just Colin’s voice and guitar was more than enough to fill the room with the perfect amount of energy and love to get everyone ready for what was to come next.

I loved everything about Colin’s opening performance, which lasted about forty minutes, but it was the way that he started the set that was my favorite. Colin opened with The Shackletons’ hit song, “Front Row Paul.” Okay, maybe calling that a “hit song” is a bit of a stretch, but for those who know, you know. Front Row Paul was and always will be a local legend. As his name may lead you to believe, he was the kind of guy who was always in the front row at nearly every local show. Unfortunately, Paul passed away just a couple of weeks ago, and the local scene is still reeling from the tragedy. I may not have known Paul super well, but his death hit me like a brick wall. Something about the fire with which Colin performed this opening song was everything that I needed to stop my mind from wondering what was happening at the tour kick-off show with Kendrick Lamar and SZA. It was a touching way to kick off the night and a stellar performance from the young rockstar.

So why in the world did I turn down a free ticket to see one of the hottest tours of the year kick off in Minneapolis? One word — Lucero. Lucero is my number one. They are my ride-or-die. When people ask me who my favorite band of all time is, there’s no hesitation– it’s Lucero. Has been for decades and will be for the rest of my life. Their alt-country sound is so out of my usual wheelhouse, but the lyrics and the passion they put into each song get me. It’s the kind of music that gets me. Those songs that, on the hardest days of your life, you put on and feel seen. It’s the music that has soundtracked the break-ups, triumphs, celebrations, and deaths that have formed my life. Long story short, they are my band, but I’m not alone in this feeling.

Saturday night was the kick-off show for a small acoustic tour featuring vocalist Ben Nicholas and keyboardist Rick Steff. Was I bummed that it wasn’t a full-band show? Absolutely! Especially since my boyfriend recently saw a Lucero full-band performance without me last month when he was working in Texas (don’t worry, I got back at him by getting a new cat while he was out of town). That being said, there was something overly intimate about just seeing Ben and Steff up there that added a sense of beautiful weight to my Saturday night. On top of that, the personality of these two men definitely filled the room much like it would have had it been a full band performance. From Ben’s quirkiness that got even more quirky as the whiskey shots started getting passed onto the stage one after another to Rick’s more serious take on performance and the way he would just rock back and forth from his keyboard with his eyes closed and give you a peek into him feeling the notes he was playing, there was always something to watch, something to feel, during the lengthy (but not long enough) two hour set from these men.

Although I didn’t hear all the songs I wanted to (there was no way that would happen, as that would mean playing through over a dozen full albums), I loved the curation of the set. It was the perfect mix of sad songs and sad whiskey-drinking songs. Okay, Lucero is known for sad songs and, as Ben Nichols warned us multiple times throughout the night, it wasn’t going to get any more exciting or upbeat, but you don’t see Lucero to dance. Okay, maybe you go see them to slow dance, but this band expresses a sense of vulnerability that we all try to hide. Something about being faced with that vulnerability makes you feel a waterfall of emotions that, if the right song gets played, you can’t hold back any further. There were many of those moments for me on Saturday night. Moments where it was taking every ounce of me to not just have a good cry, but that added to the excitement of the night in some weird way.

I was supposed to be taking pictures of this show to go to this review. As you can tell from the photos (or the lack thereof), I didn’t even try. Saturday night was one of those nights where I didn’t want to worry about my camera and getting the perfect angle. I didn’t want to worry about taking notes so I could get the setlist right or remember very particular moments of the night. It was one of those nights where I just wanted to be me– a gal who knows good music when she sees it and a gal who was seeing the band that has literally saved her life more times than one. It was one of the few nights I let myself enjoy the concert as Langen, not as the Girl at the Rock Shows. Although I fear that this post may come across as more of a fan-girl post than a classic journalist’s take on the night, I don’t apologize for it.

Line Up:

Colin Campbell

Ben Nichols and Rick Steff

Venue: Turf Club

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 46

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)-

Colin Campbell – 3

Ben Nichols & Rick Steff– I honestly have no clue how many times I’ve seen Lucero or Ben but we are definitely getting up there in numbers at this point

Celebrity Sightings – Andy of Whiskey Rock N Roll Club MPLS

Overall Score – 11 out of 10

Show on Deck — Smoking Popes / Off With Their Heads / Mary Jam

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