Girl at the Rock Shows

Going to a show nearly every night means there’s bound to be a dud here and there. Sunday night was that dud for me. Some of that is because of my constant chase for nostalgia. Had I taken the time to do my research on the headliner, I would have realized that, although the band name was a complete throwback to the early 2000s, very little about this band has remained constant. Some of the disappointment came from the lack of crowd, but if I had thought more about it, it was a gorgeous and cool Sunday night during the state fair season. Obviously, people wanted to be outside celebrating the last breaths of summer rather than being stuck inside The Fine Line in downtown Minneapolis. Long story short, not every show can be a winner, and although Sunday night wasn’t a winning choice for me, I appreciated the fact that the three bands that performed didn’t hold back. They gave the modest audience everything they had and, for that, I have to applaud them.

Janesville, Wisconsin-based Versus Me took the stage right at 7 PM. Formed in 2014, this metalcore adjacent band has definitely spent some time honing in on their craft. Something about their outfits (although not matching or anything like that) and the way they moved on stage just screamed professional to me. They clearly put time into practicing how their show should look, and it left me super impressed. Unfortunately, their music did not. Like the performance, their music was perfectly crafted and well done, but it just wasn’t for me. It was heavy, but it was a radio-rock heaviness. It had breakdowns, but those breakdowns felt so calm compared to what my heart wanted. I wanted breakdowns in breakdowns. I wanted moments of pure insanity where nobody in the audience could stand still. I didn’t get that. That being said, the members of Versus Me were clearly giving everything they had. You could feel their heart dripping from every note, sweat coming with every drum hit. Overall, it’s not that I wasn’t impressed with Versus Me, I was, it was more that their music just wasn’t for me.

I tried to clear my head as the stage was turned over for Savage Hands, the next band to take the stage. Unfortunately, the vibe didn’t change. It was another set where I was enamored with the passion that the band was giving me, but sonically, the set fell a bit short. This is 100% on me. I didn’t do my research and purely fell into the nostalgia trap that came with the headliner. With that in mind, I in no way want to minimize the talent that this Maryland/Virginia-based band has. Like Versus Me, their set felt perfectly crafted, and their energy was on point even though the crowd wasn’t really there. What was there was this band’s way with words. There was something ridiculously deep about some of the words and phrases that I caught throughout their set. Although their overall style wasn’t quite what I was looking for or quite up my alley, the emotional words that I was hearing were. I may not be spending a lot of time digging into Savage Hands’ discography, but I wouldn’t mind spending some time digging into their lyrics.

So why was I at this show that clearly was not for me? Two words– Attack Attack! This is a band that goes way back. Their 2008 album, ‘Someday Came Suddenly,’ felt so fresh in a scene that was becoming a bit stale. They were heavy, super heavy, but had an almost electronic backdrop that made them stand out. It caught me, and that album quickly became a constant in my life, but over time, I forgot about the band. Okay, I didn’t forget about them, more just stopped paying attention. My tastes changed. I went from wanting the most extreme music to bring content to listening to just happy-go-lucky pop-punk jams. They didn’t fit my headspace anymore, but every once in a while, I would throw it back and relive the glory days of this band. Little did I know that those glory days were far gone.

The faces, like the sound of this band on Sunday night, were completely foreign to me. Had I done my research, I would have known that drummer Andrew Wetzel was the only original member of this band, and although ‘Someday Came Suddenly’ was my album, they continued to put out an album in 2010, 2012, and even dropped a new one this year. It’s not the same band. Sure, there were a few elements throughout the newer tracks that reminded me of that fateful debut album, but come on, I wasn’t at this show to be reminded of the golden era; I wanted to hear it. At the same time, I realize that this band can not just live in the past. Like the members, the group’s songs needed to stay fresh and new, and that’s all fine and dandy, but it’s just not what I wanted. You know what’s coming next. Here’s where I talk about the fact that, although the sound wasn’t for me, I was impressed by Attack Attack’s stage presence. It was bombastic, in your face, and perfect, but you just heard me say this about the previous two bands, so I won’t repeat myself yet again.

I don’t want to say that Sunday night’s show was a band show because, in all reality, it wasn’t. All three acts gave me heart, they gave me fire, they gave me passion– everything that I look for. At the same time, I couldn’t resist thinking that this show sounded the way Axe body spray smells. That’s rude, and snarky, I know, and I truly don’t mean to offend by that comment or let it be a statement on the talent and passion I felt, but it’s just the best way to describe the night that I had. It was the kind of show that wasn’t meant for me, but I was just too blinded by nostalgia to come to terms with that.

Line Up:

Versus Me

Savage Hands

Attack Attack!

Venue: Fine Line

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 20

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 3 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

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)-

Versus Me – 0

Savage Hands – 0

Attack Attack! – At least once way back in the day

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score –5.4 out of 10

Show on Deck — Deca / Ecid / Stay Tuned

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