Girl at the Rock Shows

‘Twas the night before my trip to Chicago for Riot Fest, and all through my brain was anxiety and stress. Sitting at home just wasn’t doing it for me. No matter how much I packed, I knew that I would arrive to find that I had forgotten something silly. Maybe a hairbrush, maybe a water bottle, a cord, a charger, something would be forgotten, and that’s just the way it is. Sitting at home and fretting over it was not helping me in any way, shape, or form, so I was thankful to escape to a show and was just glad that it was the show it was.

The Palace Theatre in Saint Paul was absolutely buzzing as I walked up to the massive marquee. I got in and situated just in time for the opening act, Die Spitz, to take over the stage. It felt like it took this Austin, Texas-based band a second to catch me, but when they did, it was as if they were never going to let me go. The first few songs in their thirty-minute set were strong and well-crafted. Full of angst, power, and talent, but something felt lacking. At the same time, I could feel something building. Here’s the deal: most shows have a first three-song photo policy. This means that photographers in the photo pit (the small section between crowd and stage) have three minutes to do their thing and get out. As soon as I got out after those first three songs, everything about this band changed.

Vocalist/ guitarist Ellie Livingston must have leapt down from the stage and into that photo pit area the second all of the photographers left because, by the time I got upstairs to check out the show from a different angle, she was stalking that small section between audience and stage. She didn’t stop there. Within a few minutes, she made her way over the barricade and into the audience. I feel like it was this moment when everything with this band clicked. That slight feeling of building tension that I had felt was clearly this band just ramping up to this moment, and they were not about to let anyone in the audience escape it. The angst and energy felt amplified, and the sound felt just a bit grittier and more emotional. I feel like I was not just seeing Die Spitz, I was feeling them, and it led to a truly explosive opening set.

You have to have a heck of a show to even stand a chance against the headliners, Viagra Boys. Viagra Boys is a punk band from Sweden that has truly taken the world by storm. I remember seeing them come up with shows that started at the 7th Street Entry (a small, 250-person capacity venue) in 2019. I know that feels like so long ago, but in the grand scheme of a band, it really isn’t, and it was truly wild to think back to when I saw them at Amsterdam Bar & Hall (a slightly larger but still not huge venue situated just a block away from the Palace Theatre) just three years ago. It’s truly wild how much this group has grown, but every time I see them live, I’m reminded why they have been making such big waves.

Viagra Boys is made up of performers. There’s no other way to put it. This band knows how to put on a show. They know how to put their signature grit and angst into their performances, while ensuring that everyone has fun and feels connected to the quirky band. Whether or not you like their music (that sometimes bridges into something that I can only describe as “weird”), their show will make you believe in them and fall in love. There’s something just so relatable and slightly funny about their ridiculous lyrics. You can tell, from their songs and the subject matters that they sing about, that this band doesn’t take life overly seriously, but, at the same time, they take their performances seriously, and that’s something that will absolutely keep me coming back for more time and time again.

Another thing that I really like about seeing this band live is vocalist Sebastian Murphy. There’s something just so raw about him, but also something very chill. He has an intensity and almost threatening aura at times, but at others, it feels like he has taken a lot of nods from Mr. Bean in terms of his movements and stage dancing. It’s quirky, it’s fun, but it also embodies the hilarity, as mentioned above, that often comes with their lyrics. I’m not sure if Sebastian performs these dance moves to be funny or if that’s just how the music moves him, but I know that it leads to a super-entertaining and energized set every time.

Their hour and a half long set on Wednesday was full of jam after jam. It was a fifteen-song set followed by a three-song encore. Although it felt like they had played through everything I wanted to hear from their four-album career, it didn’t feel like enough. Viagra Boys is the kind of band that could play for hours on end, and I don’t think you’d see many people leave early because there’s just no such thing as enough Viagra Boys. Even though watching the band was great, I found almost more joy watching the audience. It was wild. The entire floor seemed to open up into a pit, and there was a steady stream of surfers making their way to the front. I’m not sure if security was as enthusiastic about all of this as I was, but it was surely a sight to see and definitely the cherry on top of an insanely energized and fun show.

And now I leave for Riot Fest. I’m dreading the six-hour drive that will surely be made into an eight-hour one due to traffic, but at least I’ll have the energy and electricity from Wednesday night still flowing through my body and mind to get me through it.

Line Up:

Die Spitz

Viagra Boys

Venue: Palace Theatre

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 32

Crowd Surfers- 14 Counted

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 9 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Bodies

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)-

Die Spitz – 0

Viagra Boys – 3

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score –8.2 out of 10

Show on Deck —Riot Fest 2025!

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