Girl at the Rock Shows

I’d like to think I kind of know what’s going on in the music scene, but every once in a while, I find myself at a seemingly random show, surrounded by a completely sold-out crowd. That’s what happened to me on Tuesday night at the 7th Street Entry in downtown Minneapolis. I was thinking this would be a chill and calming show. Everything I read about the two bands performing screamed ‘cool, calm, and collected,’ so I was a bit surprised when I arrived and saw the ‘sold-out’ sign on the door. My surprise continued as I walked into the intimate venue and found myself to be one of the oldest people in the room. It was warm, and the chatter around me was much more excited than the calm I had been expecting. I instantly realized that I had assumed all of the wrong things about this show, but that sparked a feeling of intrigue and excitement in me.

The night got started off with Her New Knife. Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, this band definitely had a shoegaze vibe to them, which is what I was expecting, but they had a dissonance behind their song that instantly won me over. Don’t get me wrong, this band was stunning. Their songs were soft and sweet for the most part, and felt like fluffy clouds, but there was this extra edge that this band brought to their sound. At first, I had to wonder if one of the guitars wasn’t tuned to the right key– that’s how dramatic the dissonance was. Once I realized that nothing was out of tune, this was just the way this band sounded, I was in love. Don’t get me wrong, it took me a second to warm up to the familiar and clashing sounds, but I loved how it gave this band a little extra personality, something that set them apart, and the more I listened to it, the more it all made sense and fit.

Her New Knife’s overall vibe matched the, for lack of a better word, odd sounds I was hearing. The vocals of this group would go from whispered and whimsical to something a bit more harsh and sharp-tongued. It was a subtle shift. I’m not saying there was yelling or screaming or anything like that, but just like with the instrumentation, you could feel something build. You could feel this sense of tension rise and fall throughout the set, and although it never quite hit an apex or climax, I loved the way that it kept me completely captivated and on the edge of my seat in a way. I never quite knew what was going to come next from Her New Knife, but I knew that I was enjoying every moment of the journey.

Her New Knife was great, but that wasn’t the reason for the completely sold-out show. The reason for that was Chicago-born, NYC-based Water from Your Eyes. Honestly, I was at this show because, again, I felt it was going to be a chill night and, come on, that band name is intriguing, right? Little did I know, this was a heck of a hot ticket for the local youth. Although an 18+ show, everyone in attendance felt super young. That could be more a statement on how old I am, or maybe not, but long story short, I felt a bit out of place and a bit bewildered by what was going on around me.

I can not describe to you how hot it was in this super intimate room. It was a sold-out show, so some sweat dripping down your back was to be expected, but this was insane to the point where I was dripping in sweat as I waited for the band to start. I feared that this could have a negative impact on the show. Were people going to be super sleepy and lame because of the heat? Absolutely not. As soon as this band took the stage, the audience started moving. It wasn’t moshing or anything like that, but more like it was as if I was watching the crowd around me lose themselves to a spiritual awakening. There were arms in the sky, people screaming the words back at the band, people just bouncing around to the sounds that the band was making. It was chaos, but not in a way that was super familiar to me.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t having the same response to the music I was hearing. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad at all, but just not quite for me. It was an almost lo-fi shoegaze type of sound, but there was energy behind it, but there wasn’t? I know, none of that makes sense. I think, for me, the thing that I couldn’t get past was vocalist Rachel Brown. Don’t get me wrong, she was beautiful and clearly had a way of captivating a crowd, but her more laid-back attitude just didn’t resonate with me like it did with the kids around me. It almost felt like she was bored to be on stage, but, at the same time, it was clear that she was passionate about what she was giving the audience. It was this weird juxtaposition that I couldn’t quite figure out, and even at the end of their fourteen-song set and one-song encore, I was left with more questions and intrigue than answers.

I was out of place on Tuesday night at the 7th Street Entry, but I feel like it added something special to my night. This show was a great reminder that you have to keep an open mind when it comes to music. Even if something isn’t quite your thing, being able to witness people around you have a religious experience to a sound that means everything to them is almost better than having your own moment.

Line Up:

Her New Knife

Water From Your Eyes

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat and Heat

Average Age of the Crowd: 13 (just kidding, it was an 18+ show but sure felt like I was surrounded by toddlers)

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

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)-

Her New Knife – 0

Water From Your Eyes – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score –7 out of 10

Show on Deck —Tune-Yards / Kassa Overall

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