I Want This Life

I had zero expectations when walking into The Turf Club on Friday night. I knew nothing about the two acts playing, so imagine my surprise when I walked up to the venue in Saint Paul and saw a constant line of people streaming into the venue. Don’t get me wrong, I know I don’t know all the bands —far from it. That being said, I typically know when a show will be a banger and when it’s going to be a fairly sleepy night. Although I knew nothing about the bands performing on Friday night, my gut was telling me this was going to be a chill show. For the first time in a hot minute, my gut was wrong and then some.

The second Kassie Krut started playing, I was hypnotized. The trio on stage, featuring Kassie Krut at the helm, had a sound unlike anything I had ever heard before. I mean, I could sit here and list a million bands that came to mind during their opening set, but it wouldn’t do their sound justice. It would also just sound a bit like gibberish. Sleigh Bells, The Faint, Excision… like I said, pure gibberish, but Kassie Krut’s sound was clear as day. It was dark and booming, sprinkled with dissonance and metallic, glass-like reflections scattered throughout the set.

With the lights set super low and not much more than just a few lights subtly illuminating the stage, it would not be an exaggeration to call Kassie Krut’s set “a mood.” At first, I was super frustrated with the lighting (or lack thereof). It made getting photos next to impossible, and that was made even more difficult by the huge (it ended up being sold out) audience packed into the intimate venue. But as I stood there, watching this trio do their thing, I realized that the lighting was part of their performance as a whole. It added an air of mystery to the unfamiliar sound and a flair for the dramatic to a very poignant and expressive set of music. Long story short, I was in love and quickly took to my socials to proclaim Kassie Krut as one of my new favorite acts. Although I still stand behind that, Kassie’s set was slightly overshadowed by what happened next (which is super hard to believe, especially with how truly and utterly impressed I was).

Model/Actriz is not a new band. They have been doing their thing since 2016, but I feel like their name has just started popping up among friends. I was intrigued but did zero research on what this band was prior to walking into the Turf Club on Friday. I’m really glad I didn’t do any digging, because the surprise, intrigue, and excitement I felt in the first few seconds of this band’s set was a feeling I live for. It was the kind of thing that I crave but only get to feel every once in a while, and I was not going to let a single moment of it slip by.

Before I tell you a bit more about this band and their truly epic performance on Friday, let me apologize for the pictures. It was packed and, truthfully, I just wasn’t in the mood to be in the way. On top of that, the lighting was still a bit rough. There were a few more spotlights and brighter tones than what I had during Kassie Krut’s set, but it still wasn’t great. All that being said, the main reason I didn’t try super hard for photos was because I was so freaking in love with this band and their performance. I was lost in all of the right ways, and it didn’t take me long to forget about the camera that was hanging from my neck. I just wanted to be in the moment and enjoy, so that’s exactly what I did.

A buddy of mine put it best: “industrial dance cabaret” (shout-out to Trevor!). That sounds bizarre, but truthfully, that’s more to the point than my description would ever be. I want to shout out names like The Faint, Mindless Self Indulgence, Blood Brothers (okay, Doc, you win on that one), but, like when trying to describe Kassie Krutz, that all just sounds so bizarre. All you need to know is that it was a stunning sound that makes your heart stop. The beat was heavy, giving the set a slightly EDM club kind of feeling, but there was something dark and moody about it at the same time, which gave it a slightly bondage-dungeon-bar kind of vibe. On top of all of that, vocalist Cole Haden was doing dance moves that were more than worthy of the catwalk on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Sure, I know it sounds bizarre, but when you put this all together, you were left with a jaw-dropping set that left everyone in the audience silent and dancing.

As I was driving home after the show, I had a million quirky lines to share with you. Lines that I felt really described the night well and would help put you in the Turf Club as a fan, not at home or at work reading this review. Now that it’s the morning after, I don’t remember a single line of those words. All I remember is being completely floored and blown away by everything I got from Model/Actriz. Doing this night after night is super fun, but I’ll be honest, it gets a bit mundane (which sounds wild, I know). It’s rare that I walk into a show blindly and walk out with not only two new obsessions, but also one of my top shows of the year. There are seriously no words to describe how amazing Friday night at The Turf Club was, and I am just so thankful that I took the chance and made this show my show of the night.