Girl at the Rock Shows

It’s here. Winter is here, and Minneapolis has turned into a winter wonderland. I’m all for it. The constantly falling snow made Saturday a cozy day to spend with family, which was perfect, but when it came time to head out for my Saturday night show, I was hesitant. The roads were only getting worse as the clock ticked by, and my coziness had turned into sleepiness after lying around a warm and cozy house, but I was not about to miss Saturday night’s show. I didn’t know what it was all about, but I knew that it was a sold-out performance, and I had a ticket, so I had to suck it up and get to the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. The drive wasn’t great, and the parking situation around the University of Minnesota was even worse since there was a football game happening. It was a stressful hour trying to get down to that part of the time and find a parking spot, but once I did and once I got into the Varsity, I breathed not only a sigh of relief but also basked in the feeling of normalcy that being at a show brought me.

There was some confusion about the line-up and start time of this show, as a local band was added at the last minute. Thankfully, I knew a member of this opening band, so I saw him promoting the new start time of 6:50 PM. This was a relief because I was at the show in time to catch SIFYN open things up, but it led to so many questions. The buddy I saw posting about this band and opening set was a member of By The Thousands- a favorite local metal band of mine. I had no clue this buddy was in another band, but I was excited to peer into another side of his life. Sonically, SIFYN was much calmer than I would expect from the guitarist of By The Thousands, but it was a lovely sound. There was a sense of intimacy and tenderness that came through amid the heavy, almost prog-leaning instrumentation of this group. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I knew more members of this band outside of the guitarist, and I was right. Not only did I realize that it was Carlos Monserrate (I would list off all of the bands this man is in, but that would take way too long) on drums, but I also realized that the vocalist was none other than Lukas Magyar of Veil of Maya. Everything started making sense about this band, and I loved how I felt like I was in on a secret that many people in the audience didn’t realize- I was watching a supergroup. SIFYN has been around for a couple of years, but I got the feeling from their short set on Saturday that this is just the beginning of sorts for this band, and I expect to start seeing their name a lot more over the next couple of months.

Following the quick opening set from SIFYN was a quick set from Orlando, Florida-based Makari. Although I have seen this band’s name around for years, I’ve never spent much time with their music. After seeing and hearing them on Saturday night, I can’t say that I will change that, but I appreciated everything they brought to the sold-out show, given the short time they had on stage. Sonically, this band felt a bit too calm for my personal liking. The focus was on emotion rather than heaviness, which is not at all a bad thing, but there was just something about the sensitive nature of some of their instrumentation that didn’t really get me going. That being said, the passion that this band presented with their music was absolutely right up my alley. It was fierce and intense, as if juxtaposing the more intimate nature of their sound. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments of their set where the sound had a power that seemed to match that energy, but those moments felt a bit too few and far between to really have me sold. That’s okay, though. Not every band can be for everyone, and clearly, I was missing out on something because the audience was clearly eating up every single note and word like it was the last meal they would ever have.

Gainesville, Florida-based trio Arrows in Action were up next, but not until they had a super cheesy yet fun audio intro play through the speakers. I’ll be honest, when the recording started playing, I instantly felt my eyes starting to roll. It was cheesy and almost a bit childish, but then I realized that I was being a brat. The audience around me was of a much younger demographic than what I call home. On top of that, why not have a little bit of fun with things? I let myself give in to the cheese as the band introduced themselves in this recording by their name and astrological signs, and found myself cheering along with the rest of the audience as the trio took the stage. Here’s where the night flipped for me. I walked into this show knowing nothing about anyone playing but quickly caught onto the fact that I was seeing the next wave of boy bands, and it started with Arrows in Action.

Stylistically, Arrows in Action is a pop band, but they have an edge to them, which makes their sound feel almost pop-punk adjacent. Their songs were short but fun, with an infectious quality, making them perfect for social media platforms like TikTok. From all that I could tell, that’s how this band and the headliner to come have really made a name for themselves, and it made sense. Everything about Arrows in Action’s set was bubbly and eye-catching as much as it was pleasant to hear. Although the sound ended up feeling a bit redundant to me, I loved watching the audience sing and bop around to every song, and there was no way to escape that energy. By the end of their time on stage, I found myself bopping around my limited space to the beats of their tracks, and I could find myself falling deeper in love with this band with every passing word and sparkle of charisma that glistened on the stage.

Headlining act The Home Team was more of the same. Their infectious pop songs leaned into and out of various other genres, from pop-punk to alt-rock, but seemed to constantly revolve around a basic pop song structure and feeling. This gave the audience something to dance to, something to bop around to, and something to smile to, making this the perfect show for a Saturday night during a holiday weekend when we were all surely a bit overwhelmed by family time and the stress that comes with the season. It was charm meets infectious energy, and I don’t think it’s possible that there was anyone in attendance at this show who didn’t have a smile on their face as The Home Team performed.

As I mentioned, it hit me about halfway through Arrows in Actions’ set that I was seeing the next wave of boy bands. I grew up when boy bands were royalty. 98 Degrees, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys (although we all know NSYNC were way better than BSB), that was where I got my start in music, if I’m being quite honest. I didn’t stick with the scene. I know there are still boy bands out there. Heck, I even saw 98 Degrees a couple of years ago, but I thought that whole music phase was dead —until Saturday night. Sure, the dance moves have changed, and the bands’ looks have definitely changed alongside their sound, but ultimately, I was watching the new form of boy bands in front of me. The members were all cute and bubbly. Their personalities all came off as different, but all shone in the spotlight equally. Sonically, the music was nothing overly complicated. It was well done, but often felt overproduced, and, clearly, there were things happening outside of the stage to make their sound as perfect and full as it was. A pop band, but one made by social media. Picked by the people instead of some creepy dude by the name of Lou Pearlman (if you haven’t already, I highly suggest checking out ‘Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam’ on Netflix). Sure, these bands weren’t quite my thing, but it was so cool to have my eyes opened to a whole new scene that I knew nothing about. Heck, I didn’t even know this scene existed before Saturday night.

Line Up:

SIFYN

Makari

Arrows in Action

The Home Team

Venue: Varsity Theater

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 22

Crowd Surfers – 1

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 2 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)-

SIFYN – 0

Makari – 0

Arrows in Action- 0

The Home Team – 0

Overall Score –7.1 out of 10

Show on Deck — Cursive / AJJ

Shameless Self Promotion:

Join My Patreon Here!

Buy Me a Coffee (Seriously!)

Check out my playlist HERE!