Girl at the Rock Shows

Every show is amazing to me. I feel like that’s a given because, if that weren’t the case, why would I push myself so hard and to the edge of sheer exhaustion to do this night after night? That being said, some stand out as something more than just amazing– some shows feel like a dream, and that was absolutely the case on Monday night at Zhora Darling in Northeast Minneapolis.

Zhora Darling was not the best fit for this show in terms of capacity. Headlining act Cursive has been around for decades and could easily sell out a room about twice the size of this one, but that wasn’t the point of this show. Honestly, I don’t know what the point was. I don’t know why a band as monumental as Cursive was playing the always amazing but super intimate Zhora Darling, but who was I to question it? This is not the first time Zhora Darling has thrown a curveball. From Thursday to Quicksand, this 200-capacity venue has hosted some very notable bands in its cozy venue, and this one was no different, but this one meant the most to me. There was something about seeing Cursive in such a small room that took me back to my childhood. It took me back to the days of watching them play in relatively empty clubs in Des Moines, Iowa, but knowing that I was seeing magic happen before me. Although Zhora Darling was far from empty on Monday night (it was quite sold out, actually), I had the same feeling, and it was absolutely amazing.

Before I tell you about how Cursive played some of the songs I wanted to hear but omitted some that I think would have been super great to add to the setlist, let me tell you about how the night started so perfectly with AJJ (FKA Andrew Jackson Jihad). I’ve seen this band many times before, but they have always been in the form of a band up until Monday night. On Monday, AJJ came in the form of a duo and, truthfully, I almost liked this more. It made their words hit a bit harder, their sarcasm land a bit deeper, and the overall loving vibe of their quirkiness shine just a bit brighter. AJJ is the kind of band that mixes super dark lyrics with super fun, folk-punk vibes. Their lyrics aren’t dark in the normal love and love lost kind of way; they are dark in the way that they shine an honest and all-too-real light on the way of life these days. From commercialism to overconsumption, they hit on it all throughout their time on stage on Monday night, while the audience moved and grooved to the infectious energy of their sound.

AJJ powered through a sixteen-song set with ease. There were definitely some songs that I remembered from back when I obsessed over this band, but also some that reminded me of the charm of this band. Out of everything they played, my favorite moment was when they played “Rejoice.” It was fairly early in their set, but this song seemed to hit me just a bit harder than the others. Lines like “Oh, rejoice, despite the fact this world will kill you” or “Oh, rejoice, your nails all got chewed off” (which was being sang as I caught myself biting at my own nails almost subconsciously) just hit straight to the core but it was when the band ended the song with the repeated phrase, “Rejoice because you’re trying your best” that really made me fall to my knees in a way. There was something so raw, so honest about those words and the way that vocalist Sean Bonnette and bassist Ben Gallaty seemed to sing them with a sense of desperation as if wanting to make sure everyone in the audience knew that, yes, you are doing your best, this is just a messed up world we’re living in and, sometimes, the best doesn’t feel like the best. I know that I was at this show to see Cursive make their magic happen in a super intimate setting, but AJJ was seriously the best way to kick this show off, and I feel like it really set the stage for the amount of love and passion that would be felt throughout the rest of the show.

Oh, Cursive, where do I start with you? This band is definitely a bit calmer than I tend to listen to, but there’s something about them that has always kept me coming back for more. Maybe it was the close proximity that their hometown of Omaha, NE, had to Des Moines, IA, but growing up, bands like Cursive and Bright Eyes were the GOAT. I remember back in the day, working at a few record shops in Des Moines, Iowa, and constantly seeing their albums flying off the shelves along with various other Saddle Creek Records bands. It intrigued me enough to snatch up a few records for myself, one of which was Cursive’s 2003 album, ‘The Ugly Organ’. I’m not going to pretend like it was love at first listen. My metal heart that had been obsessed with bands like Slipknot and Marilyn Manson felt it was almost too boring to really fall into at the time, but over the years, I found the beauty in the album and everything else that Cursive had out there. Although this band didn’t have the scary masks or the same intense aggression as everything else I was listening to at the time, they had a sprinkle of angst in their signature indie-rock sound. The beats and patterns were foreign to me, giving it an almost artsy feel, and as I got older, I realized just how perfect every word to every song was.

I let those words hit me like punches to the gut on Monday night, and I took every one with a smile on my face. From the opening track, “The Avalanche of Our Demise,” to the final song of their three-song encore (“A Gentleman Caller”), I felt completely lost in my own head in all of the right ways. This band could have played for about six hours, and I still wouldn’t have heard all of the songs I wanted to, but they did a great job of trying to get everyone’s favorites into the nearly twenty-song set while making sure the songs worked cohesively together. There were really no big surprises during their set, but that didn’t matter. I don’t think anyone in the audience was looking for a surprise. We were all there hoping to hear the magic that is Curisve and feel the sheer energy that this band can bring to a stage, even after years of doing this.

I would have loved to hear “Sierra” or “Some Red-Handed Sleight of Hand.” I didn’t get either of those songs, but did get to hear “It’s Gonna Hurt” and “The Disruption in the Normal Swing of Things,” which were ones that I wasn’t quite expecting. That being said, like during AJJ’s set, there was one song in particular that seemed to really hit me during Cursive’s set on Monday, and that was “Dorothy at Forty.” This song has become one of my top songs of all time. There’s something just so dramatic and emphasized about it, but also something so real and raw. That song hit me so perfectly on Monday night and was definitely my favorite moment of a truly stunning night.

Monday night was one of those nights where I hated the fact that I had a camera slung from my neck. I hated the fact that I had to think in terms of having to write this review because I wanted to just sit back and enjoy it all, but thankfully, both AJJ and Cursive (and Zhora Darling for that matter) made Monday night one of those nights where I could live in both worlds. I got my photos, I thought of my words, and I was able to enjoy a truly once-in-a-lifetime intimate performance from these bands.

Line Up:

AJJ

Cursive

Venue: Zhora Darling

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers – None Spotted

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)-

AJJ – 3

Cursive – 6 or 7

Overall Score –9.8 out of 10

Show on Deck — Absolutely Yours / USPOP / danser

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