No Use In Running From What You’re Becoming

I love homecoming shows. Even if it’s an act I’m not particularly attached to, I love seeing once-local musicians come home and play to a crowd of family and friends. There’s just something special about it. Instead of feeling like a concert full of strangers who end the night as friends, you get to experience a room of friends turn into family by the end of the night. This was absolutely the case on Thursday night at First Avenue as Your Smith made her triumphant return to the Arctic tundra that is Minneapolis.

Kicking things off in the warm, cozy, and quickly becoming packed First Avenue Main Room were local pop-rockers Beemer. I hadn’t seen this band since April of 2024, but I knew that I was in for a treat, and I was excited to see what this band had been up to. Long story short, they seem to be up to more or less the same as what I got back in 2024. Their sound is very poppy, with a lean into something a bit more retro and vintage than many bands dare to venture into. I love that about this band. They don’t care whether their music is the cool kind to play; they play what they enjoy making, and that’s what makes them sound so cool. Beemer refuses to be put in a box, and although they have a distinct style and signature, there’s really no single way to describe what happens during a Beemer set.

Although I have seen Beemer before, I really don’t know a lot of their material (let’s be honest, there’s just too much music out there to keep up with and too little time), so every song felt new and fresh. That being said, there was one that really stood out to me, and that was the one when vocalist Hank Donato sang a song introducing the members of the band. It was honestly quite cheesy and even a little campy, but it was so perfect. Not only was it a great way to help this local crowd get to know this band on a different level, but it also showed a sense of personality that I think a lot of bands forget to show, and that is the down-to-earth-ness that comes with bands. Sure, they were playing a legendary stage in front of a nearly sold-out audience, but it was still just Hank Donato, Luke Enyeart, Cooper Doten, Reese Kling, and Dan Stewart. Something about that just really stood out to me and was the perfect cherry on top to their quick opening set on Thursday night.

Unlike the rest of the audience at First Avenue on Thursday night, I don’t have a Your Smith (FKA Caroline Smith) story. I honestly think I’ve only ever seen her perform once, and that was all the way back in 2016, when she was a guest on Lizzo’s show at this same venue. I don’t remember much from that night, so I definitely don’t remember seeing Caroline Smith at that show, other than hearing “Let Em Say” live (which is such a feel-good song performed by both Lizzo and Caroline Smith). That’s my only story about Caroline Smith, and that made me the odd woman out on Thursday night. As I waited for the screen concealing the stage to disappear and give way to Your Smith and her band, all of the conversations happening around me revolved around people’s “Caroline story.” Just listening to the conversations and how each one had a feeling of positivity and love attached to it was more than I needed to know that I was in for a treat.

Once a local, always a local, at least that’s how I feel. Although Caroline moved out to Los Angeles back in 2018, everything about her felt like home. She was charming and personable both when singing songs or when just trying to talk over the roar of applause that happened every moment she wasn’t performing. There was something so joyous and cute about Caroline and her band, but that isn’t what really had me in love with this woman; it was her energy. Like the conversations I had been eavesdropping on prior to this set, there was a sense of positivity and authenticity that radiated from the audience. Everyone on stage felt like that friend that you hadn’t seen in a long time, even if you had never met the performers before. The music fit that mold.

Every song had a raw and honest take when it came to the lyrics, and the perfected and curated tone of all of the notes happening behind those words just enhanced it all to a level that was nothing short of stunning. Being that I really don’t know anything about Your Smith’s music, I couldn’t tell you about all of the songs that were performed on Thursday night, but I can tell you that it must have been about twenty tracks, each one hitting the audience in a different way, but also giving a sense of optimism. From slow, somber, whiskey-drinking-style songs to jams that made you want to dance to the infectious beat, stylistically, Your Smith was all over the place, but that authenticity and heart remained the same.

This all sounds like a standard show, right? Well, there’s a twist to that show, and that twist is that Caroline is very pregnant right now. First off, let me say that this was not a defining factor of this show. Sure, it was a twist, but really, was it? Although I haven’t seen Caroline Smith perform in nearly a decade, I have a feeling that there was really nothing different about her set on Thursday night from shows of years past. Maybe there were a few more breaks here and there, but with the roaring audience, you didn’t notice them. Your Smith didn’t have to get up on stage and play on Thursday night. Caroline didn’t have to do all this while creating a new life. But she did. She did that for Minneapolis, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone in attendance on Thursday night will be forever grateful for such a beautiful moment.