Girl at the Rock Shows

The three bands that played at The 7th Street Entry on Wednesday night deserve so much more than this review. They deserve so much more than my half-assed pictures and my half-baked thoughts. Maybe I shouldn’t have even gone to this show. My city is in shambles, and after work, I rushed out to document it. I couldn’t even do that. All I could do was stand with my community in a spot where an innocent person was murdered by an ICE agent. Look, I’m not going to get super political on you because this is not a political blog, but I would be remiss not at least mention how fucked up yesterday was. My head was spinning, even after a beautiful candlelight vigil and then a concert; my head still feels like it’s spinning, and I feel like I’m just holding my breath for the next blow to this city. It’s not a good situation up here. Sure, it was peaceful last night, but how long will that last? How long until one more little spark hits this damaged community and lights a fire —another fire? Long story short, maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the show on Wednesday night, after freezing my butt off in the streets for a couple of hours, but it felt like the right place for me to be, so that’s where I went.

Now that I got that out of the way, let me at least attempt to explain the beauty that was felt and heard throughout the 7th Street Entry after such a tragic, confusing, frustrating, emotional… (okay, you get it) day.

Kicking things off was North Innsbruck. This band is quickly becoming one of my favorite local bands out there right now. Although their sound is deep and heavy, with a certain doom-and-gloom vibe, I find something super energizing and bright about it. It’s definitely electronic-forward with an almost industrial kind of intensity to it, but there are also glimmers of everything from metal and punk sprinkled in there. Maybe that’s due to the live guitar that is in this band or the tones coming from the computer and keyboards that accompany said guitar; regardless, it’s a sound that I have completely fallen head over heels for, and it’s always a treat to see them do their thing (even if they apparently have an opposition to lights).

From, as a fellow photographer put it, an 80’s vampire movie soundtrack provided by North Innsbruck to the more Miami Vice-feeling sound of Droid Bishop. I had never heard of Droid Bishop before this show, and, if I’m being honest, it took me a second to warm up to the slightly cheesy 80s-inspired sound, but, when I did, there was no turning back. This is a duo, but unless you were watching and really paying attention, you wouldn’t know that. These two men brought as much of a sense of power to the stage as they did personality. Sure, maybe it took me a few songs to warm up to their sound, but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the conviction and passion they brought to their performances.

Closing out the show on Wednesday night was Ryan Olcott of 12 Rods. I’m not originally from Minneapolis and didn’t make the move up here until 2007. 12 Rods’ moment of fame was around then, but I was late to the party. With that in mind, seeing Ryan perform solo was not the same trip down memory lane for me as it was for my boyfriend. The songs didn’t carry the same weight, and the words didn’t hit me as hard, but what did hit me was, like the previous acts, the passion. It was just Ryan, his guitar, a microphone, and a table of buttons (obviously, there’s a better word for that, but I don’t know what it is). Ryan seemed to get lost in what he was doing. At one point between tracks, he took a moment to admit that he was flying through these songs, but he wasn’t sorry about it. He was having so much fun and was just thoroughly enjoying being on that stage, and I loved the way that feeling translated into the packed audience.

As I said, North Innsbruck, Droid Bishop, and Ryan Olcott of 12 Rods deserve so much more than these half-baked thoughts. Each act was amazing and brought a sense of fire and passion to the room that I think everyone in attendance needed. Although I wasn’t able to take my mind off of the day or what the next couple of days may bring for this city, I applaud the bands and all of the staff at 7th Street Entry and First Avenue for giving us a place to go on a night like this.

Before I let you go, let me just put this out there– protesting is not illegal. Using your voice is not illegal. Don’t let this tragic event and the insanity happening all around us here in the Twin Cities go without documentation. Go out there, take photos, take videos, but, most importantly, let your voice be heard and say her name– Renee Nicole Good.