Girl at the Rock Shows

The world is still crumbling around us. I woke up this morning to a live video of a local, independent journalist explaining that agents were at her door with an arrest warrant. I won’t get into the specifics, but I will say that it terrifies me. How did we end up in a day and age when you don’t even have your First Amendment rights? I am just shocked. Like I said the other day, I feel like I wake up and dread looking at my phone, but can’t help but do that as soon as I open my eyes because I feel the need to know what kind of fresh hell I’m waking up to. It’s exhausting. I’m exhausted, Minnesota is exhausted, but we will not stop, and it’s nights spent with the local music community that are helping keep the rest of this community and me going– nights like Thursday night at the 7th Street Entry.

I’m going to write this like a normal review because, honestly, at this point, that’s what my soul needs. I need to feel normal, if only in the words I post here. This is not a sign of what’s happening here in the Twin Cities. This is still far from normal, and things are far from okay up here.

Kicking things off on Thursday night was the one and only Whiskey Rock ‘n’ Roll Club MPLS. If you know me, you know I love this band, I love these boys, I love everything about WRRC. From the people in the band to the music they make, WRRC is the kind of group that doesn’t take themselves too seriously yet wins hearts every time they play, making them a staple of the local music scene. Sonically, this band is just what their name refers to– rock n’ roll. It’s no frills, but it brings in influence from everything from bluesy rock to swagger-filled punk, which, I guess, you could call “frills”. Whatever you call it, there’s this magical thing that happens when you watch WRRC perform, and that magical thing is that everything else in the world falls to the wayside. I don’t know that the three members of this band understand that or how badly the growing crowd at the 7th Street Entry needed it, and I can not thank them enough for that.

Following Whiskey Rock ‘n’ Roll Club MPLS’ flawless opening set was The Modern Era– a band that I haven’t thought of or seen in years but instantly fell head over heels for all over again on Thursday night. Do you like bands like Head Automatica? What are your thoughts on Cobra Starship? If either of those names spurred a sense of love, nostalgia, and excitement in your heart, The Modern Era is the band for you. I can not even put into words how flawless their performance was on Thursday night. Sure, the band sounded great, and the overall mix of what they were doing live felt straight off a recording, but it was more than that. It was the way this band interacted with each other and the audience. The stage was packed, yet somehow all six members made enough space to move around a bit and really get the vibe rolling throughout the room. To say that the set from The Modern Era was electric would be an understatement. I hate the fact that this band hasn’t been at the forefront of my mind lately, but after Thursday, they are definitely back up there. Truly, if you want a party or a show, catch The Modern Era next time they play.

I think I had seen The Japhies play before, but it was before I started this blog, and I used to really suck at keeping track of all of the shows I had seen. The Japhies were a local rock band that seemed to take the scene by storm while they were active from 2009 to 2013, but then they stopped. They disbanded, and that was supposed to be that, but that’s rarely how it goes for local bands that have a bit of a cult following, so, really, was it any surprise that the band got back together for a show on Thursday night? Maybe it was. I honestly don’t know the members of this band or this band in general very well but I know the legend that comes with the name and I was ready and excited to have the chance to expreience the rock n’ roll thrill that is The Japhies for the first or maybe fifth time (because, again, who knows if I’ve seen these guys before and, if so, how many times).

Much like the set and sound from Whiskey Rock ‘n’ Roll Club MPLS, the sound of The Japhies was a very no-frills kind of rock song with steps towards various other genres like punk and rockabilly at times. It’s a raw sound, but with the delivery from this band, calling it straight-up raw just doesn’t feel right. It’s polished in a way that good ‘ol-fashioned rock should be. It has grit and heart, but it also has thought and passion. All of these things came swirling together throughout the 7th Street Entry as the band powered through their set, leaving the audience lost in either a cloud of nostalgia, a sense of admiration, or both.

I didn’t know the songs that The Japhies performed, but the rest of the audience did, and it felt as if everyone else was kind of carrying me through the set in a way. It felt like everyone in the audience was someone from a different band or a different part of the local music scene, and to see those kinds of people singing along and completely forgetting the outside world, if only for a couple of hours, told me everything I needed to know about this show. Sure, the Japhies aren’t “my” band. I don’t have a super cool story about getting drunk with them at The Triple Rock or bumping into them at *insert another local institution here*but I have Thursday night and, although clearly late to the party I am so happy that I now have a Japhies show that I actually remember and I truly hope this is a new beginning for this local band.

Thursday night almost felt normal. I don’t mean that in an insensitive way and maybe “normal” isn’t even the right word to use there. Proceeds from this show went to mutual aid. That’s not normal. Although we all found a sense of solace in and during this show, when it was all said and done, people were dumped back into the streets of Minneapolis where terrible things are happening. We can’t ignore it. We won’t ignore it. We won’t back down and we will not stop fighting this fascist regime but, hot damn was it nice to have a night that felt even slightly “normal”.

Line Up:

Whiskey Rock ‘n’ Roll Club MPLS

The Modern Era

The Japhies

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 4 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)-

Whiskey Rock ‘n’ Roll Club MPLS – 4

The Modern Era – 2

The Japhies – 0?

Show on Deck —Tom Morello / Rise Against/ Ike Reilly / Al DiMeola / Special Guest

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