Girl at the Rock Shows

I probably could have used at least one more night at home to continue recovering from my whirlwind weekend in Red Wing, Minnesota, for Big Turn Music Fest, but the concert gods are unforgiving, and they planned a show for Monday night that I was just not willing to sacrifice. It’s not that I knew what I was expecting, heck, I only knew one song from the headliner, but it was more that my gut was telling me that the show happening on Monday night at The Fine Line in Minneapolis was not one to be missed. I wouldn’t say it took a lot for me to get out of the house, but I will say that I felt a bit slower moving than usual until I got to the front door of the venue. That’s when I felt that familiar feeling of excitement, anticipation, and electricity.

Kicking Monday night’s show off was Brake, like the car. I only say that because Brake kept on saying that throughout the set. Although it felt a bit obnoxious at times, it made me remember who the opener was in a super odd way. Another way I will remember this act is their sound. Brake had a very Never Shout Never kind of aura to them. From the bright hair to the acoustic-leaning offerings, but the endless amount of energy, everything about Brake’s set had me lost in a haze of nostalgia. I wish I had known more about Brake prior to walking into this show. Their set had all the makings of my new favorite act, but not knowing the music or the words made it hard for me to really relate to it. I was picking up on an almost juvenile vibe, which made it hard for me to really let go of my inhibitions during Brake’s set. I will say, this was an all-ages show, so I was already feeling my age a bit, so maybe I was hearing and picking up on what the setting was giving me, but again, I just felt like something was holding me back from really seeing Brake in the beautiful light that they deserved. I hope to get another chance to catch this rising star after diving a bit deeper into what they have out there on the interwebs.

I was enamored with OUT IN FRONT the second they took the stage. Although, like Brake, I knew nothing about this act, I felt like I had been listening to them all my life as soon as they hit the stage. Their sound was your classic pop-punk vintage. I’ll be honest, their music wasn’t overly complicated or anything like that. Honestly, it was pretty formulaic in the world of pop-punk, but it was done well and with a sense of fury and passion that would make even the biggest hater of pop-punk music fall in love with their energy at the very least. OUT IN FRONT must have known they were a fairly “new” band in the grand scheme of things, so they threw a cover of “Sugar We’re Going Down” from Fall Out Boy. To say that this cover was flawless would be an understatement. The band found a perfect balance of paying homage to the timeless classic at the same time as bringing their own energy and personality to the track. It definitely turned some heads in the audience, and playing it early on in their set meant they had anyone who wasn’t already paying attention to them completely trapped in the palm of their hands. I would have loved to see this band dig a bit deeper for a bit more of an obscure cover, but that’s me being a brat and a bit of a pop-punk elitist. Overall, OUT IN FRONT left me impressed, wanting more, and in love. Mission accomplished for this Los Angeles-based band, and I hope to see them on more tours in the upcoming months.

Headlining Monday night’s show was Bryce Vine. Bryce isn’t my usual kind of music, but there’s something about him that’s had me hooked ever since the first time I heard “Sour Patch Kids.” This song had lyrics that spoke to my soul and made me feel seen. “I don’t wanna worry ’bout nothin’ for a while/ I just wanna play around livin’ like a child/ With old tunes jammin’ on my Walkman/ And some Sour Patch Kids and a Coke can.” I mean, come on, that chorus has it all– a sense of whimsy, a reflection on a better past, raw honesty, and just a slight hint of comedic relief. Sonically, Bryce Vine’s unique blend of hip-hop, pop, and pop-punk, with a little bit of everything, again, isn’t quite my normal cup of tea, but it was those words, that message, and the overall aura that radiates from Bryce Vine that had me hooked.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t dug super deep into Bryce Vine’s other material. He had me hooked with “Sour Patch Kids” and, honestly, I figured it couldn’t get any better than that, but I was so wrong about that. As I stood at The Fine Line on Monday night, surrounded by strangers and taking in the sound of “strange” songs that I had never heard, I found myself relating to each song on a truly cosmic level. At 37 years old, it makes sense. Bryce Vine and I grew up in the same generation. A generation that has seen a lot of crap and a lot of changes. A generation that saw life go from simple and fun to dark and exhaustive in the span of just a few years. I think hearing him sing the words he was singing and talking about the things he talked about between songs really spoke to me. Sure, I was going into this show slightly blind, being that I only knew one single, but by about the third song in, I realized that Bryce Vine is my people, and his sound was truly music to my soul.

Although I was wrapped up in the lyrics from Bryce’s set, there’s no denying the perfection of the instrumentation that went with it. It was all over the place. There were moments that had a very strong hip-hop influence to them, quickly followed up by moments that felt straight off of a pop-punk album. The way that Bryce seamlessly transitioned between these vibes and added in glimmers of everything from jazz to folk left me super impressed. Although I’m still not sure that his music is 100% my kind of thing, all of the elements that he brought into his set on Monday night came together to create an atmosphere that I never wanted to leave.

Taking Monday night off to continue to recover from the weekend would have been a great idea, but I really think that missing out on this show would have been a silly mistake to make, and I am so glad I went with my gut when it came to venturing out to the Fine Line on Monday.

Line Up:

Brake

OUT IN FRONT

Bryce Vine

Venue: The Fine Line

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 22

Crowd Surfers- 0

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)-

Brake – 0

OUT IN FRONT – 0

Bryce Vine – 0

Show on Deck —Gogol Bordello / Puzzled Panther / Boris and the Joy

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