I Will Always Stand On My Two Feet

Wednesday was one of those days when I didn’t want to do anything other than sit on a patio with friends. It was gorgeous outside and unseasonably warm. It’s odd to have such a nice day at the end of March up here in Minnesota, but I wanted to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, the concert Gods had a different plan for me. Like I always say, it’s not that I’m ever not excited to go to a show, but there are some nights where it’s harder to get into the right mind frame for a show than others, and Wednesday night was one of those nights. Even though it was rough, I tried to shake it off, reminding myself that summer isn’t that far away and there will be more nice evenings like this in the near future. It worked to an extent and, by the time I made the short walk to The Fine Line from my watering hole of choice on Wednesday night, my pessimism shifted to something a bit more optimistic, a bit more ready for a show.

The last time I saw Astronoid was at the giant Target Center. It was August of 2024 and they were opening for Blink-182. That felt like a weird line-up to me but I did like what I got from this opening act so was excited to see them take the power I saw back then and translate it to a much more intimate space. Unsurprisingly, Atronoid’s sound filled the room in a way that most bands can’t. It was loud and reached every crevasse of the venue but, at the same time, it was reigned in perfectly allowing you to hear all of the intricacies and details that make Astronoid such a stand-out act. I’ll be the first to admit that the sound of Astronoid is not quite for me. Although I like the intense instrumentation of the group, the vocals just leave a bit to be desired for me. They are soft and almost feel just slightly funny against the intensity of everything else in this band. Sure, it’s not a sound for me but it’s absolutely, without question, a sound that will catch anyone’s attention if only for a few minutes. When it came to their live show, beyond an insane amount of hair being tossed around the stage, there wasn’t much to see or speak of but, that makes sense. The music of Astronoid, as mentioned, is detail-oriented and this band is clearly a group that makes sure every note is in it’s perfect place and held for the exact right amount of time. Astronoid doesn’t have the time to jump around and give us a show nor should they. Their sound is more of a show than you get from most.

Wednesday night was my first introduction to Nerv. Much like the sound of Astronoid, Nerv’s unique style didn’t quite do it for me. It’s like my dad often says: They were super amazing at what they were doing, it’s just that I don’t like what it is that they do. Okay, now that I type that out, it sounds harsh. The fact is, I just felt that Nerv’s sound was bridging a bit too far into the hard rock scene for me. It was like the average hard rock band that you would hear on the radio, but with a twist of a slightly more melodic hardcore kind of vibe. Thank God for that twist because that’s what made this band dazzle on Wednesday night. I loved the way they were able to bring such a sense of power and emotion to the table while keeping their sound pretty accessible for the masses. Okay, saying that I loved it would be a bit strong. Honestly, it’s what I wasn’t a fan of personally, but I think that it really showed a side of this band that was impossible not to fall in love with. Maybe I didn’t like the style, and maybe their songs felt a bit more generic than I wanted, but there was no denying that Nerv brought a sense of strength, talent, and, most importantly, heart to the Fine Line stage on Wednesday night.

So, clearly, this show wasn’t quite for me. It’s not that I didn’t like what I was getting; I was, and it didn’t take me long to get over the fact that I wasn’t outside soaking up the beautiful weather. As you may have caught on to, I’m just a live music junkie. I really don’t care what I’m seeing as long as I’m seeing and feeling live music. So why was I at this show? Naturally, for a band I had never heard of before – Eidola. I may have never heard of this band prior to Wednesday night’s show, but I felt like I had known them for a whole lifetime. The vocalist of Eidola is Andrew Wells. Does that name sound familiar? If you grew up in the emo/screamo world of the 2000s, it should. Andrew is also the clean vocalist of Dance Gavin Dance (DGD). If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for anything nostalgic. Sure, I had never heard an Eidola song prior to this show, but knowing DGD the way I do and knowing the distinct vocals that set that band apart from the rest of an oversaturated scene back in the 2000s had me excited to see this new project.

As soon as Andrew started singing, I shot back to my childhood bedroom at my dad’s house. Surrounded by cut-up AP magazine clips that I had stapled to my walls (again, so sorry about that, Dad). There was something ridiculously nostalgic about hearing Andrew’s voice, but there was also something fresh about it. It wasn’t the fact that he was singing foreign-to-me songs; it was more that his voice had almost shape-shifted in a way. Whereas I felt like DGD focused on a more chaotic side of the post-hardcore scene, Eidola seemed to have a bit more of a focus on the tender side of things. Don’t get me wrong, there was no shortage of intensity and power throughout Eidola’s set, but there was just something a bit more sensitive, a bit more heart-on-sleeve about it, and I was absolutely here for it.

From harmonized guitar solos to Andrew’s distinct vocals, there was constantly something new to hear in Eidola’s sound. The group had this way of almost building the audience up to this peak, but just when the audience was about to reach the apex, pure chaos, the band would pull back and bring us all down to earth. Maybe that’s me reading a bit too far into things, and, naturally, I’m sure this doesn’t even make sense to you, but there just seemed to be this constant climbing motion throughout the set. Whether that was climbing through complicated and furious patterns of notes and beats or the vocals gaining traction, speed, and power, I loved how, out of nowhere, it would bottom out in the way and leave you there scrambling to pick up the pieces. It was a rollercoaster ride of a set and a beautiful one at that. Sure, I had never heard an Eidola song prior to this set, but when all was said and done, and I was driving back home, I couldn’t help but feel like the songs I had just heard had been the soundtrack to my life for decades.