Girl at the Rock Shows

I remember moving up to the Twin Cities and feeling like I had really reached a big-city moment in my life. Come to find out, the Twin Cities can be a bit of a ghost town. Like Atmosphere says in “Say Shh,” “The nightlife ain’t all that…” It’s true. The nightlife in Minneapolis isn’t all that every night, but on Friday night, it was. Downtown was bustling in a way that I hadn’t seen in years. People were scattered across every block and every intersection on their way to their respective events. There was a lot going on across the town, and I had two of the hottest tickets in town. One of them was for PROBLEMS and Getdown Services at the 7th Street Entry.

I didn’t know what to expect from this show. All I knew was that it was sold out, and many people had been jealous when I told them I would be covering this show. I wouldn’t say I was nervous when walking into the intimate downtown venue, but I definitely didn’t feel like my usual self. There weren’t the usual faces outside of the staff welcoming us to the venue, and the overall feeling of the room just felt a bit different to me, but as soon as PROBLEMS hit the stage, that feeling went away, and I knew that, although PROBLEMS wasn’t the reason for the sold-out nature of the night, that I had picked the right show.

PROBLEMS is the one-man band project of Darren Keen from Chicago. Darren instantly won my heart over by opening his set with a song about Klarna. You know Klarna– that online thing where you can buy something now and pay later? Kind of a funny topic for a song, but Darren made it work, and I couldn’t help but chuckle along to his words that were all too relatable for anyone who has ever fallen victim to the Klarna scheme (okay, it’s not really a scheme, but you get what I’m trying to say here). This was the charm of PROBLEMS. He took real “problems” that we all live with day in and day out and put them into catchy and infectious electronic-backed tracks that instantly make you feel like you’ve known this man for a lifetime rather than just a couple of minutes.

The set from PROBLEMS wasn’t super long. In fact, it felt like it was over in the blink of an eye, but not before everyone in the sold-out venue had fallen victim to Darren’s charm. Darren wasn’t just funny, he was raw and vulnerable, especially when talking about his weight loss journey. I don’t know why I felt that it was such an intimate topic for Darren to mention on stage, but I loved how proud he was of the work he’s made. Maybe he just wanted to show it off, or maybe his talking about that and his sobriety was a way of holding himself accountable. Either way, it just added to the love that not only radiated from the stage, but the love that could be felt throughout the room on Friday night.

It wasn’t just his charm; it was also his sound. I watched, absolutely captivated, as Darren created beats and the backdrop for his vocals right in front of everyone. I don’t know how that kind of stuff works (and am not looking for an explanation), but I will never get sick of watching someone use one of those sample pads to create a whole world of music right in front of me. Although it was all ears on his vocals and lyrics for me, there’s no denying that I loved the backdrop he curated for said vocals and lyrics.

PROBLEMS definitely did a great job of setting the stage for what was to come for Getdown Services. Although the music seemed to shift from something more “serious” to something just slightly more campy, the vibe that Darren had created in the room seemed to only be amplified as Getdown Services took the stage and started doing their thing, which can best be described as controlled and quirky chaos.

Getdown Services is a duo consisting of Josh Law and Ben Sadler. They seemed to be one part musical act, one part comedy duo, and all heart, and that was more than enough for me to understand why this show had sold out. Like PROBLEMS, the first thing that I noticed about this duo was their charm. They were fun, and their dry sense of humor absolutely resonated with my own sense of humor. I loved the way that, even when these two weren’t performing a song, their time on stage felt like a performance but not a scripted one. I know that sounds crazy and may not even make sense, but I think these two lads just work so well together that no matter what they do together, it comes off as something that you want to see, something that you can’t turn away from, and something fun, making out so perfect for a Friday night.

I didn’t catch all of the lyrics or all of the song titles that these two shouted out at the audience, but I know that each song they performed seemed slightly more quirky than the last. I was just too lost in the fun-loving energy of the night to really pay attention to the words, but I am regretting that now as I read through some of their song titles. “Eat Quiche, Sleep, Repeat,” “Don’t Cheese Me Off,” “Dog Dribble,” I mean, come on, those are hilarious song titles, and I’m sure they have hilarious lyrics and storylines to match. I may not have caught onto the humor of individual songs or anything like that, but I definitely felt the humor and the charm that this duo brought to the room.

Stylistically, Getdown Services felt like a bit of a mix of the raw vulnerability and blatant honesty of Ian McConnell mixed with the quirky fun of Wolves of Glendale. Really, there was nothing to write home about when it came to the style for me. Sure, there were some catchy bops in their set and moments where I definitely wanted to ditch the camera and join in with the audience in a sweaty mess of people bopping around, but again, it wasn’t the stand-out element of Friday night, and that’s okay. I think we all need a show that reminds us to stop taking life so seriously and to loosen up and have a bit more fun, and that’s exactly what I got from Getdown Services.

This show wasn’t where my Friday night ended. I had another show happening just feet away at The First Avenue main room. It was of a much more serious tone and nature, but I loved the way that made this show with PROBLEMS and Getdown Services sparkle even brighter. Truly, that’s a great way to spend a Friday night.

Line Up:

PROBLEMS

Getdown Services

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 32

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 1 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Celebrity Sightings – 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

PROBLEMS – 0

Getdown Services – 0

Show on Deck — HEALTH / Carpenter Brut / Desire

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