Girl at the Rock Shows

I recently had a buddy ask me if I ever get burnt out. I was quick to answer no, but I know that that was a lie. I do get burnt out. Doing this night after night is amazing, but having to wake up for a day job morning after morning while running a few other companies and wearing a dozen other hats definitely gets old, and the burnout is real. So what’s my cure to burnout? It’s a show like the one on Sunday night at the 7th Street Entry. It didn’t matter if you walked into this show burned out on work, on family, life, or anything else. As soon as the music hit, you were given a second life, a second chance of pulling it together and realizing that you are a fighter, but, more importantly, that you are not alone. Was Sunday night’s show a religious experience for me? Maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but I will say that it was just what I needed.

Up first was the one and only Menstrual Tramps. To say that this band is legendary would be an understatement. Formed right here in Minneapolis back in 1998, this trio has a very classic punk rock sound with an energy that is as spicy as it is angsty. Their sound was on point on Sunday night. Not only did they bring an undeniable sense of grit to the stage, but they also brought flawless energy while clearly having fun on stage. This band may have been doing their thing since 1998, but it quickly became clear that they are neither sick of it nor losing their touch. They were the first of three bands on Sunday night, and there was a lot of moshing to come, but that didn’t stop the audience from getting involved. About halfway through their quick, thirty-minute set, the crowd erupted into a sweaty mess of limbs. Although I felt like this could have started from the downbeat of their set because that’s when they started giving off their undeniable sense of energy, I appreciated the fact that this was not an audience that was going to preserve their energy for the last band only. I also appreciated the fact that you could feel the band feel the energy. Don’t get me wrong, their entire set was perfectly gritty, but as the audience really started to get into it, I feel like you could hear and feel something switch in the power that the band was giving off, and it made for a truly perfect way to kick off a stormy Sunday night show.

I had never heard of The Drowns prior to Sunday night’s show, but I plan on spending my entire day today (the day after the show) diving into their world. I was instantly drawn to their blue-collar brand of punk rock. It was gritty, and it was angsty, but it lacked a sense of intensity that the opening and closing bands of the night had when it came to their sound. That being said, there was no shortage of intensity when it came to the passion that this band gave me. It wasn’t just the passion that came through loud and clear in the songs that they performed; it was the fire that could be felt when this trio addressed the audience. At one point, vocalist Aaron-Rev Peters talked to the women in the audience. Okay, it wasn’t just to the women, but he talked about how hard women have it and how, on behalf of every man on the planet, he’s sorry. It’s a speech that I’ve heard time and time again, but there was something just so real and elegant (yet powerful) about his word choice during this speech. It was raw, it was vulnerable, real, and passionate, and I feel like it really just showed the amount of heart that this band not only puts into their music, but also what they stand for. They had me sold with their music, but made me fall in love with their fiery passion. Did they just become my favorite band of the moment? Yup! And I truly can not wait to see them again in a couple of months when they come back through with The Bouncing Souls and the Suicide Machines.

My love and obsession with headlining act The Casualties came around 2001. I don’t remember when it was or even where, but I remember stumbling upon a copy of their 2001 album ‘Die Hards’ and instantly falling in love with their look. The cover of this album shows four men all with spikey hair and dressed in mostly black for chains, studs, patches, and an all-around gritty kind of look. I was hooked and, although I’m sure my dad wasn’t super happy about it, he obliged when it came to buying me the album. This set a spark in me. I knew, from the first time I heard this iconic album, that punk life was the life for me. Fast forward to now. I’ve definitely gone down many different trails and have popped in and out of the punk world, but one of the few constants has been this band. Sure, the members and faces behind the band have changed, but the punk mentality and, like The Drowns, the heart that comes with this band have not.

Sunday night’s set was full of new songs from The Casualties’ brand new album, ‘Detonate.’ I’ll be honest, I haven’t spent any time with this new record, so hearing these songs for the first time ever in a live setting was amazing. The Casualties have always done their best as far as putting their gritty energy into their recordings, but they are just the kind of band where there’s no way to capture the ferocity of a crowd into their albums. Because of this, hearing some of these songs in this live setting both ruined checking out the album for me (because I know it won’t be as good just on recording) while also getting me excited to spend some time with the new album, because, although it’s been years, scratch that, decades since my introduction to this band, their sound really hasn’t changed. They didn’t just play new songs; they always treated the audience to some old classics, including “Get Off My Back” from ‘Die Hard.’ Truthfully, I didn’t care what songs this band played. Sure, there were some personal favorites that I would have loved to hear that were omitted from the track list, but when push comes to shove, I just wanted to feel the energy of this band, and that’s exactly what I did.

I should have more to say here. The Casualties sounded great and, whether the band was blasting through a song or just interacting with the crowd, I was blown away by the amount of heart and passion that this band showed. Hell, the same could be said for any of the bands that took the stage on Sunday night, but there was just something a little extra special about seeing a band that I often credit for sending me on the punk rock path that I seem to constantly go back to. I know it sounds dramatic, but I do not think I would be the person I am today without The Casualties in my life, and being able to see them live time and time again is something that will never get old for me.

Are you burnt out? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all get to that point, and in this day and age, I feel like it takes less and less for us to hit that point. The shameful thing is letting it get the best of you. I hope you all have somewhere to go or something to turn to when you get to that point. If you don’t, might I suggest a punk show? Maybe a listening session to The Casualties, The Drowns, and Menstrual Tramps at top volume? Music is a powerful thing.

Line Up:

Menstrual Tramps

The Drowns

The Casualties

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Sweat

Average Age of the Crowd: 37

Crowd Surfers- 1

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 11 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $2.32

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

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

Menstrual Tramps – 1

The Drowns – 0

The Casualties – 3

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