Girl at the Rock Shows

I head to Chicago today. I’m stoked to go on a little vacation and beyond excited to have the honor of covering the Bitter Jester Music Festival while I’m down there, but, per usual, the impending travel has me anxiety set off. Thankfully for me, there was one final show to catch in town before loading up the car and hitting the road, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect way to squash at least some of those anxieties.

Northern Minnesota native and current Texas resident Lew Apollo was the opening act for the show on Thursday night at The 7th Street Entry. Per usual, I had done no research into this show, but was a bit surprised when Lew took the stage as a soloist. The audience was too excited about the headlining act, and I was afraid that just one guy with a guitar and a microphone wouldn’t be enough to hold their attention. Oh, how wrong I was. Sure, the roaring conversations seemed to continue throughout Lew’s set, but the roar turned into something a bit more subtle and muffled, clearly due to the magic coming through the speakers.

Lew’s sound is a very soulful kind of pop. His voice is warm and cozy, but the words he sings cut like a knife straight to your soul. There were moments during his set that reminded me a lot of Hozier, and others that had a more timeless folk quality, reflecting his Minnesota roots as they channeled Bob Dylan. Although the set was super calm and chill, there was something so electrifying about Lew. Maybe it was his charming smile, or maybe the way he didn’t seem to have a care in the world about what you were doing while he played– he just wanted to play and be heard. It was so refreshing to see and hear after spending Wednesday night watching a performer who didn’t seem to even want to be on stage. Lew wanted it, but he also wasn’t going to beg for it, and something about that just really stuck with me. Although acoustic singer-songwriting soulful pop songs aren’t typically my cup of tea, Lew Apollo had me sold, and although he lives in Texas these days, I truly hope he makes more trips back to the homeland and graces us with his presence again sooner rather than later.

The first time I saw Social Animals was in 2017, when they opened for Dashboard Confessional. After that, I saw them in 2019 when they opened for Angels & Airwaves. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember either of those shows. Not only do those dates feel like a lifetime ago, and I feel like a completely different person at this point, but I was seeing Dashboard Confessional and Angels & Airwaves– both bands that mean so much to an emo kid like myself. It’s not that I didn’t give Social Animals a fair shake; I absolutely did, and, reading those two old reviews, it’s clear I loved this local band and the fact that they were opening for some of the greats, but just like that, Social Animals seemed to disappear. Maybe that was on me. Maybe they continued on as they always had and just fell off my radar, or maybe they took a break. It feels bratty to say, but I didn’t lose any sleep over it. That was a mistake because seeing them again for the first time after all these years reminded me just how amazing this band is (even though they now claim Nashville as home).

Right off the bat, this band hit me with an insane amount of passion. That passion hit before a single note was even played. It came from the energy that all the members of this band brought, and that energy was excited and honored. That feeling of passion was only amplified as the band jumped into their first song. When it comes to classifying Social Animals, the easiest way to put it is heavy-hitting indie rock, but that is far from doing this band justice. Their set was like a rollercoaster. It started energized and excited, with an almost danceable quality, but quickly fell into something a bit more tender as vocalist and guitarist Dedric Clark traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one. Maybe it was the fact that Lew Apollo had set the stage so perfectly with nothing more than his voice and acoustic guitar, but I instantly fell head over heels for the more somber songs of Social Animals’ set. Okay, maybe somber isn’t quite the right way to describe them. The songs, although more low-key, were still very much full of life, but the lyrics were slicing through my feelings like a knife through butter. My ears and heart caught onto certain lines of certain songs that instantly made me regret ever walking away from this band. They saw me. Okay, they didn’t see me, but they saw real life, and they aren’t afraid to bring that raw emotion to a stage. That’s what I needed on Thursday night. Hell, that’s what I need every night.

I don’t know if this was a comeback for Social Animals or if they’ve been here the whole time and I’ve just been too busy and blind to see it. Either way, Social Animals have my attention, my heart, and my soul, and I don’t think they’ll be giving it back any time soon.

Line Up:

Lew Apollo

Social Animals

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 28

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 0 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

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

Lew Apollo – 0

The Social Animals – 2

Show on Deck – Bitter Jester Music Festival

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