Girl at the Rock Shows

I don’t remember why I was home or what was going on, but I vividly remember sitting in my mom’s living room, watching the 47th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. It’s not my typical viewing; heck, I don’t usually watch TV, but when in Des Moines, Iowa, there’s really not much else to do. Lord knows there weren’t any shows happening (don’t worry, I checked), so I was stuck in that living room, watching live music happening elsewhere. I wasn’t really paying attention until The War and Treaty took the stage. I stopped everything I was doing. My phone dropped into my lap, and although someone in the room was surely talking about something, I wasn’t listening. It was just me, Michael Trotter Jr., and Tanya Trotter. It wasn’t my kind of music, but the power and emotion these two brought to it had me sold. That’s when I made it my goal to see this amazing couple in person, and it finally came to fruition on Sunday night at The Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.

I’ve been to The Varsity a million times before, but this was the first time I had ever seen it as a seated venue. The floor, which is typically wide open for shenanigans, was taken over by perfectly placed chairs. I’ve done seated shows elsewhere, and although it wasn’t what I expected, it made sense. The War and Treaty is a sit-down kind of band. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but their demographics lean a bit older, and their music leans more toward what you listen to intently rather than what you move and shift around to. I scoped it all out. I had a seat, but I knew sitting would be the end of me at my current exhaustion level, so instead I posted up next to a vacant bar on the side of the room and watched people come in and find their seats. My heart warmed. I definitely brought down the average age in the room by at least twenty years, but I wasn’t the only one. It was clear that, although it was geared toward an older, more mature crowd, other twenty- and thirty-somethings had been affected by The War and Treaty as I had. Maybe, like me, it was intrigue, or maybe they really loved the music and just wanted to see it in person. Regardless, the crowd may not have been the biggest I’ve seen in this space, but it seemed to be one of the more excited ones.

There wasn’t an opening act listed on the bill or the ticket, but we were treated to one by the name of Jordan Babbs. Jordan didn’t say her name at all during her two-song set, but she absolutely should have because she was deadly on that stage. A support singer of the headlining group (which is how I figured out who she was), Jordan’s voice was hauntingly beautiful, and the way she performed two original songs that showed that beauty while also giving you this feeling of helpless pain and stunning triumph was more than enough to set the stage for what was to come. Joined on stage again by members of The War and Treaty’s backing band, and even Michael Trotter Jr. on the keys, Jordan didn’t give the most upbeat performance, but it didn’t need to be. Her voice, like her two songs, was steady and deliberate. The emotion in every passing word and every subtle movement she made on stage really took you away from the insanity of the outside world, and that ended up being my favorite part of Sunday night’s show.

After a quick break, it was time for The War and Treaty to take the stage and, as I suspected, I was instantly swept off my feet. As mentioned, The War and Treaty is a husband-and-wife duo: Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. Their debut album came out in 2018, but they have been out there wowing audiences since 2014. Sonically, this Michigan-bred act is Southern soul mixed with a slice of Americana and a hint of blues. Basically, their music sounds like soul, and there was something absolutely insane about seeing it live.

The War and Treaty’s fourteen-song set read like a book, telling multiple stories with an arcing theme through it all. From opening with “Litty” to closing with “Hey Pretty Moon,” I loved how this act thought through how the songs would fit together. There were plenty of heartbreaking, somber songs, but the band made sure not to put them in quick succession. Instead, they made the set a rollercoaster by splitting those slower, more tender songs with songs that felt much more danceable and, at times, even had people rising from their seats and grooving a little. I appreciated this but, truthfully, I didn’t care what this band was playing. I really wasn’t paying attention to the songs, which, I know, sounds terrible since I am literally a concert reviewer, but the songs weren’t the point of this show. The point was the beauty.

Unfortunately, the beauty seemed a bit much for some people in the audience. I noticed multiple couples getting up from their seats near the stage and shifting to open seats towards the back of the venue. The couple would sit there for a few seconds, then the husband would get up and march over to the soundboard, where the conversation inevitably turned to how loud it was. I’ll admit, it was a bit loud, but it wasn’t out of control, and it was the perfect level where you didn’t just hear the vocals soaring through the air; you heard all the intricate fills from the amazing band behind the powerhouse duo. I feel like the staff did a great job addressing the complaints and concerns without losing the integrity of the sound in the room or letting the feeling of being at a live concert get lost in the mix.

When was the last time you went to a show and just stood there, jaw on the ground, phone put away, just absolutely stunned? I’m not talking about just the duration of your favorite songs; I am talking about the duration of an entire set where you don’t know any of the songs, yet you don’t want to miss a single word because that word could mean everything to you. It’s a weird feeling to feel so connected, so shocked, and so awed by something that maybe started as curiosity but has now left you drooling on a bar like an idiot. What I’m trying to say here is that I may not have the right words to describe everything I heard or everything I saw on Sunday night, but had there been a picture of me watching this performance, I would have looked like a crazed demon of sorts, just trying to remember that this was, in fact, real life and that these people on the stage in front of me were really doing all of this on their own.

Line Up:

Jordan Babbs

The War and Treaty

Venue: Varsity Theater

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Noteable

Average Age of the Crowd: 54

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- None

Passed Out People- None

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 8 out of 10

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

Jordan Babbs – 0

The War and Treaty – 0

Show on Deck – Blind Boys of Alabama

Shameless Self Promotion:

Join My Patreon Here!

Buy Me a Coffee (Seriously!)

Check out my playlist HERE!