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Machine Gun Kelly Setlist
Avril Lavigne Setlist
Tour Dates
Sun Jul 31 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga
Tue Aug 2 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena”# Thu Aug 4 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center”# Sat Aug 6 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre”# Sun Aug 7 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena”# Tue Aug 9 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena”# Wed Aug 10 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center”# Thu Aug 11 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Music Center”# Sat Aug 13 – Cleveland, OH – FirstEnergy Stadium*”$#’ *With support from Avril Lavigne ”With support from Travis Barker $With support from Trippie Redd #With support from WILLOW ’With support from 44phantom Read More
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Machine Gun Kelly and his Mainstream Sellout tour pulled into St. Paul Thursday night with opening acts, Willow Smith and Avril Lavigne. But first, some grilling, which seemed a perfect activity for a summer evening. At least that’s what it looked like when I sloped up the hill to the music venue and saw fans peering from across the street to catch glimpses of any band member standing around the Webber grill placed in front of the doors of Xcel Center’s underground parking.
It was a full crowd of 14,000 and they greeted Willow Smith with a welcoming roar. She kicked off her brief, but lively set with the muscular “Transparentsoul”, wearing a multi-colored ski cap aka toque, as if she was ready if an early winter to set in.
Willow’s musical arc, which sprang to life with the platinum pop single “Whip My Hair” at age ten, seems pointed towards a more punkish vibe as she enters her twenties.
Promoting her latest album Lately I Feel Everything, Willow highlighted “Gaslight” and “Don’t Save Me.” A blues undertow could be felt when she wailed through “Come Home.” She can also shred the axe, which would be nice to see as she expands her musical palate.
Avril Lavigne was up next, promoting her latest album, Love Sux. Twenty years has passed since she released her debut album Let Go, letting punk scene know there was now a queen. Twenty years may have gone by, but the spirit of that seventeen year-old is still there.
Lavigne started the set with “Girlfriend” as black and white confetti shot into the crowd. She had an enthusiastic base in attendance, many who took the opportunity to be her backup singers on songs like “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated.”
It wasn’t difficult to parse Lavigne’s views on love with songs like “Bite Me” and “F.U.” Even the set had the feel of a doomed prom with black balloons and a deep orange back drop with her name encircled with a black heart. Still, she ended on a hopeful note with her last song “I’m With You” as everyone took their phones to light up the arena like fireflies.
Machine Gun Kelly’s helicopter |
Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) made a dramatic entrance to “Born with Horns”, maybe the only concert musician to be airlifted to the stage by helicopter. It was a cinematic entrance as he landed with fog rolling down the sloped stage and into the crowd.
The spectacle did not end there. There were fireworks, flamethrowers and multiple monitors placed throughout the stage. Also, a mic stand in the shape of two elegantly long arms stretching to hands to hold MGK’s mic and an ashtray as he smoked more than Frank Sinatra at the Sand’s.
Three guitarists lead the highly charged music most of the evening: MGK in the middle, Justin Lyons to his left and Sophie Lloyd on the right, all of them taking turns to fill the arena with a howling guitar solos.
MGK may have gotten his start and nickname with his blistering hip-hop lyrics, but the evening was mostly filled with full-tilt rock songs like “Jawbreaker”, “Die in California”, Bloody Valentine” and “Drunk Face”. It was a fast-paced show except when MGK ripped his pants and had to do an impromptu costume change.
MGK also brought his opening acts back on stage with Lavigne singing “Bois Lie” and Willow “Emo Girl.”
For being so young, MGK seemed quite wistful saying the St. Paul crowd was by far the largest on tour and how far he had traveled since his first show in the Twin Cities in 2011. It was a great night, he said, for his mom was in attendance and they got to barbecue before the show. And as the evening ended just before the electric company pulled the plug, he thanked the crowd and lingered as the rest of the band filtered off stage. And as he lingered, he scanned the crowd until he found who he was looking for. He smiled, waved and pointed for two women to move past security and head backstage.
They were two silver-haired foxes, probably one of them he calls mom.
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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