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12/30 Landon Conrath ft. special guest Ber with creeping charlie, TYSM! and DJ Qani at 7th St Entry
Tour Dates
1/12 // Madison, WI // High Noon Saloon
1/13 // Milwaukee, WI // The Back Room 1/14 // Chicago, IL // Beat Kitchen 3/23 // Ames, IA // The Maintenance Shop 3/24 // Lincoln, NE // The Bourbon 3/25 // Denver, CO // Lost Lake Lounge 3/28 // Great Falls, MT // The Newberry 3/30 // Seattle, WA // Madame Lou's 3/31 // Portland, OR // Mission Theater All dates with Yam Haus Read More
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Landon Conrath and a collection of musical friends rang out 2022 one day early at a sold out show at the 7th Street Entry. One would have thought otherwise when driving through the vacant streets of downtown Minneapolis where hardly saw a soul was in the adjacent parking garage. But as I stepped into the cozy venue of First Ave’s little brother, a gentleman asked me if I had an extra ticket. Seems he would be waiting at the front entrance until someone said yes.
Four bands in three hours and what was surprising is most of the singers had the same house band. So a special shout out to Caleb on guitar, Grant on bass and Mike on drums for in essence being the house band for Conrath, Ber and TYSM aka Elijah Mason who started off the evening with a lively set that got the intimate crowd of 250 jumping with a hyper, punk vibe supporting his scatter-shot rap lyrics to songs like “Scout” and “50/50”.
Creeping Charlie next took the stage. The band is fronted by two sisters: Julia Eubanks on guitar and lead vocals and Esmé Eubanks on bass. Joining the siblings was Jack Malone on drums and Harry Miles on lead guitar.
Creeping Charlie takes its inspiration from bands like Mazzy Star and Built to Spill but you could hear Veruca Salt and other female alternative rock bands of the 90’s in the guitar driven and heavy bass playing underneath Julia’s airy lyrics unless she was screaming into the microphone with songs like “Gtfo”.
Like the plant Creeping Charlie has a lot of energy and curiosity and desire to expand their musical sound. They can be seen again on January 20th, 2023 at the main room of First Ave in a show billed: Best new bands of 2022. Definitely worth a visit!
Ber aka Berit Dybing then took the stage but with some minor complications. That’s what makes 7th Street Entry such a fun musical venue. It’s an incubation tube for new bands and those bands are their own roadies, and they are only a few feet from the audience as they set up their equipment.
For a time the band worked on connecting Mike’s (drummer) ear piece. Then Ber’s main mic wasn’t working, which was an important piece of equipment for a lead singer. No matter. Ber was game and set aside any awkwardness by chatting and taking selfies with the crowd.
Most musicians are a shy and conflicted group when it comes to performing in front of a crowd. Not Ber. She was in her element even though it was her first tour with a band. Maybe the eighteen musicals she acted in before she was eighteen had something to do with it as she got the crowd to sing along in two-part harmony to her song “Dead Dear (Deer)”. She even welcomed Julia (Creeping Charlie) back on stage to sing “Happy Birthday” on her 23rd birthday. She even somehow got the crowd to crouch on the ground for “Your Internet Sucks.”
By the time Ber finished her set with “Boys Who Kiss You in Their Car”, she slowly sauntered off the stage as Conrath and his band somehow seamlessly segued into his “2am” off the ending chords of the previous song. It was by far the smoothest transition from an opening act to the main attraction one could witness.
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Harbor & Home at Live at the Lake (11 July 2019)
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Landon Conrath is one of those conflicted musicians when it comes to finding his way in the music industry. He started off as a drummer in a high school band Harbor & Home (who we saw in July 2019). But when a bike accident led to a broken wrist, he searched for other ways to keep playing music. That’s when he started writing and producing his own music, posting his creations on social media during the middle of the pandemic. And by the time he released “Acetown” he had garnered four million listens on Spotify.
Unlike Ber, Conrath didn’t have a background of being front and center. He explained the evening as being surreal and kept apologizing for lyrics missed. No matter. It was amazing to see how far he has come with a polished sound and a debut record “Nothing Matters Anyway.”
What connects Conrath with his fans is his ability to poke fun at his circumstances with humorous lyrics through an uplifting sound. Like in “Trader Joe’s” where he sings:
Missin' free throws
Left and right, shatter my ego, oh
It happens every week
Conrath clearly enjoyed playing with his band in front of his home crowd. He said 7th Street Entry felt like his living room as the audience shouted words of encouragement and occasional question. So for the record, Conrath’s favorite color is Forest Green or maybe Burnt Orange.
And as he drew the show to the close, he told the crowd it will be a while before he again plays in the city. There is a cross-country tour waiting for him to connect with his newly formed fans he grew on the internet.
Creeping Charlie |
TYSM |
TYSM |
Creeping Charlie |
Ber |
Ber |
Landon Conrath |
Landon Conrath |
Landon Conrath at 7th St Entry, Minneapolis (30 Dec 2022) |
| dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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