It was We Heart Music’s first visit to a new music venue and we were happy with the fact that we could park right around the corner and the parking was free. Cloudland Theater opened in October of 2023, a DIY project from former musicians of the band the Soviettes, they being Maren Macosko and Brad Lokkesmoe. It’s not really a theater nor is it a bar. It is a small music venue on Lake Street that still retains the vestiges of the former tenant, an architecture firm with the place being clean, airy, open with great sightlines to the cozy stage. The reason Macosko and Lokkesmoe built the venue is to give up-and-coming bands a place to play after COVID and the George Floyd riots laid claim to venues like Triple Rock and Hexagon. The sold-out show started early with she’s green taking the stage at 6:30. They are a local band. The Current described their sound as: “... salve for those who want to feel understood and connected in a distorted world.”
We caught she’s green in September last year at the Turf Club. They were also one of the Best New Bands of 2023 at First Avenue’s annual concert. They are Zofia Smith on vocals, Liam Armstrong and Raines Lucas on guitar, Teddy Nordvold on bass and Kevin Seebeck on drums. Their sound can be described as lush shoegazing as Armstrong and Lucas hardly looked up from their pedals. A crowd favorite was “Smile Again” as “Tarmac” built into a wonderful crescendo with Smith’s longing vocals. Glixen next took the stage. They are also a shoegazing band from Phoenix, Arizona with headliner Aislinn Ritchie on vocals and guitar with Esteban Santana on guitar, Sonia Garcia on bass and Keire Johnson on drums. Whereas she’s green was more melodic, Glixen leans heavily into fuzz and distortion, as Ritchie explained to Alternative Press: “Our goal is just to have it sound more heavy and grittier, but also have that sweetness to it.” Tuning up their instruments and testing the mics seamlessly led into their first song “Shut Me Down.” Ritchie said it was their first time playing in Minneapolis. “Phoenix is far, far away.” She then asked if they could change the lights to red as they played a new single “foreversoon” and songs from their 2023 EP She Only Said. Glitterer opened with lead singer and bass player Ned Russin thanking the venue and the prior bands. And once the formalities were out of the way, they launched into an array of songs that were short, zippy and packed a punch. All Music describes their sound as: “Fuzzy grunge-pop with doses of shimmering synths and emo angst…”. Joining Russin on stage were Connor Morin on guitar, Nicole Dao on keys and Jonas Farah on drums. They are on the road to supporting their third album, Rationale, which was released in February of this year. And since most of the songs were under two minutes, the band dipped into songs from previous albums Looking Through the Shades and Life Is Not a Lesson. Then before anyone knew it, Russin announced the last song would be “Are You Sure.” So the crowd quickly started to form a mosh pit, but as it started to reach a feverish pitch, the song was over.
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