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Schedule
Previously
Excerpt from
7th Street Entry (12 July 2016):
The group is relatively new, having formed in 2022, and they played some breezy, upbeat, bright Summer songs. Unfortunately, after their first song, the band had lost the sound to one of their guitars and delayed their set until the sound engineer sort it out. I am assuming the band didn’t get a soundcheck. They played their new single, “Out of Hand”, which was very catchy and easy to follow. Read More
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First Avenue holds an annual Best New Bands at the end of every January. A tradition that dates back to the mid 1980’s. With seven bands on the schedule, it is also an exercise in pacing yourself. Definitely a marathon, not a sprint.
The Dalmatian Club started off and this is a straight rock & roll band. The lead singer sported a shirt saying “Rock Star”, which was a bold move. The third song was a live debut and afterwards, we also got our first “this is the pinnacle of places to play”. A second trade of guitar led to the final song called Stay the Night. A failed backflip led to a completed one, and the band headed off to some raucous cheers near the stage.
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Kiernan at 7th Street Entry (12 Dec 2024)
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Kiernan took to the stage. We saw them in December 2024, opening for Daphne Jane at Seventh St. Entry. They started with their Americana sound and played a lot of new songs. The band, which has been quite busy lately, continues to hone their performances and lead singer Laura Kiernan continues to be a great front for the band. That Americana, including steel guitar effect, is tempered by some more rock & roll elements. A closing shout out to First Ave. and to the community of music lovers was well received.
Bizhiki is a band playing Native American powwow singing backed by modern music (guitar, keys, and drums). Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings and Joe Rainey are the heart of this with powerful voices, with Bon Iver’s Sean Carey driving much of the supporting music. With song and story telling, Bizhiki are a unique sound in Minnesota and frankly, American music. Their last song had a very Bon Iver sound supporting those strong lead vocals and may have been their best number.
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Monica LaPlante at Turf Club (03 Jan 2025)
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Christy Costello started with a music video ahead of their appearance. Costello’s music has a more retro rock sound, with a bit of a surf rock feel. It’s a sizable band with several members on brass and Monica LaPlante, who we saw earlier this month, on bass. This had great energy throughout, with a secondary percussion member dancing and basically playing hype woman with the crowd. Costello’s vocals cut through the complicated backing music and there is a real showmanship in addition the great musical chops.
Mati took over with a major change of direction. The rapper led the hip hop sound with a full backing band. He’s got a good flow to his lyrics with a singer’s intonations. The guitar and drum work was an excellent contrast, amplifying some of Mati’s vocal directions in the songs. He also has pretty good stage presence, with an efficient but fun introduction of the band, before saying “but now, back to the story” and getting to the next number.
porch light is an indie rock band that has been together less than a year. With Jackie Uhas’ extremely strong voice (that was definitely the theme of the evening), leading the way, this is right in the alternative rock wheelhouse. Guitar riffs and driving drums featured heavily on the second song. Several members of the band were also in The Dalmatian Club, in an interesting case of double duty. porch light certainly found a friendly audience, with a lot of cheering throughout.
The final band of the night was room3. The jazz group is malleable in its number of members, but had five for this event. This is highly enjoyable ranging from a deep funk to very experimental jazz. RAWTWHYLAH holds down the group on drums, serving as a sort of musical director. The saxophone work from Javon Williams is top notch and was highlighted right away in the first song. Eli Awada was on keyboards and also worked as emcee between numbers. The second song is an experimental piece as an ode to Thelonious Monk, with Awada on vocals.
Noted several times during the show, there was a huge debt of gratitude to give to the First Avenue crew, who were kept super busy with the set up and change overs for the seven bands. Considering that the evening only fell twenty minutes behind the planned start times when we got to the final band, it was an impressive display by the staff and a wide ranging set of Minnesota’s Best New Bands.
Dalmatian Club
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