Cold Kids & Camp Fires Tour 2016

Last updated on March 14th, 2017 at 05:30 pm

In an attempt to liven up the cold winter months, three bands came together for the Cold Kids and Campfires Tour: Part Two. Last year, the band 7 Minutes in Heaven embarked on the first Cold Kids and Campfires Tour. This winter, the guys decided to do it again alongside two new bands: Marina City and Broadside. The trio of bands, ranging from alternative to pop punk, made the decision to do a new type of tour. Stepping outside of their normal performance styles, this tour, they went completely acoustic.

On January 21^st, the Cold Kids came to The Garage in Burnsville, Minnesota. The show began with the lights dimmed, creating an intimate setting. Lanterns were scattered throughout the stage with a pile of fire wood in the center. Although the show was inside a music venue, with these touches, it felt like a close-knit campfire among friends.

Opening up the tour, the six fun-loving guys from Chicago—known as Marina City, set the bar high right from the start. Although they stem from the Windy City, Marina City mentioned how much they love playing Minneapolis. “We have never had a bad show here,” Ryan Argast boasted. He went on to explain that even though Chicago is their home, admittedly, they’ve had a few rough shows there. In Minneapolis, however, their fans have been nothing but supportive of them regardless; there have only been positive experiences for them while in Minnesota.

Normally known for having high energy throughout their sets, Marina City happily greeted the change of pace and was still able to get the crowd involved by encouraging dancing and singing along. Once the music started flowing, Ryan Argast, the lead of this sextet, lured the crowd in with his moving vocals. As their set progressed, the crowd grew closer and closer. By the end, even strangers had their arms wrapped around each other. For their last song, they took the acoustic ambiance one step further by going completely unplugged. Marina City all walked to the front of the stage and met their adoring fans at the barricade to serenade them one last time with “Falling Up and Breaking Down.” In doing so, this brought the crowd closer, preparing everyone for the rest of the show.

Loved and cherished by many, the heartthrobs known as 7 Minutes in Heaven emerged next. These guys aren’t just looks though; after releasing their latest EP, Side Effects, Billboard named them #1 Alternative New Artist. The album reached many high rankings including #10 on iTunes’ Alternative Chart, as well as being included in the “Top 15 Albums of 2015” by Music Mayhem, alongside other artists such as Fall Out Boy and Twenty One Pilots. All of this success definitely didn’t go unnoticed with the crowd.

For a respectable amount of their set, 7 Minutes in Heaven played new songs off of Side Effects. The album came out a little over a month before the show, yet the crowd seemed to know every word. Because of this, they were able to seamlessly weave their new songs into a cohesive set alongside their old stuff.

The headliner for this show had the crowd cracking up since the minute they stepped on stage. The band, Broadside—which is made up of five guys from Richmond, VA—only brought two of their members for this tour. Seeing as it was an acoustic tour, Oliver Baxter and Dorian Cooke could easily take care of business by themselves. And boy, did they!

Shortly before load-in for the show, Broadside’s van broke down. Upon telling this story on stage, their true optimism showed through when they explained that they were just happy to have made it on time. That optimism continued throughout the set because Ollie and Dorian had hilarious banter in between each song. The jokes were balanced among emotional instances as well. Once Oliver opened his mouth to start singing, the crowd fell silent in awe of his voice. Broadside had the crowd in the palm of their hands and they did not disappoint!