After spending three days traveling from Seattle, Mike Krol and his band — plus all his openers — climbed onto the stage eager to play some music.
With only a couple of people scattered around 7th Street Entry, Subtle Beast stepped onto the stage, but when they started playing their first song, the crowd instantly started bobbing their heads. They exhibited a little bit of nervousness shining through, but their lead singer belted out song after song. It was to a point where I thought she might not talk at all during their set, but simply play music the entire time. Shortly after that thought, however, she asked the crowd if she sounded good. The crowd screamed and whistled in approving happiness.
She then told us she is currently suffering an ear infection in both ears (OW!). Due to this fact, she asked if she actually sounded good because, to her, she sounded amazing, but she thought maybe to the crowd she sounded like an animal.
Besides the amazing non-stop music, my favorite part of Subtle Beast’s set was when the lead singer talked about when they first met Mike Krol. They met him five years ago playing in a moldy basement, nothing like 7th St Entry. She concluded her story by saying, “If you ever get the chance to see your friends live their dreams, I really recommend it.” As a person who lives by this type of saying, I had a huge smile on my face after hearing her say that.
The trend of artists eagerly hopping onto stage continued with Steve Adamyk Band. They basically leaped onto the stage.
The presence of these three guys fascinates me. The two main guys both wore slightly nice outfits which included button-ups, while the drummer was in a laid back outfit with a graphic tee. If this stage look was on purpose, I’m really curious to know the reasoning behind it. This punk band brings so many surprises and excitement into their set, not just with their outfits. At one point, Steve spit beer into Johnny’s face and Johnny quickly announced that tour was over since he obviously can’t trust Steve.
Another interesting fact about Adamyk Band’s past was revealed when they talked about how in 2015 they played at Triple Rock and then fell asleep in their van outside of the venue, with the van door wide open. Talk about having a lot of trust in a city you don’t know that well! Due to this past experience, Minneapolis now has a special place in all of their hearts.
While smoke from the stage slowly filled the room, Mike Krol’s band crept up onto the stage, one by one. The crowd clapped and cheered and only got louder as Mike walked on stage, sporting his fake bruised eye. It was only two minutes after his original set time, and Mike refused to waste a single second of the night. He spent a majority of his set singing old and new songs while the crowd jumped around for an entire hour.
This set was something I have never experienced before. Although smoke being involved in shows isn’t new to me, the way Mike incorporated it into his set was unique. He didn’t have the smoke machine going the entire time. Instead, he chose when to set it off and then let it quickly die down.
In addition to the smoke filling the air, he used unique lights to make his face glow and then slowly go back into darkness. He really let the music speak for itself by not talking to the crowd much, except for telling us that it was extremely cold here. At most shows I’ve been to, the artist wants to communicate with the crowd through words. Mike chose his music over just talking to the crowd, and in doing so he really created a different space, a space where his fans could vibe together and be there for the music.
Mike Krol is continuing his “Power Chords Across America” tour through April including a couple of stops in Europe. His newest album, Power Chords is also available to purchase or stream on any platform.
