The Suburbs show us the new face of live music

Last updated on July 20th, 2020 at 02:40 pm

Thanks to The St. Michael Cinema, live music is back in Minnesota, but with a socially distanced look. Local legend The Suburbs brought along a soon-to-be Minnesota icon, Kiss The Tiger, to an audience that yearned for live music, while craving some normalcy in our current messed up times.

Walking into the event, you’re handed a pool noodle to measure the space between groups. Lawn chairs were placed on marked lines, with everyone was keeping their groups six feet apart to ensure social distancing. Most of those in attendance were wearing masks and staying in pods of those who came to the show together.

St. Michal Cinema did a great job, as this germ-phobic guy never once felt any anxiety.

Kiss The Tiger took the stage around seven. I was immediately struck by their presence.

Despite playing to a few hundred in a parking lot, Meghan Kreidler put on a show as if she were performing to a full arena. Their music and voice are hard for me to define, but I’ll give it a shot: New Wave mixed with 70s west coast punk and progressive rock. One song even reminded me of The New York Dolls.

In between songs, Meghan gave a tear-filled message about the current pandemic and the white supremacy movement that she feels is choking our country. It was nice to have that live interaction with an artist on stage. As someone who has deeply missed live music, I can’t imagine how hard it is for the artists. The emotions that they are feeling combined with being unable to perform in front of an audience take a toll, and Meghan expressed that with passion and class.

As storms surrounded the area, The Suburbs took the stage around 8:00. There wasn’t a drop of rain during their performance, as if God knew that Minnesota deserved live music. Chan, Hugo, and the band delivered to an excited crowd.

The Suburbs are one of the rare bands that sound better now than they did during their earlier days. Perhaps it is hearing them live vs. aged recordings, or it is that they are energized after not being on a stage in (as Chan stated), “Five fucking months?”

The Suburbs gave the crowd more than they expected. They were rolling through a set that featured classics from 1977 to current songs, all having a life of their own.

It was a magical night for live music in Minnesota, and The Suburbs provided a great release from our current reality, with relative normalcy that hopefully some day we will be back to. Music in Minnesota will only get stronger.