Minneapolis is a city with a deep connection to music. Artists such as Prince and Bob Dylan called Minnesota home before they became worldwide sensations and helped shape the music culture of the Twin Cities.
In tune with Minnesota’s love of music, Edina High School students have been taking advantage of the numerous live music opportunities the city offers.
The hypnotic indie pop band TV Girl came to Minneapolis on Oct. 21. The band was touring with their new album “Grapes Upon the Vine,” which focuses on life and death as well as the existence of heaven and hell. The band’s use of Minneapolis’ iconic First Avenue as their venue made the concert intimate. “The venue was absolutely gorgeous,” junior Kaiya Tuescher said. “I love First Avenue mainly because no matter where you are, you are able to see the stage well.”
TV Girl’s lead singer, Brad Petering, made sure that his audience was engaged at all times.
“[The lead singer] is super funny,” Tuescher said. “The band was really interactive with the audience from the stories to the jokes and just the general vibe of the show was great and you could tell they really care about their performances.”
English pop-rock band The 1975 also made their way to Minneapolis for their At Their Very Best tour. This band used the spacious Target Center as their concert venue.
Much like TV Girl’s Brad Petering, The 1975 lead singer Matt Healy kept his audience engaged by adding humor to his show. “It was almost like a stand-up set,” senior Angelina Duncan said. “He interacted with the crowd a lot and he did a couple of jokes as well as [performing] a super interesting set.”
Healy also made sure to connect with his audience on a personal level. “He talked about his life,” Duncan said. “He made sure his audience knew how much they mean to him.” Duncan also found that the audience at The 1975’s concert was reciprocating the positive energy coming from the performers. “Everyone was super respectful,” Duncan said. “It was just a good time and it was a good community to be around.”
On a different note, the rapper Lil Uzi Vert performed at The Armory in Minneapolis on his Pink Tape tour.
“His concert was really fun,” senior Yena Koo said. “He sang the song ‘I Just Want To Rock’ four times, which is like, my favorite song, and it really made the concert enjoyable.”
Lil Uzi Vert performed at The Armory on November 29. Koo felt that this venue was not large enough for a concert of this size. “Many people were pushing and [they] were all trying to get to the front which made me feel overwhelmed,” Koo said. Even though the concert was very crowded and slightly stressful, Koo and her friends still had an enjoyable time at the concert. “It was very energetic and I could tell that a lot of people were having fun too,” Koo said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on November 30, 2023.
