Coast Modern, Bad Bad Hats, Amsterdam, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Review, Concert, Live, Photo
It might have been a chilly Monday night in the Twin Cities but Coast Modern brought all of the weekend feels to a nearly sold-out Amsterdam Bar & Hall. Coast Modern aka Luke Atlas and Coleman Trapp made a Monday night felt less like a snowy week night and more like a weekend on the beach thanks to their sunny sound and infectious energy. The stop at the Amsterdam was just one of many stops on their spring tour that has them zig-zagging across the US bring their tropadelic gospel to the masses.
Coast Modern has been making music as a duo for the past three years or so, since the release of the debut single Hollow Life. Since then Coast Modern has been gaining quite the following and after seeing them it’s no wonder why. The duo’s self-titled debut album has already been on heavy rotation on many-a-playlists but seeing them live really has an extra magic that can’t even match their album. Atlas and Trapp bring the magic of their album to life in their live set. Their energy on Monday night was over-the-top in the best way possible. They have fun on stage – and they make the crowd have fun too, there’s really no way to watch Coast Modern without wanting to bop along to their ear-wormy, sun-drenched tunes. Coast Modern opened their set with the tongue-in-cheek banger Tiny Umbrella. “ I’ma take my time and I’ma smell the flowers. I’m higher than a tower. Got my tiny umbrella. I’ma take my time. Sipping on a sour,” Trapp sang. There’s nothing too serious about Coast Modern – which is frankly refreshing as hell. There are so many great bands and great artists these days but so many seem to be plagued with taking themselves way too seriously. The “do-it-for-the-gram” mentality has been exhausting with everyone trying to look perfect, sound perfect, and be perfect. Coast Modern smashes that and just has fun. Their sound live sure wasn’t as shiny as their album but that’s what you want in a live show. You want the grittiness and the realness and that’s exactly what Trapp, Atlas and band bring to their live set.
Coast Modern continued their set with a mix of both new/unreleased tracks as well as handful off their self-titled debut. They even threw in a improvised track in which Trapp proclaimed his love for St. Paul and Minneapolis and a cover of MGMT’s classic track Electric Feel. Coast Modern so seamlessly and effortlessly blends elements of electronic and synth-driven pop with stonery hip hop for a result that is feel-good gold. Coast Modern’s LA-inspired sound makes you want to kick back by a pool with your own tiny umbrella.
Coast Modern gave the Amsterdam a little over an hour of back-to-back tracks and had the crowd dancing and singing along the whole time. “Have you guys ever just like yelled at the top of your lungs?” Trapp asked. “Like a guttural yell – let’s all do it,” he went on. Trapp pulled the stoic midwest crowd out their shell for a night of great music and a reminder to not take yourself so damn seriously.
Ahead of Coast Modern was Minneapolis’ own Bad Bad Hats. This four-piece has become quite the name in the Twin Cities music scene their formation as Macalaster College. Bad Bad Hats is Kerry Alexander (vocals, guitar), Chris Hoge (drums), and Noah Boswell (bass). Alexander fronts Bad Bad Hats with an infectious off-the-wall energy and quirky humor. “This song is about combos. And for those of you who don’t know what combos are they’re basically these little tubes filled with pizza. Which is also how I think about myself. Even on days when I don’t eat pizza, I still am filled with pizza,” she said ahead of their track Super America. And for those of you from the Twin Cites the song is about exactly what you think it’s about, Super America the gas station. Bad Bad Hats set also included Physic Reader and Midway and was the perfect precursor to Coast Modern’s set.
Opening up the evening was Milwaukee-based duo Reyna. The duo is made up of sisters Victoriah “Vic” Banuelos and Hannah Gabriela “Gabby” Banuelo and their live set is nothing but infectious feel-good, pop sensible tunes. Their set featured their breakout single Maintenee and well as Spill Your Colors and their latest single Cool With It. Reyna’s shimmery pop tracks leave you wanting more. Sure – they were the openers for the evening but they left you wanting more. Their songwriting sensibilities take center stage with hooky tracks that find their way stuck in your head for days following their set. Reyna left us wanting plenty more from this Midwestern duo and we only hope to see them back in the Twin Cities plenty more in the near future.
