Earth Groans Ignite Intimate Crowd At The Garage

It’s been a very long time since I’ve been to The Garage for a show; so long that I honestly can’t remember what the last band I saw at this venue was or even what genre. When I lived in the southern suburbs, I would be at The Garage all of the time. I love how this venue blends national and local shows into their calendar and it was a favorite of mine to shoot. I found myself back there to catch Earth Groans, a band I saw hyped up on Instagram.

First up on stage for the night was a new local band to me, Abya. I hadn’t seen nor heard of this band before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when two members walked on stage and started right into their set. Turns out, the band is actually a trio but the singer was unfortunately unable to make it out to the show. That didn’t stop the other two from playing the band’s set and rocking The Garage. I’m not sure if because I recently got back into playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night or what, but hearing Abya instrumentally took me right back into that classic game; honestly the band sounded awesome and I’m glad I was able to catch their set.

Next up was another local band I’ve seen around a few times: Near An Open Flame. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a local show, but this set started to remind me why I loved going to them in the past. The band came out strong and flew through their 20ish minute set with ease. As energetic and all over the stage as I remembered their sets in the past when I’ve seen them as The Cabooze, Near An Open Flame definitely set the tone for the remainder of the night, with their hard hitting break downs and intense stage presence.

The penultimate band of the evening was a third Minnesota local favorite, Prevailing Providence. One of the last times I’ve seen this band was last year, and I was looking forward to seeing how the group has progressed. I’ll start off with this: I was far from disappointed. All of the members of the band felt more polished, confident, and happier with their music and performance, making it feel like I was watching a completely different group of people on stage. Prevailing Providence found their groove and between the band and the crowd, made me feel like I was at a headlining show.

Last but certainly not least, Earth Groans took the stage. Since I’ve only listened to their music and haven’t got a chance to catch them live, I was definitely excited to see how their liver performance was. Even if it was a short set, Earth Groans brought it; their hard hitting stage presence and intense music was captivating to me and got the crowd going. Every single member of the band had incredible stage presence and a wealth of talent on their respective instruments, and I couldn’t help but keep my eyes glued to the stage. With an intimate crowd and a good night of music, I left my time at The Garage happy and eager to get back into the local scene.