With the following day being a break in the monotonous work week for many throughout the Minneapolis area individuals were spending their evenings surrounded by family and friends to begin celebrating the looming holiday. Currently being away from my own family I was looking forward to attending a show sure to impress, and provide me a little reprieve from recent events. Throughout the day I found myself getting more and more excited for Greta Van Fleet, and to get dressed up and surround myself with an atmosphere that has grown close to my heart over the years. Walking around the venue to get in line I was surprised by the crowd that was in attendance, and I heard individuals voicing the same opinion I had – there definitely was a broad range when focusing on age throughout attendees. Personally I always love when I see this at concerts because it shows the versatility of music itself, and displays that anyone can listen to anything or enjoy anything regardless of their age or upbringing. Upon entering the venue I had honestly forgotten how massive it was, and surprisingly for being a sold out show there was still plenty of room and the wait was minimal at the bar as well as the merchandise table.
Never having heard of the opener, Cloves, before this evening I was immediately drawn to her with her alluring voice, and eye-catching dance moves. Australian singer-songwriter, Kaity Dunstan, knew how to entertain a crowd and keep the energy building in preparation for the coming entertainment. She began her professional music career in 2013 after appearing on season two of The Voice Australia, and everything took off continuing to climb in present day. After hearing two or three songs I found myself pulling out my phone, and immediately choosing to follow her on Spotify adding every song I could to my library. I’ve always enjoyed discovering new music, and with her unique talent the decision was pretty much made for me right then and there. Overall I was very pleased with her performance, and I’m eager to continue listening as well as watch her pursue her dreams.
After Dunstan was finished with her performance I decided to explore the venue a little bit more as the space is just about endless. I realized that I find it purposeful, and design-saavy that the bar on the main floor stretches for a large length of the venue ensuring that everyone in attendance can be helped relatively quickly instead of waiting in too long of a line. This time around I was able to explore the other floors of the venue, and in the balconies the bars were set up in the same fashion. There were also comfortable seating areas in the balconies for those that chose to go that route. After finding my spot on the balcony again I eagerly waited for Greta Van Fleet to take the stage with two sweet couples sitting next to me on my right. I found one detail to stick out to me in particular about the spot I had found, and that was how this venue caters to handicapped individuals. Out of the two couples, two of them were minimally handicapped and I loved how they were placed on the balcony in comfortable seats close to the elevators should they want to go downstairs for any reason. I found this to be a significant detail worth mentioning because in most cases these individuals would have purchased tickets, and ended up spending their money on the viewing of stranger’s butts for lack of better explanation. So, with that being said, hats off to The Armory for being aware of this. Throughout the evening we had all exchanged the pleasant Midwest smile greeting all remaining to keep to ourselves, but as the night went on conversations were had, stories were told, and it made me realize how much I enjoyed going to shows alone.
Greta Van Fleet took the stage promptly at 8:30 p.m. making the crowd go wild with their amazing vocals, and instrumentals. Relatively quickly after they began their set I had no hesitation in agreeing that vocalist, Josh Kiszka, had a voice that could easily be compared or mistaken for Robert Plant’s himself. Considering their “hard rock” attire, their talent to entertain, and their unique presentation I knew I made the right choice on how to spend my Fourth of July “Eve”. I wasn’t able to catch many of their song names as I did find that the size of the venue made it difficult to piece together a majority of their phrases, but I recall a few that were played throughout the evening such as, “Highway Tune”, “You’re the One”, “Lover Leaver Taker Believer”, and second single, “Safari Song”. After watching one of the couples chairs as they went to go grab merchandise a few of us ended up moving into a cushioned seating area that had a TV mounted so viewers could get a better look at the action taking place on stage. I had already seen Josh Kiszka’s silver leather pants from a distance, but seeing the whole outfit up close took me back to the 70’s. Upon looking closer at the screen I realized that bass guitarist, Sam Kiszka, was playing barefoot. This was a fun detail to pick up on as I felt it added a sort of “grunge-factor” to their whole performance. Overall I felt this group provided attendees with a stellar performance, and I’m very excited to see them progress in their musical career as the talent each of them encompass is immense. They are sure to continue impressing listeners, and I’m excited to know that there’s another band on the upswing that has a little something for everyone regardless of their age or musical taste.
