The Jayhawks headline the second night of shows at the Palace Theatre

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After a boisterous opening night celebrating the MN hip hop scene, the Palace Theatre stayed local but calmed the pace a bit with The Jayhawks headlining.

A new music venue opening is always a big deal for us, but the history surrounding the Palace Theatre made this one even more special. After some wrangling we decided to have different teams cover each night and last night it was my turn. I had toured the Palace for the sneak preview in December was curious what the end result would be.
A few things stood out
The Palace sounds great! From main floor to balcony the sound was clean and rich. I could hear the band and even understand some spoken words from stage while standing in the lobby. In a smart move First Ave and Jam Productions rented a sound system to test out acoustics in a packed house. With lessons learned from the first weekend they will be shopping for something permanent.
There’s not a bad seat / place to stand in the house. Almost everyone has an unbroken line of sight to the stage and what few obstructions there are eliminated with just a tilt of the head or a half step in either direction.
Everyone has been gushing about the architecture and the light, and rightfully so, but to me one thing stood out: I did not see any of the growing pains a major venue goes through on their second night. There were lines but they were moving along quickly after a couple of hiccups the first night. Guests got their drinks quickly, and I did not notice any choke points. It was evident that First Avenue who are running operations at the Palace had put a lot of effort into planning and training.
Chatting with a few of the staff the pride they had in their new venue became evident, and rightfully so. After the show, it was great to seen many of the audience out celebrating a local venues.

The first band on stage was The Cloak Ox a Minneapolis band. I just caught the tail end of their set (my fault) but liked what I heard.

The Cactus Blossoms were up next and their harmonies and emphasis on vocals were another test the sound system passed with flying colors. Built on brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum their old-fashioned sound quickly has become a Twin Cities favorite.
You’re Dreaming / Mississippi / Change Your Ways Or Die / If I Can’t Win / Bongos / Clown Collector / Kinks / Queen Of Them All / Adios Maria / Stoplight Kisses / Powder Blue / No More Crying The Blues

After an introduction by Mayor Coleman, one of the driving forces behind the resurrection of the Palace Theatre, it was time for the Jayhawks. To me the Jayhawks are one of those bands who are a pillar of the music scene but at times overlooked. For casual fans their 2+ hour set became a series of “oh wait, I KNOW that song” moments and for the more serious listeners a celebration of the bands impressive body of work.
Coleman joined the band for a couple of songs. If the next Governor’s election would have been held at the Palace Saturday night, I would predict a landslide victory for him. The Jayhawks sounded tight and clearly had fun on stage.
I’m Gonna Make You Love Me / You Look So Young / Leaving The Monsters / Trouble / Stumbling / Tampa To Tulsa / Lovers of The Sun / Waiting / Two hearts / Comeback Kids / Take Me With You / NLTB / Bottomless Cup / Think About It / Big Star / Blue / Reasons / Rainy Day / Quiet Corners / Tailspin / I’d Run Away  Encore: Settled / Angelyine / Broken Harpoon / Smile / Baby Baby Baby  / Bad Time / Until You Came Along

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