A Sunday Night Spent With Slow Hollows Is A Good Sunday Night

It was a wild weekend. That’s not a bad thing, but I was definitely feeling a bit out of it come Sunday night, and dragging my butt off of the couch to get to my show of choice was not an easy task. Getting to downtown Minneapolis to find it being a ghost town didn’t help anything. I shuffled into a quiet 7th Street Entry, found my usual spot in the back corner, and just waited. My head was all over the place thinking about how busy my week was going to be, but as soon as the opening act took the stage, all of those manic thoughts were silenced and replaced by sounds that brought me a sense of peace that, although not quite what I thought I needed, was just that.

Aesha Minor is a local duo consisting of Austin James and Matthew Jon. Although just a duo and with a sound that leaned more into the lo-fi scene than I tend to go for, this duo hit me with a wall of sound that I found genuinely mesmerizing and perfect for a very chill Sunday night show. They had this super cool and unique blend of classic indie-pop vocals and more full-bodied electronic beats. How can I say that after I just said that they leaned a bit more into the lo-fi scene than I tend to go for? Because there were lo-fi elements scattered throughout the set. Aesha Minor’s music may come off as a bit chill, but as you dig into it and get lost in their world, you realize how much thought has been put into every beat. The dynamics are deafening, although they never really hit a high sense of energy. Walking to the 7th Street Entry on Sunday night, I thought I wanted in your face and aggressive, but what Aesha Minor’s music did to my heart and soul was more than I could have ever asked for.

Although the audience was light in this small and intimate venue, Aesha Minor gave the people in the crowd everything they had. I don’t just mean this sonically; I also mean it visually. It would have been so easy for this duo to chalk Sunday night’s show up to a bit of a flop (for lack of a better term and in reference to the lack of audience), but that’s clearly not Aesha Minor’s style. Instead of just going through the motions and using the night as a practice of sorts, the duo had their entire light rig up and filled every space of the room with heart and passion. I don’t typically talk about lights, but, in the case of this group, I loved what it brought to the room. Being just a duo, there wasn’t much movement as both players were busy creating their sounds so the light brought a sense of movement that brightened up the room while also creating energy when, at face value, there wasn’t much.

Headlining act Slow Hollows didn’t have the same production behind their set as Aesha Minor, this subtle sense of power still radiated from the stage as this band played through their set on Sunday night. From what I can tell, Slow Hollows is Austin Feinstein’s solo project that came in the form of a four-piece band on Sunday. I could be wrong on this as it seems like Slow Hollows has bounced between being a solo project and a full band, so please correct me, but, in the end, it really doesn’t matter. Sure, Austin was the star of the night with his stunning vocals, but his band refused to be put in the corner because they so perfectly and delicately enhanced the feelings being portrayed and presented in Austin’s vocals.

The biggest comparison I can make with Austin’s style is Fences. I know that is an obscure comparison, as Fences never got as big as they should have, but it had the same darkness and moodiness and had me absolutely struck. Fences spoke to my soul from the lyrics to the delivery, and it has been a long time since I have had a vocalist hit me that way, but Austin did, and that instantly had me falling head over heels for this act. Even though Austin looked young enough to be my own child, there was something weathered and profound about his words. It was both in the word choice and in the darkness attached to every word, creating a very moody atmosphere that could either get you lost in your own feelings or give you an outlet for said feelings. Either way, the music and tone of Slow Hollows hit everyone in the audience, and it clearly hit hard as the audience stood there in absolute silence and awe.

Sunday night’s show with Aesha Minor and Slow Hollows was not an exciting one. There was no mosh-ability as there were very few people in attendance and no idiots taken out by security to speak of. Honestly, it was quite a boring show, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Sometimes, you just need a show that you can get lost in the music and not have to worry about anything else around you, and that’s exactly what Sunday night was. It may not have been what I wanted, but it was just what I needed.