My Favorite Sets of 2018 – Vito Ingerto

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Hey Hey, My My Rock and Roll will never die. And while it may be on life support, rock was on full display in the Twin Cities area, and some of the best bands in the land passed through in 2018.

5) Joyous Wolf  Though they had the first set at 11 am on day 2 of Northern Invasion, Joyous Wolf exploded on stage with the power of a super nova, someone forgot to tell them they weren’t the headliner. Halfway through their set, vocalist Nick Reese jumped off the stage made dirt angels in the middle of the mosh pit.  This young SoCal band has big things on the horizon.

4) The Fever 333  Part Rage Against The Machine part Body Count, The Fever 333 electrified the stage at Northern Invasion. From the stark imagery of singer Jason Butler standing in a hood to open the set, to drummer Aric Improta destroying his kit, this set was incendiary. Check them out at the Armory on February 6th.

3) The Glorious Sons  These Canadian rockers kicked ass opening for the Struts at First Ave. Singer Brett Emmons commanded full attention, a consummate rock and roll front man.  They just crushed a cover of the Stones “Gimme Shelter”.

2)  G3 Three rock gods on one stage? Yes please! Six string legend Joe Satriani brought his 2018 version of the G3 tour to the State Theatre and brought pals Phil Collen and John Petrucci. For three hours these guys shook the rafters, first solo then together. It would be hard to pick a highlight of this epic show, but the boys trading rifts on an incendiary, 10 minute “Superstition” sure made my night.

1) Greta Van Fleet  We are blessed at TCM with the access we get to shows in the Twin Cities. But there are moments sublime, when you can feel on a molecular level that you are witnessing something special. When Gretta Van Fleet took the stage and began jamming at a sold-out Armory, I got to experience one of those moments. Halfway through the first song, my jaw was on the floor, my camera at my waist, spellbound by these four young men. I looked over at the other 3 photographers I shared the pit with that night and they too were transfixed, unable to function. These guys are special, and I feel like this will be one of those shows that 20 years from now everyone will be claiming they were there at the Armory, first time Greta Van Fleet came to town.

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