Michigan Rattlers Delight A Packed 7th Street Entry
Like so many other nights where I cover two completely different shows on the same night, I felt like I was straddling two worlds between First Avenue's Mainroom and the 7th Street Entry on Saturday night. Both shows I saw were great, and all four acts I saw throughout the night were excellent, but the vibe in the intimate 7th Street Entry was so different from the main room. It was an older crowd where conversations seemed to drown out the music at times. Usually, this would annoy me, but honestly, I was just happy to see a completely different demographic out at a show than I normally see.
Cutie patootie Elias Hix was the only opener for the show at the Entry on Friday night. He took the stage and instantly brought a hush over the audience. Although that hush didn't last through the whole set and, eventually, the conversations happening throughout the room started to overpower the sound coming through the speakers, Elias won over everyone in the audience one heart at a time. His singer-songwriter vibe was calm and collected, but a fire came through with every word he sang. I also caught onto a slight "old soul" vibe from Elias. Elias is clearly young, but that's not how his music feels. It felt like a comforting glass of wine with an epic storm raging outside your windows. Okay, that's a weird analogy, but if you hear Elias' voice and his overall sound or catch him live, I think it will make sense.
Another thing that really surprised me about Elias' set was the power that he showed without being in your face or aggressive. Joined on stage by just a buddy who was helping out with additional guitar and vocal parts, there was nothing loud about their set, but somehow, their sound was deafening to me in all of the right ways. On top of all of that was the charm. After just a song or two, Elias asked the audience if there was a feud between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The audience seemed timid and let the question fall to the floor, so Elias quickly proclaimed that he was there to start that feud. Another moment of charm was when he introduced his buddy as being from Bemidji. The buddy went on to take the microphone and state how good it felt to be back in the north. Without missing a step, Elias just gave a short and breathy "Hmmm," surely in response to the sub-zero temperatures. Although neither of those moments had anything to do with the magic that was the music of Elias Hix, it added that sense of personality and charm that makes any set stand out for me, even if the music is a bit calmer than I tend to go for.
By the time headliners Michigan Rattlers took the stage, the 7th Street Entry was packed to the brim. I don't think this show ever hit sold-out status, but it was surely just a few tickets away. I was a bit surprised as I had never heard of Michigan Rattlers before and was just at this show on a whim due to the close proximity to the other show I had on Saturday night, but as soon as the band started playing, I understood the excitement and packed audience.
Sonically, Michigan Rattlers is more chill than I tend to go for. It's very Bruce Springsteen meets "enter indie folk rock band here," but it has charm behind it, and the lyrics seem to set Michigan Rattlers apart from all of the other bands that fall into this category. Although their music was, overall, slightly bright and happy-go-lucky, there was a depth to the words that kept this from being a wholly optimistic and sun-shiny kind of set. The depth came from both the slightly darkened word choice and the way that the vocalist dabbled between light and dark with his tone. It confused, intrigued, and delighted me all simultaneously and made me want to rush home and dig a bit deeper into this band and their impactful words.
Bands hustle-- it's just part of the game, but some hustle harder than others, and Michigan Rattlers is one of those. The members of this band started the life of Michigan Rattlers when they were around thirteen years old. Although the band members didn't come off as young as Elias, it was clear that this is a fairly young band but also that 13 years old was some time ago. Being a band for so long brings a lot of things to the table that fresher bands just can't pull off, and those things were in the spotlight. The way this group was so tight when it came to their music but still kept this perfectly free-flowing and organic vibe about them screamed professionalism but also screamed passion to me. I've seen the toll that the grind can take on bands. I've seen amazing bands stumble and eventually fall because they feel like they will never reach the level they want to and that it's not worth the grind. That's not Michigan Rattlers. Sure, they aren't a household name and have been doing this for years, but that will not stop them from giving every audience a set full of heart.
Saturday night at the 7th Street Entry wasn't the most insanely energetic show I've seen. It definitely paled in comparison to the energy that I felt at the First Avenue Mainroom that same night. Still, it was lovely, and sometimes, a lovely show just absolutely hits the spot as it did here.