Yacht Club Day One: A Steamy Start
Time for the third year of MN Yacht Club!
Though the wildfire smoke thankfully dissipated, the hot temps settled in for the first day. Scored some free street parking in my ultra secret spot about 15 minute walk from the gate. If you wanna know, ask me in rral life and I’ll dish. But that walk was ROUGH. Set my expectations for staying comfortable throughout the day at an all time low right away. Armed with my trusty water bottle and a full tube of sunscreen, made my way inside as the boat horns sounded at precisely 12:30pm to cheers from the early bird crowd roared, signaling doors were open!
Opening up Minnesota Yacht Club on the Crow's Nest Stage, Pat Kennedy brought the energy needed for first on the bill. Smiles on each bandmate, even with the temps going past 95 already at the 1pm start time. A lovely medley of rock and funk, their sound encapsulates the aura of a good time. I especially enjoyed the jazzy saxophone making itself known in every tune. Top marks for first band of the festival, though it was an interesting choice to have a non-Minnesota band launch us into the day. Was well received by the small but invigorated audience.
Three pieces of moody delight, Prize Horse was up for first on the Skipper Stage across the lawn. Minneapolis is known for honing local talent, so fortunate we have another to put on that list. With a heavy hand of groovy riffs mixed with hypnotic steady drums, their sound is like a cozy day. Lead vocalist Jake Beitel transports you to another time. Lovely performance, short and sweet half hour set. Nice they have a few non-hour running times for sets. The openers always put their heart into it, and make the most of their time.
Back to the Crow’s Nest, the crowd was beginning to fill out nicely. Blankets peppering the ground with friends assisting eachother in SPF re-application. Another Minneapolis diamond, Night Moves has a stacked deck of swagger on stage. Some drama on the piano then transitioning to guitar, lead singer was charismatic and engaging. Hard to do in this kind of weather, but he pulled it off flawlessly.
A personal favorite of the entire weekend for me was ready to rock the Skipper Stage. A dedicated fan base, everyone in the front hung on every word. Born in Saint Paul, Midwest roots run deep for lead singer and front man, John Wozniak. Chillaxed tones but never the entertaining, Marcy Playground (also with its namesake coming from a Minnesota park) strummed along in the summer sun with all the professionalism one expects from such a versed group. Huzzah to them!
Time for a little Texas flavor, Shakey Graves can definitely hold his own. Hailing from Austin, music seems to be in his bones. Was hypnotic watching the reflection of the teeming crowd in his sunglasses as everyone fell into a humid spell in the sun. Few faces in the audience were fading, but most of the gang was still engaged. Front row warriors had their armor on, but hard to beat the heat when it is that relentless. Almost fainted myself, so had to take a sit down after Shakey, namesake honored haha.
In a bit of a daze after being punished by the masochistic sun, Dashboard Confessional came on and I realized I knew every song. Not my go-to band but I guess I'm a secret fan? They did really well, especially with the blazing elements that must be hard to brush aside while trying to entertain thousands going through the same. Catching many cheeky grins from the band members, lead vocalist Chris Carrabba was particularly fun to watch as be sang and strummed along while having fun with his dedicated fans.
With so many catchy tunes over the years, I knew The Fray would be stellar. I was not wrong. Sounding album-perfect almost every song from their hour long set, they are so fun to watch. So many fans were scream-singing back to the band, drinks raised high to hit after hit. Then lines were getting quite long for the $10 lemonade, but so far resisted its siren song. Quite tempting, can see why the prices don’t discourage purchasers when the late afternoon hits hard.
With the festival grounds at almost full capacity, The Black Keys had a vibrating audience to play for. A sea of blankets and almost every bit of grass taken except for the token space between spoken-for plots, just wide enough for a faint and careful footstep to navigate through. A true rock and roll band, The Black Keys sounded solid and confident but a bit more tame than I would have liked. The heat and music blazed on.
Didn't know MT Joy before seeing them at Yacht Club, but they have a monster fanbase. The front row was lined with young gals all dressed as if breathed into by a golden guide of how to look cool. Can see and hear why they were saved for second to last of the evening for night one. Earworm city, very easy to slide on into as a new listener.
With a super cool bump out stage that reached into the sardine-packed crowd, the Lumineers were lit to the Gods with waves of punchy color. Was my first time seeing them and now understand the hype. They did the first few songs from the front of the stage extension, so got a choice view of all jams. Every band member seemed to have their designated spot, but did a touch of finessed interaction between them. Polished and potent, The Lumineers filled the shoes well for headliner of the first day of Minnesota Yacht Club.
Cheers to the first day of Minnesota Yacht Club!
