Mallrat took over for a sold out show at 7th Street Entry on Saturday night and it was pretty much everything I had dreamed of. Having just released her sophomore album, Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right, in February, Minneapolis came out ready for a night no one will forget. Having not been here since 2019, fans were eager to hear new music and old favorites. The place quickly filled up and soon enough it was showtime.

Supporting Mallrat on her US leg of tour is Philly native Anna Shoemaker. The indie-pop singer/songwriter also released her sophomore album in February of this year, making her the perfect match as an opening artist. The crowd loved dancing and singing along to her soft-pop sound, and she even played an unreleased song that everyone seemed excited to hear. During her set she introduced herself and her guitar player, saying they were both from the east coast. Our midwest crowd didn’t really know how to respond to that, making Anna burst out laughing for being in a place that doesn’t ride so hard for Philadelphia. Someone then shouted “Go Birds” which received a laugh from the whole crowd and was a fun little moment of connection, also a solid introduction to the Minnesota vibes for her first show here. She definitely held the audience captive and I’m excited to have her come back someday soon.

There’s always a quick turnaround between musicians at the entry, something I am super thankful for, and soon enough the lights went down and the instrumental music of “My Darling, My Angel”, filled the room. Mallrat, otherwise known as Grace Shaw, came out and sweetly began singing songs both new and old. She warmed up quickly to the crowd and was interacting with everyone she made eye contact with. One of her bigger songs, “Surprise Me”, came up and I’m pretty sure everyone in the crowd was singing Azealia Banks’ verse while it played over the backtrack.

About halfway through, Mallrat noticed a fan in the front row wearing something super familiar and took a moment to bring her onstage. Back when she released her most recent album, Mallrat had custom made boxing shorts with the title of each song embroidered across the front. This fan had custom made her own version of the boxing shorts, with Mallrat’s name across the front. She seemed truly shocked to see a fan go to so much dedication and you could see how much it meant to her to see that when she looked out into the crowd.

Mallrat also mentioned that she got to try a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for the first time in Minneapolis. She had been wanting to try it ever since one of her favorite artist, Lana Del Ray released “This Is What Makes Us Girls” over 10 years ago. While PBR isn’t a local beer, Mallrat said that she would now always remember Minneapolis through the beer.

Throughout the show it was easy to tell that this is exactly what Shaw was meant to do with her life, she appeared so happy and grateful to be able to bring her music from Brisbane, Australia, all the way to the midwest, and the world. She agreed with Anna, that we were a beautiful and very polite crowd, which describes Minneapolis so well - and received a collective giggle.

Waiting for this show for the past six years myself, it did not disappoint one bit, and she promised to come back very soon - I’ll be keeping an eye out!