Thursday night, I drove to the Park (formerly known as GB Leighton's Pickle Park) in Fridley to see the return of Twin Cities natives Throw the Fight. I got there in time to chat with some good friends that I had last seen at the Breaking Benjamin show at the Myth in Maplewood weeks earlier and hear the pop/rock sounds of Nashville natives the Nearly Deads.
My friend from Illinois that I'd been hanging out with the week earlier arrived in time for the show, and we caught up on her concert experiences from the last few days before the second opener, Valora, took to the stage. Valora's singer is probably best known for her appearance on the remix of the Breaking Benjamin song "Blow Me Away." Their group was flashy but not very impressive. They played "Blow Me Away," it was the second-to-last song on the setlist I acquired.
This was my first time seeing Throw the Fight live that I can recall, and they ran through about a dozen tracks in a little over half an hour. It wasn't a great crowd and the performances were just okay, but I didn't mind. It was great catching up with friends and helped me get pumped up for the next night's music at the Park.
Friday night I returned to the Park with friends for a food and toy drive benefit that we were organizing. It was the first time for us to host an event like this, and there were some things to be learned, but overall it went very well. We raised enough money in donations for about 2700 meals at Second Harvest and had some generous food and toy donations.
On stage were our friends in Aeous, Piranha and Sin7. It was great to see Piranha for the first time in a long time, and actually meet my social media friend Tracy Rademacher in person before she went on stage for their set.
Sin7 closed out the music on stage with a killer set. Our group leader is their frontman, and he led his band like he led our group to another successful show. I'm very proud of everyone who participated and came out to show their support, even though the crowd could have been bigger.
I was busy with my station at the raffle table most of the night, but still enjoyed the music and getting to see everyone. I even walked away with a signed cymbal from Sin7 at the end of the night, one of the items from the silent auction that was given to me by one of my best friends and fellow group member.
Next up were local favorites Smiling Politely. I've seen them a handful of times over the last few years. My friend and I were lucky enough to catch guitar picks from their frontman during their set. Smiling Politely was followed by local rockers Antistar, who put on a short but energetic set.
The last opening act was the return of local legends, metallers Black Flood Diesel. I didn't know much about this band except that they had a good reputation back in the day. Their heavy sounds really got the growing crowd into the show.
Finally, it was time for Gabriel and the Apocalypse, fresh off a multi-state tour, to rock their hometown fans! They always put on a great stage show! The only concern I had was for a friend who fell after a stage dive during their set, but the band was observant, interrupting their set for medical professionals to tend to him. Once everything was ok, the show resumed and the crowd was eagerly wanting more music well after the one-song encore.
My friend and I left the show talking a lot about music and all the bands we had seen recently. It was a lot of music in the last two weeks! I wished her well as she left today for more musical adventures on her way home.
Don't know what my next show will be, but I'm sure it'll be another great night of music with great friends. Until then, have a great weekend everyone-Skol Vikings!
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