I've been going to see live music regular for the last few decades, and while concerts have always been a huge part of my life, I've always felt unequipped to write about them. Not being a musician myself, I never felt like I had the knowledge or vocabulary to intelligently write about music. But, with age comes not wisdom, but the ability to say "to hell with it, I'll do it anyway."

Last night, a buddy and I attended a show that was originally billed as Miracle Blood, Baumgardner, Strange Frequency, and Small Animal Hospital. The actual bill turned out to be Baumgardner, Miracle Blood, Watches, and Small Animal Hospital. One band fully replaced, and one swap in lineup order. All bands from Minneapolis save for Miracle Blood, who hail from Boston. 

We first discovered Miracle Blood when they were announced as part of the lineup for Caterwaul, the annual noise-rock festival held in Minneapolis each Memorial Day weekend. I wound up not going this year, but still listened to most of the bands on the lineup. Miracle Blood were one of the standouts, and my friend Josh assured me that they were great at the festival. So when they announced a show at my local coffee shop/skateboard shop/punk venue Pilllar Forum, I didn't want to miss them again. 

Pilllar Forum is the type of place where you're pretty much guaranteed to mingle with the bands playing in the crowd, and when I arrived Josh was already there, talking to Miracle Blood's singer/guitarist Andrew Wong. He complimented my on my shirt (the Pacific Northwest's Great Falls, for the record) and was generally a very nice and approachable guy - a far cry from the kind of eye-popping madman he'd later be on stage. My photos failed to capture his elastic facial expressions or the times he wound up playing guitar in the middle of the crowd, but this video gives you a pretty good idea of the experience. 

Miracle Blood's official press materials draw comparisons to bands like The Jesus Lizard, McLusky, and Converge. I'm surprised not to see any mention of The Dead Kennedys, as Wong's voice has a distinct similarity to Jello Biafra. He and the rest of the three-piece band have a similar manic energy and smart-aleck vibe as that band and their contemporaries. I particularly enjoyed bass player Garrett Young's "Italian Spider-Man gif" facial expressions. 

I'm already hoping Miracle Blood play Minneapolis again soon. Their set was high-energy, heavy, and a little bit silly while never losing their tight musicianship. Their stage presentation was as bare-bones as it gets: just three guys rockin' out. That's all they needed. Great stuff, and I highly recommend you check them out if you get a chance. 

Also player were Baumgardner ​(above), a Minneapolis grunge/hardcore band who closed out the show. Solid stuff, and their new single "Fuck Off and Die" is exactly the energy most of us need in 2025. 

Strange Frequency was replaced on the bill by Watches?, who are apparently based out of both Minneapolis and Asheville, North Carolina. The dual locations actually makes sense - they had a lot of Minneapolis punk in their sound, but also a lot of southern twang. Both Josh and I were reminded of The Jon Spencer Blues explosion. A very high level of musicianship on display from these two. Very good stuff. 

Small Animal Hospital opened the night. They delivered perhaps the night's most purely heavy set. As these guys are local, I'll be keeping my eyes open for more shows from them.