FIDLAR Brings the Energy in Minneapolis
I was able to take in a show of a band I have been wanting to see for a long time but just never got a good chance to. I’m talking about the surf punk group FIDLAR. I initially got into them when their first album was out and I was living in California. You’d think living in their home state, I would have been able to catch a show but things just never lined up. Nowadays I live in Kansas City and they seem to skip over most of the midwest on their tours. When I saw they were playing in Minneapolis I decided to make my way up there and catch the show. They now have 4 albums, an acoustic compilation album and multiple EP’s and singles with their most recent album “Surviving the Dream” being released just a couple weeks before this show.
The show was at the Varsity Theater in the Dinkytown neighborhood near the University of Minnesota. The average age looked to be early 30’s and the crowd had a fun/festive vibe even before the show started. The opening band was Sugar Pit, who are from Los Angeles. They came out with a lot of energy and a fun quirky performance style. Much like their music they were upbeat and fun on stage bringing a lot of energy and dancing. Frontman Kian Stevens-Winston informed the crowd that this was their first ever show on tour and the band seemed to give off the type of energy and excitement that a lot of more experienced bands start to lack over time. They got the show off to a great start and the crowd excited heading into FIDLAR’s set.
FIDLAR took the stage and opened with “Fix Me” the lead single from their newly released “Surviving the Dream” album and quickly went into fan favorites “Cheap Beer” and “Stoke and Broke” from their first album. Throughout their high energy set they played songs from all their albums as well as some from tracks from their EP’s. They also mixed in some covers like a portion of Sublime’s “Santeria” mixed into their classic “No Waves”. Throughout the set, frontman Zac Carper bantered with the enthusiastic crowd. One time having the crowd start a girls only mosh pit and later on while closing out their main set having the crowd sit down saying they’ll know when to stand up while performing “Cocaine”. After the song kicked in after a quiet intro the crowd leapt to their feet and sang along like they had for every song that night. After a short break they returned for an encore with “Wake, Bake, Skate” to close out the show. I have to say I loved the energy of the show and FIDLAR and Sugar Pit killed it.
