The bridge over the Mississippi River leading to Harriet Island Regional Park led thousands of fans into the greenery of Saint Paul for the second annual Minnesota Yacht Club Festival last weekend. The overcast skies certainly didn’t put a damper on the crowd’s enthusiasm for the weekend ahead and they made their way to the festival’s dual stages to kick off another incredible year. Atlas jumped in the pit for all the best moments- check out our favorites from day one!
Minnesota Shows that Local Love
Minneapolis and Saint Paul are very proud of their conjoined music scenes and they brought that love to both stages across the weekend. Kicking off the Skipper Stage was local darling Mike Kota and her amazing band of fellow Minnesota artists. With her striking red hair and unforgettable voice, Kota has already built a solid following in the area and beyond and those fans turned up plenty early for a chance to sing along from the barricade. Kota was all smiles through her set, expressing sincere and endless appreciation for her home state and hometown supporters. For those lucky enough to be there at the beginning of the day, catching Kota’s set was the perfect way to start the event.
While not local to the area, Hamilton Leithauser (former frontman of The Walkmen) held his own with an adoring MPLS audience. Dressed in a sharp linen suit and armed with his trusty guitar, Leithauser delivered a performance of perfectly curated indie rock energy. He dedicated “Ocean Roar” to Richard Swift early on and later added on more dedications to his band and family as the set continued. Fans continued to flock to the Crow’s Nest Stage to catch as many songs as possible before the day continued with even more incredible artists.
Sunny Songwriters Fight the Summer Heat
The midwest humidity was no match for The 502s. The self-proclaimed beach folk group had a backdrop of citrus and sunshine while the band members themselves emerged with a plethora of unusual instruments and launched into a series of songs that had everyone smiling. “If Good Times Were Dollars” then The 502s must be pretty wealthy- their performance was 18 songs of pure Florida sunshine. The crowd was on their feet and dancing along to “Backstage in Glasgow”, “Olivia” and more before the band shut down the party with “Just a Little While”.
The Florida acts were back to back as Gigi Perez took the stage in front of an ecstatic audience. Many on the barricade were armed with signs and huge smiles at the chance to be as close as possible to the singer-songwriter and her ethereal voice immediately captivated the crowd. With songs about love, loss and self-discovery, Perez has carved her own niche with her music and collected a devoted following along the way. Her soaring vocals on “When She Smiles” and “Sleeping” carried across the field and had plenty of fans waiting at the other stage turning to listen in the late afternoon sun.
Indie and Soul Meet in the Middle
Fans meandering through the crowd on Friday afternoon might spot anything from dancers whirling about with their colorful flags to families sunbathing during a rare peek of light beyond the overcast day. Right in the middle of that appeared Father John Misty and his band. The folk singer was impossible to miss with his striking stature and signature beard and the fans were overjoyed to see him onstage. He began the set behind his guitar but soon shed the instrument for the long winding opener that is “I Guess Time Makes Fools of Us All”. With such lengthy tracks, his set seemed almost abbreviated in comparison to his festival counterparts but not a single listener walked away from the Crow’s Nest unsatisfied with the prolific singer’s performance.
It was time for a heavy dose of blues and soul as Minnesota Yacht Club celebrated the long-awaited return of Alabama Shakes on the main stage. Led by the unmistakable voice and incredible talent of Brittany Howard, the band greeted their adoring audience with wide smiles and a powerful hour of music. It’s reunions like these that make festival lineups even more special so Saint Paul was thrilled to be the band’s Minnesota stop on their current summer tour. Their music provided the perfect backdrop for the first day’s late afternoon transition to the evening’s main events and left no doubt in anyone’s mind that they are back and better than ever.
Taking the Train to Hozier
It’s widely accepted (or should be) that Train is one of the best, most fun groups to see live and their headlining set at the Crow’s Nest won the hearts of the Yacht Club. Led by Pat Monahan and joined by special guest guitarist Butch Walker, Train filled the field in front of them with hundreds of fans ready for the sing-a-long the band never fails to provide. They’ve had more than their share of hits over the years and opened with back to back bangers on “Calling All Angels” and “If It’s Love”. Monahan’s voice soared above the audience, sounding even better than the band’s recorded music. This is a group that simply loves to be onstage and they bantered with the audience and threw in fun covers from The Beatles, Queen and more between plenty of original material. Naturally they had to close with “Drops of Jupiter”, sending the crowd into the sunset after a perfect performance.
A long day led right into the arms of Irish superstar Hozier as he took us to church- or at least tried to. Thousands of attendees crammed close to the Skipper’s Stage as Hozier’s powerful vocals and even more powerful message took center stage on “Nobody’s Soldier” and “Eat Your Young”- the latter featuring sobering military, political and global statistics centered around current events.
Hozier has never shied away from sharing his political views with his audiences and Friday was no exception. After a stunning second stage interlude that included “Cherry Wine”, he returned to the front for a rendition of “Work Song” alongside tourmate and festival companion Gigi Perez, to the delight of the audience. The rain that had been threatening all day finally unleashed upon the crowd and lightning forced the end of the set, but not before Hozier gave an impassioned speech right into “Nina Cried Power” to end the night. While Minnesota Yacht Club didn’t get taken to church, it was still a compelling end to a nearly flawless first day.
Check out all the photos from day one!
