The Soul of the Southside Juneteenth Festival returns to the intersection of Minnehaha Avenue and East Lake Street in South Minneapolis on Thursday, starting at noon.  

In addition to the many vendors and food trucks, Soul of the Southside works with businesses in the area such as Moon Palace Books, Solcana Fitness and Arbeiter Brewing, to provide activities from beginning to end for all ages. 

Husband and wife, Emmanuel Duncan and Fancy Lanier-Duncan first held the festival on Juneteenth in 2022 to celebrate the launch of their creative space, The Legacy Building, located near the intersection of 46th St. and Minnehaha Avenue. 

This year, it will be the event’s first time closing down 27th Ave in addition to Minnehaha Avenue, which was closed down for the first time during last year’s event. 

With the support of the community, Soul of the Southside continued as an annual free-to-attend event celebrating Juneteenth, honoring Black creativity and freedom, according to their website. The two are listed as co-founders of the event on their website. 

Lake Street Lifts and the Minneapolis Arts and Cultural Affairs Department also provide the festival with grants to help them put the event together.

Each year, the festival has a theme, and this year’s is “FAMILY: A REVOLUTIONARY FORCE.” Through art, music, storytelling and community, the festival hopes to emphasize “the power, resilience, and legacy of Black families as the foundation of our communities.” 

Lanier-Duncan said the theme started to take form after sending surveys out to the community last year, asking what was important to them. Family was a common answer. People wanted a place in the community to celebrate that also felt like a place where they could bring their families. 

Beyond the feedback, Lanier-Duncan said it became clear to her and the team that they should make the theme centered on family. 

“Family is the center and the root for all of us,” she said. “Whether it’s chosen family or the one that you know, we’re born into, it’s the center for all of us.” 

The festival has four pillars: music, art, commerce and wellness. Lanier-Duncan said that when planning the event, the team thought of ways to add to the event and make it more accessible to younger people.  

One thing Lanier-Duncan is looking forward to this year is the community’s response, not only to the event itself, but to the intentionality behind the event. 

“Will they see and feel the intentionality that this team of incredible creatives put together, you know, for the community?” she said.More information about Soul of the Southside can be found at their website.

The first time I saw Nashville-based singer Stephen Day, he performed to a small crowd in the back of a Milwaukee cafe. The second time I saw him was Wednesday at 7th St. Entry performing to a sold-out crowd, kicking off his Gold Mine tour.

Gold Mine is also the title of his fourth album and its title track. The song “Gold Mine” came later while Day wrote for the record, and after deciding what songs would be on the album, it was decided that it would also be the album’s name. 

In an interview, Day said he felt like the song was a guiding light for the rest of the record. 

The first time I saw Day perform, he went out of his way to create an intimate experience with the audience and show his appreciation. The show at 7th St. was no different. 

Day previously performed at 7th St., and said he was glad to be back again, not only because the show sold out, but because the room size allows for closeness between the performers and the audience. 

“So, especially in Minneapolis, like that room,” Day said. “It doesn’t get any more intimate than that.”

While 7th St. was packed and I was towards the back of the venue, Day made everyone feel connected. After warming up the audience with “Kinda Cowgirl” and “Gold Mine,” Day engaged the audience in some friendly competition during the chorus of “On Top of the World.” 

He split the room, told the sides to face each other, gave them each a pitch to sing and had them sing with each other to see who could be louder. Ultimately, there was no winner. 

While I didn’t get a clear view of the stage, the glimpses of the band always featured a “stank face,” something I found myself doing as well throughout the night when I started to feel the music. 

For those not familiar, a “stank face” happens when a part of a song is so good, so powerful your face contorts as if something smells bad. 

“I think we’re going to be playing really amazing music together and bringing these songs into a new life,” Day said. 

While many of the songs sounded similar to their recordings, there was always something added to take the performance to another level. 

There were a few unexpectedly spiritual-like moments throughout the show. The entire night I bounced between chuckling at the on-stage antics and feeling as if I was going to cry. 

During “If You Were the Rain,” the keys solo featured some improv and added a Southern gospel feel to the song that tugged at my heartstrings a bit. 

After performing “Oscar,” Day voiced his appreciation towards the audience, sat on the stage and played guitar while only the keys played. It was almost as if he was saying thank you to everyone for being there. 

The sentimental moment was followed by the entire band gathering around one microphone to play “Drive South.” Obviously, the whole keyboard couldn’t be brought to the microphone, so a miniature keyboard was used instead. The drummer used a small maraca-type shaker for the percussion. 

This silly moment was followed by Day acoustically playing “Autumn’s Song” by himself and a conversation with the audience about his nicknames. At this point, he also took requests from the audience and struggled through the lyrics of “Promised Land” as a result. 

I could go on and on about each moment I appreciated, but I don’t think I could do justice to the performance or my feelings towards it. The only thing that could have made this better than the first time I saw Day perform was getting a picture like I did last time.

Chanelmarie Brooks, a Twin Cities-based jazz artist, wanted to make an EP since she was 21. Now, at 28, her EP “A Soul Silhouette,” is set to be released in March. 

Bunmi Adewunmi, who goes by Chanelmarie Brooks, spent many months collaborating with Helvig Productions. Brooks said work on the EP started in March 2024 and ended in November. 

Part of the reason the production process took so long was because one song would influence how the next one would turn out. After recording her first song, “Saturday Morning Cartoons,” Brooks took time to think about what she liked about the song and what she didn’t, keeping those reflections in mind when creating the next song. 

“For this EP, I really just kind of created the songs as I went along,” Brooks said. “Most studios would not allow you to do that, but this studio did.” 

Helvig Productions is a Minnesota production company run by Stephen Helvig, who helped Brooks produce the EP. The studio works with musicians from different levels of experience, but Helvig’s goal is to be a resource for local artists. 

Brooks gave the studio an idea of what she wanted for the EP, and the work started from there. 

At the start, Brooks had an idea of the songs she wanted on the EP and what they would sound like. However, as she started the recording process, Brooks realized the songs were not turning out how she wanted them, so she changed her process. 

She started to write and record as she went into the studio. 

Brooks described her songwriting process as free-flowing because all her songs are based on her emotions and how she felt in a specific moment. She will start to sing about a specific moment and then add a melody. If she likes how that sounds together, she said she starts just letting her ideas flow and jots them down as they come. 

Later on, she goes back and listens to the song and starts to clean it up. 

“It’s a lot of back and forth. It’s a lot of free-flowing ideas,” Brooks said. “It’s a lot of recording, writing and erasing.” 

Throughout working on the EP, Brooks sought feedback from instructors at The Dynamic Voice Program. The program is an online vocal training program run by Sophie Amelkin. Brooks said the program taught her how to be a better singer and navigate the music industry. 

Amelkin, Brooks’ vocal coach, described Brooks’ music as calming and meditative. Amelkin said Brooks is “pure light” and brings so much joy and passion to her music. 

Helvig described her music as a combination of soulful R&B and pop music. 

Brooks described one song off the EP, “Saturday Morning Cartoons,” as a dreamy song filled with nostalgia, and while that was not what she originally imagined for the song, she is very happy about how it turned out. 

Brooks said the hardest part of this process was conveying her ideas because music can be interpreted so differently. In the beginning, “Saturday Morning Cartoons” was intended to be an upbeat jazz song, but Brooks said it kept turning into more of a pop song. 

“It was a very good pop song. Like it was amazing,” Brooks said. “But it wasn’t really my style, and it wouldn’t really feel authentic for me to sing that song.”

Brooks said it was hard to convey her ideas because she does not formally write music and is still learning how to describe different sounds. Her willingness to learn and receive feedback from others aided her in this process. Helvig, her producer, said new artists should not worry too much about having everything figured out and should just be brave and share their work with the right people. 

“I give a lot of credit to Chanelmarie Brooks for doing just that,” Helvig said. “For showing up, asking questions, understanding she still has a lot to learn but also has a lot to contribute from a creative standpoint.” 

If someone wants to start making music or to produce an EP, they should go on YouTube and search for what they want to learn, Brooks said. She suggested getting involved with the community. 

“Anyone who could offer a piece of advice or give me a lesson, I went for it,” Brooks said. 

Amelkin said the music scene in the Twin Cities is a gift because there are many opportunities to be in community with other artists. 

Brooks took lessons at the MacPhail Center for Music at the same time she recorded the EP. She told her teachers about what she was working on and what problem she was facing, and they gave her advice. Brooks took what she learned from those lessons into the recording studio to better her EP process. 

“Be patient and be very kind with yourself, because this is really hard stuff to do, but you just can’t give up, right?” Brooks said.

Apparently Kendrick Lamar’s rap battle with Drake was a side quest because the rapper casually dropped an album on Friday. 

“GNX” is a deep dive into Lamar’s past and inner dialogue as he deals with his life decisions. The album is enjoyable but may live in the shadows of most of his discography and the songs he dropped earlier this year.

The title of the album comes from Lamar’s connection with the Buick model that was released in 1987, the year Lamar was born. In a 2012 interview with Complex, Lamar talked about how he was brought home in a Buick GNX after his birth. 

The 44-minute album originally did not mention the featured artists, which left me closely listening to try and pinpoint who else was on this album. The only one I knew right away was SZA, who was featured on the songs “luther” and “gloria.” 

I could not have guessed the other featured artists on this album.

Along with the 2Pac sample, the Compton native honors his south Los Angeles roots by featuring a number of rappers from the same area. These artists include Dody6, Wallie the Sensei and Roddy Ricch. 

Lamar added to “The Heart” series on this album with “heart pt. 6.” On this track, he seems to look back on his early career at Top Dawg Entertainment and his involvement in the hip-hop group Black Hippy with Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q, who are each referenced throughout the song. 

Listening to the album throughout the weekend, I was not blown away by the album musically. It felt like the same song with different lyrics with the exception of “squabble up.”

The track “tv off” stands out amongst the other songs. Not only because it resembles “Not Like Us,” but also because of Lamar screaming “Mustard” in reference to DJ Mustard. 

While those two songs are exceptions, many of the songs do not seem to be made to get listeners hyped in the way “Not Like Us” did, which is fair, maybe Lamar didn’t plan on getting into rap beef before releasing this album. Regardless, I feel like his releases from earlier this year led me to expect something different from this album. 

However, I was captivated by Lamar’s skills as a lyricist, which isn’t a surprise considering he won a Pulitzer Prize. 

The album is filled with religious references. In the song “reincarnated,” there are three verses — the first two describe Lamar’s “past lives” and the last one describes his current life. In addition to referencing the belief in reincarnation, the third verse references the story of Lucifer. 

“You fell out of Heaven ’cause you was anxious / Didn’t like authority, only searched to be heinous / Isaiah fourteen was the only thing that was prevalent / My greatest music director was you,” Lamar raps on top of a sample from 2Pac’s “Made N****z.” 

It is believed by some Christians that Lucifer was the angel of music but was kicked out of heaven due to his hubris. The reference continues and solidifies at the end. 

“I rewrote the devil’s story just to take our power back, ‘carnated,” Lamar ended the song with. 

I could dive in more about Lamar’s lyrics and what they reference but listening closely and dissecting lyrics is part of enjoying Kendrick Lamar’s music. So, go do that, if not to take in the lyrics then to prepare for his performance at Super Bowl LIX.

A family that plays together, stays together. Or so it seems for Minnesota-based bands NUNNABOVE and The Penny Peaches. 

NUNNABOVE consists of bassist Cadence Nunn, Mattie Nunn on the keyboard, Wisdom Nunn on drums and Bennett Nunn on guitar. Cadence sings lead vocals while her siblings provide supporting vocalists. 

Sisters Grace Peach and Hattie Peach formed The Penny Peaches in 2018. Hattie plays guitar and sometimes the violin, and Grace primarily plays bass. The two switch off on lead vocals depending on the song. 

While watching both bands perform at Whole Music Club on Nov. 10, I noticed the different vibes each brought to the stage. The Penny Peaches’ music resembles indie-folk music and made me feel grounded. NUNNABOVE’s funky, soul music quickly took me off the ground and into what felt like floating through space. 

Despite their different styles of music, both bands said they pull inspiration from several genres and could not pinpoint one. 

“I really just try to listen to all kinds of music, and when I make the music, the different artists that I’m listening to come through,” Bennett said. 

For NUNNABOVE, the songwriting process is often collaborative. Most times one member will come in with an idea and the others will add to it. 

“We try to focus on a groove,” Cadence said. “And then if there’s, like, a feeling we’re getting from it melodically or lyrically, we’ll jot that down and kind of just like, feed off of each other and go from there.”

The Penny Peaches want their songwriting process to be more collaborative, but Hattie and Grace Peach live about two hours away from each other in Minneapolis and Duluth, respectively.

One sends the other a recording of what they are working on, puts the song in GarageBand and the other adds their own part. From there, they play around with it until the song becomes something they like. 

For The Penny Peaches, Hattie and Grace often sang together for fun growing up, eventually performing together at weddings, church functions and school talent shows. 

Grace said they were surrounded by music growing up since their dad played in bands since high school. His bandmates are good friends of their family and aided the two in learning their different instruments. 

Similarly, the siblings of NUNNABOVE all took music lessons when they were younger.

The music lessons each sibling took made it easy to fall into their roles in the band. Cadence started with vocal lessons, Mattie with piano lessons, Bennett took guitar lessons and Wisdom took drum lessons. 

Their dad suggested the four of them start playing music together. In 2013, the group played “Joy to the World” for their family and have continued playing together since. Five years later, the pair would officially form The Penny Peaches.

Even after they released their self-titled EP in January 2021, they did not perform many live shows. Hattie attributed their recent momentum to the recording and release of their first album, “Good For Me.”

The main similarity between the two bands is the joy they get from performing and working with their family. 

“Hattie always says, ‘The best part about being in a sibling band is that you can fight, but you can’t actually break up because you still have those ties of still being in the same family,’” Grace said. 

Both bands said they obviously have their sibling arguments, but performing together has strengthened their bonds 

“We have a really good way of reading each other,” Cadence said.

Wisdom mentioned how the last song of their set at The Whole was unintentional but went smoothly because of the band’s understanding of each other not only as performers but as people. 

Hattie said Grace’s voice and songwriting complement hers well and help the two continue to choose each other.

“Getting to play music with your family is just something that is so meaningful in an almost intangible way,” Hattie said. 

Many people say it is dangerous to go into business with your family, but these two bands have found their rhythm with each other.

At first glance, she looks like country singer Reba McEntire, but she is Kathy Griffin. In order to jog some memories, Griffin has hosted 20 stand-up comedy specials, holding the Guinness Book of World Records record for the most stand-up specials by a comedian. 

If that didn’t help, Griffin also posed with a fake severed head of former President Donald Trump in 2017.

As Griffin tells it, after the controversy over the photo, she was put on a number of lists, most notably the no-fly list, fired from CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast and blacklisted from the industry for about six years. 

But after these chaotic years, she is excitedly returning to Minneapolis on Oct. 11 at the Pantages Theatre as part of the extension of her tour ”My Life on the PTSD-List.”

The name of the tour is a play on her Bravo television series, “My Life on the D-List,” which Griffin said all six seasons received Emmy nominations and won two Emmys.  The name is also a reference to the fact that Griffin was diagnosed with complex PTSD. 

Griffin said in her show she makes fun of her mental health and tells a number of penis jokes. 

“If you’re a devout Christian Trump supporter, this is definitely not the show for you,” Griffin said, even though she said she doesn’t mention Trump in her current set. 

As Griffin said many times throughout the interview, the set she performs is not her on a soapbox complaining about politics but made it clear how baffling the current political climate is in the U.S. 

Griffin is still shocked Trump became president in the first place and is polling so close to Kamala Harris. 

“Minnesota, get it together. Don’t fuck this up,” Griffin said, referring to the upcoming election. 

On the topic of Minnesota, Griffin brought up how many people in the comedy world, including comedian and former U.S. senator Al Franken, distanced themselves from her after her Trump photo. On the topic of Al Franken, she brought up how Minnesota is politically in good hands with Sen. Tina Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. 

Griffin said during her decades-long career in comedy, the times have changed so much and she is happy to change with them. 

“I don’t want to say like, it’s safe, or I’m afraid of the woke comedy virus or any of that Joe Rogan bullshit,” Griffin said. 

Griffin then spoke to me, woman to woman, on how she cannot believe that men such as Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate and Matt Rife are celebrities. Griffin even mentioned Rife’s opening joke about domestic violence. She was not amused by it. 

Griffin said she jokes about how she copes with her mental health through yoga and essential oils. However, she goes back to her comedy roots and tells juicy celebrity stories. 

“But for some reason, it’s like America, including Minnesota, sort of decided to forgive me after six and a half years of ‘We don’t want you,’” Griffin said.

House venue Como Backdoor is returning from its summer hiatus on Sept. 28 for its first show under new owner Iris Bolton. 

Bolton is a senior studying electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota. She attended many shows at the venue before she saw previous owner Henry Meyer’s Instagram story asking for someone to take over. 

Along with a naturally outgoing personality, Bolton said part of what drew her to this opportunity was the previous shows she attended at the venue. Some of her favorite memories from the past year took place at Como Backdoor. 

She applied not expecting to get the role, but said she was 100% ready to take on the responsibility when she did. 

“It turns out that the reason that he gave it to me is he thought I had a good vision for it,” Bolton said. 

She said doesn’t want to create a whole new vibe and aesthetic for the venue, but Bolton does plan on taking the place in a slightly more femme direction in terms of aesthetic. Bolton also has plans to try and prioritize bands that are fronted by queer and femme people. 

The lineup for the first show consists of Gramma, Anita Velveeta, Slut Intent and RiGBY, most of which fit the description Bolton gave. 

RiGBY bassist and singer Maude Lorr has played and attended many shows at Como Backdoor and said they are excited to see what the venue will be like now.

Lorr described Como Backdoor as a place where Twin Cities artists can be together, enjoy music and connect with each other, especially when bands are waiting between sets. 

While Lorr does not have many complaints about this specific venue, they hope to see more BIPOC and Native voices being represented in the scene as a whole. They think Como Backdoor has the potential to make that happen.

“I want us, as artists that are already in it, to be doing what we can to kind of hone a space that feels safe and uplifting to those voices,” Lorr said. 

Karsten Mink, a frequent attendee of Como Backdoor’s shows and who played many shows there, echoed Lorr’s thoughts about the venue being a place where people could feel safe and have fun. 

“The crowds were always pretty good and people were respectful,” Mink said. “I felt safe.” 

Mink appreciated how well Como Backdoor was run. They said problems were rare, dealt with swiftly and without major disruptions.

Even with a change of tenants due to leases ending, Mink thinks the fact that Como Backdoor has been able to continue as long as it has is a testament to its credibility. 

Both Lorr and Mink hope that the sense of comfortability and community Como Backdoor has developed continues to be strong even with a transition of leadership. 

Bolton said it is a high priority that people feel safe at the venue. She plans on having specific people at shows to keep an eye on the crowd for any problematic or dangerous behaviors. 

“There are a lot of people (in the DIY scene) who are getting called out for being abusive and icky,” Bolton said. “And it’s really really important to me that it doesn’t come anywhere close to the Como Backdoor.”

Additionally, Bolton plans on promoting shows farther out in advance, so if someone on the lineup has allegations of abuse or misconduct there will be time for the venue to be notified and possibly change the bill accordingly. 

Currently, Como Backdoor is almost fully booked until the end of the semester. 

Bolton does not want Como Backdoor to become just another house venue that puts on punk shows. She wants to balance the punk influences with her own personal aesthetic, which has not been completely set in stone. 

“If you’ve been to the venue before, I want the vibe to stay the same. I want that same feel, that same culture to still be there,” Bolton said. “But it is my goal to sort of take it in a direction that is decidedly more queer and femme.”

Editor’s Note: This article contains explicit language and mentions of self-harm and sexual themes. 

Megan Thee Stallion reminded everyone she is still THAT girl on her third studio album titled “Megan.” 

Released on the last Friday of June, the 18-track album uses genre-mixing and artist collaboration to give listeners an idea of who Megan is. 

“Megan,” hits you with her voice and confidence on her first track, “HISS,” and continues throughout the majority of the album.

With similar sound and cadence, the songs can sound the same, especially if listeners do not pay attention. However, if you listen closely to the beats and lyrics, it is clear that Megan is not a one-note artist.  

The song “B.A.S.” resembles the sounds of New York drill, which makes sense as the featured artist is Kyle Richh, a member of the Brooklyn drill group, 41. 

“BOA,” which was released as a single before the album, is one of her catchier songs, specifically the part of the chorus where Megan satisfyingly says “womp” repeatedly over the beat. 

The catchiness of “BOA” could also be due to the sample from Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” used throughout the song. 

On this album, Megan uses a variety of references and rhymes to create different bars that make you feel as if she is talking about 1000 different topics, even if it is just her reminding you that she is a “hot girl.”

While confidence is a common theme in her music, Megan is not afraid to be vulnerable. Within the last few years, Megan has opened up about her mental health and launched a website titled, “Bad B— Have Bad Days Too,” a site where people can find mental health resources. 

In this album specifically, she dives into her depression and feelings of loneliness in the tracks  “Moody Girl” and “Cobra,” both of which are slower.  

I am not a fan of Megan’s slower songs because they tend to lack the punchiness her faster songs have. However, “Cobra” stood out to me due to the amazing guitar solo that ends the song. I think this song may be the most vulnerable on the album, as her lyrics clearly depict her relationship with depression, alcohol and people in her life. 

“How can somebody so blessed wanna slit they wrist? / Shit, I’d probably bleed out some Pinot / 

When they find me, I’m in Valentino, ayy,” Megan raps on the more rock-like beat. 

These two more emotional tracks are the last on the album, making it seem as though she wanted to hide these tracks much like she hides her emotions. 

Megan is a known anime fan and references it often in her music. She combines her love of anime and Japanese culture with her music on this project. Her song, “Otaku Hot Girl,” starts with an introduction from Adam McArthur, the English voice actor of the anime character Yuji Itadori from “Jujutsu Kaisen.” 

“I like a tall woman, with a nice big a— / Just sayin’ / like Grammy winner, Megan Thee Stallion,” McArthur said. This song also has a lot of anime references, again showing Megan’s love for the genre. 

In this song, she mostly references “Jujutsu Kaisen,” specifically in the chorus rapping, “Ayy, can’t touch me like Gojo (Gojo).” 

The amount of references I do not understand makes me interested in watching the shows she talks about, even as someone who is not a huge anime fan. 

Megan also collaborated with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba on the song “Mamushi.” This song is catchy with somewhat of a call-and-response happening between Chiba and Megan. The simplicity of the song may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is definitely mine. 

Speaking of collaboration, the Texan rapper made sure to represent Southern rappers on her album. Fellow female rap star, GloRilla, is featured on the track “Accent,” and southern 90s hip-hop group UGK is featured on the track “Paper Together.”

Megan Thee Stallion has not been afraid to talk about her sexuality in her songs, and this album is no different. 

“Broke His Heart” cleared up any questions people had about the rapper’s sexuality, as she casually mentioned her attraction to men and women. 

“I like girls, and I like n— (Yeah), both of ’em gettin’ ate (Ah),” she raps. 

Typically, when I listen to Megan Thee Stallion, my mouth is left agape because of how out-of-pocket and clever she can be. However, the track titled “Downstairs DJ” made my jaw drop at the very obvious masturbation references. 

While “Megan” is not an album that should be played around everyone, the variety throughout the album can introduce any listener to genres that they may not have considered beforehand.

Fall Out Boy closed out the So Much For (2our) Dust Tour with a fiery sold-out performance that captured my emo heart at Target Center on Saturday. 

The performances were solid from beginning to end and the crowd maintained high energy the whole show. Fall Out Boy may have been the main event, but the bands before them and their audience could not go unnoticed. 

The concert opened with Carr, whose lead singer Carly McClellan is set to be the next pop punk princess. She recently signed with DCD2 Records, founded by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.

Carr was in a tutu and platform boots with a seductive yet fierce voice and confidently commanded the audience with her “best friend-like” energy. This was seen when she dedicated her performance of the song “Loser” to an audience member’s ex. 

While they had the energy, the spaced-out stage setup held Carr back. The chemistry normally seen with bandmates wasn’t there, and it seemed as if they had just met. Carr mostly walked around the stage, which didn’t hinder the performance but didn’t add to it. 

Hot Mulligan performed after Carr and proved that lyrics are simply an added bonus to music. I couldn’t understand what the band was singing but I could identify the classic emo screams throughout the set, which was more than enough for me. 

The lead singer, Nathan “Tades” Sanville, captured my attention by moshing to the band’s songs by himself. The rest of the band came out with a contagious energy that quickly spread across the venue. 

Hot Mulligan was the most Midwest emo performance of the night, which is probably explained by the band’s Lansing, Michigan roots. 

Both Carr and Hot Mulligan’s lead vocalists managed to give the audience a sense of who they were as a person, while also maximizing their short time on stage. 

Jimmy Eat World, who has been playing with Fall Out Boy the entirety of the tour, had a jaw-dropping entrance as gradients of reds, blues and yellows slowly lit up the stage as they walked on. 

The band didn’t move around as much as Hot Mulligan, but their vocals and drumming were all I needed to stay engaged with the performance. 

The fourth song the band performed, “Something Loud,” was indeed loud and its background vocals, a simple harmonious “ahh,” scratched a part of my brain. 

The crowd pulled out their phone flashlights during the song “Hear You Me,” which is always a beautiful moment to see live. It was one of the many times I felt connected to the audience that night. 

Jimmy Eat World ended their set with “The Middle,” my personal favorite. The crowd seemed to be waiting for this moment; they all screamed as the first few notes of the song played. When the crowd sang the chorus together, I was almost brought to tears.

As the time for Fall Out Boy to perform got closer, I could feel the excitement increase across the venue. 

Fall Out Boy’s performance was fiery, literally. As soon as they were on stage, pyrotechnics effects were going off. During “The Phoenix,” fire shot out of the head of Pete Wentz’s. 

The band knew what their audience wanted and expected as they kept performing hit song after hit song before moving into some lesser-known tracks. 

While the audience got to enjoy Patrick Stump’s vocals, Wentz took over in between some songs to talk to the audience.

“Thank you guys for trusting us to spend your evening with us,” Wentz said. 

The best Fall Out Boy performance was of the song “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race.” Part of it was because it is my favorite song from the band, but also watching the audience pump their fists during the chorus was fun to see. 

The audience, much like the performers, varied in age. Wentz pointed out a young kid who had been singing along to every song.

The sense of community at this concert was strong, which is what makes concerts such beautiful events. 

In between different bands, I watched people across the venue wave to each other with their flashlights. Right before Fall Out Boy took the stage, the songs “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” played and the audience all sang along together. 

The night felt unreal because not only did I get to watch the band perform some of my favorite songs live and feel a sense of community but I also became a fan of two new artists. 

Needless to say, I have been launched back into my emo phase. 

Since Apple Music’s launch in 2015, there has always seemed to be the question of whether Spotify or Apple Music is better.  

From a number’s perspective, Spotify is more popular. Spotify is the world’s number one music streaming service with around 551 million users. Apple Music is following behind with 88 million users. 

Third-year University of Minnesota student, Eshaan Patel made the switch to Apple Music from Spotify when he was in high school. He has been using it for his music ever since. After five years of using Apple Music, Patel has a collection of music within his account. 

“I don’t want to sit there and try to transfer over,” Patel said, referring to switching music streaming. “I’m not against going over to Spotify, It would just be that’s the barrier.” 

Apple Music is also convenient. In addition to having all of his music on the app already, Patel explained that because he uses Apple products, everything is synced with his Apple ID, making it one less username and password to remember. 

First-year University student Jabril Anderson expressed a similar sentiment when explaining why he switched from Spotify to Apple Music. It was easier for him from a payment standpoint to have Apple Music because he gets charged with his phone plan. 

Additionally, for Anderson, Spotify no longer seemed worth it after its price hike for an individual plan from $9.99 to $10.99 this past summer, which happened to be around the same time he bought an iPhone. 

“I told myself that I would switch to Apple Music before I even had an iPhone if they increased their prices like what was rumored,” Anderson said.

Apple Music was also the better option for Anderson because of  the sound quality.  

“Apple Music has lossless, which means that it’s the exact same as what they had [in] the studio,” Anderson said.

A second-year University student, Hao Tran, who uses Spotify, admitted Apple Music has better sound quality. However, Spotify’s personalization and interface are what brought him to Spotify over Apple Music. 

Tran said he likes the DJ feature, which is an AI guide that chooses your music for you based on what you have listened to previously. It feels more interactive than Spotify’s other personalized features because it provides human-like voice commentary. 

Spotify also allows users to interact with people they know who also use the app. Second-year University student, Rachael Gerszewski, uses Spotify’s blend feature with her roommate. This feature takes the music taste of both profiles and makes a playlist that combines the two music profiles. 

In terms of improvement, Spotify users Gerszewski and Tran both agree Apple Music’s interface could be better. 

“I switched from Apple Music to Spotify because I didn’t like [its] layout,” Gerszewski said. 

She added Apple Music’s interface felt too impersonal compared to Spotify’s interface. 

For Tran, Spotify has more casual features that Apple Music lacks. Tran said Apple Music has been promoting their spatial audio with Dolby Amos, which is supposed to enhance the music listening experience.

“Whenever I’m listening to music in my own free time, I don’t really care about any of that stuff,” said Tran. 

For Anderson, the personalization features Spotify has are not as important as the sound quality, especially since he still finds new music through Apple Music or through musicians’ social media accounts. 

Whether Apple Music or Spotify is the better choice depends on what you want from the app. For those who want a more interactive music listening experience, Spotify is the better choice. For audiophiles, who care more about sound quality, Apple Music will provide an arguably better sound experience.