The Subways, with Pins, at Triple Rock, Minneapolis (23 April 2016)

Pins

Manchester band Pins (stylized as PINS) opened up the show. The band consists of singer/guitarist Faith Holgate, guitarist Lois McDonald, bassist Anna Donigan, and drummer Sophie Galpin, and sounded like some of our favorite 90s grrrl bands such as Hole, L7, Sleater-Kinney and The Smears … but with hints of shoegazing influences.



With a truncated 40-min set, the all-girls band concentrated on their latest album Wild Nights (Bella Union), and only playing two from their debut Girls Like Us album, including “Waiting for the End” and title track. The “Girls Like Us” song actually medley to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (the Cyndi Lauper version).

Pins Setlist

Looking at their setlist, you can see they decided to move “Trouble” after “LuvU4Lyf”… probably for pacing reason.



Much like their previous headlining appearance at 7th Street Entry in June 2015, the band sounded incredibly well-rehearsed and polished… even recovering gracefully when a guitar string broke during the start of “Dazed By You”.



Unlike their Summer appearance, singer Holgate complained that it was quite cold (it was uncommonly cold on Saturday … but trust me, it’s nothing compared to Minneapolis’ Winters).



They ended their set with The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments”, but with a different girls’ perspective as singer Faith Holgate sings, “ooh baby when you cry, your face is momentary.”



Singer/guitarist Billy Lunn of The Subways, also noted how cold it was by kicking off their show with “My nipples could cut glass right now!” as they launched into “Kalifornia.”



According to bassist (and constant firecracker) Charlotte Cooper, it’s been eight years since they were last seen in the USA. The trio needed to remind us how great they were, and the diehard fans that showed up at the show on Saturday waited a long time to finally see their favorite punk/rock band.



Lunn is growing a beard for the first time on tour, and was having a good time mocking/joking about their drummer Josh Morgan, “They drink all the beers and sleep all day… and smells ‘butterly’.” Lunn ‘decided’ to let Morgan play the 10-second intro to “Dirty Muddy Paws.”



Lunn would often talk throughout their set, causing their set to go a little over time. He does confess that he needed to ‘shut up’ a few times, but fans loved hearing him explain some of the songs. For example, “We Don’t Need Money to Have a Good Time” was about one of his mates losing a job at ‘an underpants factory.’

Subways Setlist

The real highlight was their encore…. technically, they never left the stage. They dedicated “Party” to Prince, and pretty much stuck to their setlist up until “Alright”, which was done per a fan’s request. This was followed by another request, for “Just Like Jude”, but unfortunately after two verses, Lunn had actually forgotten the lyrics and chords and had to stop. It was a good effort, especially for a last-minute impromptu request.



We also found out that Lunn had not had a drink in two years, as he politely declined a drink that fans bought the band. That was perfectly fine, as the ‘drummer species’ Josh Morgan drank Lunn’s shots without any hesitations.



Of course, The Subways ended on a high note, playing fan-favorite “Rock & Roll Queen,” cause the entire crowd to sing back its catchy lyrics.