Born Ruffians, with Little Junior, at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (28 April 2018)

Little Junior started the show a little later than advertised, playing a variety of songs from their upcoming Hi album (available May 11th via Grand Jury Music).

The power-pop band, featuring lead singer Rane Elliott-Armstrong, drummer and brother Chai Elliott-Armstrong, guitarist Lucas Meilach-Boston, and bassist Jackson Beyer, confessed that this was their first time in Minneapolis. Still curious about the city, they asked “What do you call a bunch of Minneapolis?” Someone said “Minnesotans”, someone else said they didn’t know.

Singer Rane Elliott-Armstrong, wearing makeup and pearls, representing the LGBTQ2 youths of Toronto, dedicated “Crooked Tooth” to “my boyfriend Ryan Gosling.”

They have a fun, punk/pop quality to their music, qualities that can quickly be summed up in their easy-to-love “Cry Baby” song, which ended their set. Even if you didn’t know the song, you find yourself quickly singing along, “I want to destroy my reputation, I need some way to vent out my frustrations.”

This tour may be to just test the water, so expect the band to be back when their record Hi finally lands.

The last time we saw Born Ruffians, it was part of the Rocktober madness (in October 2016). The group had large letters that spelled “R-U-F-F” (I’m assuming if the 7th Street Entry’s stage was larger, they could accommodate the rest of the letters “I-A-N-S”).

This time around, the band decided to just bring a lamp as a backdrop. The lamp changes colors randomly and add a little color to their show – but unfortunately, the 7th Street Entry’s lighting is the worst in the Twin Cities (now that the Triple Rock is gone…) and the lamp did very little to the lighting situation.

Anyway, the Canadian band’s fifth studio album Uncle, Duke & the Chief is out now. What’s important to note is that this is the first real album since their Birthmarks record in 2013… and the fact that the group is back to the original lineup, including singer/guitarist
Luke Lalonde, bassist Mitch Derosier, drummer Steve Hamelin, and keyboardist/guitarist Andy Lloyd.

After a few warmup gigs and sold out local gigs, the band felt very confident with this current setlist, as they power through the intro song “Ring That Bell”. The tone was set high, but quickly subsided with a sweet cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams”. The cover is a lovely tribute to Dolores O’Riordan, who unexpectedly died in January 2018.

It’s clear that Born Ruffians has built up a Minneapolis following, as there were plenty of fans in the front, having a good time on Saturday night.

Born Ruffians continues their tour: