The Wrong Party Tour, feat. Fitz and the Tantrums and Andy Grammer, at Palace Theatre, St Paul (13 Aug 2022)

Inside the Palace Theatre even more energy as co-headliners Fitz and the Tantrums and Andy Grammer took the stage. But instead of nitrous-oxide fueling their shows, there were clouds and clouds of confetti.

Maggie Rose opened the evening with her band in an all-too brief set. Based out of Nashville, the songs tended to have a Southern Soul vibe with a little bit of Country. She has quite the dynamic voice with a range that harkens Aretha Franklin more than Patsy Cline. She had no problem filling the Palace Theater with ballads like “Saint” and “It’s You”, finishing with the anthem-like “What Are We Fighting For?” from her latest album Have a Seat.

Andy Grammer wasted no time, kicking off with a poetry slam about who he was and more importantly what he wasn’t, delivering great lines like: “Premarital sex and alcohol are not my jam. And I try not to look mysterious with a Diet Coke in my hand.”

Grammer’s music of positive vibes appeals to a wide range of people and it showed in the crowd. It is not every day you see a teenage daughter and her father mouthing the lyrics to the same song during a concert. But Grammer has this effect on old and young with everyone dancing to “Damn It Feels Good to Be Me” and “Good to Be Alive”.

Grammer mentioned he did not fare well during the Covid lockdown. You could tell that there was a part of him that received as well as gave in the symbiotic relationship between him and his fans as the set never slowed down, only to crescendo with confetti raining down on “Joy”.



For the song “The Wrong Party”, which the entire tour is named after, Michael Fitzpatrick, aka Fitz, appeared on stage. The two sang back and forth and backup for the anthemic tune: “You’re not late to the party, you’re not late to the party, you just made it to the wrong party.”



The song, like many of Grammer’s songs, was written from his personal experience. When Grammer first arrived in Los Angeles, he was always trying to fit in and “failing hilariously”. Over time, he realized that the whole time, he was just “at the wrong party” the whole time.



The band ended their set with “Don’t Give Up on Me”, ending on a very high note… The Andy Grammer’s set had highs and lows and everything in between. There are not many bands that can follow this high energy set… except for…

Fitz and the Tantrums then took the stage with a solid groove of danceable neo-soul, kicking off the set with “OCD” and “Don’t Gotta Work It Out.”

Although based out of Los Angeles, this is a band influenced by the sounds of Motown demonstrated in the sensual interplay between co-lead singers, Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs and the humming engine of Joseph Karnes on bass, John Wicks on drums and Jeremy Ruzumna on keyboards. No lead guitar? Fitzpatrick didn’t want one. He found a better avenue with James King on saxophone who at one point went on a free-form jazz solo during “Complicated”.

Fitzpatrick mentioned that band had been on the road for fourteen years now and that they were more than grateful to still be playing for their fans as they kept the evening going with “MoneyMaker” and “MoneyGrabber” and “Hands Up” and “HandClap”.

It wasn’t until the very end and after the encore that cannons were again deployed sending pink confetti into the crowd, briefly obscuring the band from taking their bows in front of the roaring crowd.

The Wrong Party tour,featuring co-headliners Andy Grammer and Fitz and The Tantrums, continues through August.

Andy Grammer’s latest EP The Art of Joy is out now on UMG Recordings. Look for a future album from Grammer to be published on Mushroom Publishing.



Fitz and The Tantrums’ last album All the Feels is out now on Elektra Records. The new single, “Sway”, which was performed on their set, is a preview of a forthcoming album.

Remaining tour dates: