Grace Potter at Bauhaus Brew Labs (06/13/2023)

It could not have been a better night for the beginning of the Sparkyard Sound Series at Bauhaus Brew Labs presented by 89.3 The Current. Sue McClean & Associates always put on a great show and last night was no exception as Grace Potter rolled into town under clear skies, low humidity and a setting summer sun.

Local Minneapolis band Kiss the Tiger opened the evening. On their website the band describes their music as: “… good old fashioned rock and roll… a clean burning fire.” And since 2016 they have been a local favorite.

Kiss the Tiger is fronted by dynamic lead singer Meghan Kreidler and she is backed by a solid crew with Michael Anderson on rhythm guitar, Bridger Fruth on lead guitar, Paul DeLong on bass and Jay DeHut on drums.

“Tuesday night! Rock and roll!” Shouted Kreidler as she engaged the crowd to sing along with “Motel Room” and “I Got Love.” Then there was “Out of Mind” an Arabesque, cinematic song that sent the band into an extended guitar solo by Fruth. They also played “Hold on Love”, a song that is in the Current’s Chart Show Hall of Fame for holding the #1 spot for nine straight weeks.

Grace Potter then came on stage with a bundle of burning sage and didn’t waste any time by charging the crowd with “Medicine.”

“I’m falling apart,” Potter said between songs as she worked on her clothing ensemble. “My clothing doesn’t want to stay on.”

She then segued about being from Vermont and having affinity for Minnesotans and their ability to shed clothes as soon as the winter weather reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Although she played songs from her previous albums as a solo artist and with the Nocturnals, Potter is on the road promoting her latest album Mother Road, which is out August 18^th. The album was born out of a time during the pandemic when she was living in Vermont, married with one child and recovering from a miscarriage during a brutal winter. To recover/escape Potter took an opportunity to pick up one of the family cars in Los Angeles and turn it into an extended road trip on Route 66.

The road is home for most musicians and Potter was in her element as she played from extended cannon like “Stuck in the Middle” a cover that was the theme song to the TV show “Grace and Frankie.” Then there was “You and Tequila”, a hit she sang with Kenny Chesney. And feeling adventurous, she even pulled out “Someone to Love”, a song she did for the Disney movie Tangled.

A crowd favorite was “The Lion and the Beast”, which had the band on full tilt and Potter channeling her inner Janis Joplin with a voice that seems to come all the way from her toes.

“We have a hard out,” Potter said to the crowd. Being an outdoor show, there could be no music after 10pm. She mentioned that: “Apparently trains are not louder than rock and roll,” pondering who would even live next to an industrial park with train tracks nearby.”

She may have had a hard out, but Potter was determined to sing louder than any oncoming train to the very end.