Minnesota Yacht Club Festival (19 July 2024)

Attendance

Minneapolis/St Paul’s biggest music festival Minnesota Yacht Club Festival just kicked off on Friday. It was a massive turnout; one of the best attended festivals we’ve seen. The giant music festival will continue on Saturday, July 20th, 2024.

Opening the event was local grunge group Gully Boys. Apologies to the band, due to traffic and parking situation and getting registration and wristband, security check, etc., we ended up unintentionally missing their set. No worries, I’m sure we’ll catch the band at a future show. Speaking of which, they play First Avenue on August 17, as part of the Fresch Magazine’s Fresch Fest 2024 event. The first 350 Fresch Fest ticket buyers get a free copy of Fresch Magazine 2024.

Next up was Harbor and Home. We previously the group in July 2019 and wrote, “The afternoon’s music opened with a short set from local alternative rock group Harbor & Home, who blends Americana roots with a classic rock sound (working in a couple covers alongside their own originals), in support of last October’s four-song EP called Live Studio Sessions. Vocalist/guitarist Kaleb Williams easily connected with the happy hour crowd, and the band had many fans in the audience, glad to see and hear their brand of feel-good music warm up an already balmy day further.”

Based on seeing the band at Yacht Club, I would speculate that it would seem that Landon Conrath have left the band to pursue his solo career. I don’t think that will affect Harbor and Home, as the group is enjoying a massive streaming spike on Spotify.

Over at the Skipper stage, country music singer Morgan Wade is touring in support of her latest Obsessed, which is coming out in August via Sony / Ladylike Records.

Highlight of Wade’s set was a cover of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”

Jason Singer is billed under Michigander, and he really is from Michigan. Singer is recording a new album for 2025, and his last release was in 2023 for It Will Never Be The Same. Singer had some fans in the audience, with one wishing him happy birthday (he’ll be celebrating it tomorrow).

When he started playing U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, stripped down, the entire audience was helping him sing the beloved song.

Highlight of the festival for us was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. The band played Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” full song, before walking on stage in a triumphant stance.

Jett started her long music career at the age of 16 when she co-founded The Runaways, and believe me, the entire audience was singing “ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!” when that was played early in her set.

Since they were in Minnesota, Jett decided to cover The Replacements’ “Androgynous”. She said it is such a good song and the lyrics are absolutely amazing by Paul Westerberg.

The double-tap of hits “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “Bad Reputation” ended her set on a very high note.

Durry (named after brother/sister Austin Durry and Taryn Durry) seemed like such slackers…. But they sure knew what they were doing. Even Limp Bizkit praised the band! Who’s laughing now? Not me, they were good!

Austin said that the last time they played First Avenue (December 2023) in support of their album Surburban Legend, he was “so very sick.”

Seattle’s Head & the Heart was up next. The indie folk band is just out doing a summer tour (they’ll be joined on some select dates with Phosphorescent, Michigander, Madison Cunningham and Houndmouth). The band is signed to Warner Bros Records and their latest Every Shade of Blue is out now.

We recently saw Head & the Heart in Jun 2023 and wrote, “We’ve been longtime fans of the band, seeing them on their initial national tour (and an accompanying in-store live set at Electric Fetus in Minneapolis) and several times since, most recently last October in Minnesota. Hopes were dashed that original co-vocalist Josiah Johnson might feel ready enough to join the band on stage for a few dates, including the previous night at Colorado’s Red Rocks, but the band carried on as they always have, impressing veteran followers and making many new ones.”

Gwen Stefani was also a big highlight for us. She even brought out her husband Blake Shelton to do a duet for “Purple Irises”. Stefani spends a lot of time in Minneapolis because Shelton’s brother is from the area (and assuming he was also at the event cheering on the singer from the VIP area).

Stefani had a full dancing troupe, and everybody (including Gwen) had two costume changes.

Songs on her set was everything from No Doubt (her original band) to solo hits. No Doubt songs went incredibly well with the audience, often singing along to “Don’t Speak”, “Spiderwebs”, and “Just a Girl” … but it was definitely her finale, “Hollaback Girl” that was the most memorable.

Alanis Morissette drew in the most fans. No surprise, but the “You Oughta Know” singer have sold over 75 million records, with about 33 million copies just for her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill. Of course, “Hand in My Pocket” would begin her set and “You Oughta Know” would be her set closer. It’s a great album.

Morissette is currently on her The Triple Moon Tour, which also includes Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Morgan Wade on her concert bill.

There are two music stages: the bigger/main Skipper stage and Crow’s Nest stage at the opposite end. You can easily walk back and forth between the two stages, but quite a few people stayed camped out at the Skipper stage to ensure a good close-up spot for a good concert experience.

Wristbands need to be activated and are not transferable… making counterfeit wristbands impossible. If you accidentally damaged it or it was stolen, the organizers can deactivate the original wristband to issue you a new wristband (for $20), so it would make the original wristband useless.

There is a whole food area beyond the hills, away from the two stages. Food items and prices are printed above the vendor, making it easy to decide where to go and what to eat.

The recycle bins were often emptied by the cleanup crew, but sometime, it’s evident that there were more attendees consuming drinks that the containers can overflow with discarded cans.

P.S. Unfortunately, perhaps it was all the cellphones in the area, I did not have internet access on my cellphone a little after 4pm. Could not upload my Joan Jett or Gwen Stefani or Alanis Morissette’s photos on social media. My phone died trying to search for cellular service, and there is no charging station. I found out that the Ghost bar has chargers built in their tables, but it’s not advertised.

Please note: The Black Crowes have canceled their appearance at the last minute, due to illness in the band.