Bangers-Only Ball, feat. Poliça, at First Avenue (February 27, 2025)
- Lime Habit
- Spilling Lines
- Sweet Memz
- Tiff
- Lay Your Cards Out
- Forget Me Now
- Warrior
- Trash in Bed
- Fish
- Violent Game
- Rotting
- Driving
- Revival
- Lisa
- Wandering Star
- Dark Star
- Amongster
From Brody
Let’s cut to the chase and get the attraction of the evening. Local Legends Polica. Who I cliche tell everyone they are a top 5 local artist without question the last 15 years and counting.
The last two times I’ve caught Polica were both up in the Duluth/Superior area. The Superior show was a headliner at Earth Rider Brewery with a beautiful back drop outdoor stage near the lake. And the last time catching them was opening for Bon Iver at Bayfront Park ride on Lake Superior. What a show that was! Unfortunately, around the time of that show their bass player Chris Bierden was diagnosed with brain cancer and continuing his battle. Praying for him every day.
On to the next chapter for the band at the moment, have replaced the bassist with Alex Nutter on electronics and still continue to have two drummers. Thursday evening brought a packed Minneapolis crowd to their feet inspired by Channy’s incredible vocals and electronic rave sound. Polica played lots of new material early on in the set, and potentially may have a new release soon this year. The Latter part of the set they fired up all their classics, “Wandering Star”, “Amongster”, and “Dark Star”.
Let’s hope Chris Bierden wins his battle and reunites forces with this high caliber act. I miss all the chemistry Channy and Chris possessed on stage. I definitely like this band better with the energy of a bad ass bass player. Nothing against the new band member on electronics but Channy can crush it on those and the drummers provide great Rythm and sound.
If you haven’t seen this band and you live in Minnesota, or anywhere for that matter, please catch this band live and you won’t be disappointed!!
You get some odd combinations in events in the live concert world. There’s a wildly popular annual wrestling event at First Ave. There’s a number of comedians, podcasts and related artists who perform at a wide variety of (mostly) music venues. The other way this pops up is the odd sponsor of concerts. While you expect (and get) the local radio stations to sponsor certain show, how about MNUFC, the local Major League Soccer team (aka The Loons) being involved? Turns out we’re already into the 3rd Annual Bangers-Only Ball sponsored by the Loons, happening at First Ave. It was quite the showing by MNUFC, with forward Tani Oluwaseyi and midfielder Loïc Mesanvi signing autographs and the Loons mascot PK running all over the place.
I spoke with one of the senior MNUFC organizers present at First Ave. to ask about how they came to be sponsoring a live music event. He said that to the club, it feels like a natural fit. They often have bands performing during the season (Nur-D performed prior to the All-Star game back in 2022). For the club, supporting a concert, and having some light layering of MNUFC allows a chance to connect with soccer fans, but also music fans who might be interested in the local soccer team. It is also a chance to connect with the local music scene. On that front, Poliça performed at their home playoff game last year and it seemed an obvious choice for the band to headline this year’s show.
As to the music, Papa Mbye was the opener for the evening. The Gambian born artist came out decked in the Loons’ new Convergence kit, leading a quartet. He said right at the start that it would be all new songs. This is a R&B infused sound, but incorporates a lot of other sounds, including a hefty amount of electronica. Some well programmed backing music set up the third song well, with a distorted lead vocals. Papa Mbye is an enjoyable performer, in constant motion during the songs and leading with a strong tenor voice. He took to the DJ set up at the back of the stage for a late song (One More Time), programming much of the underlying music. The last two numbers had a good dance feel to them and soon Papa Mbye was wrapping up his appearance.
Poliça is a staple of the Twin Cities’ alternative and electronic scene. They came out blazing, with lyricist and lead vocalist Channy Leaneagh taking the front of the stage and the remainder of the band elevated at back. Leaneagh absolutely draws the listener in, with an almost ethereal vocal style. She called out the home opener for the Loons (this Saturday!), but also spoke of how excited the band was to be performing.
Dual drummers and the electronic programming filled out the quartet, and it’s a perfect support of those haunting lead vocals. Leaneagh’s dancing (I would be unsurprised to learn that she had training in ballet) across the stage was a good central focus, and the rest of the band was working hard to keep pace. Those drummers were on their game and this is clearly a band that had a game plan for getting through the set with a lot of energy. The drummer at the far left (in a Legion of Loons shirt) never seemed to rest and arms were flying the whole set.
Leaneagh told a story about futbol, and that as a shy teenager, how proud she was to make freshman team and JV as a senior (either she was pretty bad, or that was a competitive soccer school!). The band continued to work through a number of house style dance songs with a crowded audience moving along in the darkness. Songs flowed into each other and the dance vibe continued to be built up across the set. It was a musically dense experience that the audience was very into. After introducing the band, they got into some new music (there is supposed to be new music coming from the band sometime this spring). Overall, it was a very fun performance from Poliça and a successful evening for sponsors MNUFC.
