Minnesota Yacht Club, Harriet Island (July 19, 2025)

With no real rain in the forecast for Day 2 of the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival, things were looking clear for the full slate of bands. Organizers and Festival staff kept things moving smoothly, which was impressive given the large number of people in the relatively small Harriet Island Regional Park.

Laamar

Outfitted with a full band, Minneapolis artist Laamar had a sextet (vocals/guitar, guitar, bass, cello, saxophone/clarinet, and drums) and kicked things off for Day 2. Laamar started with Home to My Babywith strong cello underneath. The band moved into funkier territory, with the sax solo a nice addition. Setting up for the next song, Laamar mentioned how “nice it is to play this gig in our hometown”. A quieter song followed that would play just as well solo on guitar, but was filled out nicely with backing harmonies and guitar solo. Dumping his outer shirt as he headed into “an admittedly sexy song”, My Lover, My Man showed off Lamar’s singing. They continued that funky rock vibe as they worked through their remaining few songs. The final one started with drums and a good bass lick for the build up to Say My Name.

Raffaella

A technical delay for the drummer had Raffaella filling time with some pretty good banter. Just as things headed into awkward silence territory, the pack issue was resolved and the band jumped into their first song. There were seven performers (vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and three back-up singers). A solid indie rock sound, drama queen, was a great start. The contrast of the lyrical content with the pop bubblegum singing style took this up a notch, such as on Courtney. There was a nice drum-led rock song that let the back-up singers harmonize well and amplify Raffaella. Blonde may be the best encapsulation of Raffaella’s sound and is recommended as a starting point if you are unfamiliar. The back-up singers left the stage near the very end of the set, with the song Buick being the first of just the quartet. That simpler vocal line made for a cleaner sound and highlighted the guitar more effectively.

Jake Clemons

Day 2 definitely had more technical issues, as this was late getting started due to sound leveling various microphones and instruments. We finally got going, with the backing band (guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums) entering first and getting things warmed up. Clemons came on, starting the first song on guitar and vocals. A pretty straight up rock & roll, with the difference being an extended instrumental featuring Clemons on saxophone. And although I hate to make comparisons to family as a general rule, the apple did not fall far from the tree, as Jake Clemons has serious skills on sax, like his late uncle Clarence. A more spoken song with Consumption Town had Clemons leading the band on the guitar, and it had a gritty feel & sound to it. A nod to current political climate was the lead in to You Must Be Crazy, with Clemons down near the crowd prior to another saxophone solo. A lot of these songs had a pretty timeless feel and could have been playing on a rock radio station any time over the las forty years. An extended sing along (a series of woo’s) was a pretty electric moment, with Clemons both lifting and responding to the audience involvement. Clemons moved to keyboards (quite the multi-instrumentalist), and the song bounced along with a higher tempo. A more synth/keys heavy song followed, and he was all over various instruments. A pretty outstanding set from Clemons!

Silversun Pickups

The festival had been missing a harder edged band, but that was quickly taken care of from the first song’s instrumentals. The quartet (vocals/guitar, vocals/bass, keyboards, and drums) came out swinging and by the time we got to the first bass solo on the bridge, the mood was in full effect. Aubert’s slightly higher vocals made a good sound over all that darker instrumentation. The band were all moving, though Monninger was bouncing and getting the crowd in the moment. Drummer Guanlao had a cymbal well above head height, which made for an interesting visual, as he was nearly frenetic in his movements. A lot of the acts had been high energy, but this was a different thing altogether; a focus on intensity and explosiveness. Reverb guitar intro led to the loudest hard rock song of the set, with that interplay between guitar and bass outstanding on both the front and back ends. There had been absolutely no talking between songs, as the band simply fired up the next one. Vocals got to the edge of a scream, but always held within the definition of singing and that was a good example of the controlled chaos Silversun Pickups had in this set. Finally a brief bit of thanks (“two of our favorite cities in the world”), but they were right back into it. Monninger’s first lead vocals had excellent synth sounding keyboards driving underneath. With a final thanks, and a note that in messed up times, sanity is a form of rebellion, Silversun Pickups closed out a pretty phenomenal hour.

Cory Wong

Wong and band were ready to go on stage and watching to see the previous band finish, then immediately getting started. The band came on with nine performers (guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, and five brass instruments: three saxophones, trumpet, and trombone). There was a jazzy, funk intro before Wong did a quick set up. Wong doesn’t sing, so this was our first (and only) music only act. A switch in tone was presumably the start of the second song, and was deeply funky. Wong started with guitar before the brass section took over for a bit, then some very electronic sounding keys. Wong was very charismatic as he moved all around the stage, continuing to play even as he dropped to the ground. But he also made sure the center of attention went to other members of the band when they had solos. Musically, this felt 70’s funk revival at times. An almost movie score opener for an Ocean’s 11style movie was pretty stellar, with several changes in tone, but always coming back to the opening motif. The drummer lost a cymbal at one point and crew got it back up so fast, he still had time to use it on the big finish. Surprising the crowd, Remi Wolf appeared to guest sing on a cover of Tell Me Something Good. She wasn’t holding back considering she would be performing in just a bit (ending with a “see you soon” and running off stage after a hug with Wong). In that number and several others, Wong was excellent in directing the band with limited hand signals and it all worked. Our next guest was Lars from Yam Haus for a cover of That’s Just the Way It Is. Playing through the rest of their set, Wong and band hit some high highs and left the stage to thunderous applause.

Motion City Soundtrack

Motion City Soundtrack’s singer Justin Courtney Pierre was sick, and instead of cancelling their appearance and disappointing their fans, the band decided the show must go on: with guest vocalists! Local artists Ber (embarrassingly, and understandably, Ber struggled with her first song so they had to stop and restart) and members of Gully Boys (Nadi McGill and Kathy Callahan) stepped in to help. The biggest surprise was that Patrick Stump, from Fall Out Boy did most of the heavy lifting and sang most of MCS’s set. Stump confessed that it was somewhat of a dream come true for him, as he’s always thought Justin was a brilliant songwriter and have been known to sing along to their songs. This Minnesota Yacht Club appearance will go down in MCS’s history as one of the most unique and interesting show of their gigography.

O.A.R.

Of a Revolution, or O.A.R., were a lot of fun, and they drew in quite a dedicated fanbase. Diehard fans already knew to sneak in decks of playing cards to throw up in the air as the band launched into their closer song, That Was a Crazy Game of Poker. Singer Marc Roberge also thanked their fans for building up the band as they are today, talking about the band’s humble beginning of playing at their school stages to now being an active touring band. Highlight of their set their song City on Down medley with U2’s With Or Without You and Taylor Swift’s All Too Well.

Weezer

The band came out fast, starting with Hash Pipe. Cuomo had the first guitar solo, and vocals with the backing whooa’s had the band warmed up. My Name Is Jonas had the audience singing and phones out for that raucous drum and guitar section. We also got band introductions and a “Saint Paul, It’s Weezer time!”. Drummer Patrick Wilson was a lot of fun to watch and listen to in the early going, really holding things down. Backing vocals from Shriner and Bell were expressive as well, and overall, the band was checking all the boxes. Cuomo did a nice job getting Surf Wax America really flying, as that song really counted on his lyrics and guitar work. But it also required Shriner and Bell to drive the layered lyrics towards the end, and they all nailed it. The front end of Undone – The Sweater Song was St. Paul specific and pretty amusing, and the song was obviously a fan favorite. Island in the Sun continued the early album hits and more Cuomo guitar work. A small break led to In the Garage and cheers for that first bit of harmonica. It’s pretty impressive how many Weezer songs are so easily identifiable by the first few chords. Pink Triangle was another example where the crowd knew right away. I was also impressed with the time frame of songs that the audience responded to. 2005’s Beverly Hills had just as much crowd singing as songs from the Blue album (1994). The Good Life carried us just over the hour mark for Weezer’s 75-minute set. Say It Ain’t So had the audience singing without instrumentation and they easily carried it. Buddy Holly was nearly ecstatic for the crowd and a perfect closer for Weezer.

Remi Wolf

Fresh off her appearance with Cory Wong (just kidding), Wolf was headlining the Crow’s Nest stage. With six members (vocals, two guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums), they started with Cinderella and it was pretty joyous. Wolf was dancing across the stage (high kicks included), interacting with the audience and generally being the catalyzer. I got tired just watching Wolf, as she was seriously doing a work out while singing. The second song ended with some nice guitar work and a cute back and forth dancing with the guitarist and Wolf. That Caribbean feel on Hello Hello Hello was a great base for Wolf, and her repeated hello’s were nearly theatrical, and in fact, she ended the song with a flourished bow. Note to those who are less familiar: Wolf. Is. A. Performer. Her warm up exercises (three of them!) for the crowd were ridiculously silly and made a pretty fast connection between Wolf and the audience. The next number had Wolf in her fullest singing yet, and had good backing vocals. A quieter guitar intro for Kangaroo let Wolf start things up with a tremendous opening before the rest of the band came in and she changed over to distorted vocals. Wolf took over on drums and was certainly no slouch. Jumping off drums, running up to the mic in time for the chorus (after a key change), screaming and then delivering perfect vocals? Yeah, that happened. Wolf gave a long windup to Sexy Villian and asked for audience participation (no surprise, they were on it). The stage barely contained Wolf and the band, with members all over the stage and they were barely containing the chaos. Technical note: this could happen because all three guitars were cordless. We got a disco sound for the appropriately tilted Disco Man and the underlying music was dead on. As they finished up, Remi Wolf had shared an amazing energy and set.

Fall Out Boy

It’s clear to everyone at the Minnesota Yacht Club that the night belonged to Fall Out Boy, who had the entire audience singing along to all their songs throughout the night. Every once in a while, giant flaming balls of fire and fire works lit up the sky, it was a spectacle to witness. The original song writing team of vocalist Patrick Stump (who compose the song) and bassist Pete Wentz (who writes their lyrics) brought the band to superstardom with their 2005 album From Under the Cork Tree, producing such hits as Sugar, We’re Goin Down and Dance, Dance… which were played early in their set. The remainder of their set, the band pulled songs from their discography: Infinity on High, Folie à Deux , American Beauty/American Psycho, and so on. If you ever wanted to see a Fall Out Boy’s greatest hits tour, this is it.