The Japhies at 7th St. Entry (January 28, 2026)

The Japhies Setlist

1. Promises
2. El Camino
3. Too Hip
4. Runaway
5. Can’t Catch It
6. Gasoline
7. Damn Fool
8. Dark Guitar
9. Cold Hard Steel
10. Let You Go

Whiskey Rock n Roll Club MPLS Setlist

1. Shot Me Down
2. Let’s Drink at Palmers
3. Acid
4. Mac Wilson
5. Black Cat Blues
6. Mind Control
7. Snake Farm

It continued to be bitterly cold across the Twin Cities, with temperatures rarely getting into the double digits for a pretty long stretch of days. Inside 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis, it was time to forget about the outdoors, with a night of local rock & roll that was also a long overdue reunion for headliner The Japhies.

Getting the evening started was the classic rock sound of Whiskey Rock n Roll Club MPLS. A trio (vocals/guitar, bass, and drums) known for their live performances, they came out with a sound reminiscent of early Van Halen, and the near growl on lead vocals and that punishing guitar and bass thrum was great. First banter was pretty hysterical, ending with “we take whiskey in and rock & roll comes out”. Let’s Drink at Palmers was exactly what it said on the tin, and the head banging instrumental section was directly on point. It also included an effortless looking, yet electric bit of work. When the next song, Acid, was dryly described as “a song about taking acid”, it pretty much encapsulated the Whiskey Rock n Roll MPLS ethos. This was an impressively loud sound, and that touch of humor really elevated this into the extremely enjoyable. Some snippets of songs from Elvis to AC/DC was particularly inspired in Black Cat Blues and had the crowd in full clap along mode. Closing on a cover of Snake Farm with a distinctly hard rock sound got a group dancing near the stage. If the opener’s job is to get the crowd riled up, Whiskey Rock n Roll Club MPLS had wildly succeeded.

Up next was The Modern Era, appearing as a sextet (vocals, three guitarists, bass, and drums) who has several EPs and a full length album, Too Loud? Too Bad! from 2015. This was a crowded stage and the initial cacophony settled into a full rock sound that was a natural extension from the openers. All of those guitars created a dense sound, but vocalist Jack Swagger drove through, and with dual (sometimes triple) harmonies from the band, it really worked. Those guitar solo sections were wild, with bassist Nick Pelowski holding things together. The opening of the third song was simply a sonic assault in the best possible sense. It was hard to watch this band and not have a smile on your face. High energy barely described their in song dynamics. It also helped that the band was having a ton of fun and getting the audience even more hyped seemed to be job number one. These were largely pretty quick bangers, and The Modern Era had ripped through a pretty sizable amount of songs as they just kept things moving. A small bit of banter during a tuning simply had a “it’s time to rock”, and it was back to business. A late set song had a good guitar feature from Ben Pelowski had the band layer in at the chorus to maximize the noise around that central sound. After a cover of The Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog (which was a great fit of material for this band), The Modern Era closed out as hard as they had started and quickly left the stage after thanking the crowd.

Headliners The Japhies were on stage for a reunion (and perhaps re-kick off) show. First active from 2009-2013, they disbanded acrimoniously. But thirteen years later, they’ve patched things up, recorded and are releasing a new album, Allegations, here in 2026. The quartet (vocals, guitars, bass, and drums) started with Promises, which had a dark sound, with some post-punk undertones. Lead singer Reed Wilkerson played quite the front man, jumping and moving all across the stage (he had to ditch the leather jacket after the second song). The bass was heavy and solidly played by Lee Carter, and gave guitarist Ben Hovorka a great foundation to drive off of on Too Hip. A “we got to slow it down, I’m f-ing old” was a great joke, but did start the slower tempo Runaway which was held together by Anthony Gore’s great drum work and also had Wilkerson pull out a harmonica solo. Back to the higher energy, The Japhies were firing on all cylinders, which must have been a great feeling after the long hiatus. Gasoline was a song from the band’s first EP and had a blistering guitar solo. Damn Fool let Wilkerson sing, and he’s a pretty captivating vocalist. That bass and guitar duo continued to throw down power chords as The Japhies were nearing the end of their set. The moshers got going, though with the age of the crowd, it was a somewhat kinder, gentler one. Closing out with Let You Go, The Japhies may have left their highest energy number for last. It was a nearly ecstatic crowd and a very happy band as the dust settled from a pure rock experience.