Ratboys Setlist

Open Up
Anywhere
Penny in the Lake
Know You Then
Morning Zoo
Anj
Strange Love
Light Night Mountains All That
Victorian Slumhouse
Elvis Is in the Freezer
The World, So Madly
The Window
Just Want You to Know the Truth
What’s Right?
Burn It Down
— Encore —
Go Outside
Black Earth, WI

villagerrr Setlist

Runnin’ Round
Honesty
See
Neverrr Everrr
Tear Your Heart Out
Swimming
Locket
Ride or Die
What Does It Mean?

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■ Ratboys
Ratboys are an American indie rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2010 by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Julia Steiner and her partner, lead guitarist Dave Sagan. As of 2020, the band consists of Steiner, Sagan, Marcus Nuccio (drums) and Sean Neumann (bass, backing vocals).

Those early great spring weather days in Minnesota are glorious and knowing that much colder weather was on its way made it a tempting offer to simply be outdoors. But for the 750 or so people with a ticket for indie rock band Ratboys over at the Fine Line in Minneapolis, it was an easy choice to head indoors. It was going to be a great evening of indie rock tinged with some folk Americana as the When the Sun Explodes tour got going for a very sold out show.

Up first was villagerrr, the band name for Columbus, Ohio based artist Mark Allen Scott. He was releasing bedroom produced rock songs almost as soon as he wrote them, and built a solid following. That eventually got him signed by Darling Recordings, a label based in Los Angeles, but tracking and featuring Midwest bands. It’s a fun story of how radical changes brought about by the pandemic and technology created a different path for artists to reach an audience. That debut album, Tear Your Heart Out, was released in October 2025 and villagerrr has quickly followed up with Carousel, scheduled to be released in May 2026. The band appeared as a quintet (vocals/guitar, guitar, bass, steel guitar/guitar, and drums) and started with Runnin’ Around, which was firmly alt indie with a touch of shoegaze as Scott was busy at pedal work. That dreamy bedroom pop continued and villagerrr had hit their stride quickly. See was a quick hit and let Scott and band get to let go on guitar before transitioning to Neverrr Everrr, which was a great song from the upcoming album, and had excellent harmonies from Cam Garshon. The title track from the 2025 debut followed with four vocalists closing it out on a high note. The steel guitar on Swimming revealed those Americana influences, and they had really cornered a particular quiet rock vibe extremely well. A small bit of banter from drummer Zayn Dweik about having played at 7th Street (“that was dope”) led to the closing songs. They ended with What Does It Mean? which served as a great book end to their forty minute set and villagerr has some new fans heading to merch as the band hurried to make way for the headliner.

Ratboys came to the stage with an anticipatory electric air running through the crowd. The Chicago group has been at it since 2010, with half a dozen albums, most recently Singin’ to an Empty Chair, released in February 2026 through New West Records. They have really caught the attention of the alt rock world lately (they’re a staple on Radio K right now), and the quintet (vocals/guitar, guitar, bass, guitar/steel guitar/percussion, and drums) let it rip with Open Up, a lengthy number the established vocalist Julia Steiner’s indie vibes. Some cowbell on Anywhere was the cherry on this rock banger, and Dave Sagan’s guitar solo shredded. Ratboys leaned a little into that Americana sound, but it was secondary to the indie rock overtones. Drum work from Marcus Nuccio was outstanding in the early going and the appearance of steel guitar and the first banter (as well as the first of many guitar swaps for Sagan) got a discussion of time travel rock versus power pop (the latter term brought a complaint of “that’s so generic”) as the band headed into Know You Then, with some glorious power chords indeed. The cheering from the crowd got raucous for Morning Zoo, and we had hit that great equilibrium with band flying and audience soaking it up.

A hilarious moment where Steiner dedicated a song to “the businessmen having their important call at the Clear Lake, Iowa Culver’s” was followed by a serious “we missed the Midwest”. Strange Love was the song that followed and was the most Americana number to that point. Pivoting back to the heavier rock sound, Ratboys showed a nice range in quick succession that started with the steel guitar over to a punk rock ethos that had guitars on full reverb and up against amps. Elvis Is in the Freezer was “about a childhood cat” and the pedal steel helped keep things breezing along. The World, So Madly was another song off the new album, and it’s really as fantastic live as it is on the recorded version. A slower section played up that Americana vibe, and Ratboys effectively sequenced their set as they got close to the end. What’s Right? had driving bass from Sean Neumann and combined with drums as a good contrast to Steiner’s singing. Highlighting a local charity helping the immigrant community was a nice touch, and one they have been doing in each city on the tour. The main set closed appropriately with Burn It Down, and most of the crowd held tight for the expected encore. Go Outside was exactly right, given how hot it was near the stage and its high energy was a ton of fun. As they finished on Black Earth, WI, Ratboys were fairly jubilant and a long line at the merch table suggested the crowd felt the same.