Lew Apollo Setlist

No Room In Hell
Sweeter
Fool’s Gold
Let The Light In
Die For You
Trouble On My Mind
Lost In You
Queen Of Spades
Addicted
Wildcard
Medicine & Drugs
Fire
Feeling Ok
— Encore —
Al Capone
Diamonds And Gold

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■ Lew Apollo
Born and raised in rural Northern Minnesota, Lew Apollo’s genre-bending soul music reflects on deep-rooted internal struggles, cloaked in a sepia and rose tint. Catalyzed by his father’s suicide in 2022, his songwriting and style fuse the legacies of Bob Dylan and Prince with modern influences like Hozier, Leon Bridges, and Labrinth, creating lush, cinematic soundscapes through hypnotic guitar, ear-candy production, and a sultry voice.

Minnesota native, but Austin Texas based artist Lew Apollo brought that southern weather up north on his current tour, headlining a show at the Zen Arcade stage at Hook and Ladder in Minneapolis on a truly beautiful evening. As the crowd mingled in the store just before doors, it was fun to see a mix of friends and long time fans along with new ones, and it was a pleasant and friendly atmosphere. The space itself is a well laid out one with the wide stage set in the far corner, with a good main floor and a set of tables along the far two walls.

Ashley DuBose started the evening. A Minneapolis based singer and songwriter who has appeared on the television show The Voice, she also has a debut album in 2015’s BE YOU. She was performing as a duo (vocals and keyboards/backing vocals), and DuBose announced they would be doing a mix of covers and originals and with that got going. As you might expect of someone in the R&B pop space, DuBose is quite the singer. Even on the first number, which didn’t truly challenge her, you could hear the thrum of what was to come. After a note of our crazy times, the cover of Tish Hyman’s Lucky was a brilliant bit of sequencing and DuBose was starting to layer in more depth on the vocals and we had a good keyboard solo from Ryan Bynum. I always love when artists are genuinely having fun, and it was obvious that was going on here. Lose a Good Thing was an original and those alto vocals were on full display. DuBose had a clever way of weaving in popular cover songs even in her originals and this was a very accessible set. Closing out with a final original Life Goes On, DuBose was well in the zone and had been a great mood setter for the evening.

We last saw headliner Lew Apollo in June 2025 and were hearing a brand new song in Diamonds and Gold and the as yet unreleased album was still on the horizon. Fast forward to now and that well received album Fool’s Gold is out and has a delightful neo soul sound. Apollo came to the stage leading a sextet (vocals/guitar, vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards/percussion, and drums/electronic music). That opener, No Room in Hell, was a perfect start for the band, letting Apollo go on those R&B infused vocals and the band play up every aspect of that soul rock feel. The next number let Reuben got a great keys solo that ultimately gave way to Apollo’s scorching guitar. Fool’s Gold let the co-vocal higher harmonies with his wife shine, and had another excellent guitar solo from Apollo. The band was hopping and drum work on Let the Light In was a good contrast to Apollo’s guitar and lyrics and the ending of that number had the full band rocking. Apollo was quite the charismatic performer and his “it’s only our second time performing in Minneapolis” was heartfelt and brought the crowd in closer. Noting they would be playing the majority of the new album, Lew Apollo and band leaned in for the long haul, sliding across R&B, soul and rock very effectively.

Trouble on Mind had Apollo up in falsetto range and th band in full send mode. This was 21st century soul rock and it feels like Apollo has cornered a certain sound that few others are doing. The cool as cucumber guitarist and bassist at far right (both in dark sunglasses) only added to the vibe, and as we had Apollo on solo with the vocal harmonies in mild reverb, that aura of cool prevailed. The Netflix number (see the June 2025 review) Queen of Spades had to be played, and was highlighted by those co-vocals. We had two brand new songs, starting with Wildcard, which may have been the funkiest number of the set and had sharp musical rhythms as well. The main set ended with Fire and had Apollo at his most soulful vocals and the band supporting it fully. The band bailed the stage for Lew Apollo to have a solo number of Feeling Ok and that quieter song was a great demonstration of that neo soul sound. The band came back for the two song encore, and we got an unreleased song in Al Capone and we were squarely in that nexus of funk, R&B, and rock. Diamonds and Gold had to be the closer and Lew Apollo finished off a fabulously paced evening.