Mac Saturn Setlist

Plain Clothes Gentleman
Cash on Delivery
Sleep
Like Another One
Get on the Phone
Tournefortia
Mint Julep
Persian Rugs
Want Me Too
Junkie
Instrumental
Ain’t Like You
White Walls
Easy
Mr. Cadillac
Takes Time
— Encore —
Boxcutter

Nectarous Setlist

Kiss the Sun
Color on my Soul
Black Haired Beauty
Bourbon Street
Mojave
Better Than What’s Real
Sugarcoat
Whiskey
Not Yet
Get Up To Speed

As we roll into June, the full out summer vibe In Minnesota has kicked in. That means lots of outdoor music and events, much of it free (see our preview here). But with the outdoors comes a whole set of risks: rain, boiling temperatures, bugs, you name it. Wanting to avoid extra hazards, I headed indoors to St. Paul’s Turf Club for perfect conditions and a night of southern-infused classic rock and roll, with Mac Saturn coming to town.

The evening started with Nectarous, a Twin Cities based “new fashioned rock n’ roll band” with their self-titled record coming out in 2024. The quartet (vocals, guitar, bass, and drums) had a classic rock sound, especially on the second number, Color on My Soul, with a near falsetto “oh yeah” from singer Mitchel Hosley and electrifying guitar solo courtesy of Brodie Perro. A combo of screamed vocals and guitar on Black Haired Beauty had some real showmanship, and the hefty drum work of Ryan Rupert really hit hard. Nectarous was enjoying themselves, and the band was powering through their set. Back up vocals from bassist Elijah Deaton-Berg were a bright contrast to Hosley on Bourbon Street and Nectarous was definitely hitting their marks. “We’re going to try a new one for you” was the lead into a great paired guitar and bass intro and maybe the best drum work of the evening. With a hilarious plug for the album they had at merch (“I hate the business side of music”), it was another long instrumental intro on a banger that could have been a deep cut for any number of classic rock bands. Picking up the tempo for the latter part of the set let the band revel in those pure, distilled rock vibes and you’d be hard pressed not to enjoy their sound. Closing on a number about “damn Minnesota traffic”, Get Up to Speed was an excellent tongue in cheek end for Nectarous, who had set the headliner up well.

Detroit-based rockers Mac Saturn took to the stage. The band has a retro rock sound which you can hear in their 2024 album Hard to Sell. They came on as a quintet (vocals, guitar, guitar, bass, and drums) with the four in front out in a flat U to give lead singer Carson Macc space to move. I had read about the comparison to Mick Jagger movement and charisma, but I’m not sure I was prepared for the full assault of it. From the opener, Plain Clothes Gentleman, the band exuded the best qualities of glam rock from appearance (vests, sunglasses, open collared shirts!) to their sound. With Macc getting cowbell to open Cash on Delivery, you knew they were in it to win it. “This is our first time in Saint Paul, Minnesota” was nearly spat out in the best possible way and Mac Saturn were not playing. Get on the Phone had the appropriate rotary version for a prop, but was also a solid rock song, with guitarist Mike Moody’s killer solos. I appreciate a band going full in on an ethos and Mac Saturn had absolutely gone all in. With Macc leaving stage, the band went into a long intro, especially with Moody and Nick Barone’s great guitars getting him back up on stage. This kind of performance can be taken as pure homage or even satire, but that wasn’t the deal here. This was a band who clearly have a deep affection for a certain era of music and have put their own stamp on it. Mint Julep was such a good song and felt like the band’s anthem number. Macc went through about every hand held percussion possible with tambourine earlier and then four castanets appearing on Persian Rugs.

If it hasn’t been clear, these songs were supercharged in terms of tempo, volume, and pizzaz. The inevitable drum solo from Angelo Coppola was perfectly placed and the lyrics of “I won’t be your fool…unless you want me to” had the Jagger strut and charisma dripping from the whole band. Thanking the opener, Mac Saturn went into an even more upbeat mode (how that was possible, dear reader, I do not actually know) and had some blistering guitar work from Moody who took center stage to put an exclamation mark on things. Ian Lukas won the award for coolest ice cube on the stage, just putting out licks completely unperturbed. The band left stage for Moody to have a solo guitar number and it was a lot of fun, as the band eventually rejoined him for the transition to Ain’t Like You. Barone got good guitar work on the late set number Easy and the final numbers felt locked in. Back for the encore, Boxcutter was a crowd pleaser with a dual guitar close, à la Thin Lizzy, and it was a tremendous close for Mac Saturn and a win for good ol’ rock n’ roll.