Alexander Natalie Setlist

Telepathy
Crystalline
Original
Accordion
Run Around
Heaven Is a Little House
This Must Be the Place (Talking Heads cover)
Nosh
Ashland
Like Flowers
— Encore —
651

Keep for Cheap Setlist

Cyberspace
Lilt
Wiggle
Lakehouse
FedEx
Show You How
Fish Piss
Forgive Me

Filthy Kittens Setlist

Getting Older
Waitin 4 Ur Luv
Loose Fit Jeanns
Andrea
Pretty Things
Animals
Staring @ Sun

The release of an album must be a pretty high point in the journey of a band. It’s the physical culmination of a lot of effort, with decision la big and small about what to include, the order and all of the minutiae associated with recording and producing. I would guess it’s also a little nerve-wracking, putting an artistic statement and something you’ve worked so hard on out into the world, not knowing what the reaction will be. The record release show represents both sides of that coin, as there’s some safety in knowing friends and family will be there to be supportive, but also wondering who else will show up and what will they think of this new thing. Over at Pilllar Forum in Minneapolis, it was that hopeful evening as the band Alexander Natalie was releasing a brand new record on a lineup of Americana influenced indie rock.

One of the fun things at smaller venues is that you might get a change of line up with little to no warning. So, when Filthy Kittens showed up out of nowhere, I wasn’t thrown too far off my game. A quick look and I found they’ve been around for a few years, with their first album, Trouble in Mayberry, released in 2023. The quartet (vocals/guitar, guitar, bass/harmonica, and drums) had a perfect sound for the evening with an indie rock with heavy Americana influences. Getting Older had that harmonica out of the gate, but complementing the indie rock feel. Noting their last minute fill in, the band had a poise that didn’t give away any sense of nervousness. Loose Fit Jeans lyrically had a bit of nervous energy even as the music was a confident and relaxed bit of guitar work. The bassist took lead vocals for Andrea, and that high baritone / low tenor was a fun change up from the earlier songs. Pretty Things was announced as the “epic number, and we’ve got to pay attention”, and had both vocalists taking point on different verses and opened up musically on the back end. They closed on Staring at the Sun, and Filthy Kittens expressed their gratitude as they built that final number slowly towards a huge end.

Next up was prairie rock band Keep For Cheap, a very fun group we’ve caught several times here in 2026, most recently at Art-A-Whirl in May. The quintet is centered by dual vocalists Kate Malanaphy and Autumn Vagle, and as noted in earlier reviews, their 2024 album Big Grass is an excellent listen. Coming to stage (vocals/guitar, vocals/bass, guitar, slide guitar/guitar, and drums), that opener of Cyberspace had the slide guitar effect and the dual vocals riding high. That Americana rock vibe was set to high on the opening of Lilt, and Vagle’s vocals cut across the depth of the backing music. Guitarist Bert Northrup held a key sound on that number and as Vagle and Malanaphy hit the dual harmonies that work by Northrup and drummer Gracie Berg reallly held things together. Jokes about college majors led to a “this is for the philosophy majors”, and Wiggle may have been one of the best representations of that moniker prairie rock. There’s a deep authenticity and intensity to Keep For Cheap and it’s a huge part of their draw. There was a call out to a new local network, Fanbase, looking to connect live music fans with each other and with the fight against authoritarianism was a thing we’ll be watching for. Fed Ex was a crushing rock vibe compared to earlier numbers, and it wasn’t a surprise that Abe Anderson had switched from slide to electric guitar to help make this one fly. Another new song in Show Your Hands had the band showing more depth as this was very indie rock in its overall vibe. As they headed to their final song, we got a switch of bass and guitar and Malanaphy took lead vocals with guitar in hand. That slightly darker tone on Forgive Me was a great way to close and Keep For Cheap is a band that we’ll always be on the lookout for.

It was time for the headliner Alexander Natalie, who we saw (although only as 3/5th of the band) almost exactly a year ago at an Osborn370 set in July 2025. They were celebrating the release of their new album, Apartment Volume. Unlike last summer, we had the full quintet (vocals/guitar, guitar, guitar/vocals, bass, and drums) and that opener Telepathy was smooth and rocking with some hints of Americana. (Side note: one of the guitarists was Samuel Ketcham, the lead singer from Harlow, who we just saw this week opening for Daphne Jane at 7th Street Entry.) Crystalline was another off the new album and was right at the nexus of alt rock and folk influence, with some great electric guitar work and lead singer Noah Topliff-Looney holding the center with his vocals. A statement about the new album got the appropriate cheers, and a “I heard at least one person say they liked it”, was a tremendous understatement. It turned out that Alexander Natalie was playing the new album in order, and frankly, I have a deep appreciation for this approach, as it lets the band share the order and dynamics of how they feel the songs should go. We got a lot more of that Americana on Run Around, as Topliff-Looney went into a near croon and the band was in a long wind down of an instrumental section to close out. A tuning change for the last number on the album, a cover of This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody), had Natalie without guitar and fully into the vocals (and also sitting on the drum for a while on the second verse). Headed into extra innings, Nosh was full Americana and a band riding high with triple vocals making things ring. Finishing on Like Flowers was a tremendous way to close the set, but the crowd wasn’t having this be the end. After some serious cheering, we had time left for an encore, and Alexander Natalie obliged with 651, capping the joyful evening as the crowd excitedly chatted with each other and headed to the merch before spilling out into the warm summer evening.