The Linda Lindas at Varsity Theater (Sep 27, 2026)

The Linda Lindas Setlist

Gotta Get Out
Oh!
Growing Up
Break
Helado de Limón
Nothing Left
High Horse
Blood on Our Hands
Closer
Cuántas veces
Burning Out
Nino
Okay
See You Next Time
No Obligation
Tonite (Go‐Go’s cover)
Everybody Told Me
All in My Head
— Encore —
Racist, Sexist Boy
Lose Yourself
I Could Be Wrong

VIAL Setlist

INFECTED
SCORPIO MOON
SOB
Planet Drool
Idle Hands
Mr. F**k You
UNDERMINE ME
BOREDOM/COMBUSTION
Territorial Pissings (Nirvana cover)
TALKTALKTALK
Creep Smoothie
Ego Death
DIY or Die
Piss Punk

Generally when I head to a concert, I am pretty jazzed up, as I very much enjoy live music and seeing and hearing bands new and seeing what they bring to the table. And sometimes when I go to a show, I am totally in the zone. This often happens when the band’s music meets my mood. On the Sunday evening in autumn, I was looking for something exuberant. It was going to be that and more with an evening of riot grrrl punk with The Linda Lindas playing an all ages show, making a tour stop at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis.

Sophie Hiroko was a late, local addition to the evening’s lineup. We’ve seen Hiroko several times here in 2026, most recently playing solo in a set with Thomas Sticha over at the White Squirrel Bar in early July. With the full band, the trio (vocals/giutar, bass, and drums) got things started a little early. Hiroko mentioned ahead of time that the band was added less than two weeks ago, and that she had been out of town this week, cutting that trip short to fly back here. She didn’t look frazzled at all, as the band came out fast tempo and high energy with their grunge revival sound that was a good start to the night. Hiroko is obviously the main focus, but in those early songs, just as we noted in January, the drum work was intense and a big part of that overall sound. And when my own reflection got going, that bass riff was the foundation for that ripper. A yelled section from Hiroko in a late song led to a massive speed up in tempo to end the number and the crowd went wild. We got Hiroko is full singing mode for ashes, and they closed with a new one in glutton, which hit the grunge opening perfectly. Sophie Hiroko had dialed in a tight, sub-thirty minute set and had definitely left the crowd wanting more.

VIAL was next and I was excited to see the Minneapolis trio. The riot grrrl, punk rockers formed in 2019 and after their debut EP which was very indie rock, they moved into their current strong punk ethos. They have several albums, including 2026’s HELLHOUND, which true to the aesthetic has hard hitting, short numbers. All three members are vocalists, and similar to the first band, we had guitar, bass, and drums, though we had an extra guitarist take stage with them here. That opener Infected simply ripped and the energy was through the roof. That changing lead vocalist was fun and allowed some different sounds. Drummer Katie Fischer was an absolute spark on stage when singing, often on the border of a scream, as during the brilliant Planet Drool. Guitarist KT Branscom (on her birthday!) countered with a classic rock vocalist style and let loose on Idle Hands, drawing a huge uproar from the crowd. Bassist Taylor Kraemer may have sung the least, but prowled the stage and at one point spent the latter part of the song playing while laying down. Undermine Me was a crashing quick hit and VIAL had breathed a seething punk attitude across the venue. Boredom/Combustion was mostly about the difficulties of parking in Philly and was silly fun. They were ripping through a lot of the new album and dear reader, if you like riot grrrl punk, you need to give this one a listen pronto. We got the band intros which ended with the singing of Happy Birthday to Branscom, who seemed happy to get back to the thrash of the music, in near screamo mode for Creep Smoothie. Ego Death was a waltz style entrance that gave way as Fischer growled through the verses but effectively slid into harmonies with Kraemer on the chorus. Finishing on Piss Punk, VIAL closed in a full cacophony of guitar and yelled vocals and showed that the hometown band had the goods.

Headliner The Linda Lindas were up. The quartet from Los Angeles started in 2018, presumably as children, considering they are mostly still teenagers here in 2026. A few fortuitous early career bounces, including actress & comedian Amy Poehler having them do music for her 2021 film Moxie. The band already has their third full length album with 2026’s Gotta Get Out, which they are currently touring in support of. We last saw the band at the Fine Line in April 2025. Like VIAL, all of the band members sing, with two guitarists, bass and drums being the instrumental support. Also like VIAL, they had an additional guitarist (and keyboardist) in tow. You don’t need me to tell you things were cooking from the get go. The band had two raised platforms just left and right of center stage and members of the front line found themselves repeatedly up there, egging the crowd on. Growing Up was blisteringly paced and so well sung, with the audience cheering in delight. Break was straight yelled lyrics from the bassist and that range of vocal styles while firmly in the genre was a great selling point for The Linda Lindas. High Horse was acidic in its contempt for a certain type of person, and followed by Blood on Our Hands they had tapped into the (correctly) angry take on much of what is happening in the world right now. The disco lights came out for Cuántas Veces and the underlying music was so compelling tied to the sweet sounding vocals. The constant shifts of attention with each of the quartet getting lead time had me starting to watch the “supporting” band members, and the vivaciousness and joy was palpable. Our extra band member was a key feature on Nino, the most punk song you will hear about “the savage cat”. A bit of a forlorn love ballad had the drummer on vocals for See You Next Time and was a good pause before throwing back in on the straight punk. Band introductions round robin style had us down to the quartet for a Go-Gos cover of Tonite and all four singing along and the instrumental section getting the three guitarists together at the far right of the stage and collapsing down before springing back to their mics for the next verse. The main set ended with All In My Head a perfect upbeat number that had the crowd primed to cheer hard for the encore. That started with Racist, Sexist Boy was the closing song from the debut album and was as harsh as you would hope for. Closing the three encore set with I Could Be Wrong was a pretty clutch choice and The Linda Lindas closed out the evening fantastically, with time enough for the young ones to get home in time for the upcoming week.