Automatic Setlist

Calling It
Venus Hour
NRG
Country Song
Turn Away
mq9
Signal
Is It Now?
Black Box
New Beginning
Lucy
Too Much Money
Mercury

Donzii Setlist

Kaleidescope
Funny P
Right Way
Mines
Driving Through the Mist
Bird
Green Elevator
Luxery Condo

Despite being the venue I have frequented the most, thanks to my friend Thaddeus, this is the first review I’ve ever done of a show at Turf Club. And what a show it was. I arrived at 7:00 and doors were already open with a Donzii sound check still happening, which means everyone gets diverted down to the Clown Lounge. There are worse places to have a beer while waiting for a show. Surveying the early crowd, I was surprised by the number of folks my age and older. It’s a sold out show, so maybe they just wanted to make sure they got a stool? Once we were allowed back upstairs, it filled up quickly. This was the first show at Turf Club that I had been to in a while that felt full. As I prepare to put my thoughts about the show down on paper, I realize that I’m always talking about energy and joy with respect to shows. Well, I’m going to talk about energy now, so for the one or two people who actually read this, sorry for repeating myself, but it’s just how I experience shows.

The energy was… wait for it, wait for it… palpable as we waited for Donzii to take the stage. As I said, it was a packed house and people were expecting to have their minds blown this first Friday of October. I don’t think anyone was expecting what Donzii brought to the stage, though. The lights went out and Dennis, the bassist as it turns out, came to the microphone with a flashlight and inquired if anyone had a fear of worms (ok, where is this going?) or fabric (huh?)? Only three people left, so I guess the rest of us were able to conquer our fears or maybe weren’t afraid? That probably makes more sense. With the lights still out Dennis helped Jenna to the stage in her worm costume (see dark blurry pictures below). While in her worm costume, Jenna’s hands were not available, so Dennis had to follow her around with a microphone. I’m trying to figure out how to describe their sound. The thoughts that come to mind are energetic, punk, loud, unique, fungal (as in, it grows on you), performative, fun. By the second song, Jenna had wriggled her hands free of the worm costume after asking if anyone here had ever tried to free their hands from a worm costume. I think it’s safe to say that the answer was “no”. Now she could hold her own microphone, though, so look out. The second song, “Funny P” had the full band in effect with Dennis playing bass while Jenna hopped around on stage holding her own microphone. The vibe was bad-ass, we’re up here doing our thing, we know it’s awesome, so we don’t care if you don’t get it. The thing is, by the third song, the audience did seem to get it, and we appreciated it. When I listen to an opening act, I imagine what questions I would ask them if I get the chance, and every question I imagined resulted in them making fun of my stupid questions, so I stopped imagining questions for them. My favorite exchange of the evening was when Jenna asked the crowd if there’s a local sports team. People were shouting back Loons (respect) and Jenna was shouting back what she heard – Boos? Moose? Oh, Loooots. Let’s hear it for the Loots! I think it was a genuine interaction. Their set was short – like 25 minutes or so, but what it lacked in duration it made up for in amplitude. It was like 50 minutes worth of show. Donzii, you were not what I expected, but you were what I needed. Oh and by the by, this isn’t the first time we’ve reviewed Donzii – check out this review from April.

Automatic took to the stage about 9:00 pm to the delight of the crowd. Have I mentioned that the show is sold out? They arrived in St. Paul after a one-day, two-show stop in Chicago, which included playing at used record store Shuga Records for a mid-afternoon set and then a full set that evening at the Empty Bottle. As one who used to go to the Empty Bottle in the ‘90s, I approve. Automatic has been on the road for the past few months. Dating back to July 30^th, they have put on 30 shows prior to this evening – twelve of which were in the EU/UK. That is some dedication to your craft. I saw them when they opened for The Last Dinner Party at the Palace in June (review here – you’re enjoying this one so much, why wouldn’t you see what I had to say about them as an opener?) and was impressed. I (almost literally) bumped into lead singer Izzy Glaudini as she was getting a drink right before her set. A good rule of thumb I’ve picked up in my time in the ‘biz is – artists typically enjoy inane questions from jackasses as they are preparing to go on stage. I was all too happy to oblige. I let Izzy know that I had seen them open for TLDP (I said the full name to her, I just didn’t want to type the whole thing again) and asked her which she preferred – the big venue or the crowd here just for them? To her credit, she didn’t tell me to go fuck myself, but answered “we’ll see how tonight goes…” and walked away, but then turned back and said “I prefer this”. With that settled, I was ready to go. Remember half a page back when I said they took to the stage at 9:00? Well put yourself back in that headspace. Lights are low, Izzy, Halle and Josh walk up the stairs as the crowd goes wild and they launch into “Calling It”. Izzy acknowledges Donzii for being awesome and then points out that they share a drummer, Jake. Way to share. Their set is tight, efficient, and sounds amazing but is on the lower energy side of the spectrum. About half way through, I think after “Turn Away” or maybe it was “Black Box”, they acknowledged that they have been travelling a lot and are tired. The crowd knew it had work to do and fed the band some love. It worked and for the back half of the show there was a bit more pep in their step and they looked like they were having fun. No one will ever accuse me of writing my reviews coherently, so why try now? I’m going back to their travel. They’ve put on 56 shows this year. That’s a lot of time in a van and sleeping on couches and eating fast food. So, I’ll say it again – that’s dedication to your craft. They finished the evening strong and were done before 10:00, which allowed me to be in bed by ~10:30! That was even with my chatting with a nice woman next to me who was able to get some decent pictures, which I was not. Thanks for sharing your pictures nice lady. Maybe Automatic were tired, but they were still back at the merch table mixing it up with their delighted fans after the show.

The moral of this review is don’t judge a book by its cover. Sometimes a caterpillar turns into a butterfly or a worm turns into a punk rock chick who owns the stage with a gruff persona that thinks our local sports team is the Loots but in reality she’s a brilliant sensitive artist who says things like this: “A lot of my inspiration comes from wanting people to think more deeply about being able to exist in a way that is more joyful,” she says. “Not in a Live Love Laugh kinda way, but in a way that encompasses the material grossness of this chaotic life cycle with a little chuckle beneath your breath. Like watching sweet little pink flowers grow atop a pile of decaying bones and compost”. Or maybe the moral of this review is – sometimes even our heroes need some help.