Halfway through Rocktober, I realized something was missing. I have seen some great bands this month, ranging across a pretty wide swath of genres. But what I hadn’t caught yet was was the punchy, angry punk anthems. As I headed over to Fine Line in Minneapolis, I knew that would be taken care of, with night full of riot grrrl and punk / punk adjacent hits with heavens to betsy kicking off their first tour in over thirty years.

Kickstarting the night was local Minneapolis band Scrunchies. The trio self-describes as “a post everything rock n roll” band, with riot grrrl influences as Laura Larson of Twin Cities legends Kitten Forever leads the way. Their most recent album, 2024’s Colossal is their third full length and is that mix of punk and noise rock, while plumbing the depths of a number of other sounds. The opening song Houseplant set the tone and had the band (vocals/guitar, bass, and drums) cooking from the start. Brute had Larson killing it on that mix of yelled vocals and pedal board guitar and the rest of the band was right on in their support. These were hard hitting, brief numbers that nailed the aesthetic, and when guitar and bass had a thrash late in a mid set number, it felt exactly right. Wichita had a thunderous guotar intro and was straight punk rock and had the front of stage audience flying and the drummer (also in the band Mary Jam) in top form. The further we got into the set, the more all three band members ratcheted up the energy and that rush was wild. Larson’s guitar work was the centerpiece, often carrying over her vocals, and she was fantastic leading through songs, with a in your face shred on Flower Bed. Closing on New What had the band blasting on the opening instrumental and Scrunchies had delivered the goods in their opening slot.

Up next was another Minneapolis band, as Tuffie took to the stage. I’m guessing they are a fairly new band, as their self-titled debut EP came out in June 2026. Lead vocals came courtesy of Ava Levy, who we’ve seen solo, opening for Daphne Jane at 7th Street Entry in December 2024. The quartet (vocals, guitar, bass, and drums) kept the vibe going and Eraser was a great start. Our first bit of banter let us know that several members weren’t there (on tour with other bands), and that we were listening to the EP front to back, which honestly, was as good an intro to the band as you could get. Back to the music, was + when had a bit of post grunge feel and was a stand out of the set. I loved vocalist Levy’s laid back postures at the mic (hands behind her back or just holding the mic stand) and there was a reassuring feel with that stance. We were already headed toward the end of the six songs on the EP, and Tangle had Levy at her most dynamic vocally. Landline, shotgun finished things up and Tuffie had been super efficient with their time on stage.

The headliner was heavens to betsy, a fairly short lived 90’s band of the partnership of Corin Tucker and Tracy Sawyer and was an important part of the Olympia, Washington riot grrrl scene that includes Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. After a run that culminated in 1994’s excellent calculated, they called it quits and Tucker would go on to be a founding member of the wildly successful and influential band Sleater-Kinney. They reunited in June 2026 and quickly planned a tour, with Minneapolis the kickoff. They also released baby’s gone, an early set of demos that are a great cross section of the band’s creative output. With Tucker on guitar and vocals and Sawyer on drums and bass, it felt timeless as they rolled into stay dead, and things were on. I loved that there was a contingent of younger women absolutely rocking at the front and that connection across generations was a powerful moment. Tucker talked about the influences on a couple of kids writing the songs in the 90’s that are out on the “new” album, and it was a call out to other influences as they went into the crush of good food. A quick redo on the ones had nothing but love from the audience and it was the rockingest song of the early going, with several tempo changes throughout. We got a switch with Sawyer taking bass and Tucker rolling behind drums while still singing. There was a lot of appreciation from both band members and that played out into the crowd, who were into the moment of the reunion. Switching back to original instruments got a bit about “it’s how we get our cardio” and moving into some “sad girl music”, paralyzed was exactly that. Tucker had a way of sliding between a near wail and a fully sung tone that was a central pillar of the band. We were getting into some darker material and stay away was pulsing and Tucker’s vocals roiled with a repeated near shout and Sawyer’s drum work was killer. This was riot grrrl at its best, and the passage of time feels like it has given heavens to betsy some perspective on the material while still believing in it. Another switch led to my red self, one of their first songs ever, and that bass had that early 90’s feel. Moving away from the drums, calculated only had bass and vocals and was the angriest sounding song of the night. They ended the main set with ain’t never goin’ back (also getting a second start) and it was a solid close. A quick two song encore ended with axemen and heavens to betsy proved that even after thirty years, they could still rip and out a bit of an exclamation point on Rocktober.