08.04.23 – Photos by Avery Schlegel / Review by McKenna Klaphake

Fans, friends, and family traveled from far and wide to attend local Minneapolis band, Ivers’ Best Behavior EP release show at Fine Line on Friday, August 4th. The lineup also featured three other local ‘on the rise’ indie pop/rock bands including WHY NOT, Aiden Intro, and Parachutes. The theme of support and community building was seen throughout the whole night as each artist in each band collaborated with the next. It made the night feel like one whole show rather than a lineup of unrelated bands that can oftentimes feel disconnected from one another.

The small and intimate venue filled up quickly as the first opener, Parachutes walked on stage to fans chanting their names. Parachutes is the musical project of lead singer/guitarist Ryan Kemp, bassist Chet Goldsberry-Hill, drummer Jack Bartholomew, keyboardist Connor Bahauddin, and for this show also featured John Kearney on guitar and Connor Hryhorysak on the banjo. Within a singular breath the band began their set by playing instrumentals which then kicked into the song, “Go Back” and instantly got the crowd on their feet and swaying along. This show marked the first performance for the band after front man, Kemp returned home after touring as a guitarist for afrobeat artist, Libianca, on Alicia Keys’ summer tour. 

Kemp brought a handful of special guests on stage during the set including Ivers bassist, Fiona Juarez-Sweeney, who performed a pretty incredible cover of “Strawberry Fields Forever” by The Beatles. Ivers lead singer, Megan Fritz, dressed up as Kemp with his signature mustache and baseball cap to sing a cover of Remi Wolf and Still Woozy’s song, “Pool.” Jacob Jackman, who mixed Parachutes EP, Wicker Chairs also joined them for a song. And Orion Simione joined them on stage to play the saxophone during “Someone Else.”

As Parachutes played through their setlist, including fan favorites, “Rewind,” and “Slip Away,” the room echoed with voices singing along with each song. The audience was especially excited when the band debuted a new untitled song. Usually the band leaves the stage during Kemp’s acoustic performance of the EP title track, “Wicker Chairs,” however for this show Kemp was joined by keyboardist Bahauddin who added extra flair to the sentimental track that Kemp wrote about his brother. Parachutes ended their set with the song, “Upstairs” while Kemp crowd surfed and still kept up with the finishing guitar riffs. This band knows how to open a show and it was clear that the crowd knew that as well.

This show marked the 12th time that the band Aiden Intro has shared a stage with Parachutes, again showing the theme of collaboration and community building. All of the bands really seem like one big family and Aiden Intro also reiterated that point. 

The band consisted of lead singer/guitarist Aiden Hengel, guitarist Nate Walker, bassist Joe Rendelman, drummer Wyatt Pepin, keyboardist Marco Giovannelli, and backup vocalists Anna Devine and Sarah Brammer. The band played songs from Aiden’s 2022 EP release, Not Bad, including, “June,” “What Do You Want To Do?” and “Staying In,” while everyone on stage was dancing and grooving through each track. Similarly to Parachutes, they also performed an untitled new song which brought the energy of the audience down for a brief moment during the slower track. 

At one point the band played a song that transitioned into a lively cover of “Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas and the iconic guitar solo was expertly executed by guitarist Walker and had the crowd screaming like fangirls as he wailed away right in front of them. As if that wasn’t enough, Aiden Intro also performed a cover of “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson. These incredible covers showcased the talent of the band and how they are able to expertly mix groovy bass lines and harder rock guitar riffs. Aiden Intro brings a jazzier influence to indie pop/rock tracks and that was highlighted by these covers. 

Backup vocalists, Devine and Brammer added beautiful harmonies to Hengel’s already pristine voice and additionally, the two seemed to be having the most fun on stage which encouraged the audience to also let loose. The band was well practiced and synchronized through each beat drop and key change. Aiden Intro finished with the song, “Stop Sign” which had everyone singing along to the clear fan favorite. 

Next, WHY NOT carried on the high energy that had been cultivated by the previous two bands. The indie rock trio consists of lead singer/bassist, Henry Breen, guitarist Isaac Dell, and drummer Joshua MacGregor. The band was also joined by Elijah Erchert on the keyboard for this show. 

WHY NOT brought a harder rock vibe to the indie pop sounds of the night. In fact, they rocked so hard that MacGregor broke his snare drum, but luckily one of the drummers from another band saved the day by allowing him to borrow theirs and this was pretty important as WHY NOT’s tracks are largely driven by fierce drum beats. Lead singer Breen displayed deep concentration as he sang through each track while guitarist Dell moved freely around the stage as the band got the audience deeply engaged with head banging and moshing. A rainbow of lights quickly flashed across the stage as they matched the fast paced rock songs. 

Further collaboration was also seen in WHY NOT’s set as members of Aiden Intro joined the band for a song. The blend of harmonies from Hengel, Brammer, and Devine with Breen’s lead vocals made for an engaging auditory experience. The band played a handful of older songs including “Water” which debuted on their first album, Spring Cleaning.

The floor bounced under my feet as WHY NOT ended with a performance of arguably their most popular song, “IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND.” This highly energetic last song was a great note to end on as the audience got ready for the reason everyone was there; Ivers. 

All of the opening bands did the best job at warming up the audience for the main act of the night, Ivers. The show celebrated the bands new EP, Best Behavior, and despite the fact that it had only been out for a little over a week, everyone in the audience was singing along, having already memorized the lyrics of each track.

The band features lead vocalist Megan Fritz, guitarist Henry Hughes, bassist Fiona Juarez-Sweeney, and drummer Martín Corral. Ivers were also joined by Aiden Hengel (Aiden Intro) on the guitar and Connor Bahauddin (Parachutes) on the keyboard for this show. 

Fritz showed off beautiful vocal riffs and belts while bassist Juarez-Sweeny and Hengel provided back up harmonies. Everything about their music was well crafted and intentional and had the audience marveling at the talent before us with every guitar riff and vocal trill.

Everyone in the crowd was as into every song as those on stage and while the music Ivers performs isn’t necessarily the type that you would expect a crowd to mosh to, it felt right as the energy swirling in the room had to go somewhere. As each track built to its bridge, the crowd split into a circle and crashed into each other when the beat dropped. While experiencing some minor technical difficulties the band played instrumentals to fill the silence as Nate Walker (Aiden Intro) ran around the stage and saved the day. 

Ivers performed a mix of old and new tracks including “Tightrope,” “Lexus,” “Better,” and “Push.” As previous bands did, they also performed an unreleased song titled “Stupid.” Lead singer Fritz told the audience that the band had gone to a cabin earlier this summer and wrote a bunch of new songs in addition to the new ones that they performed for us that night. Fans of Ivers now have the promise of even more new music to look forward to. 

As the band finished with the EP’s title track, “Best Behavior,” guitarist Hughes handed off his guitar to Walker to perform the final guitar solo so that he could crowd surf. After a brief pause, and hundreds of fans screaming for more, Ivers returned to the stage for an encore performance of “Closet Wine.”

What could have been a more laid back indie pop show became anything but. The high energy created both by the bands on stage and the engaged audience had everyone singing, jumping, and moshing through each set. With each band having produced most of their material over the past five or six years, it’s incredible to see how much they’ve grown. They fill up every venue that they perform at with fans that go crazy for them and their music. These bands are the future of the Twin Cities music scene and I can guarantee that there will be a day when seeing these bands won’t be as inexpensive or easy as they continue to grow exponentially in popularity.