jeremy messersmith, MAKR AN ERIS, and KC Rae bring an uplifting celebration of Minnesota music to the Fitz
by Luke Taylor and Tony Nelson
April 26, 2024
Thursday night at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul saw the third and final of The Current’s Minnesota Music Month Artists Showcase concerts, this one featuring jeremy messersmith, MAKR AN ERIS, and KC Rae, and emceed by The Local Show’s Diane. Like the other shows in the Minnesota Music Month Artists Showcase series, Thursday’s concert featured a range of music and was imbued with a spirit of celebration.
Established musician Cacie Dalager (Now, Now) opened the evening under her new solo moniker, KC Rae. Looking very cool in a big, black cowboy hat, KC Rae filled the Fitz with the sweeping, dreamy sounds of her new album, Think I’m Gonna Die. Together with longtime collaborator Bradley Hale on keys and Danny O’Brien on six-string banjo, KC Rae’s guitar and vocals rounded out a perfect soundscape for KC Rae’s introspective and honest lyrics — a sound one observer described as “Minnesota’s cosmic country.” Between songs, KC Rae said that Thursday’s concert was “only our second show as this project,” confirming the audience were witness to a milestone event. KC Rae also treated the audience to a solo performance of an unreleased song, “Prairie.”
After a few quick changes onstage, Diane, host of The Local Show, welcomed MAKR AN ERIS. At first, just MAKR — aka producer Mark Mcgee — took the stage, warming up the audience with appetizer portions of DJ Flexxx’s “The Waterdance” and Audio Two’s “Top Billin.” Then, from the moment singer and rapper Sophia Eris made her entrance, the key word was chemistry: Eris commanding the mic with her signature flow, and MAKR providing beats and backing vocals, the two musicians locked in rhythmic and vocal synchronicity. MAKR AN ERIS’ set got people moving and participating in call-and-response in the Vaudeville-era Fitzgerald, prompting host Diane to posit rhetorically at the end of the set: “How often do you see hip-hop in a sit-down theater?”
To bring out the evening’s final act, Diane thanked KC Rae, MAKR AN ERIS and the audience, then she introduced jeremy messersmith, alerting the audience to get ready for “the greatest show in the world” — setting a bar that Messersmith playfully embraced, frequently referring to his set as “the greatest show of all time” with ironic humor. But messersmith certainly gave one of his best shows as he and his band presented a countdown of messersmith’s top 14 songs as heard on The Current, based on the number of times they’ve been played on the air. Each song was a new reveal, and the evening became a jeremy messersmith’s greatest hits kind of night, the audience applauding in recognition of each song and singing along with gusto.
Flanking messersmith were bandmates Dan Lawonn (lead guitar, and on “A Girl, a Boy, and a Graveyard,” cello), Grady Kenevan (drums), Ian Allison (bass) and Andy Thompson (keys). This well-rehearsed unit presented the polish and precision of the studio recordings without losing the spontaneous, high-wire act feeling of live music.
Before she brought jeremy messersmith onstage, The Local Show’s Diane mentioned the winkingly verbose title of his new album, The Summit Avenue Swingers Society Presents jeremy messersmith Live at the Bryant Lake Bowl, which prompted messersmith to quip, “I think every time someone in public radio says, ‘The Summit Avenue Swingers Society,’ an angel gets its wings.”
Given how uplifting the entire evening was — spanning cosmic country, hip-hop and indie pop — it could be said all in attendance got their wings Thursday night.
Set Lists
jeremy messersmith
Light Rail
Novocain
Sweep Me Off My Feet
Dillinger Eyes
Franklin Avenue
Little Blue World
Miracles
Organ Donor
It’s Only Dancing
No Sidewalks?
Violet!
Purple Hearts
A Girl, A Boy, and A Graveyard
Ghost
Tourniquet
Everybody Gets A Kitten (encore)
MAKR AN ERIS
BAY
ROBIN
PASTER
ME 2
GOT IT
BURN
UNICORN
I CRIED
: 12
LIL KIM
GUSHY
30
JOVAN
BLACK
GET IN THE WATER
ONLY FOR THE NIGHT THO
KC Rae
Blockbuster
Birthday
Don’t Make Me Laugh
10 Minutes
Prairie
Bathroom Floor
Shame
