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Turnstile turn up the heat at Varsity Theater

May 16, 2022

Turnstile's Love Connection Tour stopped at Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on May 13, 2022.Natalia Mendez for MPR

Turnstile’s Love Connection Tour brought a showcase of rebellious talent to Minneapolis' Dinkytown neighborhood on Friday evening. Inside Varsity Theater, which sometimes functions as a wedding reception venue, the Baltimore hardcore punk five-piece married an aggressive performance with dreamy sonic elements and an exultant atmosphere.

The band squeezed 18 songs into a 50-minute cardio workout. If just streaming their music feels intense, imagine how that sensation is amplified when the material is played live. Drummer Daniel Fang, bassist Franz Lyon, and guitarists Brady Evert and Pat McCrory joined forces to deliver thundering rhythms. With noticeably more earplugs than usual in the crowd, clearly many people were seasoned concertgoers. (It’s never too early to start wearing earplugs.)

Tracks from their most recent album, GLOW ON, dominated the night. Similar to the album's cover art, the show began under pink, hazy lights with the ethereal opening chords of “MYSTERY” then quickly burst into turbulent energy — on stage and off. “BLACKOUT” and “ENDLESS” followed later with synchronized high jumping kicks from Lyons and lead vocalist Brendan Yates. On “DON’T PLAY,” Yates instructed, “Make it fast.” The crowd complied in a frenzy with beer trickling down shoulders. Even “UNDERWATER BOI,” which has a more laidback feeling on the recorded version, maintained the roaring energy. In relation to the song title, crowd members launched water in the air.

Turnstile have been releasing music since 2011, but GLOW ON’s idiosyncratic formula has landed the band mainstream attention. It’s not often a hardcore-rooted act makes appearances on late night talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers, but the group’s inventive style makes it more accessible.

A band performs on a stage lit by multicolor lights — Turnstile's Love Connection Tour stopped at Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on May 13, 2022.
Natalia Mendez for MPR

These welcomed genre expansions were apparent during tracks that allowed audience members to catch their breath. During the beautifully eerie “ALIEN LOVE CALL,” two people swayed in each other's arms. Yates held up the microphone stand to let the audience sing the lyrics, “Can’t be the only one” over and over again. The twinkling synths on ‘NO SURPRISE” had people raising lighters in the air — treating the song like the true ballad it was. On that song, Lyons sang the lyrics “You really gotta see it live to get it / You really gotta see it live,” which are a fitting description of Turnstile’s music.

Yates’ captivating interpretive dance led the band’s performance, with each song serving as a backdrop. The musician gracefully jumped in ballet-like circles then switched to chaotically lunging back and forth as if avoiding punches in a boxing match. Shirtless for the majority of the show, his flailing body continued to suddenly freeze and strike stone cold poses. Tossing the T-shirt didn’t seem like a display of vanity but rather a mindless move for physical comfort. This was a workout after all.

People on the floor became performers themselves. Before the first lines on the opening track, hands held bodies horizontally in the air, and people surfed the crowd during almost every song. On the 58-second, “Canned Heat,” Lyons instructed everyone to stay off their feet, and they once again obeyed. Although a barricade held people back, one person managed to climb on top and flip into the crowd. They didn’t crash to the ground because it was packed tightly on the barricade. Moving as close as possible to the musicians was to endure the compression of bodies.

Meanwhile, the center of the room opened into a large circular mosh pit for brave souls to thrash limbs in all directions. Sweat drenched the bodies crashing into each other repeatedly. This wasn’t jumping up and down moshing; fists and elbows flew through the air, landing on anyone in their path. There were likely bruises on Saturday morning. The violent abyss wasn’t for everyone, so some retreated to the perimeters.

The band also threw in a few tunes for the longer-term listeners. Yates said that the first time they visited Minneapolis, they played material from the 2016 album Nonstop Feeling, so they dropped the song “Drop” into the setlist. The pop-punky “Blue by You,” a tune that Yates described as a love song, came from the same album. When he sang “I feel your energy and fall apart,” the audience could relate.

Before closing with “T.LC. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION),” Yates shared sentiments of appreciation including, “Thank you for being you.” Then he and the crowd sang/yelled, “I want to thank you for letting me be myself.” When a fan somehow found himself onstage, the musicians passed him a mic to sing along with them.

One last detail of the evening: Four bands played before Turnstile. Truth Cult, Ekulu, Ceremony, and Citizen opened the show with consistently rowdy crowds. For three and a half hours, the rock ‘n’ roll salute of an index finger up, middle fingers down, pinky up, and thumb tucked in filled the sold-out room.

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