Review and Photos: Hinds at 7th St Entry 5/16/18

It’s not unusual for touring artists to laude Minneapolis and St. Paul for their welcoming audiences. However, despite their Minnesota Nice attitude, Minnesota crowds have a tendency to remain fairly stoic at shows, merely bobbing their heads or tapping their feet. But at 7th Street Entry last night, the crowd didn’t hold back as they danced, moshed, and popped champagne with Spanish indie-rock band Hinds.

Hinds was joined by two opening acts: Minneapolis-native Tights, and Toronto-based Goodbye Honolulu. Tights kicked off the night with upbeat rock songs filled with fuzzy guitar riffs, rich barre chords, and vocal harmonies. Audience members trickled in as they played, and by halfway through their set, the venue was packed for the night’s sold-out show.

Goodbye Honolulu took the stage next, wearing matching monogrammed jackets. The band had the audience dancing to their punk-infused garage rock. Hinds drummer Amber Grimbergen cheered them on from the audience.

After the openers’ sets, the audience was buzzing with excitement for Hinds. The stage was decorated with silk flowers that rested on guitar amps and on top of the kick drum. A rose was clipped onto the headstock of Carlotta Cosials’ guitar and a sticker was pasted behind the tailpiece that read “girls are awesome.” Through the slit in the curtain at the back of the stage, I could see Hinds join together in a pump-up huddle before they stepped on stage.

Hinds opened their set with “The Club,” the first track off their new album, I Don’t Run. Throughout their set they played a number of tracks off the album such as “Soberland,” “Rookie,” and “New For You,” as well as some songs from earlier in their discography.

Although Hinds, who are from Madrid, have toured the US before, this was their first time in Minneapolis. The band had the crowd dancing from the beginning of their set, and a mosh pit formed near the front of the stage. Hinds also showed off their dance moves as Ade, Ana, and Carlotta swayed their guitars and danced in synch to “Caribbean Moon.”

Ana shared how excited she is to be back touring in the US and how great it is to see so many girls at their shows. “Since we’ve been here we’ve been having a lot of girls in the front,” she said.

The show’s energy built throughout the night, and as Hinds played “Tester,” the audience was dancing and screaming the lyrics along with the band. Halfway through the song, an audience member popped a bottle of champagne, which erupted into the crowd and was passed to the band on stage.

Hinds brought Goodbye Honolulu back out on stage to perform the song “Davey Crockett” with them, wrapping up their set. After a quick reprise, the band returned on stage for a three-song encore.