At 6:50 pm, Raisa and I had completed our long journey to the Triple Rock Social Club. It took walking through underground passageways, misguided directions from Google Maps, and braving the blustery weather. Much to our disappointment, the door was locked. We peered through the dark windows––not a soul in sight.
“Shoot, doors must not open until 7:30.”
“What now…”
“We could hang out in the African grocery store.”
So we spent the next 40 minutes inside of the African grocery store. Strolling around the aisles, we practiced our Arabic by reading just about every packaged and canned food item on the shelves.
“California beans...”
“Cumin… cinnamon––wow, that’s a lot of honey.”
“What does filfil mean?”
“Oh it means pepper––Moroccan sardines!”
“Chicken biryani––nailed it!”
After finishing our Arabic practice session, we loitered amongst the shelves and filled the last twenty minutes with conversation. Finally, around 7:30 we snuck out of the store and walked back to the music venue.
Once we were admitted into the club, we sat on the edge of the stage and conversed for yet another hour. If you really want to know, we talked about cultural differences between the Middle East and East Asia, conflicting viewpoints between the cultures we belong in, white feminism, and boys, among other things.
Around 8:30 the opening act, Gavin James, presented himself. James is an on-the-rise singer songwriter from Dublin. I’ll admit I had no idea who he was––but I was rather impressed when I read that he had toured with Marina & the Diamonds, Ingrid Michaelson, and Lianne La Havas, among others. Not to mention he won the Irish Choice Music Prize Award for ‘Song of the Year’.
But needless to say, I was captivated by him from the beginning. Strumming away at his guitar and crooning, I couldn’t help but think to myself, this would be great if I had a cute guy with me. There was something so honest and sweet in his words and the chords he strummed. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. For his last song, he played a cover of Ray Charles’ “You Don’t Know Me”––plot twist, he unplugged his guitar, hopped off the stage, and played in the middle of the floor. The intimate nature of it all was just great.
During the intermission, Raisa and I turned to each other.
“That could’ve been so romantic.”
“Yep. I need a boyfriend.”
“A cute guy would’ve been nice––but I get Raisa... I guess it’ll have to do for now.”
“Hah.”
We filled the break with a conversation about slightly bitter singlehood, self-fulfilling prophecies, and rebellious parents.
Before long, the background music turned off, the band took the stage, and Seinabo Sey stepped up to the microphone. She opened up with “Pistols at Dawn”–– a good way to set the tone. Right from the get-go and throughout the whole performance she exuded confidence. There was a mysterious quality about her that really excited me. Maybe it was the way she swayed back and forth, the gestures she made with her hands, or even the way she would raise one eyebrow, smile, and look into the crowd like they have no idea what’s coming at them. Although her stage presence was commanding and powerful, there were moments when she showed her gentle side. Overall, the performance hung onto a delicate balance between suspense and romance.
To briefly sum up Sey’s music, it is a combination of edgy, dark, and mysterious. Following the release of her singles “Younger”, “Hard Time”, and “Pistols at Dawn”, the expertly trained Gambian Swedish singer’s sophisticated and modern sound received much attention across the globe (fun fact: she performed at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize concert). Her music assumes a complexity similar to that of the human spirit; perhaps that’s why it’s so easy to gravitate towards it. As her collaborator Magnus Lidehäll put it, she’s unique in that she’s believable when she sings. Her music is honest, raw, and although seemingly dark, empowering. There were many great parts to the show, but some of my favorite parts in between the beginning and end were her performances of “Hard Time” and a couple of tracks from the new album (she didn’t really mention their names).
Before wrapping up the show, Sey shared some wise words with the audience: “If you’re one of those lucky people that know what they want in life, please try… There are people who are searching for something.” After all, she’s from a small town in Sweden and here she was halfway across the globe performing, in all places, Minneapolis. It was essentially a carpe diem type of speech, but without the cheesiness. Following her soapbox moment, she concluded with her debut single, “Younger”.
In conclusion, attending the Seinabo Sey show was one of the best ways to spend a Thursday night. Definitely worth the ten bucks (I almost felt like I was paying too little to see her). It was pretty miserable getting back to my dorm, but totally worth it. Oh, and I might have ripped a concert poster off a window and taken it back with me.
