Day 3 of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival was Canal Park night (although technically only one of the four venues, Vikre, is in Canal Park proper). The pedestrian bridge to the DECC was down, making it a quick walk over to Amsoil Arena, with the rest of the evening's shows split between Superior Street venues Sir Benedict's Tavern and Dubh Linn Irish Pub.
Homegrown Public Service Announcment: Be advised-Homegrown attendees started posting about wrist bands that had fallen off and needed to be replaced. Whether this was an issue with just one batch of wristbands or all of them was unclear.
The Lindula Brothers kicked the night off with a bluegrassy set at Vikre. They played covers of Trampled by Turtles' "The Darkness and the Light" and Charlie Parr's "Over the Red Cedar," and talked about the influence those local artists have had on them. The also performed originals including "Part of Me Dies," which they said was inspired by a trip to Voyageurs National Park.
Laura Idle and Rose Spieler-Sandberg of the folk duo Idle Rose wore trash bags to start out their set at Sir Ben’s on Tuesday night. "We thought the theme was classy," Idle stated after their first song. The two then tore away the bags to reveal sparkly evening dresses garnering cheers from the packed venue. The music continued with harmonies so made-for-each-other that it was nearly impossible to differentiate which vocal part was coming from which singer.
At the DECC, the enthusiasm grew throughout the opening set by Gnarwals. The hard rockers dabbled in a bit of everything: intros with a Polynesian flair, vocals stripped from the pages of punk, math rock moments, as well as a steady backbeat for a guest appearance by Willie Diction and C-Silence (both also performed later with the BOOG3YM3N). The polite golf claps from early in the set were transformed to an eruption of whoos by the end.
Merrill Miller mentioned he’d never been to Vikre before his show there. Accompanied by a bassist, he played guitar and shared songs and stories about his terrible luck with vehicles and his relationship with his dad, among other things inspired by his life. He ended with a blues song, joking that it was a requirement for someone who grew up in Mississippi.
Back at Sir Ben's, everything about Sugar on the Roof, from their outfits to the microphone, was a blast from the past. The band described their evolution as "we started as a string band, became a swing band, now we're a stwring band." The venue was packed with patrons in front of and behind the stage, including Tom and Brandy of Four Mile Portage, who were treated to a cover of one of their songs. Fiddler Clancy Ward, who played bass in rock duo Dirt Magnet the night before and has multiple Homegrown performances still to come, joked that he'd give a car to the person who could make it to all his shows.
Next up at Amsoil Arena, it was hip-hop collective BOOG3YM3N. Their set included "Graveyard Shift," the title track from their most recent album, plus a song speculating how many video games you can rap about. They brought special guests Tarli and the Tribe from Minneapolis on stage, and an audience member was kind enough to tie emcee Willie Diction's shoe when it came undone.
Back at Sir Ben's, Big Into, which is normally a duo, performed as a trio with the addition of Dave Mold on bass. The three were dressed in Hawaiian shirts and played their hearts out to the small venue, keeping the audience rocking and dancing along to the performance,which included a song about Cheez-its.
Rockers NVR TGTHR had to bow out of their scheduled slot following BOOG3YM3N at Amsoil Arena, and their replacement was popular local country singer/songwriter Austin Castle. It made for an eclectic night of music, from hip-hop to country to metal, and it was fun to see fans sporting Torment, the closing hard rock band's, merch bopping to Castle's country tracks. Original songs "North Carolina," "Saratoga," and "Creek Water" were in the mix, and Castle finished his set with a cover of Christ Stapleton's "Midnight Train to Memphis." Austin also played songs from his forthcoming new album.
Downtown at Dubh Linn, Wes Hadrich let his story-telling alt-country songs tinged with melancoly speak for themselves. He played a solo set of originals from his many years in Duluth’s music scene mixed with covers by the likes of Uncle Tupelo to an appreciative audience.
Finishing the night at Amsoil Arena, metal band Torment played music from their new EP The Pain, including "I am the Problem," Their set inspired moshing and crowd surfing, and the band made a point between songs of encouraging fans to keep things safe.
Meanwhile, Nate J.Mattson was next at Dubh Linn, using an array of synths in contrast to his predecessor Wes Hadrich’s acoustic guitar. “My music is different from the last guy,” he joked, “but it’s still kind of sad.” He crafted songs with simple note patterns played over backing beats with some spoken word to top it off. As his set went on the beats got heavier, sending vibrations into the crowd and getting one woman to the front of the stage to show off her dance moves; other audience members soon followed.
Duluth native Kayla K’s set to end the night at Dubh Linn felt like a party, with an entourage of friends and family filling the room and cheering her on throughout. Local rapper MN Moder was on hand to give her a warm introduction and mentioned how hard she’d been working to put together this set. The hard work was evident from the moment she jumped on stage and announced, “my name is Kayla K, welcome to my city, let’s shut this sh*t down!” A sea of camera phones captured her confident wordplay and dance moves. MN Moder came back up for a couple of songs, Kayla brought her brother up to perform and invited a dancer onstage as well. As she left the stage, the crowd chanted “Kayla K! Kayla K!”
At the end of the night the DECC hosted a kind-of-secret show on the stage of Symphony Hall as they did with Cars and Trucks back in 2022. The show itself was posted on the DECC's website with instructions how to get there; however, they did manage to keep the performers under wraps until later in the evening. Dead End Friends was the lucky band, who entertained the late-night crowd with a set that included covers of Hüsker Dü's "Don't Wanna Know if You are Lonely" and Reel Big Fish's "Beer." Those who couldn't stay up that late on a Tuesday will have a second chance to see the band on Saturday at the Duluth Flame Nightclub.
