Minnesota Yacht Club - Day One - St. Paul MN - July 18th 2025

Minnesota Yacht Club live on July 18th 2025 staring Hozier, Alabama Shakes, Sheryl Crow and more.

Review and photos by Kyle Hansen

From the moment Gigi Perez stepped onto the stage at Harriet Island, it was clear she wasn’t just there to open the day—she came to make a statement. Backed by a tight three-piece band and framed by a glowing mid-afternoon sun, her set was a raw, emotional ride through heartbreak, identity, and resilience.

Vocals & Presence
Perez’s voice—smoky, vulnerable, but with sudden bursts of power—carried effortlessly across the festival grounds. She has a unique ability to hover just above a whisper and then, without warning, break into a full-bodied wail that silences a crowd. Dressed in an oversized blazer and Doc Martens, she cut a striking figure—gritty, poetic, effortlessly cool.

Setlist & Highlights
Opening with “Please Be Rude,” a brooding alt-rock ballad with echoes of early Radiohead and Snail Mail, she immediately pulled the crowd into her emotional space. Mid-set, “Fable” drew audible reactions—phones went up, people mouthed the lyrics. But the peak came with “Sailor Song,” her unofficial queer anthem, which she introduced with a simple: “This one’s for anyone who ever felt like they didn’t belong.” The crowd roared. That singalong was pure catharsis.

Audience Connection
Despite being relatively early in the day, she had one of the more engaged audiences of the afternoon. You could feel it—the kind of hush that only comes when a crowd is actually listening. At one point, a fan yelled, “We love you, Gigi!” and she grinned, visibly moved. “I love you back,” she said. It didn’t feel like a performer talking to a crowd—it felt like a peer addressing a community.

Musicianship & Band
The arrangements were tight but never overly polished. Her lead guitarist brought subtle flourishes, while the drummer kept things moody but driving. There was a sense of space in her music—melancholic but full of momentum, like something blooming and breaking all at once.

Final Thoughts
Gigi Perez didn’t just play a set—she told a story. Vulnerable, fierce, and magnetic, she left the stage with the kind of quiet triumph that doesn’t need fireworks. Just truth. For many in that crowd, especially queer and femme-presenting festivalgoers, she wasn’t just a new artist—they saw themselves reflected back.

Sheryl Crow, a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer with over three decades of hits, brought veteran swagger and sun-drenched charm to the banks of the Mississippi River on Day 1 of the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival. Performing just before the headliner (Hozier), she turned the golden hour into a feel-good singalong session—and reminded everyone why her songs have stood the test of time.

Setlist & Highlights
Crow kicked off her set with “Steve McQueen,” drawing an immediate response from the multi-generational crowd. From there, it was a greatest-hits parade: “All I Wanna Do,” “My Favorite Mistake,” “Soak Up the Sun,” and the . Her duet version of “Everyday Is a Winding Road,” with her backing guitarist on harmony, was a standout—joyful, loose, and heartfelt.

She even slipped in a newer track—“The New Normals” released today which got polite attention, though the crowd clearly came to hear the classics.

Crowd Connection
Crow was in classic form: gracious, laid-back, cracking jokes between songs, doing lots of Prince screams, and clearly enjoying herself.

Band & Sound
Her band was seasoned, tight, and stylish—no surprise for a performer of her caliber. The sound mix was clean, the vocals sat perfectly in the blend, and the subtle pedal steel and Hammond B3 flourishes added a nostalgic country-soul flavor.

Atmosphere
There was something magical about hearing Sheryl Crow perform “Strong Enough” as the sun dipped behind the city skyline, breeze rolling off the river. It wasn’t flashy or overproduced—it was timeless. Parents swayed with kids, millennials mouthed lyrics from road trip memories, and strangers exchanged knowing smiles at every chorus.

Final Thoughts
While Crow didn’t reinvent the wheel, she didn’t need to. Her performance was a masterclass in authenticity and staying power. She gave the crowd exactly what they wanted: familiar songs sung with grace, grit, and zero pretension. At a festival where younger, up-and-coming artists were proving themselves, Sheryl Crow reminded everyone what it looks like when you’ve already done that—and done it well.

When Father John Misty took the stage just as sunset settled over the festival grounds, the entire atmosphere seemed to shift. Equal parts philosopher, rockstar, and jaded lounge singer, Josh Tillman delivered a set that was immersive, theatrical, and steeped in cynicism — but never short on beauty.

Father John Misty doesn’t just sing his songs — he inhabits them. From the first track (“I Guess Time Just MakesFools of Us All”), his lanky figure moved with a calculated slouch, like a man weighed down by the absurdities he’s spent a career dissecting. Dressed in a tailored black suit and tinted sunglasses, he looked like a cult leader with a house band — and the audience was all in.

“Nancy From Now On” was tender and swooning, with its mariachi-flavored horns recreated by his tight backing band.
“Mr. Tillman” got huge cheers — his self-deprecating charm in full swing.
He closed with “Mahashmashana”, delivering it with romantic grandeur and total sincerity — a rare moment where irony gave way to open-hearted emotion.

There was also a new song, untitled, mid-set — a melancholic waltz with lyrics about AI-generated love letters and “God’s blue checkmark.” The audience didn’t know it, but leaned in anyway.

The band was impeccable. Grand piano, vintage synths, brushed drums, reverb-drenched guitars — the arrangements were lush and cinematic. The whole set felt like stepping into a Wes Anderson version of an indie rock opera.

This wasn’t a mosh pit crowd — it was a head-nodding, lyric-murmuring, wine-sipping kind of audience. And Misty held them rapt. No over-the-top pyrotechnics or gimmicks. Just a man with a sharp pen, a silver tongue, and a golden voice.

Father John Misty’s show wasn’t just a concert — it was performance art. Wry, romantic, existential, and oddly spiritual, it left the crowd both entertained and a little emotionally dismantled. It’s not every day a musician makes you question your relationship to irony, capitalism, and your parents — while you’re dancing.

In other words: classic Misty.

After a long hiatus, Alabama Shakes roared back onto the scene at the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival with a set that was equal parts revival, revelation, and riot. For fans who hadn’t seen the band perform together in years, this wasn’t just a concert — it was a resurrection.

Led by the powerhouse force of nature that is Brittany Howard, Alabama Shakes stepped onto the main stage at golden hour and never let the energy dip. Howard—dressed in a flowing black skirt—was pure magnetism. Her voice, a storm of gospel, rock, and soul, hasn’t lost a bit of its seismic force.

They opened with “Don’t Wanna Fight”, and from the first fuzzed-out guitar riff, the crowd was all in. The band sounded tighter than ever—gritty, swampy, and locked-in, with that signature Alabama mix of Southern groove and psychedelic bite.

Setlist Highlights

“Gimme All Your Love” built slowly, almost prayer-like, then exploded into full-blown transcendence. People were swaying, eyes closed, completely transported.
“Hold On”, the band’s breakthrough hit, became a cathartic shout-along. The crowd sang every word like a mantra.
A surprise inclusion of “This Feeling” brought a soulful hush over the audience — delicate, aching, and raw.
Brittany even hinted at new material, slipping in a rootsy, gospel-soaked ballad that had fans buzzing. Could a new album be on the way?

It was a diverse, multigenerational audience—Gen Z newcomers, longtime indie fans, and plenty of folks who clearly spun Sound & Color on vinyl since 2015. And they were locked in. There was something electric in the air: the sense of witnessing something rare and maybe even historic.

By the time they closed with “Gimmie All Your Love”, backed by a wash of ambient synths and cathedral-like lights, it felt more like a spiritual experience than a rock show.

The band’s blend of raw blues, vintage soul, and spacey psychedelia is unmatched. New drummer and bassist Zac Cockrell were a rhythmic forcefield. The guitars soared, stung, and melted. And Howard’s vocal range? Still jaw-dropping — from delicate falsetto to full-throttle gospel wail in a single breath.

Alabama Shakes didn’t just return — they reclaimed their space. In a festival lineup stacked with talent, their set was the one everyone was talking about on the walk back to the parking lot. A glorious, defiant reminder that soul-rock is alive, and Brittany Howard is still one of the most compelling front women of her generation.

If this was a preview of more to come, the world better get ready.

As the final act of Day 1 at Minnesota Yacht Club, Hozier didn’t just perform—he enchanted. Against the backdrop of the Mississippi River and a lavender dusk, the Irish singer-songwriter delivered a sweeping, cinematic set full of poetic fire, emotional weight, and spiritual resonance.

Dressed in white shirt and brown jacket with his signature unruly curls and quiet intensity, Hozier took the stage like a man summoned from some Gaelic myth. His voice—rich, resonant, effortlessly expressive—was flawless throughout, drifting from tender whisper to volcanic belt without losing its warmth.

The set leaned heavily on Unreal Unearth, his 2023 concept album rooted in Dante’s Inferno, and the 2024 Unheard EP. But he wove in older hits with care, crafting a journey that felt intentional.

Highlights:

Opening with “Nobody’s Soldier”, he set a tone that was both grounded and otherworldly

“Like Real People Do” had the entire park in a sway, with couples spinning under the stars and fans singing every word like scripture.
“From Eden” was a showstopper, performed with balletic grace and thunderous climax.
“Too Sweet” closed the set and nearly brought the crowd to its knees—massive, anthemic, deeply cathartic.
Mid-set, he offered a haunting, stripped-down version of “Cherry Wine”, alone with his guitar. You could hear the river breeze between the notes. He did stop once to check on someone who passed out.

It wasn’t just a concert—it was a feeling. Lanterns flickered, the skyline glowed, and the air was thick with reverence. Hozier spoke only occasionally but always meaningfully—acknowledging the crowd’s energy, the beauty of the space, and his gratitude for being back in the Midwest.

His touring band was pitch-perfect: strings, gospel-style backing vocals, harp, percussion—the arrangements were lush, dynamic, and full of texture. Special mention to the cellist, whose mournful solos added an aching elegance to “Work Song” which he brought Gigi Perez on stage with him.

Hozier’s set at Minnesota Yacht Club wasn’t loud or flashy—it was sacred, soulful, and spellbinding. In a weekend of high-energy acts, he delivered something rare: a musical experience that felt deeply human and gorgeously transcendent.

Unfortunately he had to close early due to lightning and rain. So we didn’t get to go to Church.