Rock from the Heart featuring the Spin Doctors – Palace Theater – St. Paul MN – February 22nd 2025

Rock from the Heart featuring the Spin Doctors (with Aortic Fire) – February 22, 2025 at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, MN

Review and photos by Jim Zons

On Saturday night, February 22, musicians came together to help raise awareness and funds for aortic disease prevention and education during the “Rock from the Heart” benefit concert at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul.

First on the stage in this historic venue was the Rock from the Heart house band calling itself “Aortic Fire.”  Aortic Fire is made up of musicians whose own lives were given a second chance as survivors of heart surgery and aortic disease research.  Think of them almost like a super group cover band with three guitarists, a bass player, keyboards, drums and two female vocalists.  They did a variety of cover songs ranging from the 70s to the 2000s with tunes by the White Stripes, Bad Company, KISS, Head East and more.  Special guest Gina Schock from the Go-Go’s joined them for three of the Go-Go’s biggest hits, and that was a special treat.

After a short break, it was time for the evening’s headliner: the Spin Doctors. The Spin Doctors have been around since the late 1980s, and feature three of the four original members: lead vocalist Chris Barron, Aaron Comess on drums and Eric Schenkman on guitar. Interestingly, original bass player Mark White was fired by the band in 2019 when he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and was replaced by touring bassist Jack Daley.

The Spin Doctors are back on the road after releasing their first single in twelve years, so they did a number of tracks from the forthcoming studio album “Full of Cake” including the track “Still A Gorilla” which represents a truly different, more alternative rock sound for this band (Rolling Stone Magazine gives the song an enthusiastic thumbs up … and I do too!) Otherwise, most of the set featured the band’s unique blend pop, funk and alternative rock sound that they are known for spanning several decades of hits going back to their “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” album in 1991, including their biggest hits: “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and chart topper “Two Princes.” It was a fun evening of great music for a super cause and a night well spent!