Sunday night brought thousands of people to the legendary corner of 1st Avenue & 7th Street in Downtown Minneapolis for a multitude of reasons. Some were simply passing by, celebrating the news that the Timberwolves had finally fired their awful GM/Coach Tom Thibodeau after their game with the Los Angeles Lakers at Target Center. Many were rushing into the sold-out First Avenue mainroom to watch whatever was left of David Arquette these days fight another grown man inside of a WWE-style wrestling ring at WRESTLEPALOOZA XIV.

The best decision anyone could have made on that corner, however, was joining me, and about 200 of what felt like my closest friends, inside the packed walls of The Entry in an effort to see some Twin Cities punk powerhouses do what they do best.

The Entry was already congested, with the crowd overflowing into the entrance as we arrived. Harpers Jar was just finishing up what felt like an incredibly energetic set as we made our way over to the bar. After retrieving drinks and finding a non-occupied spot to stand, the band was introducing their final song of the night. Although I wasn’t able to catch too much of the performance, the support they have in the Twin Cities was clear, and the music spoke for itself.

Next up was a trio of ladies – Emily, Bella, and Danielle – hailing from St. Paul who call themselves Bruise Violet. They describe their sound as “angry, harmonic, grunge-punk” and derive their sound from the roots of the Riot Grrrl movement.

The girls play loud, fast, and angry, all while wearing dresses and looking as feminine as possible on stage. Watching the three of them harmonizing with each other while violently slamming guitar riffs and snare drums was quite the sight to see. It’s like Broadway meets Bikini Kill. Simply put, these ladies absolutely crushed it. Their entire set was pure energy from start to finish, and you can tell they thoroughly enjoy every single second of being on stage and performing together.

They keep the crowd involved while tuning their instruments in-between songs, mostly by sharing the odd names they give songs while working on the demos, as well as giving insight into the inspiration of each song. After the pleasantries, though, it’s right back to Danielle counting in “One, Two, Fuck, You!” and we are off to the races again. These three ladies have quite the future ahead of them, and I look forward to being able to watch them thrive in this amazing local music scene.

The headliner of the evening was another trio from St. Paul, an emo/punk band named Niiice. consisting of Sage Livergood, Roddie Gadeberg, and Abe Anderson. Their performance on Sunday night at The Entry was their “Homecoming Performance” after spending the last few weeks out on the road with another Twin Cities favorite, Gully Boys.

The common theme among performers on this bill was energy, and right off the bat, Niiice. made a point of continuing that. While the riffs were heavy and the vocals were loud, every piece of their performance was fine-tuned and technical, an ode to the rough around the edges yet refined style of writing they have.

In between the first few songs on the night, front man Roddie Gadeberg was at a bit of a loss for words for the support the crowd was showing the band: “This is the most amount of people who have actually paid attention to us for this long before.” He continued on to say, “This is so fucking cool!”

Niiice. even had the crowd split and create a Wall Of Death at one point, which is quite ambitious inside the incredibly small 7th St Entry. The crowd happily followed along, though, and slammed into each other like Monday morning wasn’t waiting to catch us all off guard in eight short hours.

Simply put, nobody left The Entry on Sunday night without a smile on their face and some beer spilled all over their back, and to me, that’s evidence of another spectacular punk rock show.