Wednesday, categorized as an American alternative rock group, with their opener Gouge Away, played at First Avenue in Minneapolis on March 26th, 2026, ironically on a Thursday. The opening band includes Christina Michelle: Vocals, Mick Ford: Guitar, Theo Hartlett: Guitar, Tyler Forsythe: Bass, and Thomas "Tommy" Cantwell: Drums. They have been a band for 14 years but expanded their sound recently with their 2024 album deepdive and added the new guitarist Theo Hartlett in 2026. 

Nine years strong, Wednesday has been around since 2017. The band consists of Karly Hartzman: Lead vocals and rhythm guitar, MJ Lenderman: Lead guitar and backing vocals, Xandy Chelmis: Pedal steel and lap steel guitar, Alan Miller: Drums, and Ethan Baechtold: Bass guitar and piano. On the Bleeds tour, MJ Lenderman is focusing on his solo career and did not play with the band. His substitute is guitarist Jack Pugh, or “Spyder” as a stage name. Wednesday came on a little after 9 pm, playing mostly from their new album “Bleeds”.

Upon arrival, I noticed there were a lot more older people than I assumed would be at the show.  Gouge Away opened with the track Idealized. I really enjoyed this song. It has about 20 to 30 seconds of drums and guitar in a grungy tone and then it shifts to a slower melody type of beat where she can sing and jumps between the different rhythms. A lot of their songs go in and out of different types of rhythms. They sometimes have a hard core rock vibe and sometimes a more calming slower beat. I couldn't really hear what the lead singer was singing word for word, but it was clear when the big screaming parts came in. About halfway throughout the set she paused to address the crowd, letting us know what a big inspiration Minnesota has been for the whole world, and how strong we've been with everything happening in the city. They also mentioned they had raised around $6,000 to help immigration organizations and fight back against what has happened. This really uplifted the crowd. You could see a lot of people getting emotional and also very proud of what we have done as a community. Jumping back into the music, they played one of my favorite songs which was Maybe Blue from their 2024 album. The crowd was already moshing earlier but my friend and I were not in the mix yet. They had amazing chemistry on stage. The lead singer was jumping around dancing and used a technique when singing where she would take the microphone away and then back towards her mouth again so that it felt like it was coming from all around. 

After our brief intermission from Gouge Away we anticipated Wednesday coming on stage. I was shocked at how many people who looked to be in their 40s were in the standing area, but I loved to see it. As soon as they came on you could tell the audience was already enjoying themselves listening to the music. They opened with Reality TV Argument Bleeds. I really liked how they sounded live and I was happy to see they were a band that performs well. They had an amazing set up on stage with three paintings and two smaller ones on either side. The main painting was their album cover with a gold vintage looking frame. They also had some dolls on stools displayed around the stage. Having this added ambiance to the stage really made it feel more personalized and I really enjoyed looking around the stage to see what else was there. When the lead singer brought out her guitar it was covered completely in buttons, giving it a kid-like appeal as if it was stickered diamonds on a frame or page. 

During the first couple songs the mosh pit was not too crazy but definitely opened up for a lot of the show and was quite continuous. Out of all the mosh pits I have been in, it was definitely the most polite one. It got hot and a little smelly at times depending on who was near but mosh pits are fun because you can easily move through the crowd. A few people decided it was their time to crowd-surf supported by a very rowdy crowd that was just looking to have fun. People were all singing along and jumping around. There was a lot of blurred hair being thrown up and down when looking through to the stage. Not a phone in site, a lot of people chose not to film for most of the show. I think this also helps the environment. I had a hard time enjoying the show at points because of some of the people around me sticking to me. 

A lot of their songs felt like a more southern gothic feel to them then alternative rock, but they definitely mix in between the categories with some songs having some twang and a southern music type of feel. I noticed this the most in Grays II and Phish Pepsi, with the more rock coming out in Candy Breath and the closing song Bull Believer. They came out saying “F*ck ICE” and that art is political. This show was such a good experience and really felt as if you were being taken into their album and them as a sound.  

Show Review: Eva Karner 
Photos: Miriam Black