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Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Five takeaways from Machine Gun Kelly's pop-up show in downtown Indianapolis
Machine Gun Kelly had some tricks up his sleeve for downtown Indianapolis: a special performance with details divulged at the 11th hour. The rapper-turned-pop-punker surprised downtown with a pop-up show at Turner's Bar and Grill Aug. 12. The announcement came only hours before doors opened in an email to fans who signed up for show details. Pop punk pop-up: Machine Gun Kelly performing at downtown Indianapolis bar tonight Kelly's stop is part of a string of guerilla shows billed as the lost xx road trip: a handful of events across the Midwest and the West Coast with no listed address or time on Kelly's website. The artist known on paper as mgk kicked off the mini tour, supporting his new album 'lost americana,' at Hey Hey Bar and Grill in Columbus Aug. 11. He heads to unlisted locations in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Los Angeles Aug. 13, 14 and 15. The lost xx road trip comes on the heels of last weekend's MGK Day events: a festival in the rocker's hometown of Cleveland that included a sold-out performance, a skateboarding exhibition, a streetball-style basketball game and a themed bar crawl, among other activities. The celebration marked the release of 'lost americana,' which dropped Aug. 8. Here are five takeaways from Kelly's turn at Turner's: Between Kelly's string of DIY shows and his pop punk brethren The All-American Rejects (Gainbridge Fieldhouse Nov. 2!) setting up shop at house parties across the country, spur-of-the-moment performances are having a moment. Fans have welcomed both tours with enthusaism, thrilled with the prospect of partying with their favorite musicians up close instead of being separated by a stage and seating. The shows represent a refreshing return to form that punctuates the intimacy of live music, especially for a genre so rooted in makeshift gigs. Now, if only someone could talk Beyoncé into a house show series for Act III... In the words of a great prophet, 'Real G's move in silence like lasagna.' If we're to believe this, then the staff at Turner's has homemade sauce and breadcrumbs on top. Turner's didn't respond to requests for comment in time for publication, but they did a good job of keeping the show under wraps. From the looks of it, they had only hours to set up and had to accommodate a crowd that at least tripled the venue's capacity. Indianapolis' top 40 radio station, 99.5 WZPL, was also seemingly in on the secret, hosting a ticket giveaway on the day of the show. A surprise show is a neat concept, but one that has the potential to go south quickly. This one seemed to go off without a hitch. A white 'lost americana' trucker hat; a flowing white shirt open to what at first appears to be some kind of mesh body suit but is actually his fully tatted torso; custom jeans declaring 'Kelly' hanging low enough to expose his tighty whities and modest bling to top it all off — Kelly looked the part of a rock star, and he played it too. Tracks from his new album were plentiful, but he didn't shortchange fans on the hits, breaking out fan favorites like 'forget me too,' 'I Think I'm OK,' and 'why are you here.' He even treated the crowd to a mashup acoustic set capped with popular track 'bloody valentine' and threw it back to his rap catalog with 'el Diablo.' Even the newer material had familiar tunes baked in to them. 'Starman' interpolates Third Eye Blind's 'Semi-Charmed Life,' and 'Lonely Road,' his duet with country music breakout Jelly Roll, gives the same treatment to John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads.' Nary a video was captured without the sound of the crowd screaming every word. For a pop culture reporter, 'finger on the pulse' is pretty much top of the job description. But sometimes, you miss the mark: I severely underestimated how hard folks ride for Machine Gun Kelly. IndyStar's review of his 2022 Ruoff Music Center stop should've tipped me off, but I wasn't sure enthusiasm still ran high three years later. Mea Culpa. The people love this man. When I swung by Turner's to scope out the scene two hours before doors opened, there was already a line down the block. His car was met with waves and cheers as it pulled up to the venue. The crowd sardine'd itself into the bar, spilled out through the open garage and even gathered outside the venue's window just to catch a glimpse and hear the set through the glass. A semi-viral clip of Kelly gifting his 16-year-old daughter a car at last weekend's MGK Day festival in Cleveland and his almost-successful attempts to maneuver around the Sydney Sweeny dating rumors have garnered him major goodwill, and the back-to-basics approach of these pop-ups are stoking that fire.
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Pop punk pop-up: Machine Gun Kelly performing at downtown Indianapolis bar tonight
Check your inbox, Indianapolis: Tonight will be rocking. Pop punk performer Machine Gun Kelly announced a Aug.12 pop-up performance at Turner's Bar, located at 1060 N. Capitol Ave., about four hours before doors were slated to open for the 7:30 p.m. performance. Only fans who had signed up for the show received an email about the details. Turner's hinted at the show in an Instagram post shared at around 10 a.m. A line of concertgoers stretched up 10th Street and into the alleyway of The Stutz building by 4:30 p.m. 'Closed until 6:30,' the post reads, 'but then we will get a little weird.' Kelly's stop is part of a string of guerilla shows billed as the lost xx road trip: a handful of events across the Midwest and the West Coast with no listed address or time on Kelly's website. He kicked off the mini tour, supporting his new album 'lost americana,' at Hey Hey Bar and Grill in Columbus yesterday, and he'll head to unlisted locations in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Los Angeles Aug. 13, 14 and 15. A rapper in a past life, the artist born Colson Baker and known on paper as mgk was one of the faces of a considerable pop punk revival at the beginning of the decade. Taking a cue from Bob Dylan (who narrated the trailer for his new album), Kelly went electric in 2020 with 'Tickets To My Downfall' and has since released two more albums anchored on guitars and drums. The lost xx road trip comes on the heels of last weekend's MGK Day events: a festival in the rocker's hometown of Cleveland that included a sold-out performance, a skateboarding exhibition, a streetball-style basketball game and a themed bar crawl, among other activities. The celebration marked the release of 'lost americana,' which dropped Aug. 8. Kelly isn't a stranger to the Indianapolis area. His 2022 Mainstream Sellout Tour included a stop at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, where he entered the venue dangling from a prop helicopter.
