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[electric guitar, bass & drums play rock]
(Gabe) 4onthefloor is a straightforward rock 'n' roll band.
We have a good time, and we hope people join us.
Two, two, two, hey, hey, hey, one, two.
I mean this band was started in the name of fun
and that's exactly what we try and bring,
bring merriment and camaraderie to a whole bunch of people that
hopefully paid some money to get into a show for us tonight.
Yeah, we're The 4onthefloor from Minnesota,
thank you all for comin' out.
[cheers & applause]
These songs will be in 4/4 time, thanks again
for being a part of an early evening with us,
we do appreciate that. Let's have some fun.
[guitar plays rock]
Well you just rolled in from out of town
Everything you thought up coming down
And you getting by on what might have been
Oh my!
Well every single thing you thought you had
Turns out it isn't so bad
But you got it babe
You had had all along
It's the same ol' song babe!
Whooo!
Keep it up!
Whooo!
(Jake) We do everything we can to get everyone engaged and
into the show and everything, and if they're into it, then
that's when we hit our groove, like
we feed off of their energy, that builds our energy up
and vice versa, and it just builds and builds.
(Nate) I want peoples' spines to tingle.
I'm trying to make everyone else feel even half as excited
as I'm feeling when I play my guitar.
Oh one more time babe!
Whooo!
(Gabe) When I look out into the audience and see people
getting into it, that's, that's what I play music for.
It's to connect with people.
I mean, there's a lot of really serious music out there,
I think, that has its place too,
but we're here to have a good time
and people should, should connect with that.
[guitar solo]
Well you almost won the lottery you almost won it all
You almost said forget it man forget it at all
But you didn't
You're coming up short so short
All those debts you thought repaid
Coming back want what you have
Hand it over babe
Pay the price they demand
And now you understand, baby
Whoooo!
Can't get enough
Whoooo!
For the taking honey
[guitar solo]
[applause & cheers]
[whistles, applause & cheers]
Yeah, 4onthefloor started as me and my buddy James
just jammin' in a vacant bedroom of my house
We started jammin', started, you know, stompin' out the beat
and songs grew from there
and then right before our first show,
I wanted to play bass drum and then I decided
everybody was going to play bass drum.
The thought was, let's all play bass drums,
let's make this like a Genghis Kahn like-- thump!
[guitar plays]
I remember reading about, you know,
people would flee villages, you know,
when Genghis, when his army was miles and miles away,
'cause you could hear him comin'.
And I can only imagine how scary that would be,
like being in some, you know, podunk village
and you just hear drums, and just relentless drums.
You know like you're tryin' to sleep or tryin' to work
or do anything, and there's just drums,
and like you know they're comin'
and they're comin' for you, like that's, that's scary.
I really want it to be a thing where the audience,
you could take the audience with you.
Like if, if four guys can somewhat keep the same beat,
they can, they can stomp along with ya'.
Like it's not rocket science music, this is stuff you can,
you can feel in your sternum.
[drums play a steady beat; guitar plays]
(singing) Undertow gonna get ya
Carry you off of your feet
Undertow gonna get you, girl
Carry you down to your knees
Oh testify your love
Test it sound and true
Testify your love, babe
See if it stands by you
Whooo!
Whooo!
Whooo!
Whooo!
Undertow gonna wreck ya
Carry you out to sea, babe
Undertow gonna wreck you, girl
Carry you straight down to me
Oh testify your love
Test it sound and true
Testify your love, babe
See if it stands by you
Keep on swimming, girl
Parallel to the shoreline
Keep on swimming now, girl, now girl
Everything gonna be alright
As long as you testify
Whooo!
Whooo!
Whooo!
Whooo!
Testify your love testify your love
Testify your love testify your love
Testify your love testify your love
Testify your love testify your love
You test it sound & true testify your love
See if it stands by you testify your love
Parallel to the shoreline testify your love
Everything'll be just fine testify your love
Way up in the mountaintops above testify your love
Down to the seabed below testify your love
You just testify your love testify your love
Everybody gotta know testify your love
Oh and testify your love
Test it sound & true
Testify your love, babe
See if it stands by you
Now we all testify
Whooo!
Whooo!
Whooo!
Whooo!
[loud cheers, applause & whistles]
[drums & guitar play the ending to Undertow]
[cheers, applause & whistles]
(Gabe) The end goal is to play music
sustainably, you know, have a base.
(John) I don't know what else I'd do.
(Nate) Yeah, I'm not good at anything else.
I mean, a lot of people, they look at what we're doing,
they're like man, I really wish that I could do what you guys are doing.
And I look them straight in the eye and I'm like, you can,
you just have to... (Try harder.)
You just have to do it, and a lot of people, you know,
they find their niche and they do their thing and they don't
save a lot of time for ah, for making music.
(Gabe) It's a choice that, it's hard for a lot of people
and I completely understand when folks can't do it,
'cause it's a, it's a grueling thing
and there's not a lotta payoff,
and the biggest payoff is you get to do what your passion is,
you get to be a part of it.
And I'm super content being a part of it,
even when it's hard to make ends meet.
What was the question?
(man) What's the biggest obstacle for bands right now?
(Gabe) I mean that's the funny thing, 'cause I feel like
when people ask that question, they think the hardest thing is
like trying to get signed, or getting people out to shows,
and it's like no it's not, you, if you make music that you love,
and you continually go out and make an effort at it,
you, you're gonna keep swinging, you're gonna keep,
you're gonna, you're gonna find some hits.
And you gotta jump off the cliff;
you can't be cozy in a cubicle 40 hours a week
and then be oh hey, I wanna, I wanna do this.
Like you gotta be all in, and that's hard for a lot of people.
I see problems down the line
[playing in a moderate tempo]
I know they're not mine
Don't wash the dirt off from your hands
Doing the same mistake twice
Making the same mistake twice
Come on over
Be so wise
It's not about compromising
I see problems down the line
I know they're not mine
[tempo increases]
I see problems down the line
I know they're not mine
Don't wash the dirt off from your knees
You're doing the same mistake twice
You're making the same mistake twice
Come on over
Be so blind
It's all about colonizing
I see problems down the line
I know that I'm right
(screaming) I know!
[guitar solo]
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Oh, oh, oh!
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
[tempo decreases]
Don't let the darkness eat you up
Don't let the darkness eat you up
[cheers, whistles & applause]
(Gabe) We play a lotta long shows.
There's certain shows where you really,
you push yourself to the limit. We played Ed's No-Name Bar,
I think it was like 106 degrees inside.
You're trying not to drip on all of your electronics,
you're sweating so much.
I don't have a typical day, but if I don't have a lot goin' on,
I'll wake up and make a smoothie and go for a bike ride,
spend a little bit of time writin'
or woodshedding my guitar,
trying to become a better guitar player.
(man) So what, what aspect of playing guitar
was always the hardest for you?
(Gabe) In the last five years I've become
a lot more confident in soloing.
I was never really a dude who liked taking a solo.
Also playing fast has never been a forte
or playing a lotta notes. I'm not wired that way.
(man) But you guys do some pretty fast...
Yeah, no, we, we play fast, I mean
you put an electric guitar in your hands,
and you want to be loud and fast some of the time.
A lot of times when we start going fast, I just,
I hold on for dear life, but that's alright.
[playing in very fast tempo]
(singing) When you goin' up to a red light it's always the same
You think you know her face but you don't know her name
When she's coming along and she told me where's she's been
(Gabe, talking) On Lake Street, during the weekends, you know,
you see so many people and you can kind of snapshot
somebody, envision their entire life story
based upon like the song they're singing along to,
or the person they're cursing out on the phone.
And you're tryin' to figure out where they all belong,
and we all belong together at the end of the day,
and that's kind of the big picture.
You don't need a spot to belong,
you just need to be a part of it.
(singing) Well looking like a victory you could taste
Flushed by Franzia and an almost disgrace
She's coming in clean coming in strong
By the time you get there you know where she's gone
Greenlight... and she gone
Yeah we all seem we seem to be
We move on!
[guitar solo]
Yeah we all seem we seem to be moving on
Yeah where exactly it is we all come from
Yeah we all are where we are we movin' on
Yeah we don't exactly know where we belong
[loud cheers, whistles & applause]
(man) What's the least fun about being in a band touring?
Waiting your turn to take the shower,
to use the shower in the hotel.
I'm gonna be the fourth one going in there
and all the towels have been used, and the floor is wet,
and there are hairs stuck to the wall.
That's the worst part about being in a touring band,
everything else rules.
(John) It's not an easy life, you know, I mean
you gotta hustle, you gotta work hard.
It can be so easy if you're just smart about it.
You don't, just don't live beyond your means and...
(Gabe) It's, yeah, I would say it's hard work.
It's the hardest work that I've ever had
and I love coming to work every day, which is the difference
I have with anything else I've ever done in my life.
I don't know, there's a lotta turns that I take now,
where I find a lotta dead ends, and you just turn around,
I mean, you just keep shootin', you just keep drivin'.
There's just a lotta, there's a lotta unknowns
and the way I kinda started this band was
let's see how big the oven is and let's put every pan on there
and just watch, and when the meal starts looking good,
just watch that pan a little more, and let the other ones
boil over if they have to, so-- it's a lotta trial and error.
[playing in slow tempo]
They got down when they shoulda got up
They got down when they shoulda got up
They got down when they shoulda been
Getting' back up again
[tempo increases]
Well she comes from the right side of town
And she always gonna lay her money right down
But she would never believe
And you would never see her again
[guitar solo]
Yeah, when the spring come everybody gonna go
And you know just exactly how these place showboats
Are where she going and where she been
But sometimes that woman will be your friend
But she doesn't misbehave
Oh she never misbehaves
But when the spring comes
She's bringing home the title again
Bring it home!
[guitar solo]
Oh when the summer come around
People gonna go to the park to the beach
To that old rock show everybody pay the bills
Everybody play your time
But you know she will still lay it on the line
Cuz she doesn't misbehave
Oh she never misbehave
But when the spring comes
She bringing home the title again
Oh she doesn't misbehave
Oh she never misbehave
But when the spring come
She's bringing home the title again
[loud whistles, cheers & applause]
(Gabe) I grew up in Stephen, Minnesota, it's a very small town
in north, northwest, west Minnesota.
It's population 709 at that point.
I wanted to be a drummer growing up,
and to be a drummer in 5th and 6th grade,
you had to take piano lessons, and I was not
taking piano lessons, so I could not be a drummer.
(man) So why wouldn't you take piano lessons?
I'm sure my mom and dad, they have different recollections,
but Marilyn, the only piano teacher in the area,
lived east of town, we lived west of town.
So I found my dad's guitar
and that summer I couldn't drive yet,
so I spent a lotta time out on the farm,
and I just played, just chords over and over and again.
I had like, you know, the cheesiest book ever,
it was like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,
and Row Your Boat, and Mary Had a Little Lamb.
You know, I made it a point to-- I'm gonna be able to go
between all these chords pretty fluidly by the end of summer.
And that was, that was my goal
and that's, that's what happened.
(man) Do you think growing up on a farm
has influenced how you approach music and songwriting?
I think growing up on a farm definitely had an effect on me,
but I think everything you do has an effect on you,
so, you know, to say the farm was a huge factor would just be
like well yeah, if you, if I lived
in a skyscraper growing up, that'd have been a huge factor.
Gabe finger-picking the guitar
Yeah, there's a lot of songs that, about gravel roads
and buddies picking you up or not picking you up.
Yeah, I write a lot of slow, you know, bluesy, you know,
feel sorry for me or feel sorry for somebody songs.
And then I write a lotta songs that are like well,
everybody come have a good time, like there's a lotta heavy stuff
that can weigh ya down in the world, like very easily,
and, you know, just be happy for the moment,
be happy for 2-1/2 minutes.
The 4onthefloor play a rock intro
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
We take it loose and then we making it right
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
We take it loose and then we making it right
Whoo whoo
Whoo whoo
All my friends they love to get down
They come from all of the small small towns
Nobody stays home nobody stays still
Everybody gets it goin' everybody gets their fill
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
We take it loose and then we making it right
Whoo whoo
Whoo whoo
Guitar!
guitar solo
Whoo whoo
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
We take it loose and then we making it right
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
All my friends coming out tonight
We take it loose and then we making it right
Whoo whoo
Whoo whoo
All my friends coming out tonight whoo whoo
All my friends coming out tonight whoo whoo
All my friends coming out tonight whoo whoo
We take it loose and then we making it right
loud cheers, applause & whistles
Whooo-hoo!
Thank you so much, we're The 4onthefloor.
What a beautiful night we have with us.
loud cheers, applause & whistles
(woman) This program is made possible by
The State's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
and the citizens of Minnesota.
orchestral fanfare