“Minneapolis, are you fucking ready?” was a sentiment repeated many times throughout the evening of May 9th at the iconic Armory venue, and the city of Minneapolis was indeed very ready to rock. Fans of UK rock star Yungblud eagerly lined the sidewalks of Sixth Street waiting for their chance to witness part of the Idols World Tour. What initially seemed to be a chilly and grey day quickly turned tides as it seemed Dominic Harris, known as Yungblud, rolled into the city, chasing away the clouds and bringing in the gorgeous spring weather that graced all in attendance. This was a benefit to most, as fans turned out in their most killer rockstar outfits, no doubt inspired by the rockstar himself.

The excitement quickly turned into controlled chaos as everyone was corralled through the single entrance to the building, staff ushering people into separate lines and directing traffic to the security checks. The air became thick as the small space began to fill with a sea of black and white, leather and lace, and a rainbow spectrum of hair colors. The madness only dissipated for a moment while entering the arena, where the true moment of the scope of the night’s performance really begins to dawn on you.

The eight-thousand-plus-capacity venue has a unique feel, with its art deco architecture, which is polarizing given its history as the home of the Minneapolis Lakers (now known as the LA Lakers). The air was cool, despite the number of bodies flooding into the main arena, dissipating in different directions. Some took a turn to the left, heading straight for the bustling bar, while others made a beeline to the floor to line up at the massive merchandise table that occupied the back of the general admission area. The balcony seats were filled with onlookers to the madness stirring beneath them, seemingly safe from what was sure to be a wild crowd.

Above the crowd, suspended from the stage, was a large ornate sculpture of a set of wings and two creatures facing each other, a piece that seemed to fit right into the Art Deco vibes of the venue. The stage hosted a massive screen… No, seriously, massive. The light from the screen alone illuminated a large portion of the fans that were lucky and brave enough to find themselves near or on the barricade.

Unsurprisingly, Yungblud drew an eclectic crowd consisting of all genders and all ages, including children experiencing their first concert, as well as many seasoned concertgoers. It was an incredibly diverse crowd beautifully brought together by this one wonderful human and rockstar.

Before the main event of the evening, LA-based grunge metal band Return to Dust took the stage in a frenzy of hair whipping. This group of rockers formed their band in 2022, taking influence from rock, grunge, and metal to create their unique sound. They released their first EP, “The Black Road,” in 2023 and their first full-length self-titled album in 2024.

The band was quickly picked up and signed with LAVA Records/ Republic Records, and has been making their way up the ranks quickly since, touring with bands like Sevendust and Popevil before joining Yungblud for a leg of his US portion of tour. Not only is the band itself young in age of conception, but the members themselves are also young. Their youngest member is guitarist Sebastian Gonzolez, at only a whopping eighteen years old. The other members consist of drummer London Hudson, guitarist and vocalist Matty Bielawski, and bassist Graham Stanush.

Opening with the song that started it all, Return to Dust came out strong with their original, “Black Road.” This grunge hair-metal-esque band pulled the crowd with their clean performance and, as the show Glee once put it, “hair-ography.” Their sound was reminiscent of a time way before any of these members were born. Their nineties music inspirations, such as Metallica, Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, and more, can be heard clearly in their guitar riffs and vocal melodies. They definitely worked to get the crowd hyped and ready for the main act, with vocalist Matty even stating, “Do I need to go backstage and tell Yungblud Minneapolis isn’t ready?” I said, “Minneapolis, are you ready?!” Encouraging the crowd to let loose and get loud.

Playing a variety of music from their EPs and full-length album, they also surprised the crowd with a new release. A rock cover of Outkast’s famous song, “Hey Ya.” The melody started out slow, as if it were going to be a ballad, but after the initial intro, the band rips into electrifying guitar riffs and drums, changing the tone of the song completely while keeping all of the melodic aspects that make the original so incredibly catchy.

Check out the Return To Dust concert photo gallery here:

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If you’re curious about how they made this unexpected cover work, check it out on their Spotify, as they released the cover this year to streaming platforms. These four young men have worked hard over the last four years, and their stage presence definitely makes that known. Closing with “Belly Up” from their 2024 album, I can assure you that this band is going anywhere but “belly up.”

The crowd buzzed as the crew began to emerge from backstage, removing the covers from the staged instruments, giving everyone a glimpse of the spectacle they were all frothing at the mouth over. With each step the crew made, inching closer to showtime, the energy in the venue grew exponentially until it peaked as the familiar chords of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” began playing, signaling that the time was fast upon us. The song continued through to the end, and lights began to dim as fans raised their voices, yearning for the moment they knew had finally come. A blinding white light lit the stage from behind as the screen began flashing a single word, “Hello,” cycling through the greeting in numerous different languages. The band members began to take the stage as the introduction to the nine-minute song “Hello, Heaven Hello,” from the album “Idols,” filled the air.

Yungblud didn’t just bring along your typical four-piece band; no, there was a guitarist, a drummer, a bassist, a pianist, a violinist, and backup singers. Clad in black leather pants and a cheetah-print vest, the man of the hour finally made his entrance, a shit-eating grin on his face as the crowd roared in excitement. Greeting the audience before him, he kicked off the show with a literal bang as white confetti blasted into the air, filling the venue with a paper snowfall. He bounced back and forth across the stage, feeding off the incredible energy from the crowd, and in return, the crowd fed off his energy. As he stated later in the evening, “I fucking love it when the crowd is as mad as I am,” and the crowd was indeed just as mad as he was.

After playing the first three songs of his “Idols” album and one from his 2022 self-titled album, the pace and vibes changed as he performed “My Only Angel,” a song he originally recorded with the classic rock band Aerosmith, their first song since 2012. The song embodied the styles of both artists, the classic sounds of Steven Tyler’s vocals mixed with the more contemporary version of rock that Yungblud brings to the table.

Before diving into some of his older and more well-known songs, he took a moment to address the crowd: “I have tomorrow off, and I’m staying in Minneapolis tonight! Anybody want to take me home?” the crowd went insane at the prospect as he raised his hands above his head, crossing them at the wrist, suggestive of being bound. “I can’t promise that I’ll be good,” he claims with a knowing smirk on his mouth and a glimmer of chaos in his eyes. The cheers more than reverberated off the walls, and he stood back, enjoying the scene before him as fans went mad. Using the energy to his benefit, he calls to the crowd, “Minneapolis! Are you mad?” The audience screamed, a clear answer to his question. “I’m Yungblud, and I’m mad! I fucking love it when the crowd is as mad as me! This was the lead-in to his 2021 single, “Fleabag.”

It wasn’t long before he was jumping off the stage, a lit cigarette in hand, strutting up and down the barricade as fans reached out for the slightest interaction with the artist. Jaws dropped as he reached the end of the barricade, removed the half-smoked cigarette from his mouth, flipped it around, and placed it into the open mouth of one of his female fans. Her eyes bulged, shocked at what had just occurred, leaving every fan, both male and female, jealous of her. The people at the front didn’t have long to fantasize about ‘what if it was me’ because before they knew it, Yungblud was climbing atop the barricade and stepping into… no, onto the crowd. Arms stretched above, supporting the artist as he crowd… stood? Singing to the audience. Luckily for fans below, the moment was short-lived before he returned safely to the ground behind the barricade and leaped back onto the stage, ready to perform his next song, “Lowlife.”

One of the more memorable parts of the evening came when he performed the song that has not become a permanent staple to his set list, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Changes.” Originally performed as a tribute to the great rock icon at Village Parks “Back To The Beginning,” with other notable artists such as Frank Bello, Nuno Bettencourt, and Sleep Token’s drummer ii. This became an award-winning performance and an exceptionally personal one for the artist himself, as after the show, he was gifted by Ozzy himself his cross necklace, a symbolic passing of the torch, just weeks before the icon’s passing. Calling on the audience to sing with him and honor his dear friend and to sing loud enough “that he can hear us from down here.” Minneapolis did not disappoint. The crowd sang their heart out to every word.

Yungblud paused before the final verse, the band playing in the background, as fans cheered for him. Taking in the spectacle before him, he was visibly emotional, biting his lip as tears began to well in his eyes. He took a deep breath before screaming at the crowd, without his mic, “Minneapolis, what the fuck?!” and much to his surprise, the crowd came back even louder than before. The impact the crowd had on him was just as big as the impact he had on the crowd. I know for many, this was sure to be one of the more poignant parts of the performance that night.

One thing not yet mentioned in this review is the visuals of this concert. The visual and creative directors of this tour have far exceeded themselves. Behind the band, live video of the show was shown on the massive screen, but the artistic details of the way the show was shot were an experience all on their own. This was exceptionally true for the second-to-last song of the setlist, “Fire.” Descending from above as Dom lay on the stage, a camera gave the crowd a unique angle, much like watching a music video, not a live performance, which immediately pulled your attention. Capturing special and unique moments from the artist and fans, ranging from sweet moments with children on their parents’ shoulders to the wild, uncensored ones, such as a fan pulling her shirt down and flashing the artist and, well, in return, the rest of those in attendance. Seemingly shocked by the latter one, Yungblud claimed, “I’m just an innocent British boy… You’re corrupting me, Minneapolis!”

Now, as much as I would like to believe that statement, I think all fans of Yungblud know that you can’t corrupt this rockstar. But it was the energy like this from the crowd that prompted him to make bold claims and promises that I hope we all hold him accountable to. After selling the show out in less than one minute, coupled with the insane energy of the show, we were promised that he would return to this fantastic city every single year to perform until he dies. And an even more exciting claim: “Bludfest Minneapolis?”

Check out the Yungblud concert photo gallery here:

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Closing the show with his third single ever released, 2019’s “Loner,” the crowd was not ready to let him leave. The applause never seemed to end, and not a single person budged from their spot, refusing to say goodbye. To no one’s surprise, the band returned to the stage for a two-song encore. First performing his hit “Ghosts,” he gave it his all, falling to the stage at the finish of the song. In an extra special sense, as it was the last day of Nurses Week here in America, he performed his 2025 song “Zombie,” a song he wrote as a thank you to nurses and the struggles they endure in their job. I won’t say there wasn’t a single dry eye in the house, but there were a lot of wet ones, this author included.

It seemed to be over; some people began to trickle towards the exit, but the majority remained planted, chanting “One more song!” in hopes that it wasn’t truly over. Just as it seemed hope was lost, the stage came to life, the screen lighting up once again, and the hum of the first notes of “Suburban Requiem” began to play. A second encore? Wow, Minneapolis, you really are doing something right. Displayed across the screen was the beautiful message of this Idols World Tour, “Don’t Forget to Live.” Something that every person in attendance that night definitely accomplished in the few hours they lost themselves in the moments, creating memories sure to never be forgotten, was the act of living.