The 2025 Minnesota Yacht Club Festival wrapped up Sunday with thousands gathering at Harriet Island Regional Park for some of the event’s most nostalgic headliners, including Sublime, 311 and Green Day.
“I’m here for Green Day. And everything else is diminishing in importance,” said festival attendee Kris Jeronimus.
Audience member John Kloster said he was particularly excited for Green Day, 311 and Garbage.
Throughout the day, the sun beat down on a crowd wearing tie-dye, bucket hats and ’90s band merch. Local musician Landon Conrath kicked off the third day of the festival 20 minutes after doors opened.
“I live in St. Paul, so my commute to this was like seven minutes,” he told the crowd. “It was wonderful.”
By the end of Conrath’s upbeat indie rock set, a few hundred people had gathered and were politely bopping their heads.
Nashville-based Winona Fighter raised the energy with a raging pop-punk set, during which frontwoman Coco Kinnon ran around onstage doing high kicks, screaming into the mic and encouraging the audience to open a mosh pit. Up next, fellow Nashville musicians Grace Bowers and the Hodge Podge jammed out with songs full of funk, soul and rock influences. The voice of 18-year-old Bowers was sometimes difficult to hear over the six-piece band, but her groovy guitar solos shined during the set.
Harriet Island was beginning to fill up by the time Blind Melon took the stage at 2:50 p.m. However, no matter how many times vocalist Travis Warren hoarsely yelled “Come on, Minnesota!” the audience stayed pretty calm until the band played its biggest hit.
“Here comes the one Blind Melon song I know,” Jeronimus said as the 1993 tune “No Rain” began to play.
Midway through the afternoon, indie rock band Beach Bunny began its set with “Cloud 9,” one of the songs that brought the Chicago-based group widespread TikTok fame in 2020. Throughout the hour-long performance, frontwoman Lili Trifilio had the audience clapping and singing along to the band’s catchy alternative tunes. She changed the lyrics in “Ms. California” for the set, yelling, “Everything is better in Minnesota!”
All-female Canadian rock band The Beaches also kept the audience entertained, with high-energy songs interspersed with banter among band members. The band closed with 2023 viral hit “Blame Brett” and the crowd sang along, chanting “Blame my ex!” repeatedly.
The festival will finish up tonight with headline performances from Garbage, Sublime, 311 and Green Day.
(This story will be updated.)
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