Concert review: Turnstile w/ Die Spitz & Vince Staples | 10.07.26, Arsenal BG Ballpark (with photo gallery)

Photo of Turnstile’s Brendan Yates by Laura Jerele

There is absolutely nothing that compares to a Turnstile show. Nothing. And the several thousand of us that piled into the Arsenal Stadium in Sauget knew and understood the assignment. They hit that opening hard, with the lights down and then the quiet chirping of birdsong, and yes, everyone knew that “Birds” was coming. Trust me, I’m a fan, and I was beyond stoked to hear the first few notes of this song and even I wanted to start jumping up and down just like the crowd did! In the photo pit, I could feel the mass of energy behind me from the wild crowd and the energy from the band right there on the stage. 

Turnstile’s set came in with heft, originality, and copious amounts of energy that did not let up the entire show. The jumps, the leaps, the playing to the crowd all while playing tightly, well, that just cannot be duplicated. And when I say that it did not let up for the entirety of their set, I really mean that it did not stop! This band is in their moment, in their prime. St. Louis really understood the assignment tonight, the crowd just kept crowd surfing, singing along, jumping and bouncing to the music, and not stopping. I needed us to show up like this! The energy and mayhem of their twenty-plus song setlist was like a religious experience with their set including songs “Never Enough,” “Sunshower”, “Mystery”, “Blackout” and of course, the set-ender “T.L.C. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION).”

This amazing band (lead vocalist Brendan Yates, guitarists Pat McCrory and Meg Mills, bassist Franz Lyons, and drummer Daniel Fang) make sure that their shows are for everyone to let go, and have a kick-ass time, but safely. Turnstile are all about engaging with their audience, energizing their fans while making damn sure that includes a safe space for everyone to crowd surf for the entire show, from the first song to the very end. And security has to be cool AF and help the crowd enjoy that, or they’ll call it out without hesitation. It was incredibly fun to watch people of all ages start from from the back of the crowd and surf straight up towards the band, be lifted into the pit by security, exiting safely to the side and then go right back into the audience to do it all over again. And they did this over, and over, and over with massive smiles on their faces, some crying, others just lost in the moment. Hell yes, this is rock n’ roll! I will remember this show for a very, very long time!

Turnstile even picked kick ass openers for this show: Die Spitz and Vince Staples. Two very different types of acts, but both with a massive amount of intellect, attitude, talent, and energy. Die Spitz came out in their over-the-top fashion with their wild and amazing bassist, Kate Halter, walking out on the stage on her hands (nope, missed the photo opp, but I swear it happened!). They’re grungy and heavy, feeling at times like a massive wave of Black Sabbath influenced them, all with a bright punk edge that feels almost west-coast-ish. But they’re from Texas, y’all. These girls know how to freaking rock and their set was awesome, just wish it had been a tad longer. 

Vince Staples brought a completely different vibe with some kick-ass rap and backed with a really talented live band. He punched heavy lyrics (much like Die Spitz) not shying away from heavy topics. He asked the crowd to sing along ironically to his song “God Bless The USA,” which was about our socioeconomic woes…so yeah, the crowd was more than happy to be singing and chanting right along. Hailing from (my) beloved west coast, his style of hip hop felt not typical of “West Coast” hip hop, it packed more substance. His band was incredibly high energy, with girls at the helm that threw down while headbanging as they played, throwing wicked guitar solos and everything in between. His lyrics felt poetic and all his songs were beyond freaking catchy, some feeling heavy Metallica-like riffs. One cool moment was when Staples noticed a dude in the front row with a record in his hand so he had to take a pause to chat with the dude. Turns out the kid is a huge fan and his family in the Netherlands sent him a rare version of his record, so Staples asked for the record, signed it right there from the stage and handed it back to the guy—again, thanks to the really cool security who made sure this night was really about the fans. This show was aces, 10/10, highly recommend. | Laura Jerele