Stefani and Morissette make for a “super good” start at the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival

Experience is what counts. Even in rock ‘n’ roll – and especially at rock ‘n’ roll festivals.

After eight months of cute advertising and extensive media coverage, the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival in St. Paul finally set sail from Harriet Island Regional Park on Friday and got off to a remarkably quick and smooth start for its first music festival, thanks in large part to its experienced crew.

The festival’s music program is packed with old hands, and that turned out to be quite a good thing on Friday. The feminist rock trio on the opening day, consisting of Alanis Morissette, Gwen Stefani and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, skillfully presented their skills and showed the kids how it’s done. It didn’t matter that there were very few kids among the 34,000 fans.

But just as these venerable artists deserve recognition, so too do the organizers of Minnesota’s first major music festival in over a decade.

The event was created by C3 Presents, the Texas-based company behind Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and a few dozen other festivals. These guys really know the music festival business, and it’s about time Twin Cities fans took advantage.

The Yacht Club’s electronic wristbands and well-trained security staff ensured a smooth entry process. Stage production and sound were top-notch. The layout and flow between the two stages was well organized. The music played almost nonstop and on time. And all the various VIP and “platinum” sections provided additional convenience for those willing to pay at least a few hundred dollars more than the relatively inexpensive two-day general admission tickets of $215 to $255.

One noticeable problem: Lines outside restaurants and bars were getting longer and longer as the crowds grew larger in the late afternoon. Luckily, many Minnesotans are too stingy to drink $15 beers, otherwise it could have been even worse.

But seriously, the opening day crowd was noticeably young and almost entirely middle-aged. The lack of musical and generational diversity at MYC could be seen as a shortcoming for what was billed as a hip, modern festival.

All the teenagers and college kids who buy retro Chili Peppers and No Doubt t-shirts at Urban Outfitters and Kohl’s are obviously more into cheap fashion than those bands’ music, because none of them showed up at the Yacht Club on opening day. If they had to move the festival to September for some reason, it probably wouldn’t hurt attendance much if it fell on a school day.

There is a lot to learn and apply in the years to come. In the meantime, here are some general takeaways from Friday’s festival:

Obviously it was the women who were in charge. While it was a nostalgic lineup, this feature of Friday’s lineup could be seen as a hip, modern element. Aside from targeted events like Lilith Fair, you would never have seen a festival with so many female singers on the billboard in the 1990s, when Morissette and Stefani’s old band No Doubt were at their peak; let alone in the ’80s, when Jett dominated.

The absence of the Black Crowes due to illness was a real disappointment, but it only served to highlight the female headliners. The day also featured electrifying sets from a couple of other female-led acts: country rocker Morgan Wade and the punky hometown band that kicked off the day with a bang, Gully Boys.

Stefani seemed to be having the most fun. Her husband Blake Shelton may have wisely picked up on the strong female vibe when he showed up to sing one song with her—and only one!—her new single, “Purple Irises,” compared to the three she sang with him in town at his TC Summer Jam performance in 2022. That part seemed to delight her greatly, but so did the crowd’s enthusiastic response throughout her 60-minute performance, from “Sunday Morning” at the beginning to the mid-set groove of “Hella Good” to her fiery closing song, “Just a Girl.”

“Remember how many years I have loved you!” she cheered before the finale, adding: “This song means even more to me today.” Especially on this day.

The Elder Stateswoman rocked the hardest. This was the best and most bombastic of Jett’s many performances here in recent years. Naturally, the 65-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s biggest hits went down well at a big summer music festival, including “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Bad Reputation” and the Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb.” She also delivered a cool batch of edgier, deeper tunes with an inclusive message, including “Different” and a cover of the Minnesota classic “Androgynous,” which she introduced by saying, “I’m a huge fan of this band and their songwriter, Paul Westerberg and the Replacements.”

Morissette hasn’t changed much (and that’s a good thing). With an orange moon setting the dramatic mood, the Canadian record-maker and breaker put on a pretty bold, in-your-face 90-minute performance, predictably filled with her big hits, including “One Hand in My Pocket” as the opener and “You Oughta Know” toward the end. But she made the set much better than just a nostalgic sing-along by performing some similarly haunting, internally roiling newer songs, including the epic piano ballad “Rest” and the rockier “Smiling,” the latter written for her hit Broadway musical “Jagged Little Pill.” Her voice was as strong as ever, her band was versatile, and she clearly deserved the headlining gig.

However, there was a new element to the show that we didn’t see in the ’90s: Morissette brought her daughter Onyx, age 8, and another young friend to sing “Ironic.” How ironic to hear it sung with so much sweetness.

Even the younger acts sang the Gen-X hits. Wade earned loud applause for her semi-ironic cover of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.” The nerdy but impressive Michigander indie rocker from Kalamazoo sang part of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The U2 song matched his own lost, reflective mood, as evidenced by his unreleased song “Giving Up” on it. And after their own hit “Who’s Laughing Now,” local rockers Durry closed their set with a rousing version of Jimmyeatworld’s “The Middle” (technically a millennial hit, but close).

The breakthrough of the day was…. Wearing a Jett t-shirt and playing under the blazing afternoon sun – the overcast skies would soon cool down – Wade coolly delivered a hugely impressive set of musically sophisticated, raw, poetic twang rock that contrasted sharply with her selection of covers. The Virginia singer looked like a tattooed Stevie Nicks on down-to-earth rock songs like “The Night” and “2 AM in London,” all powered by her smoky but sweet voice. A real wow.

What about day two? The bro factor is likely to be significantly higher on Saturday, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers are headlining, followed by The Offspring, Gary Clark Jr., The Hold Steady, Soul Asylum and Hippo Campus. Except for a few higher-end platinum and VIP options, tickets are sold out.