Local artist mars hojilla was joined by bassist Paras Bassuk (they/them) and drummer Chloe Weidl (she/her). Evangelista recruited them after his act was accepted for Mission Creek. Mars hojilla is Evangelista’s pop-rock band and uses simple phrasing to portray complex personal situations. He touched on his songwriting during an interview with KRUI. “Sometimes I’ll write something and think it can only be [applicable] to me, and someone [after a show] will say, ‘oh my God, I thought your song meant this’”.

His next track was “one of the good ones”, which features the lyrics “Baby I’ve been in your shoes”. The audience swayed to the steady bassline and clean guitar riff. After the track, Evangelista thanked the crowd, especially his partner, Emily, who stood “front and center”. He introduced the track “next week” as a song about a long-distance relationship. One of my favorite lines from the song was “distance makes the heart grow fonder / but I’d hate to be away from you any longer”. “Next week” perfectly encapsulates a long-distance relationship that thrives on optimism.

As Myles swapped out his electric to an acoustic guitar, he told the audience some stories. He started out with a bouncer giving him a tough time when he tried to enter a 21+ venue. “[The bouncer] said, you look 12… keep thinking that your mustache makes you look 21. [I said] like, shut up Chris, you’re bald.” He revealed to the audience that he is a transgender man and has been on testosterone for the past year. Evangelista expressed his concern about the rise in trans hate.

“Systems that should be a space for protecting kids’ existence aren’t,” he said. He raised his concerns about legislation that threatens the trans community. Then, he went into his own experiences in “Pinocchio”.

“Pinocchio” is a personal narrative about Evangelista’s identity and the challenges of having other people accepting him. Vivid imagery of the marionette shows his struggles and unabashed triumph. His vocals were passionate, and the air in Trumpet Blossom froze as he detailed his struggles. As the song ended to uproarious applause, Evangelista turned around and collected himself for a moment. Then another. As the audience realized he was crying underneath the bright red sunglasses, they broke out into even more cheers as Evangelista turned around to see the moved crowd.

“Seeing and acknowledging isn’t enough!” Evangelista announced after the song. “Fight back against legislation. Donate to funds. Ensure [trans friends] are respected and safe.” After this announcement, he took a deep breath. “Oh man, I have family here.” He pointed out his parents, their first time seeing him perform in two years. Smiles spread across the audience.

“Okay. Let’s lighten the mood,” Evangelista said. “This one’s about turning your friends gay.” His song “just between us” was an upbeat poppy track with hilarious wordplay. Lines like “Keep it between us / your favorite little sin” showed the playful nature of the song while having critical undercurrents on cultures that cause people to bury their true selves within.

Before they started the last song in the set, Evangelista cut his backstory short. “This one is about a girl who broke my heart at 19. She—wait, I can’t get into this, my parents are here.” The audience laughed, and he started “kiss your boys”. The rock track had a mean riff in the chorus that incited some head-banging. Pent up angst crashed through the guitar in a sound that bordered Evangelista’s other act, Two Canes. Unfortunately, after this intoxicating rock song ended, so did their set.

Mars hojilla’s deeply personal Mission Creek concert was a strong first gig for the trio. Bassuk and Weidl showcased their prowess and bass and drums. Evangelista effectively worked the crowd with his moving stories and sunny lyrics to deliver a compelling set of pop-rock jams. Evangelista’s vocals take the passion from emo and the range of pop to brighten listeners’ already sunny Saturday afternoons. His excitement and optimism were contagious throughout the performance. Evangelista will play with his hard-rock group Two Canes at Gabe’s on April 14^th at 8:30 pm. Gabe’s is located on 330 E Washington Ave.

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Raised on pop classics, Evangelista fostered passion for music while exploring vulnerability through his songwriting. Mars hojilla draws their stripped-down sound from acts such as NoSo, who performed at this year’s homecoming concert, and “emo folk-adjacent” artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The new boygenius album sparked inspiration in Evangelista to see how each member’s sound can expand in the trio.

Myles advocates for more representation in the music scene, a space dominated by white male voices. They find artists like NoSo, a non-binary Korean, inspiring and are excited to take their act to the big stage. As a biomedical student at the University of Iowa, Evangelista works through tight time constraints to play as mars hojilla and Two Canes, a hard-rock band that showcases grittier sounds.

Mars hojilla plays at the Trumpet Blossom Café on Saturday, April 8^th at 3:30 pm. The show is free to the public. Trumpet Blossom is located at 310 E Prentiss St. For tickets and scheduling information, check out Mission Creek’s website.

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Most of the tables were enjoying dinner when I arrived, so I decided to order some nachos; they were awesome. As a vegetarian, it was lovely having a wide selection of menu items for once! The organic, vegan nachos were delightfully flavorful and fresh. I also appreciated the mason jars used for water glasses. No surprise that Trumpet Blossom was featured for one of the Mission Creek dinners!

Paul Metzger took the stage and played a 12-string banjo for about 45 minutes–without stopping. He used many of his own creative techniques to pull interesting sounds out of the instrument. The timbre he created was often similar to a sitar, especially when he used a violin bow.

Since the set was straight music on a simple, intimate stage, the focus was entirely on the music. Metzger had raw, innovative talent; I’ve never seen anything like his banjo technique. During extremely dissonant notes, he would often shake his head quickly back and forth so that his beard would dance with the music. It was easy to tell how passionate he was in his free-form playing.

Since it was such a serious, focused performance, there was not a word spoken during his entire set. The only other sounds were occasional clinks from the bar or rustling of chairs. Overall, people were intently focused on Metzger’s rapid fingers. He thanked the audience with a quick word, and left the stage.

After a short intermission (where I could finish my crunchy snack with disrupting my neighbors), Glenn Jones took his place center-stage. Right off the bat he showed his incredible technique on acoustic guitar. As someone in the beginning stages of learning guitar, I was completely blown away.

When Jones switched to banjo, he explained that he had been scared of Appalachian-style playing rules for so long that he had not attempted banjo; after watching Paul Metzger awhile back, he decided to get a banjo and “do whatever the hell [he] wanted with it.”

However, he also remarked that banjo is not a well-loved instrument. While looking for a banjo mute on tour, a man in a Michigan music store said, “I think a sledgehammer is the best mute for a banjo.” That man should’ve heard Jones’ performance; I bet he’d change his mind.

An emotional moment during the performance came about with a song called Mother’s Day. Jones revealed his disgust for “Hallmark Holidays” created to take advantage of consumers, but Mother’s Day is now a mournful reminder of his mother’s passing. He was writing the song when he got the call that she had passed, so he knew that particular song “would always be evocative of that moment.”

Jones complimented the Mission Creek sound tech, saying this was one of the best shows of the tour. The show was mellow, but I was incredibly impressed by both of the performers’ talent.

One of Jones’ last songs was a banjo piece, dedicated to Paul Metzger. After Metzger’s set, he sat in the booth directly in front of me, so I snapped a cute picture to highlight their friendship. It was a good show with expressive, pure music–now I’m going to go practice guitar so that maybe one day I can be half as good as Glenn Jones.

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