Local band Step Rockets will open for Bon Jovi in St. Paul

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - A Twin Cities band will open for Bon Jovi after winning a competition. For the past few years, Bon Jovi has picked a local band to open each one of his shows. On Monday, Step Rockets will take the stage at the Xcel Energy Center.

“They always say when you’re young and performing, no matter who’s there, perform like there’s 10,000 people there. So we’re going to test it,” Brady Lillie, a Step Rockets band member, told Fox 9.

“We’re coming out with a bang,” Josh Schmidt, a band member, told Fox 9. “I think it’s a perfect venue for us to showcase our new music. We don’t write this music to be played in our living room, we write it to be played in stadiums.”

The band’s songs have many influences, often rock with some synthesizers and electronic sounds. The band’s second song, “Kisser,” went viral, getting played millions of times online. The Twin Cities band has traveled around the country, playing venues and festivals.

For the competition to open for Bon Jovi, the band submitted a video of them playing “West Coast” in Minneapolis.

“We feed off the crowd. If people are giving us energy, we like to give it back, tenfold,” Brady said.

Asked what concertgoers can expected on Monday, Brady and Josh answered, “a lot of guitar solos. Maybe some lyrics that will get stuck in your head a few days that you can live with. It rocks.”

March is a big month for the band. The Step Rockets are releasing a new single, “Money,” on March 31.