We Spring Into Summer at the Replay and Jackpot

It was a historic night at the Replay last night, with several bands starting their patio sets not just on time but (apparently) a half hour or so EARLY. We arrived at 8:05 for Hospital Ships' supposed 8:00 set to find them already on their last two songs of loud and lovely indie pop. "Happy summer, motherfuckers," Geiger saluted the crowd as they exited the stage, and indeed we felt like fools for missing most of their set, but we've long ago learned that the Replay plays by inexplicable rules, so we didn't even bother to inquire why this happened. Our friend King Tosser proffered an interesting theory: perhaps the Rooftop Vigilante who was running the sound board insisted that all bands adhere to the strict-Vigilante policy that NO set should exceed 15 minutes.

Our sadness at missing the boat on the Ships (Chip: "Get it?") quickly subsided when Danny Pound and his (new-ish) band took the stage, also early, and blazed through a rollicking set of original material like "When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Little Window" (perfect for Rapture-night!) and a few covers of the great singer-songwriters that have obviously influenced Pound's sensibility (was that Randy Newman's "Tickle Me?" Rock scholar King Tosser said, yes, it was).

At this point, we took a trip to the Jackpot, where we enjoyed a nice chat with Nate from Ex-Fag Cop, who explained that the band's new moniker was an attempt to distance themselves from the immaturity of a band with a name like Fag Cop while still capitalizing on the former band's name recognition. We agreed that this strategy was pretty brilliant, and we also quizzed Nate on his experience playing a set at the Church of Malt Liquor. He seemed a bit fuzzy on exactly how or why the set came about, as if the band suddenly awoke to find themselves playing a show in a hole in the ground behind the train station. We like to believe that this is EXACTLY what happened.



We also met the ringleader from I Heart Local Music for the first time. Her first question was the question we get asked the most: who IS this Chip anyway? We tried to explain that, much like Twain's Huck Finn, Chip is a composite of a few characters we know, but mostly he represents one guy. Named Chip. From Southeast Kansas. Who has a lot of boners. Soon the Dactyls were rocking, quite fiercely, and Chip became scared, so we headed back to the Replay. Please visit I Heart Local Music for a full report on the rest of the evening at the Jackpot, including reviews and videos of Drakkar Sauna, The Dactyls, Mansion, and Major Games (as well as reviews of early evening sets at the Replay by The Hips, Colony Collapse, and Hospital Ships (the full set!).

Back on the patio, Fourth of July was in the midst of a glorious set during a rainstorm. Like most local music fans, we've seen Fourth of July many times, but this set reminded us why we like them so much and why they seem to us, perhaps, the epitome of the Larryville music scene. Beyond their often laconic delivery and their surface of effortless scenester cool (and, let's face it, they are much cooler than all of us!), there's a real sincerity and sweetness to many of their songs. And last night they seemed to be fully enjoying themselves, welcoming special guests (Katlyn Conroy) and watching their fans dance in the rain. Yes, a few people were dancing. Unhip. But occasionally it's nice to be unhip (briefly) and actually have fun.

And we even took a decent picture for once. Look at Styles rocking out on the left. We guest-starred on a podcast with that dude. It's a small world in Larryville. A small, hip world.