Kansas City Music Blog

BY CALEB GOELLNER

Homecoming shows tend to have a polarizing effect on successful touring acts. Much like walking the halls of a former high school, it's a mixed bag of nostalgia and trauma that returning performers either love or loathe. Fortunately for Kansas City, the former Lawrencians of Mates of State were all smiles, harmonies and appreciation.

The show began with the recently refined Beaumont at about half capacity - a population that quickly swelled to a crowd more befitting of a "hometown" show. Fans awaited the opening act, Florida's Black Kids, an outfit best known for charting in the UK's top 40 this past summer with singles "Hurricane Jane" and "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You." It's no wonder really, given frontman Reggie Youngblood's Robert Smith-like gloom croon (minus most of the gloom). Those similarities were a strong point as the band led the crowd, what seemed to be mostly first-time listeners, through a kind of disco party laden with cute melancholy, danceable hooks and couplets comparing dope to martial arts.

Scott Spychalski

Opening with a tune called "Listen to Your Body Tonight," the five-piece made haste in identifying its musical influences as Dawn Watley and Youngblood's sister Ali jammed on dueling keyboards and wailed with robust sass. The Kids spent their first time in KC advocating Monday night crunken behavior, like grinding on strangers. Unfortunately BK's set had a weird energy that spiked and dipped from song to song. When they were on, they were really on, especially shining during jam sections and tri-vocal conquests. One nearly lame moment came when Youngblood bitched, "I think I just busted my lip on this goddamned microphone." After all, Robert Smith probably wouldn't have done that. Or maybe he would...Either way, all was well by the time the band wrapped up its set with a cool version of "Teach Your Boyfriend" that came infused with the chorus of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" over the bridge. Given the major influence of new wave in their jams, the nod was a welcome addition to the song.

Scott Spychalski

After a relatively quick teardown and set-up, it was time for Mates of State to make with the cuteness. Strolling onto the stage cupping glasses of wine, the husband-and-wife duo uncorked their signature brand of indie rock for an eager audience that spanned what looked like three generations. Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel were joined in their electric organ and drum jamming by auxiliary musicians, brothers Anton and Lewis Patzner, who rotated between percussion, strings and brass. The Patzners filled out jams from MOS' most recent album, Re-Arrange Us, but the extra layers especially fortified older tunes and gave them a fresh live vibe.

Scott Spychalski

Scott Spychalski

Scott Spychalski

Through more than a dozen of its most popular tunes, including "My Only Offer," "Get Better," "Like U Crazy" and "Ha Ha," the band acknowledged their metro roots without too much fuss and thanked their family and fans for their support. It was a sincere, if unsentimental approach that let the spot-on performance speak for itself. As the set wound down, Gardner invited couples to hop on stage and slow dance along to the romantic "So Many Ways." There was one condition, though - they couldn't act goofy.

"Are you afraid they're gonna dry hump?" joked Hammel. Two couples took the stage and joined in the fun. At any other show this kind of thing would've been corny, but here it was a sweet touch capable of warming even a metalhead's icy heart.

With the final number approaching, the brothers Patzner hopped to the front of the stage to close with bombastic floor tom accents, a la Stomp.

Of course, given the band's hometown standing, an encore was inevitable, even late on a Monday. Massive cheering beckoned the band to promptly reclaim the stage. MOS heeded the call with a cover of Tom Waits' "The Long Way Home" followed by their own "The Re-Arranger."

They came, they saw, they made scores of couples cuddle. MOS may not call the metro home anymore, but that didn't stop more than a few fans from welcoming them back just the same.