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Look Alive Encore: Sofia QUARTERS OF CHANGE TOUR DATES SEP 26 Dada Dallas, TX |
NYC’s alt-indie rock group Quarters of Change played a headlining set and previewed songs from their upcoming album Portraits, already announced but not to be released until Jan 26, 2024 (via 300 Entertainment).
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The three-band bill got off to a raucous start with the “Pride of Tongie”-The Blast Monkeys, a local duo of high school best friends, Scott Vick and Kyle Chambers from nearby Tonganoxie, KS, who have been playing since 2017. Their unabashed excitement opening this night was infectious and they started their short set by shouting out the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift, referencing the game and events from earlier in the day, adding, "If you like Taylor Swift you will like our music, … don't expect any Taylor Swift covers though."
Playing a Spongebob Squarepants Theme song riff at the beginning immediately invested the mostly college-age crowd, and the pair is keeping busy most of October, playing the nearby Replay Lounge a couple times, Farewell Coffee and Raytown Records in the Kansas City metro, and more.
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Next up was Maryland alt-rock band The Never Ending Fall (NEF), who have already established a healthy-sized local following, having packed the house at a previous KC appearance at recordBar. The five-piece (singer / guitarist Jack Miller, drummer Tommy St. Clair, guitarist / keyboardist Conrad Boyd, guitarist Pearce Eisenhardt, and bassist Johnny Hohman) have the previous act beat, first forming not in high school, but all the way back in 4th grade.
They have a generally positive sound, working in elements of funk, jazz, soul, and alternative, on songs like latest singles, 'Happy Goodbye' and 'Wasn't So Bad' as follow-ups to their 2020 full-length, Space City but are maybe best known for their TikTok series and jingle, ‘Can it Kirkland’ (even spelled out on one member’s glasses).
Energy was at a high for most of the set, especially from one of their guitarists (who sported a unique “flame head” haircut) and was all over the stage and into the crowd along with vocalist Miller, with the band even managing to work in their cover of Childish Gambino’s 2016 radio hit, “Redbone” on this, their last show of the tour.
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Presumably to show their appreciation to their tour openers (and maybe an inside joke we didn’t all get) Quarters of Change emerged for their main set, all wearing “I Heart NEF” white t-shirts, and they would bring the opener back on stage to help with the set-closing, “T Love” (an ode to the very relatable idea of ‘tough love’) so we think it was a genuine friendship formed between the two acts.
In addition to the upcoming album, the Lower-East-Side quartet recently released a deluxe version of their last full-length, Into the Rift and they consist of Ben Acker, Attila Anrather, Jasper Harris, and Ben Roter, whose sound is influenced by classic bands like The Beatles and The Who, as well as more recent alternative acts, RHCP and their own NYC cohorts, The Strokes.
Names as well-known as Joe Jonas and Lewis Capaldi have sung their praises and having a well-known veteran producer like Tom Lord-Alge (U2, The Rolling Stones, Blink 182) put the finishing touches on Into the Rift, helps speak to the strength of those songs.
The set list covered all facets of their brief career, opening with “Look Alive” from their 2021 New Hour EP followed by “What I Wanted”, the opening track of the forthcoming album, to all the way back to 2018’s “Kiwi”, an early song that explores our collective need for companionship... and the frustrations that sometimes come with that.
From the printed setlist, the encore seemed in question and an on-the-spot decision, with only lead singer Miller initially coming back downstairs for the final song. He explained he just couldn’t sing 2022’s heartsick “Chloe” (off Into the Rift), revealing the “real Chloe” is actually from nearby Kansas City. So, he decided instead on a lyrically descriptive song about another female, 2020’s “Sofia”, with the rest of the band eventually joining in, to help end the evening.
The rest of the world may have still been keeping track of every single movement in Kansas City from the latest possible celebrity couple (Swift / Kelce), but the crowd at The Bottleneck could have cared less- instead taking in an entertaining triple-bill of three young, rising, and energetic bands led by Quarters of Change that seemed like a much more satisfying evening.
(Coverage and photos by BRANDON CLASEN; click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
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| john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com |
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