Small Bands, Big Show

Written by Cheyenne Davey

Sunday night for a concert? What? Weird, but that surely wasn't stopping Demi and me. Sunday night, August 30th, we went and saw this small band, The Liars' Club. Also playing at the show was Inpo, The Recall, When the Sun Sets, and Angels of Duality. It was quite the lineup with varying types of music. Since there were so many bands, and such a wide variety of artist, I'll be focusing on three; The Liars' Club, Inpo, and When the Sun Sets. The show was at The Wire in Berwyn, IL. It was an overall great show, full of Chicago locals doing their best, and boy was it a good time.

Inpo

Inpo started out the night with some killer instrumentals. Inpo is Joey Tuzak (drums), Adam Linder (bass), Tim Faulkner (guitar), and Brendan Markwood (vocals/guitar). They identify themselves as a psych punk band, which I think fits just from seeing their set. I was a little confused on what was happening during their set at first. They had When then Sun Sets props on during their set, so that's who I thought they were. I later found out, that they are Inpo. They were actually pretty good. They had a mix of songs with lyrics and instrumental songs throughout their set. The instrumentals were calming and something I would likely listen to as I study or go to bed. They weren't really something I would expect at a live show, so when they played their instrumentals, I was getting sleepy. Though, they picked it right back up with some more punk vibes, screaming into the mic and jumping around. The band was overall pretty energetic and interesting to watch. During the last song, Brendan wrapped the mic around his hand, and right then and there, I knew this last song was going to be a bop and pretty wild. It for sure didn't let me down. The lyrics were intense, Brendan was screaming, pointing to the audience, and getting into the faces of the other members on stage. Their set ended with a bang. I mean quite literally ended with a bang, Adam smashed his guitar. That is something I can honestly say I have yet to see, which is surprising. Their set was pretty good actually. I would likely see them again, and listen to them on my down time.

When the Sun Sets

When the Sun Sets seemed to be the set of the night. With props of their own, and even a screen projection of their name, they had already made a small name for themselves. The majority of people there were there in support of this band. The band consists of Zack Baumgartner (vocals/guitar), Tyler Dombrowski (drums), and Christina Queen (bass/vocals). This band was really interesting to watch and hear. They're right up my alley of pop punk. I thoroughly enjoyed their sound and the energy. not only from the band, but from the crowd. Going to small shows, the crowds are sometimes pretty lame. There's usually a handful of people who get hype for a band. So, the crowd energy is usually low and it's lowkey disappointing. Not for When the Sun Sets. They built a small fan base of loyal fans who were all there being very hype for the band, getting the rest of the crowd hyped up. Kudos to those who were there, hyping us all up. Other than the crowd just being pretty great, the band was awesome. The music is the pop punk I live for, where I can see pits opening up in the future and everyone going wild. I will definitely be giving this band a listen. The members were nice and took pictures with people at their table and hung out with their fans. I personally didn't stay an hang out, but I saw them with others, which is always cool to see. I would like to see them again.

The Liars' Club

While not the main act of the night, The Liars' Club is the main band I was there for. I saw them with Milkk and The Stolen in July, and loved them. The two piece is Nick Damato (vocals/guitar) and Chris Smith (drums). I wish I had spoken to them at the Milkk show, but oh well. Getting to see them this show, and talk to them more than made up for it. The boys are incredibly nice guys. Their music is even better. It's an interesting blend of musical styles that they manage to pull together well. Nick is more influenced by pop punk, alternative music like Panic! At the Disco and Twenty One Pilots; while Chris is more influenced by metal like White Chapel and Motionless in White. You can definitely hear the influences being put together and it surprisingly makes for some great music. While you can hear the influences in their music, they still have their own unique sound. With being a two piece, you would imagine that live show would be a bit of a challenge. However, Nick and Chris manage to still put on an interesting show, keeping your attention. Nick was spinning his guitar around him at one point, which was cool to see! They even mixed it up in their last song, and played a bit of "Sugar We're Going Down" from Fall Out Boy. The Liars' Club surely knows how to keep the attention of their audience, from guitar spins to classic emo favorites. They're energetic and full of life on stage. I cannot wait to see them again!

Overall the show was amazing. I had a great time and would like to see these bands again. I wish I could review all of the bands. Linked below are the Facebooks of all the bands there, so for sure check them all out! I can't wait to see these bands again. If you're in the midwest/Chicago area, go see them sometime! It's definitely worth it.