A family affair ran the Replay on Wednesday night, featuring Cinema Stereo and friends

August 28, 2025

Nick Spacek,

Cinema Stereo. // photo by Nick Spacek

Cinema Stereo
with Flora from Kansas and the Blast Monkeys
Replay Lounge
Wednesday, August 27

Nothing fixes a lousy week quite like a matinee rock show. As Blast Monkeys frontman Scott Vick put it about two songs in, “What else are you going to do on a Wednesday night?” I mean, there’s definitely the option of binge-watching trash movies while hitting a weed vape on my couch, but getting your ears blown back by bass, drum, and guitars with a cheap beer or three feels a lot less sad.

Headliners Cinema Stereo from Nashville might’ve benefited from a bill with the likes of the Mad Kings, White Line Nightmares, or any bluesy/rock ‘n’ roll acts. As it was, their ’70s-inspired blues rock was good and enthusiastic, but after the openers, it felt a little too cheesy to really connect. Shaggy hair, shirts open to the navel, and a drummer in a cape made for a visually-intriguing performance, and the tunes were competent, but it felt like they were about four decades late for playing the Sunset Strip.

Honestly, a second guitarist would’ve offered up a little more balance to songs which felt as though they couldn’t decide which side of the glam/blues fence they wanted to land on. The music was performed well, but too busy when it needed to be trimmed down, and never as dirty as it needed to be. Cinema Stereo felt like they were playacting.

There were a lot of dads at the Replay Wednesday evening. Vick’s dad was in the crowd requesting Lynyrd Skynyrd during the Blast Monkeys’ opening set. Flora’s granddad, Bill, was in the crowd, and her dad, Dan, was in her band playing guitar and singing backup. It was legitimately charming as hell to see all the family supporting their kids and theirs kids’ kids, and raising the median age above mine.

Flora from Kansas. // photo by Nick Spacek

Flora from Kansas is an act we’ve been covering for several years now, and finally getting to see her and her band live made for a kinda special evening. Hearing songs like “The Ghost is Me” outside of our headphones and in-person with a crowd of folks around felt a lot more intense. It was shimmery and wobbly, like getting to see an embryonic Luna play in a dive bar while the sun was still up.

How often do you get to hear gorgeous indie pop songs from a high school singer-songwriter signed to a highly-regarded UK label with her dad on guitar and little sister on drums? Covering Horse Jumpers of Love’s “Ugly Brunette,” no less. It just felt special, despite Flora’s discomfort with her skills on a keyboard she just started playing two days prior and being about six songs long in set length.

The Blast Monkeys. // photo by Nick Spacek

Tonganoxie garagey pop-punk trio the Blast Monkeys have been one of my favorite live acts for a couple years now, and it was great to see how the former duo’s sound has expanded with the addition of bassist Grant Schuck to guitarist/vocalist Vick and drummer Kyle Chambers.

In addition to favorites like “I Probably Peaked in High School,” they broke out two new songs in a row. The first was kinda funky and upbeat, with the second slow and indie, and when they asked the audience to vote on which one to release next, I was stymied as to which I’d pick (although the clear winner was the second, per audience vote). Despite a lot of between-song banter and tuning and trying to find a towel, the Blast Monkeys’ songs are so catchy and energetic, they were able to regain any lost attention from pauses that were nearly as long as their songs.

A loose and free cover of Blink-182’s “First Date” would’ve benefited from a bigger crowd, but the grin on my face couldn’t have been bigger.

All photos by Nick Spacek

Cinema Stereo