Reggie and the Full Effect played a warm sold-out show at RecordBar on Saturday

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Reggie and the Full Effect with Dads and Pentimento
Record Bar, Kansas City
Feb. 8, 2014

For the full slideshow, go here.
 
A few hours before Reggie and the Full Effect played its first Kansas City show in ten years, front man James Dewees was stranded in the snow. He’d been on his way to Starbucks when his van and trailer got stuck on one of Midtown’s many unplowed side streets. He was there for about an hour before a large truck came along and pulled him free like it was nothing. “Only in the Midwest,” Dewees said.

Snowy misadventure aside, Dewees, who is originally from KC, was jazzed to be home. He was so excited that he sketched a series of CD covers featuring the 1985 Kansas City Royals. Even more excited than Dewees was the sold-out RecordBar crowd, a mix of 30-somethings and youths with e-cigarettes who were barely toddlers when Dewees recorded Reggie’s Greatest Hits 1984-1987 album in 1998.

From the get-go, the vibe was distinctly nostalgic. Before Reggie took the stage, a dude behind me opined that it felt like 1996 in there. “Awesome, isn’t it?” his friend replied. In the bathroom, a 30-something woman tried to wrangle her mane of wavy hair into a more presentable shape. I told her it looked fine. “Well, James is playing, so who cares?” she squealed gleefully before skipping back into the bar. Spirits were high, to say the least.

Reggie did not disappoint. Dewees busted out some favorites early, notably the hilarious “Kanji Tattoos… Still in Style?” and “Congratulations Smack and Katy.” About halfway through the set, he donned a chicken mask for the song that accompanied his 2013 Kickstarter pitch, a goofy groove that sounds like a six-year-old kid’s jam about dinner. The crowd’s enthusiasm was unwavering. During several songs, Dewees offered the mic to the front row, and they screamed along without a moment’s hesitation.

The band rocked material from all seven albums, including the latest, “No Country for Old Musicians,” the Kickstarter-funded project for which Dewees thanked the crowd. Several times, Dewees pointed out how odd it was to record a new album and tour the country in a van at the ripe old age of 37, likening himself to an emo-redneck Gandalf.

It was precisely this kind of humor, coupled with Dewees’ jovial, drunk-uncle unpredictability, that made the show so thrilling. The group sounded musically solid and energetic, including longtime member Cory White, rocking a shock of bleach-blond hair. Dewees’ Get Up Kids band mate Matt Pryor even jumped onstage to provide backup vocals for a few songs, to everyone’s delight.

But Dewees was the night’s heart and soul. He is completely at home on stage, and he utterly lacks a filter. Whether he’s hollering the goofy chorus to “Who Needs Another Drank” or revealing the perils of selling weed to dumb frat boys, he has no pretenses and suffers no bullshit. Dewees’ alter egos, electro-pop star Fluxuation and Rammstein-esque metal band Common Denominator, also made appearances and were equally entertaining. Dewees is not trying to be sexy. He’s not trying to sell you anything – except maybe a hand-drawn Royals CD or two. He’s just having a damn good time – and that is extremely refreshing.

Openers the Dads, a duo from Piscataway, New Jersey, got the crowd primed with several high-octane emo-punk numbers. Drummer and singer John Bradley professed his love for, of all things, the local 24-hour Sun Fresh. When he wasn’t hunched over his drum set, pounding away with a feral kind of energy, he was bantering about how to deal with immature coworkers and determining that hospitality ends when you give someone the middle finger. “Who would take a middle finger from me?” he asked. At least half the crowd raised their hands.

Special guests Pentimento from Buffalo, New York, proved that screamo is still alive and kicking. The band featured a leading man with a sweet, solid voice and a drummer capable of harmonizing or screaming, as the song required, while arcs of sweat flew from his drenched locks. The band was nothing if not sincere. The songs all had a similar flavor, but they meant every single word.

Setlist: 

For more photos, go here.