Ultimate Fakebook and friends celebrated 25 years of This Will Be Laughing Week Friday night

Nick Spacek, Whitney Young,

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Ultimate Fakebook. // photo by Whitney YoungUltimate Fakebook
with Schatzi, Jon Snodgrass, and the Touchdowns
The Bottleneck
Friday, November 1

Going to a show the night after Halloween when you and your wife went bar-hopping means you’re gonna be tired. But it’s Ultimate Fakebook, doing their penultimate show after playing their 1999 album, This Will Be Laughing Week, in its entirety all year all over the country, and it’s five minutes from your house. The two of you saw them all the time when you started dating and it’s one of the things over which you bonded. Surely, you can make it to the end.

We did and now, afterward, I’m so glad we did. Hearing “She Don’t Even Know My Name” and then it being followed by banger after banger will never cease being an impressive rock ‘n’ roll experience. Live, it’s even more wild. Once McShane hopped on the rock box, lit up by lights and fog, it was on.

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Ultimate Fakebook. // photo by Whitney Young

A fan from the crowd co-sang “Soaked in Cinnamon,” and good for him, while the stage was full of folks for “Little Apple Girl,” as per usual for nearly every show UFB has ever played. 25 years ago, that would’ve been me up on stage rocking out, but not in the age of everyone having a camera on them, no sir. We were happy to stand in the back and appreciate everyone having fun.

The place exploded just as much for their cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” which, in UFB’s hands sounded like an outtake from the Xanadu soundtrack. They broke out the rarely-played “Catch the Beat” afterward and goddamn, even their stuff from an obscure split single is gold. Following it with Open Up and Say Awesome‘s “Popscotch Party Rock” meant that I heard probably two of the most perfect locally-written power-pop jams of all time in a row, and you couldn’t have pried the grin from my face with a crowbar.

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Ultimate Fakebook and friends). // photo by Whitney Young

The trio closed with The Replacements’ “Alex Chilton” and a stage filled equally with members of the opening acts and very drunk audience members. It was a glorious conclusion and had us on our feet in the midst of the crowd. When it was all said and done, it was only 11:00 p.m. and goodness gracious what a night.

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Schatzi. // photo by Whitney Young

It had been over 20 years since Schatzi last played Lawrence–also opening for Ultimate Fakebook, if memory serves–but I still remember all the words to their power-pop gem, “Death of the Alphabet,” as though they were etched inside my skull. Their sound is halfway between the Get Up Kids and the Anniversary and the harmonies are superb.

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Jon Snodgrass. // photo by Whitney Young

Jon Snodgrass played a smattering of solo songs and cuts from Drag the River and it was a country-punk break from power pop, although it didn’t lack for tunefulness. Snodgrass also does a solid Bob Mould, as demonstrated when he brought Fakebook’s drummer Melin up onstage aing along on a cover of Hüsker Dü’s “Makes No Sense at All” to close his set.

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The Touchdowns. // photo by Whitney Young

When last we saw the Touchdowns, the former Iola band was also opening a Fakebook show. That was a one-off reunion, but the band’s now back with Cameron Hawk and Aaron “Barry” Swenson of Podstar and UFB’s Nick Colby. Original bassist Dillon Boren did come up to help bring the bottom end on the vintage cut, “Dancin’ Tim.” Both of the Touchdowns’ new tunes made appearances, as well, making us hope there’s a full-length on the way soon.

All photos by Whitney Young

Ultimate Fakebook

Ultimate Fakebook setlist
Manhattan, KS
After Hours At Melin’s
She Don’t Even Know My Name
Tell Me What You Want
Of Course We Will
Brokÿn Nëedle
A Million Hearts
Soaked in Cinnamon
This Will Be Laughing Week
Little Apple Girl
I’m All Out Of It Now
Glitter & Glue
Downstairs/Arena Rock
Real Drums
Perfect Hair
Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan cover)
Catch the Beat
Popscotch Party Rock
Alex Chilton (The Replacements cover)

Schatzi

Schatzi setlist
Bionic Waves
Indivisible By 3
Sell
Belly
Death of the Alphabet
The Spider Smells Disaster
The Fall of Canaryville
Gored By The Girl
Song for Stephanie
The End
Surrogate Saviour

Jon Snodgrass

the Touchdowns

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