I've lived in Kansas City for thirty years. Kinda. Somewhere in those years I moved away and moved back. And sometimes even when I lived here, my job put me on another continent for months at a time. So, what I'm saying is there are gaps. Gaps of time when bands rose to popularity and faded away, all before I knew they even existed. For example, when I saw everyone's excitement about an upcoming Blackpool Lights show, I had to Google the name. Then I had to look at my calendar to see how I missed the Kansas City band entirely. Oh right, my Boston years. The opener, however, was no mystery to me. They're my favorite band, so let's start there.

The Whiffs took the stage carrying setlists scrawled with titles that most of the crowd wouldn't know. The Whiffs doesn't play the hits, and standing on the wide Record Bar stage, in front of a large crowd that wasn't its own wasn't going to change that. The quartet leapt in with "It's Alright." Like everything that followed, it will appear on the upcoming third(ish) album due this fall. Friends of the band had heard it before. Most of the crowd hadn't. For those of us who embrace power pop with a religious fervor, who love jangly twelve-string guitars, tight harmonies, big hooks, and economical solos, it's already a hit. The night continued down that same wonderful path whether the number was sung by guitarist Rory Cameron, bassist Zach Campbell, or lead guitarist Kyle Gowdy. Many of these songs debuted on small stages, moving from practice space to stage and back without concern. Early versions were ramshackle and carried entirely by the performers' rakish charm, but on this night, it was obvious the burrs had been filed and the polish applied. This was the sound of America's best power pop band showing a room what's next.

The Record Bar was packed with locals. Some of them I see every week at shows. Some of them I only see when a group from the 2000s reunites. There were families and friends and friends of the family present. I saw little kids with protective headphones standing next to tipsy aunts wearing wobbly wedges. Blackpool Lights brought them all out.

I'm obviously no expert on Blackpool Lights, but as I understand it, Jim Suptic had written songs that he could tell weren't right for The Get Up Kids. When that seminal emo band went on hiatus in 2005, those songs became the impetus for his new project. With the help of Brian Everard (bass), Billy Brimblecom (drums), and a rotating cast of lead guitarists, Suptic put out the band's only album, This Town's Disaster, and then, one year later, it was over. We'll ignore the accidental EP that spurred a couple of reunion shows in 2010, and instead focus on this reunion show. A show to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of This Town's Disaster.

At 9pm Suptic walked on stage then paused to take it all in. His introductory remarks were humble, he promised little, and then he overdelivered. His band featured mainstays Everard and Brimblecom, while Josh Bach became the latest in the act's long line of guitarists. The quartet delivered Replacements-esque swagger, although the tight punching rhythms could only come from mid-2000s indie rock. Suptic shared a story about nearly every song – the one that local alt rock station "The Buzz" tried to make a hit, the one that was featured in episode 8 of the short-lived Netflix series Girlboss – and Brimblecom filled in the details that Suptic couldn't remember or chose to leave out. After every other tune, one or the other would spot a different former member in the crowd and call them out by name. It seems JD Warnock bought a ticket to see his old band play the songs that he co-wrote. That's what you call support.

The set featured the entirety of This Town's Disaster, as well as several from the EP that followed, and a couple of telling covers. First, the band's own "Cursed By Yourself" was merged with Tom Petty's "American Girl" to form an effective medley. "People like it when you play someone else's songs. I learned that a long time ago," quipped Suptic. Second, the foursome closed its main set with "Starry Eyes" by power pop legends The Records. That deep cut was dedicated to The Whiffs whom Suptic called his favorite local band. And third, during the three-song encore, the group dropped a cover of "Lighting the Way" by Superdrag. So many people sang along that I was certain that everyone who ever bought In the Valley of Dying Stars must have been in that room.

When it was all over Suptic thanked the audience for enduring the reunion set "warts and all." Musicians say things like that all the time, but generally no one in the audience has any idea that mistakes were made. As a first-time listener I certainly had no clue. Then I remembered that the room was full of former guitarists and longtime fans. The guitarists knew every note. The fans knew every lyric. They lived through the years I missed. I may have missed that first chapter, but I got to witness the epilogue.