I expected to hear from Blinder earlier in the day but it was 9:30 and I hadn't heard anything so I just headed over to Lawrence. I paid my $2 cover and found out the opening band was Choreboy (a local I guess, not the one from Austin) then headed into the club. I couldn't find anyone I knew in the club so plopped a quarter into the Replay's kind Tekkon II to pass the time.

Choreboy unexpectedly announced "Let start this early so you can get some sleep before work tomorrow." A show at The Replay starting before 10:30, this was definitely a first.

I slipped over with my camera and took a few shots despite The Replay's horrible lighting. There were about 20 or so folks in the main room of the club and after a few minutes one slipped over and motioned for my ear. I wasn't getting hit on, instead it was the drummer's grrlfriend who was asking what I was taking pictures for. A little miffed, I told her The Pitch rather than explaining about the web page and my personal fetishes and anal tendencies. She smiled happily and went back to her friends sitting at the bar.

Choreboy (besides it's crack-smoking uses) is an organic, noisy and loose rock and roll endeavor that reminded me of Neil Young but without the soul. I got bored after about 10 minutes and so when I saw Koven setting up his drum kit I slipped over to introduce myself to the band. I had been talking to the kids for like 5 months via email so I was glad to finally meet them in person.

Blinder pulled out their modest gear once the band finished and stalled until 11:40 or so when they started their set. The bar's patio was packed with a hundred folks out there but only 30 or so folks remained inside for Blinder's set. Those folks were constantly slipping through the main room on the way to the bathroom then slipping back out to the patio. This bothered the band a little and Megan even announced "We're just a soundtrack for people going to the bathroom." and added "I guess we're good music to shit to."

Their set was long and well appreciated. In fact after a forced encore, the band professed they played every song they new. Megan's strong voice was engaging (especially so to a particular lesbian in the crowd who later bought Megan a glass of wine) while Mason was a mad man on his six string bass lurching around laying a foundation for their complicated math-rock rhythms. I recognized five or six songs from their demo CDs which they played flawlessly - it's one thing to be that tight in the studio, it was quite another to pull it off live. I was impressed and more importantly the crowed was impressed.

I had previously talked to the band about putting out a CD and I wondered if the combination of strong female vocals and complex winding rock would be too hard of a sell to make, but live the band were able to take a crowd who had no idea what they were in for, and win them over. From my vantage point in the crowd I only heard good things (though admittedly some were a little less about the band and more about Megan) and the band was able to convert that interest and sell more than a handful of CDs that night.

After the show Blinder wanted to hit Steak and Shake, however I was just too tired and instead forced them to follow me back to Kansas City so I could get some sleep. I went to bed leaving them on the hide-a-bed and recliner and when I slipped out for work they were still there, Mason and Megan sleeping in matching Blinder T-shirts.