Sometimes Friday nights aren't so Friday night. I don't need beer sprayed across a packed room while strobe lights flash and air horns blast. A couple of good bands in a cozy club is a fine way to end the working week.

I walked in ten minutes before the published 10pm start time to find The Touchdowns already mid-song. I hate when that happens. Luckily, I've seen the act several times in the last month and was able to catch up quickly. The trio is the project of Ryan Magnuson. He sings. He plays drums. He likes banter. He does it all at the edge of the stage facing sideways so you can't miss him. Nick Colby plays bass and Aaron Swenson adds guitar. They laugh at his jokes. The band's ten-song opening set drifted between power pop and pop punk. Maybe there was some emo, or maybe Magnuson's lyrics were just that earnest. Although the Friday night Hillsiders crowd was smaller than expected, Magnuson was hyped enough for everyone. Colby balanced his enthusiasm rather than matching it. Maybe the fog machine behind him was laced. Swenson's harmonies sounded good – sometimes better than the lead vocal line. Early in the set, Magnuson introduced an old song, noting that it will be on an upcoming album of B-sides called Touchbacks, due in December. Yes please. The audience liked "Drunk and Loaded" best. I continued to swoon for closer "See Me Shakin" – a tune that is a huge power pop hit in the alternate timeline that only I know about.

Heat Seger took the stage somewhere after 11pm. Rumors swirled that this would be the quintet's last show, that a name change was coming, and with it a stylistic shift away from '70s-styled power pop toward a twangy, Flying Burrito Brothers-esque folk rock. Maybe that will still happen, but there was no pronouncement at the gig. Instead, Pete Mouton and Joe Montanaro sang their songs and strummed their electric guitars while Brian Klein played bass, Vincent Lawhon drummed, and Jake Cardwell added all the shakers, tambourines, and floor tom one very animated man could manage. Klein broke a string during the first number. Montanaro was a font of silly banter. If the musicians are eyeing the project's demise, their timing couldn't be worse. Not only did the group debut a killer new song, but the older ones sounded better than ever. When the set ended there were calls for an encore, but the band didn't budge. Several rounds of shots were delivered to change the musicians' minds, but it was no use. Let's hope that same stubborn instinct keeps Heat Seger and subdued Friday nights at Hillsiders going a bit longer.