When it comes to rock & roll, you've got to make the effort.

Dan Jones and the Squids began its set at the nonsensical 7:52. Laws of time and space do not apply to these brave men. Dan Jones fronts the band. It's his songs and his guitar and his voice. There are at least two versions of The Squids out there. The Kansas City incarnation features bassist Steve Tulipana and drummer Matt Ronan. Both seem indispensable to the act. The trio played a short twenty-five-minute set that was professional and focused. There was just enough banter to keep the crowd engaged, with no fluff and zero pandering. Some performers just know how to do it. Jones was in good voice, delivering songs that live somewhere between pop/rock and power pop with the slightest hints of driving punk and relaxed garage. Every tune was catchy, and each lyric witty. Ronan plays jazz grip. As always, he was busy, melodic, and a joy to behold. Tulipana offered few low-end thrills, but his vocal harmonies elevated every song they touched. Can a band be so consistently good and drama free that they become invisible in the scene? If so, Dan Jones and the Squids are superheroes.

Lawrence, Kansas-based Thimastr took the stage at 8:30. That's precision. It'd been a while since I'd seen the band. That was my first mistake. The quintet's live set balanced modern indie pop vibes with jangly girl-group perfection, creating a sort of modern version of The Bangles. That's good. Jordan Swartzendruber's vocals were strong, confident, and warm. Her commitment to tambourine (and other shakers) was admirable. Lush backing harmonies and overlapping blended vocal lines came from bassist Ellen L'Esperance. Even guitarist Max Yoder offered a few. Yoder's guitar was frequently mirrored by Jake Little. Subtle leads and tasteful solos might come from either. The beat came from drummer Jennifer Graham who stood behind a snare and kick drum mounted as floor tom, Moe Tucker style. The drums (often played with felt mallets) were all bounce and glee. The tight half-hour set included several new numbers, including one which took the act's sunshine pop and added a lounge rhythm and twangy guitars to excellent effect. A new album is coming out this week, and although I listened to the early singles, I was ambivalent. A second mistake. After hearing them live, I realize there's more Ex-Bats-styled passion and less Spotify-driven vibe. What a fool I'd been. Learn from my mistakes.

Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds jumped the gun launching into "The Boy Had It All" at 9:28. That tune launched a ninety-minute set of joyful garage rock and expansive psych. The project is led by Kid Congo Powers. He's a legendary guitarist known primarily as a sideman for noteworthy projects like The Cramps, The Gun Club, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. As a frontman he's campy, witty, and stylish. Nearly every song came with an introduction. Some of which were long and involved, expanding on the shorter versions delivered the night before. His guitar was full of noise and vim. Between numbers guitarist Mark Cisneros and drummer Ron Miller would vamp. Once Powers found his tuning he'd join them for impromptu jams. Even those interludes kept the audience going. "Amazing what a little chicken scratch will do," joked Powers. The act is currently without a bass player, relagating the bold bass lines of "He Walked In" and new single "Aphrodite Exedite" to unseen backing tracks. This was remedied late in the set when Cisneros switched to baritone guitar, bringing the fuzzy heft needed for several The Gun Club songs. The only-in-LA (or maybe Miami) "Ese Vicio Delicioso" turned RecordBar into a Latin dance club. The sprawling and experimental detours turned the club into a cabaret.

After fifteen songs the band made a half-hearted attempt to leave the stage but quickly recollected up their instruments to deliver an encore that featured The Cramps' "Call of the Wighat" and The Gun Club's "Sex Beat." Afterward, the trio prepared to leave the stage another time, only to immediately return again. Sadly, this time Powers was halted. It was 11pm and the group had hit the venue curfew. At sixty-six years of age, Powers shows no signs of stopping, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn't see Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds each time the act comes to town. Rock & roll is always worth the effort.