I make it a habit never to trust a rodent from Pennsylvania on matters of weather. The real indication of Spring is how many people are sitting around the fire pit at Hillsiders at 9pm on a Monday night. And dear readers, I declare Spring is here.

The Whiffs took the low stage a bit after 9:30, beginning with "What Do You Want Me to Do?" from its 2019 album, Another Whiff. The best power pop band in the world then added ten more high energy, melody-first tunes over the course of forty minutes. Nearly half of the songs played were unreleased – some that audiences have heard for a while ("Is this Love Again?") and some that were making their debut. Lead guitarist Kyle Gowdy stepped up for lead vocals on a new one that he'd just written. It was a bit of a bust, but The Whiffs have never worried about premiering a half-baked song in front of the friendly audience at Hillsiders. Most importantly, this offering represents a milestone, as the band hasn't had a third lead vocalist (or songwriter) since Joey Rubs left two years ago. Of course, the focus rightly remains on bassist/vocalist Zach Campbell and 12-string guitarist/vocalist Rory Cameron who split the vocals for the remainder of the set. Cameron was coming off a cold, leaving his voice raspy, thin, and without its falsetto. He wheezed to the audience that "On the Boulevard" wore him out. Drummer Jake Cardwell was similarly exhausted. So tired, in fact, that his tongue didn't poke out during the set once. Still, the quartet sounded good – Gowdy's leads had never sounded more fluid, Cameron's new "Fakenbacker" jangled wonderfully, and it's always a good show when there are no amp troubles and no one battles the bar's small PA. Late in the set, the quartet opted to skip "Verlaine" and close with "Give Me Some Time." It's another unreleased song, but the Hillsiders regulars were already singing along as if it were a classic. Maybe it is.

I spent the half-hour between acts by the fire catching up with friends. The patio was chock-full and loaded with musicians all enticed out on a Monday night by the bill or the weather or the chance to bid farewell to bartender Ruby Hanson.

It'd been two years since I last saw Shy Boys. I'm sure I missed a local show or maybe two during that span, but not many. The band has been awfully quiet. Collin Rausch fronts the quintet, providing vocals and guitar. Around him are Ross Brown and Kyle Little on guitars, and Kyle Rausch and Konnor Ervin, who swap between bass and drums. The last four also comprise 4/5ths of Fullbloods who have become active again recently. I'm unsure if the recent thaw had anything to do with these re-emergences. The group's twelve-song set covered all three of its albums, favoring the debut slightly over the others. There were no new compositions. Its tunes were indie pop, sometimes slow and breezy, sometimes upbeat and bouncy. The boisterous crowd liked them all, but the fast ones got them moving. Those who hung to the corners traded this kinetic energy for better sonics. From their posts, the three guitars were distinct rather than muddy. They heard the act's high multipart harmonies as heavenly rather than disjointed. But the bar's audience wasn't full of audiophile types. Instead, it was full of friends and fans who jostled drinks, carried on their conversations, and shouted their love. Shy Boys intended to stop after a half hour, but the audience demanded one more and the fivesome obliged, wrapping up for good at 11:20.

The party at Hillsiders always continues long after the bands stop, but that's not my scene. Instead I waved to the friends within eyeshot and then slipped out into a glorious night, already thinking about the months of other perfect evenings at Hillsiders fire that await Kansas City.