The blistering drop in temperature in the Midwest on Tuesday night could not keep the Granada Theatre from filling in order to see New Politics, Bad Suns, and SomeKindaWonderful. The diverse crowd of University of Kansas hipsters to 14-year-old screaming teens (and subsequently, their mothers) all had one goal in mind: to see the three-man band from Denmark before the night was over.
Opener SomeKindaWonderful cannot be limited by a genre. The Cleveland-based group of five began the night with “Police,” a tune which seems to be a mix of R&B and indie. “Hard for Days” was next before slowing it down with the heart-breaking tale “Reverse” (which is literally told in reverse). The agony in front-man Jordy Towers’ voice echoed throughout the Granada as he explained how it was actually the woman who cheated on him.
Towers informed the crowd there’d be no more “sad songs” from them. The group next played “Honeymoon” and added “Devilish Man,” a song with some deep southern roots. The on-stage interactions between Towers and backup singer Sarah Dyer were a presence not to be forgotten. As the group ended their set with “Burn,” guitarist Matt Gibson switched to a ukulele. The variance of sound paired with the mesmerizing stage presence makes this group some kind of wonderful.
The southern-California four-some Bad Suns then took the stage, beginning with “Transpose,” the eighth track on their first album. It is apparent lead singer Christo Bowman’s influences include groups from the 1980s. The pop/electronic sounds paired with his young developing voice in “Dancing on Quicksand” make it impossible for anyone to not dance.
The catchy chorus in “Matthew James” and powerful drums in “We Move Like the Ocean” propelled the crowd into the present decade. “Pretend” and “Learn to Trust” followed before adding “Sleep Paralysis,” the tenth track off their debut album Language & Perspective. The guitar riffs from Ray Libby in “Rearview” transitioned into “Cardiac Arrest.” As the opening chords began, the crowd went into a frenzy, clearly ecstatic as they anxiously awaited nine songs for the band’s most successful track thus far. Bad Suns finished their entire album with “Salt.”
The headliner New Politics finally took the stage for the next performance of the Everywhere I Go (Kings and Queens) tour. The set began with the dance-party favorite “Tonight You’re Perfect,” the first track from A Bad Girl in Harlem, the band’s latest full-length album. Guitarist Soren Hansen’s unbelievable guitar riffs defined the intensity of “Die for You.” Drummer Louis Vecchio had his opportunity to impress the crowd in “Die Together.”
The first-time headliners rocked the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” the only cover of the evening. New Politics played Bad Girl in its entirety and added the tour’s namesake song at the end of the set, a single from September of this year. They ended the night with “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” the first track off the self-titled album which released in 2010.
Fifteen songs was not enough for Lawrence, and the boys from Denmark returned to play “Fall into These Arms” and the ever-popular Harlem. The infectious rhythms of the never-ending dance party guarantee this certainly will not be the last time New Politics headline.
