Photo Gallery: Homeshake / Momma's Boy / Dreamgirl at The Riot Room

Peter Sagar of Homeshake

Montreal musician and former Mac DeMarco collaborator Peter Sagar is Homeshake. Sagar and his band of friends visited Kansas City for the first time on Tuesday night and half-jokingly told fans there was no guarantee they'd ever return. Sagar said this in a very deadpan tone with his voice pitched up to a cartoonish level, but one thing he didn't joke around about was his music.

The music of Homeshake is more or less the R&B counterpart to DeMarco's homemade bedroom pop. Sagar's fragile falsettos sweep across downbeat grooves and fairly minimal soundscapes produced by the band and his personal table of drum pads and pedals. It's not hard to throw on the record and space out, which may have happened at times to the crowd of 100+ at The Riot Room, but their applause after the songs concluded was enormous for a room of its size.

It's also tough to dismiss the obviously sensual nature of some Homeshake music. "Give It To Me" is essentially a '90s R&B tune reworked for millennial indie rock fans. During this song, Sagar crooned, a member of his band played a quick guitar lick, and repeated one line several times, driving fans crazy in the process. It's clear that Sagar has closely studied the call-and-response moments from James Brown's live records. The band played 50 minutes without much chatter before retreating to its van.

Kansas City indie rockers Momma's Boy were one of the evening's two openers. The band gave a strong performance, that sent the cap flying off guitarist Shaun Crowley's head. Both Crowley and fellow guitarist Peter Beatty took turns adding keys to a few tracks as the rhythm section kept things in check.

St. Joseph band Dreamgirl played first and welcomed the crowd with warm melodies and breezy pop songs best suited for an outdoor stage on a bright, sunny day.

Full photo gallery here.