Photo Gallery: Leg Day / Employer / Egg Drop Soup / Prüde at Punker Bunker

Leg Day

Kansas City sent off one of its most capable emo bands of the last few years on May 25. Leg Day's run only lasted a couple years and its following didn't expand too far outside of the members' group of friends, but nearly all of those friends showed up one last time to shout along with them. Some bands' final shows feel like just another gig, but the energy present on numbers like "Sunnyvale Real Estate" and "Gnats" made it clear that the band meant something to nearly everyone in the basement.

A full band outing from Hopyard Mathison's Employer preceded the final Leg Day set, transforming many of the project's tranquil songs into equally-sad, but much louder party fodder.

Egg Drop Soup -- which changed its name to Party Fridge shortly after this show -- used emo tones and song structure as a jumping-off point to experiment with lengthy compositions, on-the-fly improvisation, and trumpet parts, making for a performance that held a pleasant surprise around every corner.

The show was opened with the first ever set from Prüde, a new punk band featuring members of Leg Day and Party Fridge. The band's sound follows a line of speedy, no frills, reverb-drenched hardcore punk that Kansas City has been known for in the past five years. Familiarity aside, Prüde didn't slack on songwriting and Cina Murray's piercing, German-language vocals ensured that the band will be a hot ticket this summer.

Full photo gallery here.