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| Mario Cuomo of The Orwells |
Chicago garage rock band The Orwells returned to Kansas City on Monday night. The band hadn't played in the area since a 2013 show with FIDLAR, so plenty of faithful fans were ready to lose it as soon as the band took the recordBar stage. The band's 2012 debut garnered acclaim among rock writers and their more adventurous follow-up in 2014 didn't fare too poorly either. The sound of the band's new album "Terrible Human Beings," however, is their most polished to date, and unfortunately, their most sterile. A majority of its songs turn stale seconds after they begin and aside from less than a handful of standouts during their hourlong set, the band didn't seem to have a blast playing them either. Wild-eyed vocalist Mario Cuomo occasionally jumped into sleazy rock-n-roll heartthrob mode with antics like squeezing a girl's face in the front row and telling her how great of a Snapchat story she'd have. The Orwells' uninspired performance combined with its sarcastic jabs made it clear that the band was not happy to be in Kansas City.
Fellow Chicagoans The Walters were the sole opening band for the show. The band's knack for writing smart pop songs and its quiet sense of humor made for an enjoyable set. When vocalist/guitarist Luke Olson wasn't strumming along with the rest of the band, he was dancing around the stage doing his most enthusiastic impression of a kid in his bedroom practicing his Elvis moves.
Full photo gallery:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613296@N06/albums/72157678324801043/with/33568382895/
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