Photo Gallery: Stiff Love / Gorbza / Killakee Kat / Black Pope at Kum-N-Go

Claudia Dambra of Stiff Love

High-voltage Olympia punks Stiff Love visited Kansas City on Sunday night to play a show that held a surprise around every turn. Despite a slight spell of collective dreariness on the parts of both the crowd and the band -- it was a Sunday night and the band was nearing the end of a three-week tour -- Stiff Love's seventies pop charm wasn't any less present. When mid-paced foot-tappers weren't connecting all the way, the group would give their fans a jolt; "I Don't Mind Committing Crime" was a prime example of this, as well as being a flagrant display of their unabashed coolness.

Columbia, Missouri fastcore band Gorbza drove out to join in on the fun, but seemed to have ruined that fun for some of those attending. Although I was not present at this exact moment, I was informed soon after that the band's singer had made inappropriate gestures towards members of the audience while his shirt was off and his belt was unbuckled. This act upset at least one attendee and the band left before the show's end.

Killakee Kat played the night's final set after Stiff Love, delivering a set of favorites from their two full-band releases. As one song in the middle of the set concluded, drummer Joe Audley left the basement to grab a new drumstick from their car. Before their return, Jake Streiff and Kayla Haubenschild had made their way to the front, completing the Nitecrawlers lineup and kicking off an impromptu performance of their song "Parasite."

The night began with a last minute set from Black Pope. Due to vocalist True Newman's frequent travels, the band doesn't get to perform much, so this one was a treat. A new guitarist was added to the band for this show, allowing Newman to freak out to her heart's content while her band rocked out behind her. The band's 15 minutes of sludgy, crusty hardcore punk was one of the loudest, nastiest things Kansas City punk has seen all year, evidenced by a brief visit from a KCPD officer to notify the house of a noise complaint.

Full photo gallery here.