Mothers Played Wonder Bar with AMFMS, ROMP, and Yawn Mower, 1/28/16

Mothers' Kristine Leschper

There's No Crying in Baseball

Have you gotten tired yet of reading about how sad I am that Asbury Lanes is closed? Well, last night's show at Wonder Bar gave me hope that maybe -- just maybe -- a certain type of touring band may still consider making a stop in Asbury Park. That type of band is a band just on the cusp of greater notoriety, a band doing something a little different than everyone else, a band with a growing and devoted following but not quite enough of a following to pack out a larger venue yet. A band like Mothers from Athens, Georgia.

This is a bit of a cheat, though. Asbury Park and Mothers may have looked right past each other, never giving each other a second thought, if it weren't for Asbury Lanes. Mothers were the opener for Of Montreal back in August when that band played Asbury Lanes. I don't think anyone knew what to expect from Mothers back then, and many of us were blown away. When I saw the show pop up on Wonder Bar's event page this time around, I knew I'd be there, especially with New Jersey's ROMP and Yawn Mower as part of the bill along with Mothers' touring companions, AMFMS.

I had to check out CoolDaughter 2's school SciVention Convention before heading down to Asbury Park, so I walked in when Yawn Mower were about halfway through their set. They're a fun duo and last night was no exception. They dabble in everything from surf to garage to indie rock to pop. Yawn Mower always throw in a few covers, and the hair (both natural and artificial) flies during their set.

Yawn Mower gave way to ROMP, a band riding the wave of excitement generated by that day's premiere of single "Last Year" over at Brooklyn Vegan. This was ROMP's first trip to Wonder Bar. It had been a while since I'd seen them live; and the intervening months of recording, touring, and playing have really tightened (ha!) them up. New drummer Mike Linardi (formerly of Deal Casino) was a force of nature, and the rest of the band were their usual combination of sweetness and badassery. It was fun to sing along again to "Drive" and "Portrait," and the new songs show some real growth.

AMFMS were totally new to me. Lead singer Shawn Kyle introduced the band as being from Baltimore, Annapolis, LA,... ...I think Salt Lake City got a mention. Wherever they're from, they laid it all out onstage, delivering a set that ranged from garage rock to glam to something a little more epic. The band straddled the line between gritty and polished, and the amount of care and preparation they put into their set was just as obvious as the amount of blood and sweat they let fly during the performance. AMFMS are almost a straight-ahead rock band, but they mix that in with something a little bit left-of-center that makes me think we'll be hearing more from them.

Three bands in, and it wasn't even 10pm. Mothers took the stage and went straight from soundchecking / tuning into the set. The chiming guitars of Kristine Leschper and Drew Kirby are a sharp contrast to the rhythm section of Matthew Anderegg (drums) and Patrick Morales (bass). Together, they create something like a combination between shoegaze and prog with Leschper's vocals cutting through everything. The band covered Devo's "Gut Feeling," delivered their own version of a "holocaust section" during "Fat Chance," and closed with the mesmerizing "No Crying in Baseball."

I recognized a lot of familiar faces from the Lanes at last night's show. Some people were even sporting Mothers merch they'd grabbed back in August. I'm glad that Asbury Lanes introduced us all, and I'm glad that Wonder Bar hosted the reunion. Mothers are set to take off when their LP comes out next month and gets a whole bunch of accolades. I hope the next band like them notices Asbury Park when planning the East Coast portion of their tour and comes to meet us all.

You can check out pictures from all of last night's sets by clicking through the links below.