CoolDad Music: We Had a Blast at The Indie Pop Winter Formal at The Saint with Dentist, dollys, YJY, and Paper Streets, 1/8/16

Sniffling Indie Kids co-presented the Indie Pop Winter Formal.

Play Dress-Up

First things first. Thank you to Dentist, dollys, YJY, and Paper Streets for playing such fantastic sets last night. Thank you to The Saint and to all the staff for hosting the party. Thank you to Sniffling Indie Kids for working with me on this one. And thank you to all the people who came out and partied with us for what ended up being an absolute blast of an evening.

I gotta say, the percentage of people that played along with our little theme and dressed up last night was impressive. It was a no-pressure situation, though; so it was great having everyone there, dressed up or not. Everybody who attended got amazing sets from four of my favorite bands.

Paper Streets kicked things off in fine form with some new songs and some new energy. It was gratifying to finally get them on a show as we haven't been able to synch up on anything until now. The Saint was full of early arrivals, and the guys got to play to a nicely packed room.

YJY looked and sounded sharp. They brought a solid contingent of fans who screamed along with songs like "Couch Surfin' USA." The whole room chimed in when the band closed with the ubiquitous 90s classic that never goes away, Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta." Singer Steve Sachs ended that one with an emphatic mic drop for which he immediately apologized.

My love of Dentist and dollys is well-documented here, so it was a special one-two punch to close out the night. Ties all around for the guys in Dentist, and vocalist Emily Bornemann came decked out in a long, black wig. The Saint was pretty packed out at this point, and people pushed up against the stage to sing. Dentist gave us the night's slowdance number with "Over and Over" and closed with a cover of (the chorus to) Rod Stewart's "Young Turks."

dollys closed things out by doing their usual thing of adhering to their exacting standards of performance while still being spontaneous and full of energy. Between their excellent Oh, Please and the singles they've released over the course of the year, dollys have at least two albums' worth of material. The mass singalong with "Cornerstones" was a high point of the evening. The band mixed in covers of Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" and Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" to send everybody home smiling.

CoolMom came out for this one; and, when it was over, she told me she loved every minute. That, like, never happens when I drag her out to a show for 4 or 5 hours; so I'm calling this one an unqualified success.

Thanks again to everyone, and -- I don't know -- maybe start thinking about who you want to ask to the prom?

Pics of all the sets and some other stuff in the galleries below.