Review by Jason Meier
Photos by Matt Bechtold (coming soon)

Friday, March 5th marked the long overdue return of Frogpond to Lawrence. Frogpond is one of  Kansas City's most popular bands, and though Lawrence is only a short jaunt from KC, it had been over two years since they have graced the stage of the Bottleneck. I think it is safe to say that the sold out Lawrence crowd was ready for their return.

The only other time that I had the privilege of seeing Frogpond was about five years prior, when the band did a gig opening for Kill Creek at the height of their local fame. The band has gone through a lot of changes since then. That Granada show featured a much different Frogpond lineup,  which at that time featured future Glitter Kicker, Tawni Freeland, (who was later replaced by Kristie Stremel, who then left to form Exit 159). My how the times have changed. And it seemed that Frogpond was toying with yet another line-up addition: a second guitarist named Blake who was sitting in for this particular show.

The other cool thing about the show was a chance to get see a couple of different bands from the Lawrence scene open the show. I have had the pleasure of seeing Reflector a couple of times before, and have really started to take a liking to them. Unfortunately, I still cannot say the same of the Anniversary, but more on that later.

The first band of the evening was Reflector. The band has been around for just over a year - but in that time has done quite a bit of touring outside the region. This was easily the biggest show the band has played in Lawrence. The style of Reflector is straight up Indie Rock that is played with a lot of emotion and passion.

The members of Reflector are Jared Scholz - guitar and vocals, Harry Anderson - bass guitar, and Jake Cardwell - drums.

In the time that they have been together, Reflector has recorded a five-song EP and has done three seven-inches - two of which were split with other acts. The band also plans to record a new five song EP sometime this fall. Reflector has also had a few chances to play shows with some great bands.

"We really like to play with the Getup Kids, the Casket Lottery, the Hillary Step, Coalesce, The Anniversary, and Shiner, said Cardwell. "Most of these bands are friends of ours, which makes it all that much more fun."

Among the bands the band hopes to play with in the future include Panel Donor, Season to Risk and Ultimate Fakebook. Another thing that has made Reflector a little bit different from other local bands is that they have done quite a bit of touring in their short existence. They have played all over the region including places like Milwaukee, Little Rock and Chicago.

"We like to get out and play in a lot of places away from our hometown so that when we come back to town hopefully people will be more ready to come out and see us," said Jake. "The other reason that we do this is so that people don't get burned-out on us. So that each time you get out to see us it will be nice and refreshing."

Probably the most appealing thing to me about Reflector was that this is a band that puts more energy and passion into their show than almost any band that I can remember in recent memory. That goes a long ways in getting people out of their chairs. On the down side, the band does very little interaction with the audience and does lack a little in stage presence, but when you have as much passion as they do, you can almost overlook that.

The first thing you'll notice about Reflector's live show is that their stage setup is a little bit unique. Jared and Harry set up side ways, facing each other, so that they aren't facing the audience. It's different, and some people think it's great and original, while others think it's just odd.

"This is how our practice space is set up," said Jake. "Yeah it is a little bit different, but my feeling is that if it makes the guys comfortable and makes them play better, than it's worth it."

Set highlights included the songs "Blue Skys," "Take My Hand,"" 4 Day Van," and "The Loop." Future plans for Reflector are to attend the Klammies and celebrate their nomination - and hopeful victory - on April 10th at the Folly Theater in KC. The band will also be doing even more touring, including a run down the East Coast in June with KC's Casket Lottery, and they also plan to do some more recording in hopes for a new EP by Fall. If Indie Rock is your thing, then make sure to get out and see these boys, because you won't be disappointed. For more info on Reflector you can visit their web site at http://members.xoom.com/whatisme/reflector.

The second band of the evening was a Lawrence band that I had seen about a year ago and unfortunately not much has changed. The Anniversary has a very distinct Indie Rock sound - partially due to the heavy use of a Moog keyboard, something you will not see anywhere else in the area.

The members of the Anniversary are Josh Stevenson - guitar and vocals, Jason Rolands - guitar and vocals, Addrianna Vattroven - Moog keyboard and vocals, James David - bass, and John Cronowski - drums.

The Anniversary has been around for about two years and in that time they have played with many bands including Frogpond, Reflector, Coalesce, The Get Up Kids, The Teriyakis, 2 Player Option and Icarus. The band has also played at the CMJ Convention and is also a veteran of the KJHK Farmer's Ball competition. The Farmer's Ball is a battle of the bands, where the winner gets to play KU's "Day on the Hill" in early May. (Stay tuned to Synapsis for coverage of both of these events.)

"We would really like to play with Exit 159, because we think that are fucking amazing," said Josh. "We get to play with the Get Up Kids quite a bit, and while sometimes it is fun, they also tend to piss us off most of the time."

The Anniversary plays many of their Lawrence shows at the Replay Lounge, but they aren't always smooth. There was one evening in particular where things got a little bit messy for the Anniversary.

"We were playing a show at the Replay one night and Widowmaker from Cocknoose got naked and started to rub up against Jim," said Josh. He got really pissed off at us 'cause we decided to cover one of their songs. We're not for sure why, 'cause we figured he might find it funny. Guess not."

While I did think that the band sounded fairly well rehearsed, their sound is simply not for me. First of all, if you're gonna have a Moog keyboard in the band, (which if used properly can be very effective,) it can be just a tad bit overkill to have two guitars in the band also. This makes the music a little bit too busy and can get hard to digest. Secondly, if your gonna use a Moog, try to do it in an original way, instead of just trying to sound like the Rentals all the time. During their set, they open one of their songs with very short (thankfully) rendition of "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. While this was a bit funny a year ago when I first saw these guys, the novelty has definitely worn off, and I would recommend that they move on and   find a different song to make fun of.

Furture plans for the Anniversary include getting an EP out sometime in April, playing the Replay on April 12th, and to play out of the area more.

"We really want to play the Dirty Bird here in town," said Josh. "But we also plan on playing in Wichita and into Nebraska more in the next few months."

Finally the stage was set for the pop rock stylings Frogpond. I was very excited to see them, because I had heard a lot of good things about them during the last couple of years and was interested to see what had caused all the hype since my last Frogpond experience.

Frogpond was originally from Warrensburg, Missourri, then moved to Lawrence, and now call Kansas City their home.

The members of Frogpond are: Heidi Phillips - guitar and vocals, Justine Volpe - bass and vocals, and Billy Johnson - drums.

In 1995, the band got signed to Sony Tri Star Records, and in 1996 they put out their debut album, "Count To Ten." In May, Frogpond will be releasing their second album, "Safe Ride Home," with Columbia Records. The band has toured with several different bands, most notably a recent batch of gigs with The Goo Goo Dolls this last December.

"They were great guys and so easy to work with," said Justine. "Since we don't have a road crew yet they would offer us the chance to use their gear instead of unloading ours. They were very professional people, and we hope we can tour with them again sometime in the future."

Frogpond hit the stage and proceeded to play solid for about the next hour and 15, doing a set that consisted of a few old favorites, but was mostly a sneak preview of the new album. Among the set highlights were tunes like "I Did," "How Would You Know," "World Crash," "Let Down", and "Fighter." Old favorties included "Trust?," "Waiting For A Friend," "Red Spider," "Be," and "Talk To Me."

My biggest beef with Frogpond is their lack of stage presence. The band likes to play four or five songs in a row and then take a second to tune and maybe say something to the crowd, and then do the same thing again. There really isn't much of a show to go with what they are playing. That withstanding, the band is sounding tighter than ever and the new tunes sound great. I also liked the addition of a second guitar player recruited for this particular show, because it added a lot to their sound.

Future plans are to get the new album out - which Frogpond fans have been anxiously awaiting - followed by extensive touring.

"We really hope that we get the chance to tour with someone like Eve 6, The Foo Fighters, or even The Goo Goo Dolls again," said Justine. " We also hope we can play some local shows and get the chance to play with The Get Up Kids, Ultimate Fakebook and Reflector. We consider Lawrence and Kansas City to pretty much be the same area and we are very proud to be from here."

For the time being, the only other show that Frogpond has scheduled is on May 1 at the Wareham Theater in Manhattan, which is in support of the Ultimate Fakebook CD release party for "This WIll Be Laughing Week." Ashtray Babyhead from Little Rock is also on the bill.

If Frogpond comes anywhere near you, get out and see them because they are definitely worth checking out. For more info on this great pop rock band, you can visit their web site at http://home.earthlink.net/~sjbentley.

Overall this was a pretty cool show, and it was a good chance to see Reflector and Frogpond - each for the first time, more or less. However, if I never see the Anniversary again, it will still probably be too soon. I do want to wish the Reflector boys good luck on their Klammie nomination for best new band, and also an early congratulations to Frogpond on the release of their new album. Best of luck on their long tour that is set to follow also. Synapsis will have a review of the new disc as soon as it is available.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Jake Cardwell and Jared Scholz of Reflector; Josh, James, David and John of the Anniversary and Justine Volpe of Frogpond for helping make this review possible.