New Year’s Eve at the Czar Bar brought out a couple like minded bands from each side of the state.  First up was Unifyah, from St. Louis.  I’ve caught them a couple times opening for the Urge, once in Columbia and once in St. Louis.  Unifyah is a somewhat newer band (approx 1 year old) and had yet to venture to Kansas City for a show until now.  They play a mix of rock/raggae/feel good music.  It’s tough to classify but they make their sound unique.  The stage was a little bit cramped for the 8 member band, but they managed to keep from falling over each other while still moving around a bit.  I had picked up their 5-song EP previously and they played all the tracks from that and several new ones during their 60 minute set.  A crowd of 50 or so had arrived by the time Unifyah took the stage.  I’m guessing most had not heard of them, but Unifyah managed to keep a crowd of about 25 or so moving and dancing along throughout their set right in front of the stage.  I would say they were well received and picked up a few fans at this show.  In fact, when asked if the crowd wanted to hear 1 or 2 more songs at the end, it was an overwhelming 2, and Unifyah obliged.

Next up was Arm the Poor, a Kansas City based band I had yet to see live.  They too kept the crowd up and on their feet moving for the rest of the evening.  The crowd in front of the stage got a little bit bigger and several people were singing along, so they were no stranger to Arm the Poor.  The overall crowd had probably swelled to about 75-80 at this time.  The band took a brief break right before midnight so everyone could grab their champagne toast and they did a countdown for us.  But the crowd was not calling it a day and wanted to hear more.  I got the feeling Arm the Poor was just going to play a few more songs after midnight, but the crowd demanded more and they too obliged and played a few more songs after that as well.

Also on hand spinning tracks before and after the bands were DJ S Ranx and DJ Jabberock.  They played tunes that complemented the evening very well.  In addition, both bands were very fan friendly and and hung out before and after their sets talking, drinking, and taking pictures with the people.  The two bands complemented each other very well and I look forward to seeing each one of them again.

John Tucker for Project Backstage