By Jason Andreasen

When you think of Clicks, you probably think of one of two things: Pool or heavy metal. However, on Friday, November 21, the best thing in the Corporate Boulevard locale was neither.

Los Angeles band StereoReform played to an intimate crowd and absolutely gave them their money’s worth. As Tiger Weekly told you in advance of the show, this is a funk band that uses the pop-rock model to keep its grooves tight and its live performances loose.

The trio took to the stage at around 11pm and, except for a short break (during which they thanked the couple who bought them shots of Jager), kept things going until the early morning hours of Saturday. While the highlight of the show was definitely cuts from their debut release, Robots of Evolution, the covers that filled out their set helped to give some influential context to where the guys of StereoReform were coming from. Including everything from a revamped and amped-up version of The Box Tops’ “The Letter” to a straight ahead, thumping version of David Bowie’s “Fame”, their covers were not simply rehashes of songs you know, but actual interpretations.

A noteworthy cut from the band’s soiree at Clicks was “Exotical Pants”, during which all three of the guys seemed to be in perfect synch. Ladies grooved at the base of the stage while the plaid newsboy hat clad bassist, Neil Turner, led the funked-up number like a pied pieper with a Winston Churchill-like pucker. I couldn’t help but think that either he or his bass should have worn a prophylactic, given the motions his pelvis made during the song.

During the band’s take on The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” (which was notable for at least the prevalence of the bass on a track that originally featured no bassist), Will Evans treated the crowd to an eerie solo on his Telecaster, which was but a shade lighter than his pulled back blonde hair. While his fingers scaled the fretboard, his tongue dangled like his Airness himelf’s.

With a headband encasing his cranium and a drumkit masking his height, Cre Moore provided all the backdrop needed and then some, during the band’s “Cadillac Confession”. Moore’s playing was impactful the entire night, though he admitted that, “Jager makes me play better.”

All in all, this was a great night of music at Clicks, one that far too many people missed. If they happen to come back through town on the second leg of this cross-country tour, make sure you don’t miss them again!