Limited turnout marks last leg of The Change’s tour

Shannon Varner

What do three bands, an audience backup singer and a prosthetic leg mean to a Saturday night crowd at the Maintenance Shop? A lot of fun and punk music.

The Change, the band formerly known as Sparechange00, played the last set of its tour Saturday night along with opening acts The Story Changes and Senator Kelly. Although there was only a small crowd of about 25 people, it didn’t stop the three bands from having a good time.

Opening act Senator Kelly took the stage dressed appropriately in too-small T-shirts and out-of-control hair. The band’s psychomelodic emo sound was a fitting kickoff for a slow-coming crowd, with vocals off-key in a way that would only work in the emo and punk world.

One member of the audience, who the band referred to as their biggest fan, sang backup from his place in the crowd. The fan jumped and bobbed his head, yelling out lyrics and humming extra vocals. Watching this guy’s air guitar may have been the most entertaining aspect of Senator Kelly’s performance.

The Story Changes followed and the crowd expanded slightly. The Ohio-native quartet was true punk rock from the start. With all of the tattoos, Converse All-Stars and high energy, audience members knew the band was ready for a good time and responded with a little more energy than they handed over to Senator Kelly.

Band members jumped, screamed and interacted with the audience, trying to inspire fans to do the same.

“Are you psyched for The Change?” asked guitarist Mike Ingram. “Were you psyched for the first band?”

Dead silence.

“Are you psyched for anything?” Ingram pleaded.

“You guys need to drink,” announced bassist Gee Gee Bradley.

And drink they did. Bottles of beer were tossed around like water at a health club, and the crowd seemed to liven up as the alcohol went down.

During The Story Changes’ set, The Change lead singer Ryan Watts brought out a prosthetic leg and dangled it in front of Ingram before setting it on stage.

The band replied to the joke by announcing, “This song is called ‘The Prosthetic Leg!’ “

By the time The Change graced the stage, the air had chilled again. Watts, guitarist and lead singer, brought some much-needed new energy to the crowd.

“There’s not a lot of us, but we’re going to have fun,” Watts promised.

Watts’ vocals varied between raw punk and upbeat screamo.

The Change rocked with the same power and style as the previous band, but added the flavor necessary to get the small audience going.

The crowd was definitely there to see this band.

Members of the audience were more excitable and receptive to the jokes and comments made from the stage.

“There’s only like 20 of us here,” Watts said. “Those are, like, the best parties — you guys ever notice that?”

During the set, the prosthetic leg was once again hoisted to the stage, this time as payback by Ingram.

The bands, who were obvious friends, supported and made fun of each other throughout the night, providing some much-needed humor and energy for the slightly subdued crowd.

Though a broken bass string and an overflowing bottle of beer threatened to put a damper on the show, The Change managed to capture the small crowd and make the best of the last performance of its tour.