photos by Roy Scopazzi
words by Dhruv Baronia
Many a San Franciscan flocked to Rickshaw Stop in SoMA this Monday night, seeking refuge from a brisk autumn evening through the warming nostalgia of the songs of Chicago-based outfit Friko. Currently touring North America for their sophomore album Something Worth Waiting For, the quartet blends elements of post-punk and art rock with equal parts unrepentant verve and trance-like wonder.
Friko opened their set with a blistering rendition of “Guess,” the lead single on the album. The song’s perkiness bears the weight of emotional scars borne of a relationship slowing fading, blowing on the embers with lyrics like “Don’t make me guess \ If that’s a cry or a laugh \ A pinch or a sting \ A lie or a gaffe \ Cause there’s hardly enough in this world \ To make us happy.”
Another highlight was “Crashing Through”, an abrasive, heavy tune relative to the rest of Friko’s discography. It was a loud lamentation of our everyday cowardice and inaction narrated by Kapetan’s screams and Bailey Minzenberger’s throbbing drums. The crowd was caught between the tender self-reflection the song called for, and the primal need to exorcise those very demons through headbanging and moshing. Such dichotomies are where the band thrives.
Their two full-length records straddle a similarly fine line between melancholy and nostalgia, and so did their performance. The band was able to flawlessly switch between incredibly poignant intimacy and high octane rockstar energy. This was perfectly exemplified by the one-two punch of “Alice”, a somber reflection on the subtle absurdities of life, and “Choo Choo”, a dizzying ode to the adrenaline of zipping around on planes while wishing for a pensive train ride, indubitably inspired by the love-hate relationship Chicagoans have with the El. The simplicity of what the band chooses to celebrate shines in these moments, where the variance in tonality never elicits whiplash but rather a calming acceptance of our internal contradictions and frustrations.
“The Pace” is an unreleased song seemingly being debuted at this tour, a bustling anthem intermingled with quieter moments that stayed with the crowd. There were some ambient pop leanings on this particular song, with members of the band including guitarist Korgan Robb and Minzenberger being involved with other projects that play in that lane.
The show closed out with the semi-eponymous “Where We’ve Been” from their 2024 album. A brutally honest look at the uncertainty of our lives, Kapetan belts out emotionally charged confessions of succumbing to ennui that pave the way for perhaps the most cathartic breakdown in recent musical memory, each “na-na-na” tugging at a different heartstrings until you have tears in your eyes alongside everyone else in the room.
Almost sooner than they had left, the band hopped back on stage for a pulsating encore, featuring a cover of “Ceremony” by New Order that the crowd reveled in on their crescendo into a full mosh pit as the band played their most pulsating track, “Get Numb To It!” for the final song of the night, re-purposing the refrain of “Where We’ve Been” into something infinitely more rebellious and vivacious. The last chords rang out and deafening cheers filled the room. As the band left the stage and the hundreds of perfect strangers dispersed into the night, one could only wonder where they go from here but take great comfort in sharing where they’ve just been.
Ohio-based alt-country outfit villagerrr got the night started with their fan-favorite “Neverr Everr”, a usually joyous love letter to the Midwestern summers presented in searingly poppy hooks. However for the rest of the set, there was a heaviness to each live song compared to the studio versions. Pensive renditions of shoegaze-inspired rock songs such as “Indiana” and “Roadstar” mesmerized the crowd with succinct yet cutting songwriting coupled with heart-wrenching twangs of a country guitar, as frontman Mark Scott recounts a passionate night turned to nothing but distant whispers. They closed their performance with “What Does It Mean?”, a crooning plea to all that could have been in lives gone, luscious vocals floating on a layer of sparkling synths and moody chords.
