Celebration party

In addition to being a few hours’ worth of tearful emo rock, Saturday night’s show at the Brick Works was a celebration of the local music scene’s past, present and future: Number One Gun claims Chico as its old stomping ground, Indecisive Youth frequents the current bar circuit, and Saves the Day front man Chris Conley only last year moved out to Durham as a change of pace from his band’s near-constant international touring.

It’s a good time to be an emo kid in Chico.

Pop-punk sweethearts Indecisive Youth set the tone for an evening of sing-along choruses, pumping fists and bopping heads. The guys played through all the favorites, ending with the crowd whipped into a frenzy, goaded by the thrashing and bouncing of guitarist Nick Giusto.

Number One Gun took over from there. Singer Jeff Schneeweis—who is as easy on the eyes as he is on the ears—crooned over the top of some skillfully repetitive guitar parts and the electronic noise of a sound machine. A solid melodic strain carried the band through each of its songs, from “On & On” to “Celebrate Mistakes.”

Saves the Day came through for its under-18 fans by returning to Chico after its 21-and-over performance at Chico State’s BMU last semester. The group played through songs from each album—"At Your Funeral,” “Cars & Calories,” “All-Star Me” and “Banned from the Back Porch,” to name a few—and each was a unique juxtaposition of danceable rock beats against Conley’s strangely morbid lyrics.

The band played well, but that’s not all you need to have a great live show. You need to move around, have fun, improvise and give off some energy—all of which were much better executed during Number One Gun’s performance. It looks like, for one night at least, Chico’s past will outlast its future.