Original Like Whatevers Line-Up Play Final Show

Local legacy and musical sensation The Like Whatevers played their final show together at Read All Over Books in downtown Fredericksburg on Friday, Sept. 9. The audience embraced the band’s enthusiasm to hide the evening’s bittersweet news of the band’s dissolution.

Despite The Like Whatevers humble, local beginnings, thus far the band has been incredibly successful in their endeavors with an East Coast tour, EP releases, and regular shows in the Fredericksburg area. In spite of these achievements, the band is in the midst of reconfiguration as bassist Jeremy Flax prepares to leave for Spain. Furthermore, the band announced to the masses on their Facebook page that, “they are in the process of becoming something else.”

The Like Whatevers opened the show with their infamous single, “Friend of a Friend.”

The song pounded and pulsed as the crowd responded with dancing and chanting. The energy was contagious and persisted throughout the evening without any hesitation.

Since it was the last performance, the band also took the liberty of performing new songs from their sophomore EP which will be released in October. Although the audience was unfamiliar with the verses, there was an open acceptance to listening (and undeniably appreciating) the band’s new material. An incredibly animated audience member took the liberty of crowd-surfing in the small bookstore during the Like Whatevers’ encore performance, kicking a few heads yet overall reinforcing the fun-loving environment the band created.

The band closed the show with another new track off of the EP which, unlike the rest of the set, was a very slow and somber piece featuring a duet by Sam Protrich and Kelsey Mayo. Mayo’s vocals in particular were heartbreaking and hypnotizing, leaving the audience mesmerized.

Upon exiting the show, many fans shared and reminisced over the Like Whatevers’ first few concerts.

Senior Michael Drayer summarized his recollection of memories with the band saying, “I’ve been seeing them since they formed and they went out with a bang.”

A loud and proud bang, indeed. For the Like Whatevers, it can only get better from here.