Staff Editor on March 10th, 2019

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The inaugural KROQ Locals Only Fest on Friday night at the Teragram Ballroom got off to an explosive start, with Kitten frontwoman Chloe Chaidez delivering an acrobatic performance that included a dive from the balcony and Dear Boy closing the night with a set of romantic rock in the midnight hour.

The two-night affair featured 10 bands in all, five on Friday and five on Saturday, all of whom will have songs on a vinyl compilation coming out via the We Are Hear label.

Early arrivals Friday were treated to an effusive set by Trapdoor Social, who were joined during the second half of their set by Riverside’s six-piece the Top Shelf Brass Band. After TeamMate turned in a dance-happy set (plus a cover of “Bittersweet Symphony”) and Sleeptalk soldiered through some sound problems for a solid half-hour of rock, Kitten took over.

Chaidez constantly bounded all over the stage, crowd-surfed, danced in the crowd, climbed and jumped off an amp tower, did some handstands and, finally, went to the balcony to dive into the crowd. She followed that by darting back to the stage and shredding on guitar and taking a turn on drums. All in an electric 35 minutes.

Dear Boy finished the night with songs from their new “The Strawberry EP” (frontman Ben Grey was decked out accordingly) and a couple of older singles, with Chaidez joining them for a cover of “The Ghost in You.”

Photos by Jessica Hanley, except Trapdoor Social by Colleen Allison Barjas